interaction between Fiery Emancipation and trample I had Fiery Emancipation (which triples damage) on the battlefield, and attacked my opponent with a 4/1 creature with trample. My opponent had 6 life and blocked with a 5/6 creature.
I believed that Fiery Emancipation would triple the damage to 12 thus allow me to win the game due to the 6 excess damage being applied to my opponent, thanks to trample. However, my opponent took no damage. What am I not understanding?

Damage was probably calculated correctly, combat damage assignment does not take into account effects like Fiery Emancipation.
When you assign combat damage, effects that modify how much damage is actually dealt (such as Fiery Emancipation) are not taken into account. Assuming the defending creature had no damage assigned to it already, you have to assign all 4 of your damage to it, and none to the defending player. After all damage has been assigned, damage is actually dealt, and only now is it modified by Fiery Emancipation. The defending creature will take 12 damage, while your opponent takes none.

510.1c [..] When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. [..]

Basically, you assign damage as though Fiery Emancipation was not on the battlefield at all. Dealing and modifying the damage happens after damage assignment, not before.


Are there "established" systems where "Five Card Majors" isn't a strict rule? In "Standard American," I must open a major with 65432 while refraining from opening a major with AKQJ.

IMHO, there are five card majors that are too weak to be opened and there four card majors that are too strong NOT to be opened.

I've created a system where "An extra trump is worth a king," and the minimum opening standard is Qxxxx. Thus, xxxxxx "maps" into Kxxxx, and qualifies. xxxxx < Qxxxx and doesn't qualify. KQxx "maps" into Qxxxx and qualifies, but not KJxx, which "maps" into Jxxxx.

I'm not sure Standard American is right for me. Are there any established systems (other than Standard American) that operate along principles similar to mine?

When you open a five card major, you're not promising anything about the strength of your suit, you are simply telling your partner that you have five cards in that suit.

Remember that you do not win tricks only on strength, you win them on length as well.  Even if you open a raggedy five card suit, and end up playing in it after getting you're partner's support, you will win extra tricks because no one else will have trumps after you draw them. On the other hand, if you wind up in a 4-3 fit because partner raised your four card open, things can be difficult if one of your opponents also has 4 or more trump.

Also remember that just because you can't open AKQJ of a major doesn't mean you can never mention that suit.  Open a minor, and rebid your major.  That tells your partner that you have four of the major, and if he also has four then you've found your fit.

This can be hard to swallow, so I recommend building some example hands. Give yourself five lousy trump and an opening hand, give your partner three random trump and enough to raise you to game, and see how the hand plays out with random opponent hands.  Likewise, give yourself AKQJ of a major, your partner the same three random trump and game values, and get a feel for which hands are easier and which hands are harder to play.


Exploding kittens - playing cards between attacks Related, but not a dupe: Exploding kittens. How many turns can an attack card "really" skip?

That questions discusses this scenario:

Player A plays Attack.
Player B takes a turn, draws an Attack and plays it.
Player C has to take three turns.

That is clear. But in this scenario:

Player A plays Attack.
Player B plays some other cards (Favour, See the Future or whatever).
Player B plays Attack (so does not draw a card).

Does Player C now have to take four turns or three? Or should Player B have played the Attack as his first card?

An argument for Player C taking four turns is that Player B could have done exactly the same thing whilst not being under the influence of Player A’s Attack and force Player C to take two turns, so they are just stacking those two into the two from the first Attack. However, I felt that by playing cards, Player B was essentially taking a turn which should be completed by drawing a card. He could then play the Attack as his second go and force Player C to take three turns.

The other cards do not end the turn so they have no effect on the number of turns played.

Player A has 1 turn to play.
Player A plays Attack.

This ends the turn of player A
And it forces player B to take 2 turns.

Player B has 2 turns to complete.
Player B plays some other cards (Favour, See the Future or whatever).

This has no effect on the turn because the turn only ends with a draw.

Player B has still 2 turns to complete.
Player B plays Attack

This ends the (first) turn of player B.
It forces player C to take 2 turns.
Because player B has one turn left, this turn moves to player C.

Player C has 2 + 1 = 3 turns to complete.

See also the rules.


Is mandatory to play at least one skill card in skill checks? When discussing an answer that I provided in another question (Battlestar Galactica: How to balance core game), the question arose of whether it is mandatory to play at least one card in skill checks. The rule book from the base game says:

  Starting with the player that is Play Skills: to the left of the current player (and ending with the current player), each player may play any number of Skill Cards from his hand facedown to the common pile.

So, what does "any number" in this context mean? I assume that 0 would not be "any number", since playing 0 cards is not playing any card at all. I saw in this question (Strategy for succeeding at Crisis skill checks) that people generally assume that 0 cards can be played, but I think there is some flaw in the statement that makes it dubious. In the Revelead Cylon case, the book is very clear and states that a Revelead can opt for not playing cards in skill checks.

In the end, what is the rule for human players? Must them play at least one card or not?

The base rules, page 17, has an "Example of a Skill Check" (emphasis added):

  The player to the current player’s left plays two Skill Cards into the pile. The next player decides not to play any cards, and finally, the current player plays a single card.

I don't think they would have included this if a person had to play a skill card.


Quorum cards like "Inspirational Speech" - Difference between results I just played my first game of BSG (solo using the official fully cooperative rules). I've got the german edition so my card names might be a bit off...

The card "Inspirational Speech" says something like:

Action: Roll dice. If you roll 6 or higher you get +1 Morale and this card is put out of play. Otherwise it has no effect and is discarded.

Now apart from gaining the 1 Morale, what is the difference of what happens with the card?

I can't find a shot of the English version of the card that I've played with, but I think I remember the card you mean, and the Morale is the only difference.

The fact that the card is taken out of play means you only have a limited number of opportunities to gain back Morale in this way, so you have to hope you roll well.


Bidding response to convenient minor bid If responder to a convenient minor 1 bid has 5 points or less I have been told the correct bid is 1 notrump.  Is a convenient minor 1 bid a demand bid?

The Convenient Minor as a forcing bid is a prohibited agreement in North America (ACBL Jurisdiction). To get caught regularly responding to it with less than 5 points will result in severe disciplinary action by the ACBL.

If you are not playing in North America, you must refer to the agreed conventions and agreements as per your national authority on the rules. In most countries such unusual agreements are typically prohibited except in extended team play competition, just as in North America.

Update
ACBL Convention Charts (pdf)


Can X be 0 when casting Avacyn's Judgment with madness? If I discard Avacyn's Judgment, can I choose to cast it with madness with X = 0? My goal is to be able to cast it just to increase my storm count; I expect the spell itself to do nothing in this case. Is this possible?

Yes, you can generally choose any value for X, including zero. Exceptions apply, though not in this case.
There are cards where you can't choose X to be zero, or where X is already defined. Those will always be noted on the card itself. Otherwise, you're free to choose any value zero or greater for X.

107.3a If a spell or activated ability has a mana cost, alternative cost, additional cost, and/or activation cost with an {X}, [-X], or X in it, and the value of X isn’t defined by the text of that spell or ability, the controller of that spell or ability chooses and announces the value of X as part of casting the spell or activating the ability

If you cast a spell "without paying its mana cost", X must be zero.

107.3b If a player is casting a spell that has an {X} in its mana cost, the value of X isn’t defined by the text of that spell, and an effect lets that player cast that spell while paying neither its mana cost nor an alternative cost that includes X, then the only legal choice for X is 0. [..]


Stalingrad Pocket 2nd ed Air Power Barrage Shift According to rule 1.10g Divisional Integrity Artillery Bonus: "Artillery which does not have a friendly unit adjacent to the intended target ... will receive a (leftward) shift on the Barrage Table..."

Does this shift apply to air units attacking without a spotter? Does it apply if air units are barraging with artillery units without a spotter?

Yes.

Yes.

The modifier is listed on the barrage table and applies to barrage combat regardless of source. It does not draw distinction between air or artillery.


If a token is returned to hand, is it considered dying? 1/1 Devil token (ala Devils' Playground) on board
Just the Wind cast on the 1/1 Devil
Token gets removed from board
?? Devil does 1 damage to target creature or player ??

Unfortunately, no, it doesn't die. "Dies" has a specific meaning:

  700.4. The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.”

The token does cease to exist once in the player's hand, but that's due to other rules, and that's not considered dying either:

  110.5f A token that’s phased out, or that’s in a zone other than the battlefield, ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704. (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)

But, this has an interesting implication that a token can die and is temporarily in the graveyard, thus satisfying death triggers.


If the Witch steals the power of the warlord and tries to destroy a player's district, are they protected if they have the bishop? Player A has the witch and bewitches the Warlord.
Player A chooses to destroy player B's district.
Player B has the Bishop. Can he reveal it to protect himself?
If player B can do this and reveal the bishop, can player C rob the bishop with the thief?

No

The Witch doesn't get to destroy a district when she is revealed - she skips her turn after taking an action, and only gets to play when (if!) the Warlord is revealed.  By that time, player B has already been revealed to be the Bishop, and is immune to the bewitched Warlord's power.


What is "Z generic mana"? According to the MtG wiki, the symbol  is a "Generic mana symbol", specifically representing

  Generic mana in costs that only can be paid with mana from a source that can produce two or more colors of mana.

However, I can't find any reference to it in the Standard Rules, and I've never seen or heard of it before.

Where does this symbol come from? What cards does it appear on? And what does it mean, exactly?

There is exactly one card with the {Z} symbol: The Ultimate Nightmare of Wizards of the Coast® Customer Service.  It is a silver bordered card from Unglued, and is not legal in regular play.  On this card, Z functions exactly the same way X normally does, and the different letter merely serves to distinguish it from the X and Y already present on the card.

The wiki description comes from Experiment Five a "playtest card" from the recent Mystery Boosters.  These are not real cards and were not intended for actual play (even more so than the silver bordered cards, which were intended for play, just not regular play)

As to what it means, it means exactly what it says.  The playtest cards have no actual rules support.  All interactions have to be interpreted by players from the cards themselves.


If I buy a Mint, do I still get to use the coins from the treasures I played that turn to buy a Grand Market? In the  Prosperity rules it says "if you have 11 coppers in play and 2 Buys, you could buy a Mint, trash all of your played Treasures, and then buy a Grand Market." My question is: What are you going to buy the Grand Market with if you have trashed all your treasures?

Just because you trashed the coppers doesn't mean you haven't earned the coins for that turn (and can spend them).  Their value to you is accrued when you play them.

Per the Prosperity rules you must play all treasures you want to use, before you buy cards.  The rules for Mint state:

  If you buy multiple cards in a turn, trash your Treasures right when
  you buy Mint; you still have any leftover coins they produced for spending
  on something else.

So the order would be:

Play 11 coppers
Have 11 coins to spend and 2 buys
Purchase a Mint (have 6 coins left to spend and 1 buy)
Resolve the Mint card and trash all coppers (still have 6 coins and 1 buy to spend)
Purchase Grand Market (valid because no coppers are in play).


What happens when you are unable to move in Stratego? What happens if you are a in a situation in which you are unable to make a valid move in Stratego?
For example what would happen in the following situations:

Your only pieces remaining are the stationary bombs and flag pieces
You have non-stationary pieces, but they are trapped behind your bombs/flags and therefore unable to move

Straight from page 5 of the rules:

  Note: if a player cannot move a piece or strike in his/her turn, they must give up and declare their opponent the winner.

So, yeah, don't set up your bombs and flags in a manner that prevents most of your troops from being movable without the bombs being removed by an opposing miner (that's actually another easily-missed point - the only way for a bomb to leave the board is if a miner hits it. Any other piece is simply lost while the bomb stays). You will be forced to forfeit if you cannot make any move at all.


Do I have to pay for a development card if I have a joker and the card needs only one type of resource? Yesterday I've been introduced to Splendor (awesome game!), and there's one question stuck in my head. In one turn I've run out of options (no resources to collect, nothing to buy), so I reserved a card with a joker token. After some turns I bought it, and payed the full price (4 blue gems), and gave the joker token back.

Only afterwards did I realise that I didn't have to pay since I had the joker token - but does it work like this for a development card that requires only one colour?

Can I reserve a card that only requires one colour, nd then take it in the next turn by only giving the joker token?

From the rules:

Buying a development card
...
A joker token can replace any color.

This means that a Gold Joker token can be used in place of any single other token as part of any purchase.
In particular,

The Joker can be used to purchase a card from the center, not just the one you reserved.
The Joker does not replace all tokens of a given color, just one.

This second point is perhaps not quite clear from that rules quote, but the other interpretation would make them far too powerful. You can confirm that this is how jokers work by experimenting with them in the official app version of the game.


Should Eldritch Tokens only be used as tokens for the original reason they were placed? Eldritch tokens are often used for differing purposes and different mythos cards and effects.  Can they or should they be used generically across all active effects?  Here is an example.

The Cthulhu ancient one spawn Eldritch tokens on any sea space occupied by an investigator when a reckoning effect occurs and the ensuing effect is investigators traveling through these spaces get delayed (stopped in their tracks).  One of the mysteries for this ancient one places Eldritch tokens on each sea space nearest each investigator and allows them to test against it and spend clues toward solving the mystery.

Does this then mean every Eldritch token, whether it was placed by the Cthulhu reckoning effect or this mystery now delays investigators, and every Eldritch token is a candidate for being tested against to progress through the mystery, or do we have to have some way to keep track of which tokens were placed by which mystery/effect?  I can see either approach as being easier or harder in both cases, so using the "harder on investigators" reasoning doesn't work.  The sensible storyline approach argues that the tokens should be unique to the mystery/effect that created them.

I lean toward the sensible story approach but it is rather fantastic to consider that so much is going on in this wild flurry of activity that maybe it is worth simply saying an Eldritch token is simply indistinguishable from any other token once it's placed.

Update: The reference guide indicates that

  When the active Mystery is solved or removed from play, discard all tokens on it or placed by it. Then draw a new Mystery, placing it on top of any solved Mysteries.

so at least there is some maintenance of the eldritch tokens (pulling them off) as these get solved.  I do not know if mythos cards result in eldritch tokens being placed in locations.

Typically, you use a straight forward reading of the rules/instructions in EH. In this case they indicate that the tokens are interchangable.
The mystery you refer to also clearly states that any Eldritch tokens remaining on the board when the mystery is solved should stay on the board. This rather strongly indicates that (in this case at least) it is intended that all Eldritch tokens can be used to resolve the mystery and that you must abide by the travel restrictions on all the (new) tokens that the Cthulhu AO has.
Also, I'm sure that if the intent were other, they would have included alternative tokens. This also hasn't been mentioned in any errata document from the publisher. So, I'd go with the instructions as written.
Further, this correspondence was received from FFG in answer to the question, which seals the ruling:

An Eldritch token is just an Eldritch token. If placed on the board or a card, it has no inherent effect. They act or affect the game as instructed by any effects that reference them. Players are not expected to remember where any given Eldritch token came from.
An Eldritch token placed by a Mystery is exactly the same as an Eldritch token placed by Cthulhu’s reckoning effect. In such a case, Eldritch tokens on the board represent odd happenings or areas under the influence of Cthulhu.


Advance to GO, collect $400? I've recently come back to playing Monopoly, but one thing that's intrigued me is the following card, in the Chance pile.

The wording says "Advance to go (Collect $200)".  Modern versions, like the one I have in my home, are "Advance to GO, Collect $200".

My question is, what exactly does it mean, when it says "Collect $200"?  Since there's also a message on the GO tile, stating "As you pass GO, collect $200", does this mean if I draw the card above, I can collect $400 in one go? $200 from what the card says, and another $200 from the board?

No, you only collect $200 dollars, not $400. From the official rules:

  Each time a player's token lands on or passes over GO, whether by
  throwing the dice or drawing a card, the Banker pays that player a
  $200 salary. The $200 is paid only once each time around the board.

You only land on GO once, so you only get one payout. The message on the card is just to remind you that landing on GO also pays out.

However, there's nothing stopping you playing this variant as a house rule, which is not uncommon:

  According to the official rules each player receives $200 for passing
  Go. However, due to the Chance and Community Chest cards which
  instruct players to Advance to Go and Collect $200 - A popular house
  rule is that you collect $200 for landing on Go plus $200 for actually
  passing Go. Therefore, it is common to pay someone $400 for landing
  directly on Go: $200 for actually landing on Go plus the $200 as an
  advance for their next move when they literally pass Go.


Can an investigator carry more than one weapon? The rule book doesn't say anything specifically about this (or I'm just missing it).  Does anyone know if an investigator can carry more than one weapon and if so, do you choose which weapon you're attacking with during your turn?

From the Attack Action section on page 9:

  Attacking a monster is a common action investigators perform. The
  player selects one of his weapon or attack Spell cards and chooses
  a monster as dictated on the card. Alternatively, an investigator
  may attack a monster in his space using his bare hands.

So an investigator is allowed to possess multiple weapon cards.


Is Heritage Druid's ability limited by summoning sickness? Heritage Druid's ability is:

  Tap three untapped elves, add {G}{G}{G} to your mana pool

Once I play Heritage Druid, can I tap three elves (Heritage Druid being one of them) and get {G}{G}{G} to my mana pool?

Just trying to be specific here, thought that several players might have the same problems and could solve it with this thread. But still, thank you all for reading and trying to answer this problem for me.

According to gatherer it is not impacted by summoning sickness since it doesn't have the tap symbol.

  Since Heritage Druid’s activated ability doesn’t have a tap symbol in its cost, you can tap creatures that haven’t been under your control since your most recent turn began (including Heritage Druid itself) to pay the cost.


If a commander becomes a colorless forest, is it still a commander? In Magic the Gathering, I cast Song of the Dryads on an opponent's commander. It is now a colorless forest land. My opponent has an Angelic Field Marshal on the field which gains power if you control your commander. Is the colorless forest land still my opponent's commander? Does my opponent get the Lieutenant bonus?

It is still your opponents commander and they will get the Lieutenant bonus from the Marshal. This is because being a commander is a property of a card, it doesn't matter if the characteristics of the card have changed at all it will still be their commander.

903.3. Each deck has a legendary creature card designated as its commander. This designation is not a characteristic of the object represented by the card; rather, it is an attribute of the card itself. The card retains this designation even when it changes zones.
Example: A commander that’s been turned face down (due to Ixidron’s effect, for example) is still a commander. A commander that’s copying another card (due to Cytoshape’s effect, for example) is still a commander. A permanent that’s copying a commander (such as a Body Double, for example, copying a commander in a player’s graveyard) is not a commander.


When playing Remodel in Dominion, must you gain a new card? In Dominion, do the rules permit you to use the Remodel card to trash a card without gaining a new one?

For instance, could I just Remodel a Curse without taking an Estate (or other card costing up to 2)?

As a general rule that applies to all of Dominion, you always must follow every instruction on the card you play as long as it is possible to do so. Whenever there is the option to not do something, the card will use the word "may". This means that if you play Moneylender, you are forced to trash a Copper (if you have one), and if you play Smithy, you are forced to draw 3 cards (as long as there are still 3 cards between your deck and discard piles).

So the same goes for Remodel; as long as there is a card costing up to $2 more than the trashed card available, you must gain one (which will always be true unless all Coppers, and Curses, and Estates have already run out).


Child's game where a picture behind a shutter is only visible for a split second I'm looking for the name of a children's game where a picture behind a plastic shutter is visible only for a fraction of a second. The players sitting in front of the shutter then had to guess the picture.

I'm not looking for the game where single parts of a picture are revealed one after the other. The game I have in mind had a simple plastic mechanic, which opened and quickly closed again a shutter while making some clattering noises.

I finally found the game I had in mind. However, the picture is not revealed by a shutter as I originally asked, but by a rotating pole. The cluttering sound is simply induced by the plastic arm moving around.

The game from 1997 is called „Flip-Flap“ and published in Germany by „Ravensburger“.


Multiplayer priority and passing priority I have a question about priority in multiplayer games. The scenario: In multiplayer, someone board wipes and all creatures die and have a 'leaves the battlefield effect' and some of us want to play instants or trigger abilities of creatures about to die. Do we go clockwise or counter-clockwise (solved, clockwise) from the active players turn to put spells and abilities onto the stack to resolve before the board wipe resolves and we all have effects when creatures die or would enter the battlefield?

To summarize,
Board wipe cast, players go clockwise casting spells. If a player casts a spell, can others respond before he casts another spell or do we have to follow clockwise order from the first active player? (CAN ACTIVE PLAYER CHANGE??)
The other part of the scenario, the creatures leaving the battlefield, do people cast on that and can people cast within spells resolving on the stack in the same, priority, order?

After a spell is cast or an ability is activated, the player who did so may retain priority to do something else. When priority is passed, it passes clockwise, to the next player in turn order.

Priority - Since players can cast instants and activate abilities during each other’s turns, the game needs a system that makes sure only one player can do something at a time. Priority determines, at any given time, which player can cast a spell or activate an activated ability.
The active player (the player whose turn it is) gets priority at the beginning of each step and each main phase—except for the untap step and the cleanup step. When you get priority, you can cast a spell, activate an activated ability, or pass (choose to do nothing). If you do something, you keep priority, so you make the same choice again. If you pass, your opponent gets priority, so now he or she gets that choice. This goes back and forth until both players pass in a row.
When both players pass in a row, if there’s a spell or ability waiting on the stack, it resolves. Then the active player gets priority again, and the system repeats. When both players pass in a row, if there’s no spell or ability waiting on the stack, that part of the turn ends and the next one begins.(MtG Basic Rules, Page 30)

So if someone casts a spell, whether it is a board wipe or any other spell, then that player may choose to something else, or pass. If they pass, the next player gets priority. It goes around this way until all players have passed, at which point the top thing on the stack will resolve.
The active player only changes when their turn is over. During a single turn, "active player' always means the player whose turn it is.

102.1. A player is one of the people in the game. The active player is the player whose turn it is. The other players are nonactive players.

This is no different in 2 player or multiplayer (of course in 2 player, clockwise just means "the other player").
Also note that in a tournament (and often in casual play), when you cast a spell or activate an ability, you are assumed to be passing priority unless specifically stated otherwise. So if you want to cast a spell and then cast something else before your opponents can respond, you must say that you are retaining priority as part of casting the spell.


Yu-Gi-Oh!: If monarch Caius or Raiza is flipped face up its effect activate? Let's say I have Caius or Raiza in hand. Then I tribute summoned Caius/Raiza but set it face down.

Q1- If next turn I flip it face up in Attack position, does it's effect activate?

Q2- If opponent attacks my set face-down Caius/Raiza, does it's effect activate?

Q3- What if I tribute summoned Caius/Raiza (its effect activated normally), then used Book of Moon to flip it face down, then flipped it face up in Attack position again, does its effect activate again?

For their effects to activate they must be tribute summoned. In this case you (tribute)set them. Therefore, you won't be able to use their effects.


Where does the term "sacred discard" come from? In most variants of Mahjong with restrictions on when a player can complete their hand off a discarded tile (especially Japanese Mahjong with furiten), the English rules refer to the situation as a "sacred discard". This confuses me, because the kanji etymology for furiten (振聴) seems to mean something more like "thrown-away tenpai" (as in 振り聴牌, furi-tenpai), and no other variant that I know of has a specific word for it like Japanese does.

Where did the term "sacred discard" come from, in that case? Was it just a culturally interpretive term invented by English-speaking players? Or does this term actually exist in some variant?

I do not know the answer, but I asked in a experienced Mahjong group I'm in, kindly received a most valuable pointer and was subsequently able to extend it to this answer:

  Was it just a culturally interpretive term invented by English-speaking players?

Probably. An online search brough up http://i.imgur.com/crKOGnw.png (A Mah Jong Handbook: How to Play, Score, and Win, https://books.google.de/books?isbn=1462905005), which is from 1964 and may be a root source others copied from.

Note that Mahjong was introduced to Japan only in 1924, so it took some time for it to divert from the Chinese rules (and create Riichi), and further more for it to be adapted into English and into books. That this took about 40 years is not unlikely.

From the group's reaction it also appears that, depending where and with whom you play Mahjong, there is a fair chance you won't encounter the term 'sacred discard' at all, even though Wikipedia uses it occasionally (especially in introductory articles). Personally, I've also always seen, heard and used the original furiten instead (but I am not a regular player, so that amounts to not much).


Would Steam/Age of Steam benefit from a non-constrained set of tiles Steam and Age of Steam provide a finite set of tiles, and the rules explicitly mention that if a certain type of tile runs out then it is effectively unavailable anymore -- unless a tile comes back after being replaced by another one.

This rule seems quite artificial, as in real life there shouldn't be any problems creating any kind of track as the train line is being built. The original designer Martin Wallace himself wrote that this constraint was artificial and tried to create a "friendly" set of tiles.

I do agree that it is currently part of the game and I sometimes use it myself to get rid of some particular tiles so that my opponents may not use them.

Some expansion maps (e.g., Sun) were designed with the limited set of tracks in mind, as an important aspect of that map.

However for most maps I sometimes wonder if we could just forget this limitation, provided that there's a way to create missing tiles as needed.

So what do you think? What would be the pros and cons of relaxing this rule. Also, how would you implement an "infinite" supply of tiles?

One step towards implementing a wider set of tiles, without adding pieces, would be to allow players to swap tiles on the board if it doesn't change their top face. In a small but significant fraction of situations, the tile you need exists as the unused bottom side of a tile already on the table. Within the rules, I have encountered at least one scenario in which the game outcome was changed by my being able to "waste" money upgrading an apparently random tile on the board just to recover the other side of that tile for the move I actually want/need to make.


Cloudshifting an existing Fiend hunter The trick that involves Cloudshifting or Unsummoning (or any similar effect) a card with the Oblivion Ring effect (most commonly in current standard is Fiend Hunter) to permanently exile a creature is well-known to even mildly experienced players, and questions related to it are relatively common on forums.

Recently, I've had a player claim that, at the time that a recent GP was played in my hometown, he was told by a judge that this trick will also work on a Fiend Hunter that has been on the battlefield since the beginning of the turn with a creature that is already exiled. This supposedly results into a permanently exiled creature (the originally exiled one) and a second, "temporary" exile.

Since I have never seen anyone claim so or ask the question, I find myself having to ask because, well, let's just say that the "judge aura" is not exactly helping me making my arguments here, and I am much less experienced than the other player. My only theory is that there was some miscommunication and the judge assumed this was the classic, constantly-asked question about a Fiend Hunter cloudshifted as it enters the battlefield.

I'm unsure what the judge was talking about, and how this "trick" explained works.

The well-known "trick" takes advantage of the fact that the Fiend Hunter has two triggered abilities. One that triggers when it enters the battlefield, and one that triggers when it leaves the battlefield.

If you trigger the second ability before the first resolves, the first will still resolve but the exiled card will no longer be linked to the Fiend Hunter because it has left the battlefield (if you used an unsummon effect) or because the original Fiend Hunter permanent no longer exists (if you used a flicker effect, when Fiend Hunter returns to play it is a new object and has no relation to the previous Fiend Hunter which triggered the first ability.)

However, if the Fiend Hunter has been on the battlefield linked to an exiled creature since the start of turn, the second ability's trigger will be placed on the stack when it leaves play. At that point nothing short of a Stifle or similar ability will stop the exiled creature from returning to play.

As Pow-lan mentions in a comment, a possible scenario the judge was referring to is that you use two Cloudshift spells (or other flicker effects), where you "reset" the Fiend Hunter with the first, thus allowing the first ability to trigger again when it returns to play, and then remove it from play with the second before the first ability resolves… but that seems pretty obvious.


Black Market and game setup In a game where Black Market is being used what happens to the setup phase of cards in the Black Market deck?

In particular if the Black Market deck contains a card such as Young Witch or Trade Route when is the setup for those cards performed?

The setup phase of Young Witch introduce an 11th kingdom card pile. Will this pile be available in every game with a Young With in the Black Market deck, even if the Young With has not yet been revealed?

Trade Route requires a coin on every victory supply pile and these being moved to the Trade Route mat as cards are being gained. Do these coin movements happen before the Trade Route is revealed from the Black Market deck?

I can imagine a few possible answers, but I haven't found any official answer:

Setup for every card in the Black Market deck is done at the start of the game.
Setup is done when the card is revealed from the Black Market deck.
Setup is done when the card is bought from the Black Market deck.
Setup is never done. (This would make Trade Route almost worthless and Young Witch a bit more powerful)

It is the first option; all setup things are done at the start of a game. A card being in the Black Market deck acts just like a card in the Supply for this purpose.

Strangely enough, this rule is not listed in the official Black Market FAQ. But it is listed in several other places.

From the Cornucopia rulebook:

  If you are using the promotional card Black Market, and Young Witch is in the Black Market deck, put out a Bane pile for Young Witch.

From the Baker FAQ in the Guilds rulebook:

  In games using this card, each player starts the game with a Coin token. This includes games using the promo card Black Market in which Baker is in the Black Market deck.

From the Alchemy rulebook:

  Also add the Potion pile if you are using the promotional card Black Market, and the Black Market deck includes at least one card with [P] in the cost. If you do not have any cards with [P] in the cost in the Supply or in the Black Market deck, do not use the Potion pile in this game.

From the Trade Route FAQ in the Prosperity rulebook:

  If you are using Black Market and Trade Route is in the
  Black Market deck, put tokens on Victory card piles at the start of the game.

Although the Nocturne rulebook does not mention using an Heirloom when the appropriate card is in the Black Market, Donald X confirmed that you do:

  Everyone's favorite rules question: If these kingdom cards are in the Black Market deck, are the Heirlooms used?

    I recommend not putting them in the Black Market deck, but yes, you do all setup for Black Market deck cards.

Similarly, the Dark Ages rulebook does not mention Black Market, but if there are any Looters in the Black Market deck, then you include Ruins in the Supply.

Note that if Young Witch is in the Black Market deck; Black Market itself cannot be the Bane card; because the Bane has to be a newly added 11th pile.


Can Shapesharer copy an enters the battlefield ability, like Stoneforge Mystic's? If I use Shapesharer to copy Stoneforge Mystic do I get to search my library for an Equipment card when I perform the copy?

No. Shapesharer does not enter the battlefield when its ability resolves: it was already in play. Stoneforge Mystic's ability only triggers when it enters the battlefield.

Of course, you could use the Shapesharer-Mystic's activated ability after resolving the copy effect.

Note that if you used a different copy card such as Clone, you would get the Mystic's triggered ability, because the copy effect would replace the regular act of entering the battlefield.


In Ticket to Ride USA, does obtaining longest continuous path of routes highly correlate with winning? It has in the first 15 (mostly 2-3 player) games I've played so far but I'm wondering if this is true in general. Are we missing strategies? Is this less true in 4-5 player games?

Another way of asking the question is whether certain game winning ways (which are perhaps the majority of game winning strategies/tactics) tend to produce longest continuous path (and using up all of your cars) as a by-product. These ways include:

having many 4-6 car routes (requires fewer turns to deploy cars and earns more points)
achieving long path mid game (increases chance for new tickets to mostly overlap)
avoiding a hub-and-spoke network (which traverses less territory)

Yes, obtaining longest continuous path of routes certainly does highly correlate with winning.  It's pretty simple to see why:

Multiple routes that "cooperate" by overlapping are obviously more efficient than short routes in different parts of the board that have nothing to do with each other.
Longer routes are vastly more cost-effective than short routes. A 6-length route takes you one turn to put down and earns 15 points. 6 1-length routes would take you 6 turns to put down and earn a measly 6 points.
As if the inherent advantage of playing long, complementary routes wasn't obvious enough, you even get an additional endgame bonus for having the longest continuous path!

As I suggested in my comment though, you don't have to roll over and let other players build long, efficient routes at their leisure. In my group, sabotage tactics are very common, and if someone  obviously has designs on a long, efficient chain of routes, then building obstructively, or just picking up the colours they have telegraphed they will be needing to collect, can really ruin their day.

I also mentioned what is possibly the strongest deterrent to building long, leisurely routes: the capacity for a player to speed up the end of the game by going out quickly.  The lucrative Los-Angeles-to-New-York mega-route in your hand becomes a huge liability if your opponents block a few key connections in the midwest and then play to run themselves out of trains as quickly as possible.

As such, it's not always good to have a hand of long, valuable, complementary routes at the start of the game: a couple of seemingly unambitious short routes may be enough to win the game, if you play to go out as fast as possible and are the only one to have completed all the routes in your hand.  Lumbering your opponents with big negative points can be just as good as working hard to score those points yourself: all's fair in love and trains...


Does the Town Hall count toward the Architect mission? In Vikings Gone Wild, The Architect Mission requires the player to have built 5 different types of buildings. Does the Town Hall count as one of those types?

Just got the answer straight from the Publisher on BGG:

  Excellent question! No it does not!


What is a good strategy for selecting commons and uncommons for trade folders? I recently came into several large collections of Magic cards that I am looking through for trade stock, obviously cards such as Counterspell tend to be good trade stock even though they are common; however, what is a good strategy for going through the rest of the cards? Are their certain abilities or creature types that I should look for or is it best to just look for what is still legal in Standard?

There are really three distinct things you're looking for:

Playability in Standard
Playability in Vintage/Legacy
Playability in EDH/Commander and other popular variants

The first two are actually fairly easy to gauge; the more playable a card is, the higher its price is (typically).  Use something like Magic.TCGPlayer, http://magiccards.info/, or another pricing site to look up your cards and see if they're of value.  Alternatively, you could look up lists for the most playable (read: highest value) common/uncommon cards in those formats and look for those cards specifically.

The third option is a little more difficult; since EDH decks are built with 100 cards with no more than 1 of any given card (besides basic lands), lots of commons and uncommons are more popular and playable than in Vintage/Legacy.  I'd recommend looking up lists of common and uncommon EDH staples and seeing what cards you might have.

The key thing you're looking for really in any card is the effect-to-mana-cost ratio.  Cards like Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt, Mana Leak, Terminate, Sensei's Divining Top - things that are cheap with powerful effects are really what see play.


Medomai's Prophecy Repeated I have a few related questions about Medomai's Prophecy, which has the relevant Chapter abilities:

II - Choose a card name.
III - When you cast a spell with the chosen name for the first time this turn, draw two cards.

Suppose the second Chapter ability triggers twice, perhaps through clockspinning, and that I name the same card both times. Later, the third Chapter ability triggers and cast a spell with the chosen name. Do I draw two cards or four?
Same setup as question 1, except I choose different names. Later, the third Chapter ability triggers again. How many cards would I draw if I cast just a spell with the first name? Just a spell with the second name? Both?
Does copying the second Chapter ability, such as with Strionic Resonator, have the same end result as 1 and 2?
Suppose I have already named a card for Medomai's Prophecy's second ability, and then have Copy Enchantment enter as a copy of it. Does the new enchantment 'remember' the named card?

Partial answer...

Yes. There is no meaningful difference between an ability triggering twice because of Clockspinning, and a triggered ability being copied because of Strionic Resonator. Either way, the triggered ability has resolved 2 separate times. Note that the choice of card name is only made when the ability resolves, so it will not have been made yet while the ability is on the stack and being copied.
No, the chosen value is not a copyable attribute of Medomai's Prophecy:

  706.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The “copiable values” are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and “as . . . is turned face up” abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied.

For 1 and 2, the relevant rules are in 607, Linked Abilities. The 2 abilities are linked:

  607.2d If an object has an ability printed on it that causes a player to “choose a [value]” and an ability printed on it that refers to “the chosen [value],” “the last chosen [value],” or similar, those abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to a choice made as a result of the first ability.

However, while rule 607.3 deals with what happens when an ability refers to "the exiled card", and multiple cards have been exiled; there does not seem to be a similar rule to deal with "the chosen value" when multiple values have been chosen.


Can Bloodrush be countered with an instant that destroys attacking creature? The Setup:

It is my opponent's turn. He has an Elvish Mystic on the field (1/1). He declares his Elvish Mystic as an attacker, then activates his Ghor-Clan Rampager's Bloodrush ability from his hand, with the target being his attacking Elvish Mystic.

My Response:

I have a Wring Flesh in my hand and the mana to cast it. I target his Elvish Mystic.

Outcomes/Question:

If my instant does not take precedence, Elvish Mystic becomes a 5/5 from Bloodrush, then drops to a 2/4 from Wring Flesh.

If my instant takes precedence, this means the Elvish Mystic ends up in the graveyard.

What happens to the Ghor-Clan Rampager? Does Ghor-Clan Rampager still cast Bloodrush (on an invalid target) and get discarded, or does it remain in his hand without activating?

The blood rush card fizzles and goes to the graveyard.

To answer the question in the title: Yes.

Your understanding is correct. Since your Wring Flesh is on the stack above the bloodrush card, then it happens before the bloodrush is applied.

Since the card's bloodrush ability was activated, it is discarded. The first part of the bloodrush ability says the card is to be discarded.


Canasta - picking up stock pile My partner and I had a canasta of 9s and I had a pickup which contained three 9s which I held in my hand to use as fairly safe discards because the pack was frozen.  I used one of them and then my opponent threw a 9.  Could I pick up the pile with the pair of 9s I had in my hand?

Yes, you can do that. From the rules:

  UNFREEZING THE DISCARD PILE

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

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


Help Identify: 2-player Kingdom building Board Game with role selection This is based off of a review that I remember seeing, and I've never been able to find it again, nor remember its name. I believe that the game was originally Japanese with English rules, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

It was a 2-player duel game where you would have a handful of identical cards that corresponded to worker cards that would grant you various powers. The active player would select three workers and put them face down, then the opposing player would also pick the three roles they thought would be selected. Both players reveal, and if the defending player guessed any workers correctly, the active player doesn't get those cards' powers for the round.

After that, the active player gets the powers of any cards that weren't chosen, gains resources, and can spend them on miscellaneous cards with the end goal to buy two of the three major cards that I think were castles. First player to buy two wins.

There is also one upgraded copy of each of the workers that were available to buy, which would replace the main worker but could still be cancelled by a defender like normal.

Does anyone know which game I'm trying to describe?

After doing some searching on BGG, I think it's Greedy Kingdoms by Japon Brand. AEG mentioned in 2013 that they plan to release it, but I don't believe there's been further news of a Western release. The game was restyled and included in the Princess Wonder game collection. The English rules can be found here.

As you say, the game is won by building two "Royal Palace" upgrades. There are four resource types: gold, food, honor and land.

Each turn, the current player is the attacker. They may build an upgrade (from the four face-up which replenish, or the pile of three Royal Palaces) or buy a special worker, which replaces and upgrades a basic worker from their hand of eight.

They then battle, secretly selecting three of their eight characters while the defender does the same. The attacker must pay the costs of any matched cards but gains none of their benefits. They then play their unmatched cards, paying the costs and gaining the income.


What can I do with my late game mana in Commander I'm building some EDH decks and I keep running into a problem - lots of mana, no spells to cast. Now, this is moderately acceptable, but only because my opponents are often in the same state.

It seems if I could do something with this mana, I would have the edge. But there seem to be very few mechanics that exist on enough cards to create a theme, but are efficient enough to be worth while. In fact, the only one I've really found is firebreathing. But that's not viable for any non-mono-red deck.

What mechanics are mana dumps that are plentiful enough to bake into an EDH theme? Do the effects even need to synergize, or should I just take random efficient mana dumps as they come?

I agree with the other answers, when the problem is "lots of mana, no spells to cast" the most obvious answer is "draw more spells somehow".

But I thought I'd take a look at the problem from a slightly different angle: if your deck consistently has more mana than spells to cast, maybe the problem is the deck's mana curve.

An ideal mana curve means you constantly have spells to cast, and the spells your draw and have in hand get more and more powerful as your mana base builds. Maybe your deck has too many cheap spells but not enough expensive threats?

But if you go too far, early in the game you don't have enough mana to play the spells in hand. However, there are many keywords in magic that help you "cheat" on your mana curve by increasing the power of your spells or increasing your card advantage when you spend a little extra.

Keywords that help:

Cycling: Cast a big spell later, or ramp/replace the card early if you don't yet have the mana base.
Kicker/Multikicker, Replicate, Echo: Spend extra mana for a bigger effect.
Buyback: Easy way to get more spells? Don't put the cast spell in the graveyard. :)
Flashback, Retrace, Unearth: Another way to get more spells? After they hit your graveyard, cast them again.
Evoke: You can play something big later, or gain advantage early.
Forecast: You can play something big later, and gain advantage early.
Miracle: You can play something big later — or if you're lucky, sooner.
Suspend: You can play something big later or… uh… later.
Cumulative upkeep: Arctic Nishoba or Magmatic Core might be nice.
Level up: Make your board stronger.

I'm sure there are more… but that's a start.


Number Wheel/0-9 Decagon gear for board game? Is there a 0-9 number wheel / plastic decagon thing available for board game construction?

I previously asked a question about possible techniques for tracking multiple variables. Here I am asking specifically about the feasibility of making a board which has little rotating decagons (about 25-50 of them), each of which cover the values 0-9, just like this picture  or this one.

Is there anywhere I can buy tiny decagon plastic rings like the first picture, to implant into a board with a little depth, that can be then be turned?

You're looking for something like this? MTG Cammander's Arsenal 100hp Spindown

These are very expensive, not sure how you'd get them cheaper. I've done a little Googling and come up with nothing. Perhaps you could get them 3D printed by Shapeways

In any case, I'd be concerned about how expensive these are, if you want to implement them across a game you want to sell it will become very prohibitive, and even if you managed to fund the release the game would have to be so expensive it would be hard to sell.

I'd recomened considering other systems, such as counters or even pen and paper. With counters you could provide counters that have various numerical values (in Magic I use little gems I got from China as +1/+1 counters, white = 1, green = 5 and red = 10) and with pen and paper you could provide wipe clean cards.

EDIT

I'm concerned that even if you can make these work the board will be very chunky, making for bigger boxes and further logistical issues. Here's another idea I just had: 3 disks of varying sizes, made of cardboard, with numbers printed on them, that can be pinned flat to the tile:

This would take up less space and allow other things to be placed on the tile, as well as being vastly cheaper. The player would just turn the wheels to align with the arrow (perhaps better to have the arrow on the left hand side)


Can Sarkhan, Fireblood pay for Mirror Image if it copies a dragon? Sarkhan, Fireblood has a +1 loyalty ability that reads:

  Add two mana in any combination of colors. Spend this mana only to cast Dragon spells.

Mirror Image is not a dragon but reads:

  You may have Mirror Image enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature you control.

If you control a creature with the Dragon type, can you use Sarkhan's ability to pay for the Mirror Image?

No, you cannot pay for Mirror Image with that mana generated by Sarkhan.

The ability on Mirror Image modifies how Mirror Image enters the battlefield. You decide that at the time that the Mirror Image spell resolves. But you pay for the spell earlier, when it's just a Mirror Image, and not a dragon.


If Gray Merchant dies and is revived by something like Undying Evil, does it repeat it's loss of life when it is revived? If Gray Merchant dies and is revived by something like Undying Evil, does it repeat it's loss of life when it is revived?

Also, if you used a card like Twilight's Call and he was revived with a bunch of other black creatures would the other revived black creatures count towards your devotion?

Thanks.

Question 1. Yes, he enters the battle field and thus his ability triggers.

Question 2: Yes, you use the devotion at the time the spell resolves.

A ruling on Gray merchant of asphodel has this:

  If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that
  depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana
  symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control
  as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be
  counted if it’s still on the battlefield at that time.


Are bonus jewels discarded after use? In The Hobbit: Enchanted Gold, you use jewels to defeat enemies. Step 2 of the "Make Encounters" says that you have to return the regular jewels you used to the bag:

  When you defeat one of the adversaries, return the required jewels for the encounter to the bag and place the defeated Encounter card face up in front of you if it shows one or more bonus jewels.

What do you if you used a bonus jewel to defeat the enemy? Since it's a card, you can't put it in the bag. Do you flip it face down? Do you keep it for subsequent rounds?

You turn the card over after using it.

While this isn't explicitly covered in the main rules, there's an example of play at the end of the rules that clarifies the issue. In the example, Gollum and Orcs are used for bonus gems, and then turned over.

The German rules can be found here, and have the example "Beispeil" on page 7. It ends with:

  „Gollum“ und „Orks“ werden umgedreht. ("Gollum" and "Orks" are turned around.")

This is also in the unofficial English rules translation.


What came first? Last Card or Uno? Which game came first?  According to Wikipedia, Uno was invented in 1971, but I cannot find anything giving a date for Last Card

Crazy Eights was a very old game when I first played it in the early '60's.

Making a special deck to help remember the abilities of each rank (ie selling UNO) is brilliant entrepreneurship and marketing, but not a new game.


Has Counterspell always been able to target any spell on the stack? I read this question What spells can be countered? on HNQ and was quite surprised.

It is a long time I played MtG, but some 10+ years ago I was a somewhat enthusiastic player in our local town, participated in a number of official prereleases.

It is possible I am mixing something up, but has it always been that Counterspell could target (technically) any card on stack?

As far as I remember, the players down here used Counterspell as if it only could target sorcery and instant spells on stack. So you couldn't target e.g. a creature or artifact while it was being played. It's been a long time though.

Dark Ritual was printed as a 'Mana Source' rather than an instant from Mirage to Urza's Saga. Back then, Counterspell was an interrupt, which was something of an 'instant-but-faster'. You could not counter mana sources like Dark Ritual because they were 'too fast', just like you can't counter a mana ability under today's rules. However, creatures (back then, 'Summon [creature type]' cards) have always been vulnerable to Counterspell and its ilk.

Some more information about how the rules worked back then can be found in the 2002 article 'Rules, Interrupted' by Ben Bleiweiss on wizards.com.


Anticipate in response to instant So I was playing in a standard tournament for fun the other day, I was playing red white black mardu warriors against white blue control.

I played Crackling Doom forcing him to sacrifice his only creature after he assigned his blocker.

He responded to my Crackling Doom by playing an Anticipate. He then proceeded to look at the top three cards, took one (which was a counterspell or something, whatever it was, it countered my Crackling Doom), he said that he could play it on the stack after having drawn it.

I said that he couldn't, but he proceeded to tell me like 3 times it was on the stack, but he didn't believe me. Doesn't the Anticipate have to resolve before he can even look at his top three cards?

He can do that. And Anticipate does have to resolve before he can look at his top 3 cards. When he played Anticipate in response to your Crackling Doom, it went on top of the stack, with Crackling Doom under it. The stack resolves from top to bottom, so his Anticipate would resolve first. After it resolves, he still has a chance to cast more instants while Crackling Doom is still on the stack.
These are the specific steps that happened:

You have priority; you cast Crackling Doom. You pass priority.
He has priority. He casts Anticipate.
You both pass priority, causing the top spell on the stack to resolve.
After Anticipate resolves, you as the active player get priority again. You could cast an instant here; in this case you pass priority.
He has priority, he casts an instant that he got from Anticipate.
You both pass priority, causing his new instant to resolve.
You both pass priority again. If Crackling Doom is still on the stack (if his spell isn't a counter spell), NOW Crackling Doom resolves.

The specific rules about this:

116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.
116.3c If a player has priority when he or she casts a spell, activates an ability, or takes a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player's mana pool, he or she announces what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.
116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.


How are Swindler's effects resolved in a multiplayer game? I play Swindler in a 3-player game.  Does each player reveal, trash, and gain in turn order, or all reveal, then trash and gain in turn order?

I was thinking that it would matter in the following situation: the player to my left reveals and trashes a Province, so I give him another Province.  This triggers the Fool's Gold in the hand of the next player in turn order.  At this point, would he have already revealed the top card for Swindler, or, since he comes after the player who revealed the Province, is he able to use his Fool's Gold to put a gold on top in time for Swindler to hit it?

Each player reveals, trashes, and gains in turn order. The relevant text of Swindler is:

  Each other player trashes the top card of his deck and gains a card with the same cost that you choose.

In Dominion, you do each instruction in order. The convention is that each instruction is one sentence. For Swindler, the instruction is "trash and gain." Having multiple parts of a single instruction is common in Dominion. For instance, the Bureaucrat uses the same construction. In resolving Bureaucrat, the first player must reveal a Victory card and put it on top of their deck, then the second player does both of those things, then the third.

If Swindler wanted everyone to trash, and then everyone to gain, it would have to be written as two separate sentences, and it would be a really messy wording to make sure that the cost of the gained card matches the cost of the card trashed from that player's deck.


Can "loss of life" abilities be triggered by combat and/or direct damage? When taking combat or direct damage, this is not the same as loss of life, right? Yes, your life total goes down. But some cards have activated abilities when "loss of life" happens. For example, if I get dealt combat damage, this would not trigger a "loss of life" ability, correct?

I'm not sure to which card you're referring, but consider the wording of Archfiend of Despair:

  At the beginning of each end step, each opponent loses life equal to the life that player lost this turn. (Damage causes loss of life.)

So combat damage and direct damage do cause loss of life. One of the main differences is that there are several cards preventing combat and/or direct damage, but only very few prevent loss of life (usually worded as 'your life total can't change').


Does Bear Umbra trigger if it was attached with Sovereigns of Lost Alara? Say I have Sovereigns of Lost Alara and attack just with Inkwell Leviathan. Sovereigns of Lost Alara lets me search for an aura and attach it to that creature.
If I attach Bear Umbra does the creature's new attack trigger trigger?
On Ilharg, the Raze-Boar the rules say:

Although the new creature is attacking, it was never declared as an attacking creature (for the purposes of abilities that trigger whenever a creature attacks, for example, such as those of Trusted Pegasus and Makeshift Battalion).
(2019-05-03)

It seems as though this is a roughly similar case, because the creature is declared an attacker before the aura is attached, but I don't know if it's close enough or if the aura can look back at the card's previous state?

Bear Umbra's ability triggers when the creature it enchants is declared as an attacker. That happens at the same moment Sovereigns' ability triggers, so by definition it's too late for Bear Umbra. You have more luck next turn.

508.1. First, the active player declares attackers. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. To declare attackers, the active player follows the steps below, in order. ...

508.2. Second, the active player gets priority. (See rule 117, “Timing and Priority.”)

508.2b Any abilities that triggered on attackers being declared or that triggered during the process described in rules 508.1 are put onto the stack before the active player gets priority; the order in which they triggered doesn’t matter. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)


Rummikub buying two jokers Can I buy Two joker's and use them with two cubes from my hand?  For example. 3 j j 6.
Or is it necessary to have two cubes for each joker?

From these rules:

  A joker that has been replaced must be used in the player's same turn with 2 or more tiles from his rack to make a new set.

So if you have retrieved a joker from another set, you must place it with tiles from your rack (this can also be a joker). Which could be interpreted as place the retrieved joker in a set using only tiles from your hand.

I know it does not explicitly says you can not use tiles from the table, but the "with 2 or more tiles from his rack to make a new set" is clear enough for me.

Of course, you can always add house rules. Or the rummikub set/edition you have may have different rules.


What are the rules for Zombivors? A friend got some new survivors with Zombivors (zombified survivors) on the back side of their character card.  But there are no rules explaining how to play a Zombivor!  What are the rules for Zombivors?

When does a survivor turn into a Zombivor?
Which "side" does a Zombivor play for?
Do they have free will?
Do the Zombivor skills replace the survivor skills?  (Does XP start over from 0?)

The official rules for Zombivors are now available here.

Quick recap:

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

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

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


End of Times Summoning Spells My friend and I have played several games of End of Times now and I was re-reading the rules for summoning units. I am sure that you can only summon something from the undead legions list... however I can't find it in the rules!

Is it legal for a wizard using the Lore of Undeath to summon a unit/character/monster (depending on the spell) from an army other than the Undead Legions (with a few exceptions Vampires/Tomb Kings)?

If not where does it state restrictions on what can be summoned?

It says it in the spell description. On page 15 of the Nagash book each spell states what type can be summoned and can only be "selected from the Undead Legioins army list (page 20).

Hope that helps.


What happens when two cards both modify what I'm allowed to do? Suppose my opponent has Teferi, Time Raveler in play, and I have a Leyline of Anticipation. The former says I can only cast spells any time I could cast a sorcery, and the latter says I can cast spells any time I could cast an instant.

In this case, looking it up on Oracle gave me a direct answer in the past rulings: Teferi's ability overrides the Leyline's.

But is this just an arbitrary decision? When cases like this come up, how can I decide which effect wins out without searching for specific rulings on each combination? As a general rule, when something like this happens in play, how should I figure out the result?

But is this just an arbitrary decision?

No, it's not.

That specific interaction is governed by one of Magic's "Golden Rules", specifically CR 101.2, which states:

  101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.
  Example: If one effect reads “You may play an additional land this turn” and another reads “You can’t play lands this turn,” the effect that precludes you from playing lands wins.

This is valid for any interaction of this kind. Therefore, the answer to your question is that the effect preventing you from taking an action has precedence over the effect allowing you to take that action.


Initial meld and additional pair of same rank I have the following cards:  2,A,A,A,8,8,8,8,8,8,J,J AND 3. I need 120 for my initial meld.  My opponent throws an 8 on to the discard pile.  We have always played that I could make the initial meld using:
2,A,A,A and 8,8,8,8 = 120 and then pick up the discard pile with the pair of 8s remaining in my hand.  My opponent said this was an illegal move.  Could you please clarify this for me?

Yes, you can do this, but you have the order wrong. You don’t first meld, and then pick up the discard pile. You need you first show 2 8s from your hand, and lay them down along with the enough other cards so that the total meld is at least 120, which can incude the value of the 8 from the discard pile as well.

From these rules:

  Therefore, in order to achieve the minimum count, you must either meld entirely from your hand after drawing from the stock, or you must use two natural cards from your hand which match the top card of the discard pile. In this second case, you can count the value of the top discard, along with the cards you play from your hand in this and any other melds, towards the minimum count. You cannot count any other cards in the pile which you may intend to add in the same turn.


Combining Ascension expansions: tokens and boards The original Ascension (CoTG) includes 50 tokens/beads and is playable by 4 people. Expansions such as Immortal Heroes include 30 more tokens, allowing for up to 6 players. Storm of Souls is said to be a complete game for up to 4 players, including a new board and 50 more tokens.

My questions are:

is it possible to group two expansions and play with 8 people, or that's just too crazy / impossible?
buying two expansions, can I simply trash the additional tokens and keep a number around 80 for the 6 players? On average it seems 50 tokens/4 players would turn into 75/6 players, but I'm unsure if token rules change.
Do I need the new board from Storm of Souls or can I keep the original one? It seems it has a space for the new Event cards, but little besides that - unsure, though.

In my opinion:

I don't think there are any any interactions between sets to-date that would make this impermissible, but this might be inadvisable.  Consider that cards with set-specific interactions will become more ineffective as you combine sets with different mechanics (as the odds of useful interactions decreases, the value of those cards decrease).
Sure, but less tokens-per-player will presumably mean less cards and turns-per-player, so decks that excel in the short-term will win more often than decks that take a while to build out. I'm thinking "kill-the-monsters" type decks will be favored over "invest in the longer term"-type decks.
All of the Ascension games that I'm aware of can be played without boards altogether - they just suggest a physical layout for different types of cards.


How to use big fun 'play the lottery' card In the Monopoly-like/clone America-in-a-Box (and other *-opolies by Late for the Sky), when I play the card "Play the Lottery!", if I choose "three" as my number, then if I rolled a 3 on the first die and a 4 on second die, is it possible to count only the first die to collect my prize or do I need to count the total of both dice to continue?

Given you can only choose the range of numbers that can be made by adding the values from a pair of standard Monopoly dice, and that no other rules in Monopoly use a single dice for their actions (at least, as far I am aware), then it's heavily implied you need to use the total of both dice here.


Is there an extensive source where one can look up artworks of Magic: The Gathering expansions? I'm interested in looking up some of the artworks found on Magic: The Gathering cards. Is there a website where card art is featured, preferably in higher definition than on the various card search engines? I am highly interested in artworks from the Coldsnap expansion, where you seem to find little in terms of artworks.

Wizards releases some of the card arts in larger size in their wallpaper gallery, however I didn't see any Coldsnap art in there.

Other than that I would suggest seeing if the artist for the card you are looking for has their own website, since the artists do retain some right to their artwork. For example John Avon and Steve Arglye are both artists for Magic that have some of the artwork they've done at higher resolutions.


Where can I find the rules for Word Thief? I recently inherited a handful of games from a family member. One of those games happened to be Word Thief. When I sat down to play, I realized that the rulebook had been lost or was not included in the box. Is there anywhere that I can go to find the rulebook for this game?

The publisher appears to be Faby, which doesn't seem to have any sort of web presence.

Rules for playing wordthief

Wordthief is a game for two to four players. The object of the game is to make or steal as many words as possible to acquire points. The game is over when the deck has been fully dealt and one player has used all his cards or no player is able to make or steal another word.
The Wordthief deck contains 108 cards: 104 letter cards and 4 Jokers. Each of the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs) contains 26 cards.  Each of those cards has a value of from 1 to 10, based on the frequency of the letter’s usage in the English language.

A full game with four players tables about 50 minutes. If only two people are playing, the deck may be cut in half for a shorter game.

Getting started

The deck is cut and each player turns over a card. The player with the letter closest to A goes first. The cards are then returned to the deck and the deck is shuffled.
Each player is dealt seven cards face down.
A card is dealt face up to serve as the trump suit. It will be picked up as the last card from the deck.

Beginning the game

The first player uses the letters in his hand to make a word listed in a standard English dictionary. Any word of two letters or more is permitted.  Exceptions are abbreviations and words requiring hyphens, apostrophes or capital letters.
The value of all the letters in the word made is added up and registered under the player’s name on the score pad or the player takes the equivalent value in chips.
Words made in more than one suit can be stolen by other players. If a player steals your word, he also takes the point value of that word. If all the cards used in a word are of the same suit, the word is wordlocked and cannot be stolen by other players. Wordlocked words receive double points, triple points if the word is in the trump suit.
The player who has made a word replenishes his cards. Players must have at least seven cards in their hands.
Play passes to the left. The next player must either make a new word from the cards in his hand or steal one complete word from another player. If a player steals a word, he must increase its value by adding letters to it.  He may also increase its value by breaking it into 2 or more words, then adding or subtracting letters until +all* the stolen letters plus at least one from the player’s hand have been used in the new words. The player must use all the letters from the stolen word and each new word made must contain at least one letter from the word that was stolen.
Once a player has created a word, he cannot steal, change, add to or lock that word. Only other players may do so.
As mentioned in rule 5, the value of all the letters is added up and registered under the player’s name on score pad or taken in chips.
A bonus of 5 additional points is awarded for each word of 5 letters or more.  5 bonus points for a 5-letter word, 10 points for a six-letter word and so forth.
If a player is unable to make or steal a word, he loses 5 points, takes another card and misses a turn.
When a word is stolen from a player, the points are registered in the minus column as points lost or chips are returned to the bank.  Bonus points remain with the player.
A Joker is wild and can be used for any letter of any suit in creating, stealing or locking new words.  Jokers have no value.
A player who uses all the cards in his hand (a minimum of seven cards) in one turn receives a bonus of 20 points.

Scoring

White Chips = 1 point
Blue Chips = 5 points
Red Chips = 20 points

Ending the game

The game is over when all the cards, including the face-up trump card, have been dealt and one player has used all of his cards or, when no one can make or steal another word.  Any cards remaining in the players’ hands are subtracted from their scores or the equivalent value in chips returned to the bank.
The player with the highest total, arrived at by adding points (or chips) made and subtracting point wins the game.


Is an artifact creature considered an artifact? Is an artifact creature considered an artifact? For example, can I use Enlightened Tutor to search my deck for an artifact creature?

Yes, an object is all of its types, subtypes, and supertypes at the same time.
A condition on an effect only cares about the stated qualities of the object(s) being true. It does not care about any of its other qualities, they can be whatever they are. Enlightened Tutor lets you search for an artifact or enchantment card; it doesn't care if, as in your example, an artifact card is also a creature.

205.2. Card Types
205.2a The card types are artifact, conspiracy, creature, enchantment, instant, land, phenomenon, plane, planeswalker, scheme, sorcery, tribal, and vanguard. See section 3, “Card Types.”
205.2b Some objects have more than one card type (for example, an artifact creature). Such objects satisfy the criteria for any effect that applies to any of their card types.

Subtypes (such as land types, creature types, etc.) and supertypes (such as legendary, basic etc.) have equivalent rules.


When a permanent has a "When a creature dies" ability, and gets destroyed at the same time as creatures, does that ability trigger? Say I control Fecundity, which states:

  Whenever a creature dies, that creature's controller may draw a card.

If I control 2 creatures and my opponent controls one creature, and I cast Planar Cleansing to wipe the board (including Fecundity), what happens?  Do I get to draw 2 cards?  Does my opponent get to draw 1 card?  Or do neither of us get to draw any?

Both you and your opponent will draw cards, since the game looks back before an event to see if anything would trigger.

  603.6d Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions. [...] However, some triggered abilities must be treated specially. Leaves-the-battlefield abilities, [...] will trigger based on their existence, and the appearance of objects, prior to the event rather than afterward. The game has to "look back in time" to determine if these abilities trigger.

  Example: Two creatures are on the battlefield along with an artifact that has the ability "Whenever a creature dies, you gain 1 life." Someone plays a spell that destroys all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. The artifact's ability triggers twice, even though the artifact goes to its owner's graveyard at the same time as the creatures.

Note that for this to work the destruction must happen at the same time, if you had used Austere Command instead the enchantment would be destroyed before the creatures thus it wouldn't trigger.


Best place around the table in Blackjack I've read a few theories regarding which seat is the best in Blackjack.

I haven't been able to figure out if my own theory is correct. It won't apply to many situations, but when it does, I believe it would be best to be seated just before the dealer.

Theory: Assuming you have 16 and dealer has 11, and is your turn, I would say you best bet is to not take a new card (8/13 cards will result in you busting). However, if you're next to the dealer, you should definitely take a new card. The reason being: if it's between 1 and 5 you will get a better hand. If it's from 6 and up, you will bust, but the dealer would have gotten 17 or up if you didn't take it, thus beating you anyhow. This only applies if you're next to the dealer, (if not, someone else will take the card you didn't take, and the dealer could still get something low and bust on the next card).

I believe this would give you slightly better odds if you're next to the dealer. Am I wrong here? (I see that the advantage would be very small, however, I'm curious if my logic applies here. Any views?

You are correct that the best seat is just before the dealer.

The reason for this is that you get extra information before deciding whether to hit or stay. Keep in mind that in your example, you would still have the same decision whether to hit or stay when sitting on a 16 and the dealer showing 11. The only difference, is that sitting to he right of the dealer allows you to see more cards if more than one person is playing and adjust the odds of drawing a particular card.


In Munchkin, can someone who doesn't participate in a combat play cards that benefit a player who is fighting a monster? This situation happened in our friendly game where 2 players had feelings for each other and were keen on helping each other. Because we already had a house rule in play that limited the amount of times someone could offer their help, eventually they couldn't legally help each other. However, when a player A was fighting a monster, player B who was not in that combat, played "-5 to a Monster", thus making player A win. Player A was not on level 9, so the result wouldn't end the game, but I felt it was against the rules. However when they argued with me, I couldn't find anything in the rules that would explicitly say Munchkins can't help each other outside of combat. Any words about "the competitive spirit" wouldn't matter to them.

You can absolutely play cards to help other players, even when not involved in combat

From the rules (direct PDF link)

  You can interfere with others’ combats in several ways, including:

  Use a one-shot card. You could help another player by using a
  one-shot to strengthen his side. Of course, you can “accidentally”
  strengthen the monster with it, instead . . .

Emphasis mine


How can I reorder triggered abilities in Arena? Suppose I have Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma and Bishop of Binding in play. When my creatures attack, I want the Bishop's ability to resolve first (targetting himself), so that he's big enough to get Goreclaw's bonus.

How do I make that happen in Arena? The Oracle rulings on Goreclaw seem to say it's possible ("If another creature has an ability that changes its power when it attacks […] you may have that ability resolve before Goreclaw’s last ability."), but I haven't figured out how to actually accomplish it.

You can enable or disable automatic ordering of triggered abilities and other decisions in the Options -> Gameplay menu, available through the gear symbol in game and out of game.


If you are moved to a location with a clue do you pick it up? In Arkham Horror I was moved by an encounter to another location. This location had a clue on it, should I have picked up the clue?

This question isn't covered in the Arkham Horror FAQ. The rule book lists two different ways of picking up Clue tokens. The first is when you end your movement in a location that contains a Clue token, or when a Clue token is placed in your location from a Mythos card. I think that if you were moved to a location with a Clue token you could claim it, but it isn't definitive in my mind. Edit: some discussion on BGG indicate that this was probably an oversight, and will likely be corrected in the forthcomming FAQv2. This is similar to how the Mythos collection of Clue token was corrected in later versions of the rulebook and in the current FAQ. This is just conjecture at this point though, so officially you cannot collect Clue tokens after being moved via an enounter.

In the rulebook under Phase II: Movement (page 8):

  Picking Up Clues - Any time an investigator ends his movement in a location that contains Clue tokens, he may immediately take any or all of those Clue tokens. The investigator may not take any Clue tokens if he merely moves through the location and then continues his movement: He must end his movement in the location containing the Clue tokens.

Later on in the instructions under Phase V: Mythos (page 10):

  Place Clue Token - Most mythos cards indicate a location where a Clue token appears. Place a Clue token on the indicated location unless there is an open gate there. If one or more investigators are at that location, one of them (they should decide among themselves) may immediately take that Clue token. If the players cannot agree on who gets the Clue token, the first player decides


What is the difference between Kunoros, Hound of Athreos' graveyard abilities? Kunoros, Hound of Athreos has the following two static abilities.

Creature cards in graveyards can't enter the battlefield.
Players can't cast spells from graveyards.

Why does he have these two static abilities?  Wouldn't it be enough to indicate only the second of the two abilities?
It is clear that it is, in the first place, a card that prevents players from using the Escape ability.

But I think there are other notable implications.
It is good to clarify the difference that this card implicitly indicates between:

"Creatures that come into play from the graveyard"
"Spells cast from the graveyard".

I think it is appropriate that at least one valid example should be included in the answer, that makes it clear why the difference we are talking about is really important.

The difference would be that not every card was a spell before it entered the battlefield.

  112.1. A spell is a card on the stack. [...]

Spells are objects you put on the stack after casting them - normally from your hand, but occasionally from your graveyard, such as with Abandoned Sarcophagus. The second ability of Kunoros prevents that from happening.

Other cards, such as Emeria, the Sky Ruin, will put creature cards in play without ever putting them on the stack, meaning they will never exist as spells. Kuronos's second ability does not apply to the Sky Ruin, but the first ability does and prevents even this ability from being useful.

Note also that Kuronos's first ability does not prevent the Sky Ruin from casting cards from the graveyard, because it only explicitly defines that cards can't change from the graveyard to the battlefield zone.


What Dominion cards have artwork featuring different versions of the same object? In the Dark Ages expansion of Dominion there are several cards that feature artwork with run-down versions of the artwork on previously released cards. Examples are "Pillage" - featuring "Village," "Ruined Library" - featuring "Library", and "Ruined Village" - featuring the promo card, "Walled Village."

What other cards in the Dominion world feature artwork with various versions of the same object?

The vast majority of the cards feature unique artwork, which is great. However, there are some cards that indeed include other cards' artwork, like:

Scrying Pool (from Dominion: Alchemy) depicts the artwork from Village. Just turn the card upside-down to see the reflection in the pool.
Minion (from Dominion: Intrigue) displays a  portrait of a Minion. Self-reference.
If you put Island, Pirate Ship and Native Village (from Dominion: Seaside) next to each other, in this order, you shall notice that their artworks make up a greater panorama.
On the same token, most Split Piles from Dominion: Empires and the Sauna/Avanto promos feature continuous artwork.
Likewise, the two traveler lines, Page and Peasant (from Dominion: Adventures), illustrate the same person in evolving stages of their lives. (added by @Gendolkari)
Candlestick Maker (from Dominion: Guilds) is crafting the candle depicted on Masterpiece, from the same expansion.
As mentioned, Pillage (from Dominion: Dark Ages) depicts a Village under attack.
As mentioned, most Ruins depict destroyed versions of other cards: Ruined Village/Mine/Library/Market depict Village/Mine/Library/Grand Market respectively.
Overgrown Estate (Shelter from Dominion: Dark Ages) lives up to its name by depicting an abandoned version of the Estate artwork, as illustrated in the second version of the base game and in Dominion: Base Cards. (added by @Ned Strong)

Cards that pay homage to other games:

City (from Dominion: Prosperity) displays the box art from the game Carcassonne: The City.
Governor (Promo) displays the Governor role art from Puerto Rico: Limited Anniversary Edition. Its card symbol, a ship, is the same ship from the box art.
The Walled Village (Promo) card's symbol is a meeple from Carcassonne. The card itself supposedly depicts Carcassonne, as well.


What is this descent figure? I was wandering around on boardgamegeek and I saw this picture of a guy painting Descent figures, but the post doesn't exists anymore - thank you google - and the figures are just amazing

I'm not sure this is descent figure, but photos are taken on Descent v2 tiles so I guess it may be an extension I don't know.

It is the Ice Wyrm, from Descent second edition.


Which tournament format best emphasizes winning (as opposed to avoiding last place)? I've played enough Settlers that I think I could do well in a tournament. However, a cursory glance at upcoming tournaments suggests that most Settlers tournaments use a Swiss scoring system that distorts the incentives of the game significantly. To take one specific example:

http://www.boardgamers.org/yearbkex/setpge.htm

Using this format, it is theoretically possible in three rounds to have:

Player A wins 1 game 10-6-6-6 for 5+4=9 tournament points, and 2 second place finishes for 3 each, or 15 total.
Player B wins 2 games 10-9-7-7 for 5+1=6 tournament points each, and last place in the other game for 1 point, or 13 total.
Player A gets more points than B because of one strong victory and 2 second place finishes.

I have always played Settlers to win, not to avoid coming in last place. Playing with this format, I would emphasize avoiding last place over winning. I might also attempt to cooperatively engineer a certain number of victory points per player on the third round if I had 1 win and 1 second place finish coming into the game and some of the other players were in similar situations.

I would personally rather play a tournament where the emphasis is on winning as opposed to avoiding last place finishes and possibly brokering third game deals. Do such tournament formats exist? If so, what is the name of the tournament format(s) that best emphasize(s) winning (as opposed to avoiding last place)?

The tournament format that most emphasizes winning is single-elimination. I mean, literally: if you don't win, you're out.

The problem with single-elimination is that it the order of elimination doesn't necessary tell you something about a player's overall achievement. Assuming the tournament winner is legitimately the "best" player, we really can't say who is "second best" based on tournament standing alone. If the winner's first-round opponent was actually the most difficult match, maybe he or she is really the "second best" player, despite getting out immediately. So you'll know who's first but everyone else's place in the standings is kind of a crapshoot.

The single-elimination format is also rather frustrating for high-variance games (I would say Settlers is one), and being knocked out early can be very dissatisfying for tournament participants.

Most Swiss systems do emphasize winning, in the sense that they're literally counting wins as the main scoring system. One pitfall in Straight-Swiss is that it's possible for a player to functionally win the tournament before getting to the last game -- this is similar to what happens when one player scores 3-0 in a "best of five" match. A popular way to avert this is a "Top N," where top-scoring players from the Swiss rounds come together for a single-elimination bracket.

Top N has the benefit of making sure the top players are actually pitted against each other, and the single-elimination part of the format does promote a heated final where everyone is playing to win. However, this actually encourages what you've called "brokering third game deals" in the last rounds of the Swiss -- if I can get into the Top 16 with a third-place finish in my last Swiss game, for instance, there is no reason to play for the top.

As best as I can tell, the Swiss system will always produce some irrelevant matches and predetermined outcomes. The best you can do is to tweak where those occur in the tournament structure. Top N is a compromise that keeps those features out of the finals, at the cost of filling the final round before finals with a series of tricky forfeits and draws.

It's my opinion that it's better to accept "brokered" draws (with a prohibition on bribery and collusion to keep the game fair) than to try to force people to play irrelevant games. What you can do to discourage intentional draws and forfeits, however, is to associate an incentive with your overall ranking going into the Top N. In current Magic: the Gathering tournament rules, for example, Top 8 games give the higher-ranked player the ability to choose his or her position in the turn order (instead of deciding randomly, as they do in the preceding Swiss rounds).

I think the 5-3-2-1 structure you've cited is, in general, a good example of a Swiss-style format that emphasizes winning over second-place finishes and promotes a reasonable level of competition in the final Swiss round before Top N.

For starters, first is disproportionately more valuable than the other results: a first-place finish and a last-place finish are worth as much as two second-place finishes; and finishing first, second, and third is worth more than finishing second three games in a row.

Note also the role of wins in tie-breakers:

  1) Top overall score [of three rounds of Swiss] (15 being max)

  2) Most 1st place wins

  3) Top winning margin (Ex: a game ends 10-7-7-6, thus the winner has a
  +3 margin; All margins are summed)

  4) Win in game 1

  5) Win in game 2

  6) Win in game 3

  7) Highest dice roll -- 2D6

Here the margin of victory is used only as a tiebreaker, as an attempt to factor in the decisiveness of wins if players are tied for quantity of wins.

Finally, this bit is important:

  Playoff rounds will be seated by rank (see below) but the game format will be the same

  ...

  Tournament Playoff Round:

  Once the top 16 players are set, seating will be done according to the following chart:

  Table 1 - #1,5,9,13

  Table 2 - #2,6,10,14

  Table 3 - #3,7,11,15

  Table 4 - #4,8,12,16

So, there is some incentive to finishing the Swiss rounds with the highest rank possible: you can get a leg up in the turn order (I'm assuming the tournament organizers consider this an advantage in Settlers).

That said, because I don't consider going first to be always preferable in Settlers, I'd do something like this instead: "After the board is laid out, players at the final tables get to choose their seats in rank order." A little bit of extra privilege (and strategic depth) for placing first!