Interactions between Brainstorm and Miracles Suppose I'm playing UW Miracles in Legacy. During my opponent's turn, I cast Brainstorm,  and the first card that I draw is Entreat the Angels. If I choose to cast the card for its miracle cost, what order do the triggers resolve in?

Does the Miracle trigger go on the stack immediately, before Brainstorm finishes resolving (ie. before I draw my other cards and then put cards back on my library)? Am I then able to pay the cost and create my angels in the middle of the Brainstorm? Or does the trigger wait until Brainstorm has finished resolving? What if I chose to put Entreat back on top of my library?

You must reveal the card as you draw it in order to claim the miracle trigger.
The trigger will go on the stack when Brainstorm finishes resolving.
You can only cast the miracle card if it never left your hand before the trigger resolves.

Here's how and why it works this way:

You draw cards one at a time.

120.2. Cards may only be drawn one at a time. If a player is instructed to draw multiple cards, that player performs that many individual card draws.

You reveal your first card "as you draw it," before putting it in your hand (if it's a miracle card).

702.93. Miracle
702.93a Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). “Miracle [cost]” means “You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it’s the first card you’ve drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost.”
702.93b If a player chooses to reveal a card using its miracle ability, he or she plays with that card revealed until that card leaves his or her hand, that ability resolves, or that ability otherwise leaves the stack.

Nothing else happens yet. Just keep the card revealed in your hand.

603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn’t do anything at this point.

Then you draw the rest of your cards and put some card from your hand back, as Brainstorm tells you to do.

Once you're done with the Brainstorm actions, the miracle trigger actually goes on the stack.

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

Now you wait for the trigger to resolve. Players pass priority.

After the miracle trigger resolves, you may cast the miracle card. If it has left your hand at all, you can't cast it for its miracle cost (even if you manage to put it back somehow).

400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule [none of which apply.]

So, in short:

Draw card 1
Reveal miracle
Draw card 2
Draw card 3
Put back two cards
Brainstorm finishes resolving (and is in the graveyard now)
Stack miracle trigger
Players get priority and can do stuff
Miracle trigger resolves: now you get to decide whether to cast the spell

Here's the same interpretation from a level 2 judge.


Items already in possession of another character What happens if a player should gain an item but that item already is used by another character?

For example, if the Spy comes into play (because your old character is dead/insane), she possesses a .45.  If you defeat a maniac, you gain the axe.  What happens if those item are already in play in another player's hand?

Page 6 of the reference guide says

  If the specified card cannot is not found while searching, he does not gain a card. For instance, if other investigators or defeated investigators possess all copies of the card or all copies of the card have been returned to the game box.

so the ruling is that you simply do not gain the card


Colorless commander using lands that chose based upon identity? TLDR

Can I use lands that mention "color identity" with a colorless commander while still getting their bonus effects?

I apologize if I have missed something that explains this situation, but I am unsure how the rules work around my planned commander: Kozilek, the Great Distortion.

With this as my commander if I used a card such as Opal Palace that reads

  {C},{T}: Add to your mana pool one mana of any color in your commander's color identity. If you spend this mana to cast your commander, it enters the battlefield with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of times it's been cast from the command zone this game.

As I understand the rules any cards in your deck must have your commander's color. Colorless is not a color. Therefore, does the colorless indicator or the Wastes indicator count as my commander's color identity?

Would the case be similar if I used a land such as Exotic Orchard? I realize technically those are two different questions, but I think they are similar and easily answered within the same frame of reference...

The rulings under the card in Gatherer say

  If your commander is a card like Kozilek, Butcher of Truth that has no colors in its color identity, Opal Palace’s last ability produces no mana.

That means you can use it in your deck but it won't produce the desired effect.

Exotic Orchard has no colors in its color identity and can be used as well, and it works just as it would in a normal 2 player game, i.e. it can be used to produce blue mana if your opponent controls an Island.


What chance do I have of my foil being a rare or mythic? If I open a pack, and it contains a foil, this foil could be any card in the set, from basic lands to the most expensive mythic rare. My question is, does each individual foil card have the same chance of being opened? Or does it follow the same distribution as boosters follow?

To illustrate, if you were to open boosters until you got 14 foils, would those foils be in a distribution equivalent to the number of commons/uncommons/rares in the set? Or would those 14 foils be in the distribution equivalent of a booster (e.g. 10 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare)?

Crucially, can you supply evidence to support this?

In a standard full‐sized, Magic: The Gathering set, you have 15 Mythic Rares, 53 Rares, 80 Uncommons, 101 Commons and often 20 basic lands. A booster pack is 10 Commons, 3 Uncommons, 1 Rare, 1 Land, plus 1 Token or Advertisement card. When there is a foil in a pack, the Common is removed, having 9 Commons instead.

Everything is based off of sheets. That’s the way cards come off the printers. Sets are printed on sheets of 11 × 11. Rares are printed 2:1 to Mythic Rares on exactly 1 rare sheet (which can be evidenced in many images of uncut Magic rare sheets online, and more importantly, corroborated by Mark Rosewater himself in his article. These printed sheets form the boosters that customers purchase in retail stores.

Here’s what a sample print run looks like, using all the cards to build boosters:

 1 Rare sheet (121; 106 Rares + 15 Mythic Rares)
 3 Uncommon sheets (363; or 4.5 × 80 Uncommons spread across 3 sheets)
11 Common sheets (1331; or 11 × 121; 101 Commons + 20 Basic Lands)

   (Plus, extra regular sheets for tokens and ads)

We know foils have sheets just like regular cards do. There’s an image of a foil sheet posted as a different answer to this question, confirming they are print the same as Rares for regular cards: 2 Rare for every 1 Mythic Rare, filling up an entire sheet of 121.

So how often are foils from the foil Rare sheet pulled from booster packs? My experience matches many others, which is just over 1 every box or so. Most of the time I have gotten 1, but just a few times I have gotten 2 foil Rares. Boxes have 36 booster packs each. This fits nicely in the ratio of 4 foils from the foil rare sheet on a batch of 121 boosters (121:4, which is close to 30:1).

My experience also matches that of Hogan’s and many, many others, which is somewhere around 4:1 for packs per foil. In a sealed deck tournament, you get 6 boosters packs, and usually open one, but sometimes two. This forum post does a very decent job breaking the statistics down. The 15/63 mentioned, the best I can tell, is just a guess. If this was extrapolated, that’s about 30/121, which would be pulling 30 foils for our 121 packs (which, no surprise, is 4.033:1).

So, of the 30 foils you would see in 121 packs, you would get 4 Rares, meaning there’s a 4/30 chance of your foil card being a Rare or a Mythic Rare. (This is just a guess.)

The ratio of foil rarities is not the same as non‐foils. Maro actually says this in his article. It’s better than the standard ratio, and it has to be. We have about 1 foil in 4 packs, and 1 foil Rare/Mythic Rare in 30 packs — there just wouldn’t be enough foils to fill to have 10:1 Common to Rare foils! So, what is the correct foil ratio then?

If we have a single Rare foil sheet, we’ll have some number of foil Uncommon and Common sheets too. But why 30 choices? At this point, we probably should be basing this off of the total number of foil Rares rather than non-foil Rares. (At the very least, we can account for using every single foil card possible.) In other words, instead of 121 packs, we should look at expending an entire Rare foil sheet. Instead of pulling 4 Rares in 30 foils, why not pull all 121 Rare foils — for thirty times as many packs.

So let’s simulate a print run. Here’s how it will break down:

  1 Foil Rare sheet
  2 Foil Uncommon sheets?
  4 Foil Common sheets?
 30 Rare sheets
 90 Uncommon sheets (3× Rare)
330 Common sheets (11× Rare)

There should exist somewhere around 780 foil Uncommon and Common cards (26 of 30 foils in 121 packs is 780 in 3630 packs).

As far as Uncommons go, originally, Wizards printed 60 in a large set (which fits nicely, twice, on a sheet of 121 cards). It wasn’t until the last few years they increased this to 80, citing the need for more variation during draft without the prevalence of the cards from a third set. But that’s okay, because three runs of 80 happens to also fit nicely onto 2 sheets of 121 cards (80 × 3 = 240, or 2 sheets).

If we had 2 foil Uncommon sheets, this would give us a perfect distribution. Along with 4 foil Common sheets, that’s 845 total foils, distributing amongst 3630 packs, which gets us 23% chance of pulling a foil, which is close enough. This also matches my own experience with cracking open booster boxes.

I could certainly be wrong with the total number of cards. Wizards might actually use 4000 Common sheets and distribute the foils among them. But that’s fine, we’re not concerned about the chance of pulling a foil, we just want the ratio of the foil rarities, and 1:2:4 seems likely on how to do it on a print run.

Thus, we end up with the following:

14.28% or a 1/7 chance of your foil being a Rare or Mythic Rare
12.51% or 106/121 of a 1/7 chance of being a Rare
1.77% or 15/121 of a 1/7 chance of being a Mythic Rare


Do the Magic tournament rules allow Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who goes first? The Magic Tournament Rules specifically state 'For the first game of a match, the winner of a random method (such as a die roll or coin toss) chooses either to play first or play second'.  My method of choice has often been Rock-Paper-Scissors, but it never occurred to me until recently that this might not be considered a valid method under the rules.  Obviously this question is more hypothetical than not; if my opponent disagrees with my method of randomization then a different option, or a judge, would be called for.  But at least in theory, spectators or judges watching our match could complain, so the question holds: is RPS (likely to be) considered a 'random method' for determining play/draw under the tournament rules?

My understanding is that it's really up to the judge.

The tournament rules just say this:

  For the first game of a match, the winner of a random method (such as
  a die roll or coin toss) chooses either to play first or to play
  second.

They don't really specify a more detailed criterion for "random." (For example,  cutting to a random card of each other's decks and then comparing their mana costs is a method players use some times. It's random, but it's not actually fair: the CMC of various cards in your deck skews the results.)

My first assumption was no rock-paper-scissors, since RPS is a game that permits some level of psychological skill. However, here's a quote from an old tournament report:

  The both of them shuffled up and scanned about for a way to figure out
  who went first; turns out neither of them had dice. "That's the
  problem with being up here," deadpanned Jensen. "You play against a
  random? They always have a die."

  It was suggested that perhaps the two of them play rock, paper,
  scissors to decide who would go first, but Jensen said that it wasn't
  random enough. "Rock, paper, scissors is strategy," he said earnestly.
  "I think I could psych someone out at rock, paper, scissors."
  Eventually, someone donated not only a twenty, but a twelve-sider and
  a ten-sider, and they rolled all three and added them up to see who
  went first. Jensen snagged it with a 22.

Note that it was the opponent who decided RPS was insufficient, not a judge. This implies that RPS might've been acceptable if both players were fine with it.

In practice, I would expect low-level events not to care about the exact quality of the method you use as long as it's mutually agreeable to both parties (which is all the comp rules really call for), unless they've had to set up a specific system due to previous issues with cheating.


Star Trek: Deck Building - Upgrade Rules When a card is suppose to be upgraded do you remove the card being upgraded from your deck?  Then the card gained from the upgrade, are you allowed to play that card?  If you upgraded a card already on the bridge, can you play the gained card?

Yes, you remove an upgraded card from your deck. No, you are not allowed to play a card immediately when you gain it. Normally, when gain a card it goes to your discard unless the card specifically tells you otherwise. No, if you upgrade a card from your bridge, the gained cards normally go to your discard area, unless the card says specifically otherwise.
From the Rulebook2.0 on Bandai's website, (page 24-25 Glossary):

Gain - Move a card from Starbase to your discard area (Some effects may move it to another area).
Upgrade - This is short for “Trash the designated card and gain a card from Starbase costing up to the designated amount more than the trashed card”. So you can trash a card of cost X and gain a card with a cost less then X.
Trash - Move a card to one of the following areas depending on where the card originated from:

If it is a starter card, remove it from the game.
If it is a Basic Character card, move it to its pile on Starbase.
If it is a card that started in the Starbase Deck, move it to the Starbase Discard Area.
If it is a Borg Card, move it to the Borg Card Pile


Can a Thallid create saprolings at end of combat phase and still kill attacker Scenario:
I have Thelon of Havenwood and a Thallid with 9 spore counters.
My opponent attacks with a 10/10 and I block with my Thallid (also 10/10).
I want to block and kill his 10/10, and then create 3 saprolings before Thallid hits the graveyard.

My assumption is that during Combat Damage Step I assign 10 points of damage to my opponents creature, as his creature assigns 10 to my Thallid.
Then during the End of Combat Step I can activate it's ability to create saprolings because damage was already assigned.

Am I correct?

You are not able to assign 10 points of damage and create the saprolings.

During the combat damage step, no player receives priority so there is no chance to activate Thallid's ability in between damage being assigned and the creatures being moved to their respective graveyards.

To break it down step by step.

Your opponent's 10/10 trample is attacking, and you assign a 10/10 Thallid as a blocker.
Combat Damage Step starts, Your opponent announces his creature will assign 10 damage to your Thallid. You announces that the blocking Thallid will deal 10 damage to his creature(510.1).
Combat damage is dealt as per 510.2 (emphasis mine):

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

State-based actions see that both creatures have damage marked on them equal to their toughness, so both creatures are destroyed.
After the creatures have been moved to the graveyard the active player (Your Opponent) will get priority. Once they pass priority, you may now cast spells and activate abilities, however you can see that Thallid is now in your graveyard so you may not create the Saprolings.

So, gameplay-wise for your specific example, you have two choices:

After you declare the 10/10 Thallid as a blocker (or anytime before I suppose) you activate Thallid's ability, removing 9 counters and creating 3 Saporlings. Your opponent's Creature will now be trampling over your (now) 1/1 Thallid.
Results: You will take 9 damage, your Thallid will die, your opponent's creature will survive, and you will have 3 fresh Saporlings.
After you declare the 10/10 Thallid as a blocker you do nothing.
Results: Both creatures will die, you will have no loss of life, you get no Saporlings.


How does the Dog companion work and what is its benefit? When given the Dog Companion it says:

  Take a small monster token to represent the Dog. Put it in your room.
  (Use a token of a different color from other monsters, if any.)

  Once during your turn, the Dog can move to any explored room up to 6
  spaces away, using doors and stairs, and then return. It can pick up,
  carry, and/or drop 1 item before it returns.

  The Dog isn't slowed by opponents. It can't use one-way passages or
  rooms that require a roll. It can't carry items that slow movement.

What is the point/benefit of the dog?
I'm assuming it can only pick up dropped items? What items can it pick up, in what scenario?
If it can explore tiles, and landing on a tile with an icon that makes you draw a card which ends your turn, and your dog can explore 6 of these freely each turn, how do you keep track of which tiles still need cards drawn when you land on them? Do you still draw cards when you land on these spaces?
If a explorer finds a room that has to roll, does the dog sit outside or find a way around? Or does the final rule only apply for when it is exploring?

Honestly, I almost find it easier to just remove this card entirely.

What is the point/benefit of the dog?

The main purpose is to trade objects between players. Say that a character gains the Revolver item, which allows them to use Speed to attack. If the character who found it has a low speed, they can use the dog to give it to another player with a higher speed, without having to take the time to meet up with them on their own.

Some scenarios require an object to be in a certain location. For instance, The Mummy Walks (#1) requires the book to be in the same room as the mummy in order for a character to attack it. If one of my allies is in the same room and I'm 6 spaces away, it would probably take me two turns to give it to them. But with the dog, I can give it the book and then have it travel the distance in one turn.

Also, some of the scenario setups instruct you to put items in rooms, such as The Stars are Right (#14), which tells you to place paint cans in several rooms. The dog can pick those up and give them to its owner.

  I'm assuming it can only pick up dropped items? What items can it pick up, in what scenario?

The rules do indeed say that the dog can pick up a dropped item. I suppose technically you could have a character drop an item (a free action) and then have the dog pick it up.

My group has always ruled that a character can voluntarily give or take something from the dog, since that seems to make the most sense thematically and avoids the extra complexity of dropping and picking up things. It's basically the same as the Trade action, but at range through an intermediary.

The dog can carry any omen or item, aside from ones that slow movement (per the dog's description) or specifically say that they can't be transferred or carried by the dog. For instance, it can't carry the Girl or the Madman because those say they can't be transferred. Some scenarios will introduce new objects and will specifically say that the dog can't pick them up.

  If it can explore tiles, and landing on a tile with an icon that makes you draw a card which ends your turn, and your dog can explore 6 of these freely each turn, how do you keep track of which tiles still need cards drawn when you land on them? Do you still draw cards when you land on these spaces?

The question is moot because the dog can't explore tiles. Per the description, the dog can only move to "any explored room up to 6 spaces away".

  If a explorer finds a room that has to roll, does the dog sit outside or find a way around? Or does the final rule only apply for when it is exploring?

The last paragraph about one-way passages and rooms that require a roll is intended to be an extension of the rules of the second paragraph.

In other words, when the dog is sent out to a space 6 spaces away, it cannot go through one-way passages or rooms that require a roll. If it's not moving on its own, the dog is "along for the ride" and stays with the player just like any other omen or item.


What is the special die with pictograms in Monopoly used for? I think that I have a pretty standard version Monopoly, which looks exactly like I see in the Web

It has two white dice with values 1 to 6 and one red with values 1,2,3 and 3 pictures. I haven't seen any rules that say what to do with this second die.

update Once, I've got to know that this is called at "speed die", I have managed to find a nice picture of it:

(The second picture has red regular dice instead of white like I have, but the special die is clearer.)

It appears you have the Championship Edition (or the Mega Edition or some other recent modified version), which includes a "speed die" (that third die) for speeding up the game, though it's definitely not part of the original game. There are two "bus" faces, and one "Mr. Monopoly" face.

I found these rules on Hasbro's site explaining how it works. The PDF was was reluctant to load for me, so I've quoted them here:

  When starting the game, hand out an extra $1,000 to each player
  (two $500s should work). The game moves fast and you'll need
  the extra cash to buy and build.
  Do not use the Speed Die until you've landed on or passed over GO for the first time. Once you collect that first $200 salary, you'll use the Speed Die for the rest of the game. This means that some players will start using the die before others.
  Once you start using the Speed Die, roll it along with the two
  white dice on your turn. Then do the following depending on
  what you rolled.

  1, 2, or 3: Add this number to the roll of the two white dice. You'll zoom around the board.
  Bus: This lets you "get off the bus early." Look at the two white dice. You can move the value of one die, the other die, or the sum of both dice. So if you rolled a 1 and a 5, you can move 1 space, 5 spaces, or 6 spaces: it's your choice.
  Mr. Monopoly: First, move the sum of the two white dice
  and resolve the space you land on (such as drawing a card,
  buying the property, paying rent, etc.). Then, one of two
  things will happen depending on whether or not there is still
  property in the bank.

  YES, there is property in the bank -- Advance to the NEXT
  property that the bank still holds and buy it if you wish. If you
  don't want to buy this property, move to the space anyway
  and put the property up for auction.

  NO, there are no more properties in the bank -- Advance to the
  NEXT property on which you will owe another player money.

  A few minor details:

  Only the white dice are used when determining if you rolled doubles. Do not look at the Speed Die.
  If you roll a three-of-a-kind (all of the dice show the same number),
  you can move anywhere you want on the board!
  If you get sent to jail during your move (either by landing on the "Go
  to Jail" space or by rolling doubles three times in a row) then your turn
  is over and you do not get to use the Speed Die for that turn.
  Use the white dice ONLY when rolling to get out of jail.
  Use the sum of all three dice when determining how much to pay on a utility. Note: The Bus and Mr. Monopoly are valued at 0.


Which is resolved first, new obstacles or new crossfire level in Shadowrun Crossfire? In Shadowrun: Crossfire, you draw a new Crossfire card after each round. On it are events, which have to be resolved. If you play the Extraction mission, each round new obstacles are revealed, which may have flipped actions that have to be resolved. Which comes first, a new Crossfire card or new obstacles? The order influences the results in some situations.

I think that you've got your order of play mixed up a little bit. Let's review what the order of a round is:

  Draw a new Crossfire card.
  Each runner takes a turn, beginning with the starting
  runner. Play continues clockwise until everyone has taken a turn. The starting runner remains the same throughout the game.
  The round is over. Repeat steps 1–3 until the game ends. (Rulebook, pg. 12)

Missions go over the course of a number of Scenes. The Extraction mission has the following rules for ending a Scene:

  Mission Progress Track and Ending a Scene: At the end of the Client’s turn, advance the mission-progress marker to the next round down on the track and follow the instructions for that step (see Obstacles and Crossfire, above, for obstacle placement). (Rulebook, pg. 20)

So a scene ends, and obstacles are drawn, immediately at the end of a Client's turn, which will happen during Step 2 of a round, and then will be followed by Step 3 when any end of round effects are resolved. A Crossfire card is then drawn during Step 1 of a round. So there will never be a conflict between new obstacles and new Crossfire cards because they happen during different steps of a round.

Also, if you end a turn with no obstacles (and therefore remove a Crossfire card), the Shadowrun: Crossfire FAQ clarifies that you do not draw a new Crossfire card immediately, so again there will never be a conflict between a Crossfire event and obstacles.

  Q: I’ve just ended a turn with no obstacles in play, so I remove the current Crossfire card from play. Now I draw another one, right?

  A: No. You only draw a new Crossfire card at the start of a round of play. Depending on when you removed the current Crossfire card, it might still be several turns before you draw a new one.


Bridge simple open bid for 7♠, 2♥, 1♦, 3♣? With the following hand should I open with 3 spades to let my partner know I have a 7 spades?

This is my hand

♠ AK87642
♥ T3
♦ 4
♣ JT8

I am a beginner.

Playing any natural system, or any system where the opening of 3 Spades or 4 Spades is played as natural, I would open 3 Spades Vulnerable and 4 Spades Not Vulnerable.

Some may prefer to open just 3 Spades in both vulnerabilities, but that is likely more a matter of partnership style and agreement. This should be discussed with partner, as some partnerships are stricter than others on the need for an 8-card suit to open 4S.

The key qualities of a hand considering an opening of 3 or 4 Spades are:

A 7-card or longer suit of good quality - a standard requirement for opening bids of either 3S or 4S for most partnerships playing traditional preempts. This Spade suit clearly qualifies
No significant defensive values outside the suit opened. Your holding of:

♥: T3
♦: 4
♣: JT8

meets that eminently. The Club holding even has the potential of a slight additional offensive value, with little defensive prospect.
Roughly 8 -10 High Card Points. At just 8, all but one in the opened suit. this hand is perfect. The point here is that as your hand will take just one call, this one, the hand should be such as to have no other values that might result in an erroneous decision by partner.
The reasonable prospect of taking within 3 tricks of the bid Not Vulnerable and 2 tricks of the bid Vulnerable (to limit loss if the opponents opt to double and defend). With 6.5 Spade tricks and 1/4 offensive trick in Clubs in hand, again the expectation is met.

In summary: you could do far worse than to hold this hand in your mind as being relatively close to a model opening preempt in a Major suit - of 4 Not Vulnerable and 3 Vulnerable. (The minors have more complex issues even for early intermediates, but at your stage just ignore that with the proviso of a pending amendment.)

Alexander Woo makes the point below that opposing vulnerability is also relevant to a decision between opening 3♠ or 4♠. Less aggressive partnerships might choose to open 4♠ only at favourable Vulnerability (i.e. Not Vulnerable vs Vulnerable opponents). This is probably the more general practice when considering a 4♠ opening, as here, on a 7-card suit. However this should be discussed with partner an an agreement reached. An accumulation of even small differences in choice of call can, over time, undermine the partnership confidence required to play good bridge.

A consideration that may seem irrelevant when one is learning bridge, but becomes of ever increasing significance as one's own, and one's opponents', skill increases, is that preempts gain in the bidding but lose in the play. If opponents win the hand, the opening preempt has frequently provided a roadmap to avoiding the consequences of a bad break.

This is where the significance of playing sound preempts shows up. When partner can make sound and successful raise/pass/double decisions, boldly and with confidence, your preempt has truly achieved the goal of interfering with the opponents' successful bidding. If partner must instead hesitate, your preempt is probably just helping the opponents overall by keying their Declarer (and even Defense) play.


What are good strategies for sealed deck? In the same vein as my Drafting Strategies question, what strategies exist for a good sealed deck?  I want to know about general strategies regardless of the card pool being played.

Exactly the same as for draft, in terms of the BREAD rule.  Obviously that you don't have to worry about what to pick and pass: all that has been done for you, by the vagaries of random chance!  All that's left is to locate the most synergetic deck you can from whatever you've opened out of your boosters.

One thing I've seen the pros do, that I think is a great idea, is start off by checking your rares and mythics.  Oftentimes any truly busted bombs will be found here, and give you a good idea of what colours you want to find a way to include, if humanly possible.

Beyond that, the very intuitive thing holds true: separate your cards by colour and look for piles that contain lots of good creatures and efficient removal.  If you have two such piles, you're off to an excellent start!  Be careful though of possible mana curve issues: if you have two piles that are both stacked with great expensive cards, you may be better off going for a weaker colour that better complements your curve.

Don't get greedy and try to play a 4-colour deck, just because you have bombs in 4 colours: sometimes you just have to show some discipline.  Anything beyond two colours with a small splash of a third colour should set off some serious warning bells.  Having said that, don't panic that your deck doesn't seem as "bomby" as the decks you're used to drafting.  Sealed is typically a much slower format, with a bit more room to develop your position, and a bit more tolerance for the odd clunky card.  Though of course if you have the good fortune to be able to assemble a blazingly fast draft-quality deck out of your pool, you probably ought to go for it!


Two jokers in the same meld At the end of the game, I replaced a joker with a tile, then used that joker with another joker and a 10 tile to make a run of 10,11,12 to win.  Is this a legitimate play?

I have found no rule that prevent you from using two jokers in a single set:

  The Joker: There are two jokers in the game. Each joker can be used as
  any tile in a set, and its number and color are that of the tile
  needed to complete the set. On future turns, a joker can be retrieved
  from a set on the table by a player who can replace it during his/her
  turn with any tiles that can keep the set legitimate. This tile can
  come from the table or from a player’s rack. In the case of a group of
  three tiles, the joker can be replaced by a tile of either of the
  missing colors. When a player retrieves a joker, the joker will once
  again have any value or color. However, a player who retrieves a joker
  must play the joker on his/her current turn to make a new set, and
  must also use at least one tile from his/her rack on that turn (just
  as on any other turn). A player cannot retrieve a joker before s/he
  has played his/her initial meld.


How to score the Southampton to New York route in Ticket to Ride UK? In Ticket to Ride UK, when the Southampton to New York route is claimed, does the claimant receive the points for laying down train cars in addition to the 40 points stated on the board?

If so, how many points do they get?

Nothing extra. 40 points is the amount gained for a 10-car route.

The progression of the number of points earned per car is roughly linear.

Length  Points  PerCar  Maps
------  ------  ------  -------------------------------
     1       1    1.00  [Common]
     2       2    1.00  [Common]
     3       4    1.33  [Common]
     4       7    1.75  [Common]
     5      10    2.00  [Common]
     6      15    2.50  [Common]
     7      18    2.57  Germany (x4), Pennsylvania (x1)
     8      21    2.63  Europe (x1), India (x1)
     9      27    3.00  Nordic Countries (x1)
    10      40    4.00  UK (x1)

As you can see, getting 40 points for a 10-car route fits the regular progression. It wouldn't make sense for the 40 points to be in addition to the roughly 40 points one would expect to get from just laying down the cars.


I don't really understand how the expansions/data packs work in android netrunner I bought the core set a while ago and now I'd like to get some more cards, afaik there are multiple ways to do that:

data packs
deluxe expansions
big box?

What's the difference between them? As I've read the data packs each belong to a cycle, what's that all about? What's the bigbox? I got that term from the wiki at reddit:

  Unlike FFG's other Living Card Games, Netrunner doesn't require that you pick up the "big box" expansion before getting the data packs from that cycle.

I'd be really thankful for a quick summary of how all of this works.

Big Box expansions are deluxe expansions, those terms are synonymous. There are only 4 of these and they will always be tournament legal. Their structure focuses on specific factions (e.g., the first only pertained to HB and Shaper, with some neutral cards).

Data packs come in "cycles" of 6 packs, which cover all the factions and have an overarching theme (usually in terms of story or mechanics).  We are currently on cycle 5 (the Mumbad cycle).  At some point in the future, the first two cycles will rotate out of competitive play but that won't be for at least a year or two. If you are just playing casually, this won't affect you.

No matter what you buy, you can find information on which cards are available in each pack online.  All packs should be available at your FLGS.

Unlike with some of FFG's other LCGs (e.g., for Lord of the Rings each deluxe expansion is necessary to play with the following adventure packs, but this is rare for the LCG model), in Netrunner you can pull cards from any expansion you want for your deck - so there is no need to buy everything unless you are a completionist (like many of us). This is what FFG meant in the above quote - you can play a Criminal deck without purchasing Honor & Profit (the big box expansion that features Criminal cards) - however, in most cases, the big boxes yield some great cards and are worth the investment!

As a practical tip, you can browse netrunnerdb.com for decks, and when viewing one that strikes your fancy, click Sort above the decklist and choose "By Set".  That will tell you where all the cards for that particular list can be found.

Good luck and have fun!


Mage Wars Academy - zone spells : do they attack mages? The spell Voltaic Discharge is said in the rules to target every creatures in the play area, including your own. That being said, and including the mages as creature, it seems right that it affects the opposing mage. However, if it attack your own wizard as well, its a rather poor choice of spell.
Am i wrong assuming it attacks your wizard?
if not, how can this card be used intelligently?

Yes, zone spells effect everything in the zone, including Mages, both yours and your opponent's.

In Academy, there is only one zone, so the spell effects everything in play, unless the spell states that it does not.

Two possible strategic uses could be if you were way behind in creatures, so if will effect more opposing creatures than your own, or as a way to help finish off your opponent's mage.


Can cards turned face-down by Ixidron be turned face up again? For example, assume that both my opponent and I have a face-up creature with Morph on the battlefield.

I cast Ixidron and it enters the battlefield.

Can both creatures be turned face-up again later in the game, by paying the Morph cost, even though they weren't turned face-down "normally"?

Yes, you can.
It doesn't matter how a creature got turned face-down. All morph cares about is that the creature is indeed face-down. Face-down is a status like e.g. tapped/untapped.

110.6. A permanent’s status is its physical state. There are four status categories, each of which has two possible values: tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, face up/face down, and phased in/phased out. Each permanent always has one of these values for each of these categories.
702.36a Morph is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it’s on, and the morph effect works any time the card is face down. [..]


What difficulties occur in a three sided version of Space Hulk? The Space Hulk Campaigns book outlines Marine vs Marine rules. Is it possible to then play Terminators vs Chaos Terminators vs Genestealers or are there game mechanics that make this unworkable e.g. Overwatch over two turns?

TLDR

Three sided play should be entirely possible, and sounds fun!
The game mechanics should not be affected to any great degree.
I see the game progressing for each individual action as though the game is only a one on one.
Players would need to simply keep the bigger picture in mind as the game progresses.
Whether there is two or three players one full turn still ends when the same player starts his turn again.
You may want to develop house rules for the total number of AP in a turn, to avoid bottle-necking?

I have only ever played the tabletop version a couple times; but I have played the steam version quite a few, though it has been a few years. Personally, I foresee no issues playing a three sided match in this game. Simply progress the turns as you would normally. When you take an action against another player the game would progress as though it was simply a one on one; strategically you would just have to pay attention to where the other third player is.

In my mind I see Marine -> Genestealer -> Chaos for a turn order. As this would play out I see the Terminator entering overwatch at the end of his turn. The game would of course progress as normal for the Genestealer turn. Then on the Chaos turn the Terminator would remain in Overwatch and the game would essentially progress as if it were only Marine vs. Chaos for that turn. Then when the Marine starts his new turn the game progresses as normal.

Looking at the broad picture each player would look at the game as "me vs. whoever's turn it is" and on their turn they would look at it one action at a time as "me vs. whoever I want to attack this with this action."

The only trip up that might come into play that I can think of is the number of free actions/ actions points/ command points that you have. I feel like you might want to have some house rules in this case. If you only have the standard maximum number of actions in a turn it is possible that the game will not progress quickly enough (kill off opponents) and all three players will bottleneck in one area limiting everyone's choices?

Perhaps I have forgotten something that would come into play and hinder this progression. If so let me know... otherwise I hope this helps.


What's the difference between the versions of Cards Against Humanity? I have version 1.3 of Cards Against Humanity, but it's got different cards than the free to download PDF file.  Which cards are different between the various versions of CAH?  Since I've also got some blanks from the expansion pack, I'd like to make some new cards without duplicating anything.

Changes to the base game are discussed here. There is also some additional information on this thread included photos showing old and new versions.

Between the original and version 1.2, it seems like they got rid of a lot of cards that mention proper names. It seems that cards mentioning Glenn Beck have been removed in 1.3. The second post indicates that at least 8 black cards were replaced and 80+ white cards were changed (though some changes seem small) between the version that came out in early 2012 and the previous one.

This page also has a link to a PDF file (must login) that lists some changes for the first expansion (v1.2 Changelog). Here is a summary:

A bunch of white cards were added:

A pluger to the face
The ooze
Clenched butt cheeks
Stockholm Syndrome
Salvia
Syphilitic insanity

Some white cards removed:

Appreciative snapping
Dancing with a broom
Good grammar
Pistol-whipping a hostage
Slow motion
The Fanta girls

A few minor corrections as well.

A bunch of black cards were also modified:

Orig: My plan for world domination begins with _ / New: He who controls _ controls the world
Orig: Science will never explain the origin _ / New: Science will never explain _
Orig: Next season on Man vs Wild, Bear Grylls must survive in the depths of the Amazon with only _ and his wits / New: This season on Man vs Wild, Bear Grylls must survive in the depths of the Amazon with only _ and his wits


What are the reasons behind naming the "community chest" and "chance" cards in Monopoly? Why are the cards called so?

Are there any plausible reasons as why they are included in the game of monopoly?  Does their naming have anything to do with real-world namings?

Community Chest is named from the original Atlantic City version of Monopoly.

In Atlantic City, the Community Chest was a welfare organisation.  Therefore, Community Chest cards are more likely than not to give money.

On the other hand, Chance cards are more likely to move you to a random 'chance' location.


Where is the Queen placed when a C/M is already at center? If a player pockets the Queen, but doesn't cover it, while there is a C/M in the center of the board, should the C/M be moved from the center to place the Queen or should the Queen be placed next to the C/M on the opposite side to the player?

According to the Laws of Carrom 94

  If the Centre Circle is partially or completely covered by other C/M, the Queen shall be placed so as to occupy most of the uncovered portion or in any position adjacent to the Centre Circle in such a way so that it is not easy to pocket for the player having his turn. The placing of the Queen by the Umpire, in such a situation, shall be final.


Does a fortress count as a unit when defending a city? If I have a city with a fortress but no units inside it, and my opponent moves armies into that city, does my opponent have to defeat the fortress to win?  In other words, do fortresses behave like a unit during battle?  Can they take a hit and be removed?

Does having a settler in the city (but still no army units) change the situation at all?

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

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


Does Epic Experiment let me pull creatures out of the graveyard that were exiled during its casting? My brother showed me Epic Experiment today.

Now he says you can use it to put creatures in the graveyard and then fish them out with the free spells you get, because the free spells get put on the stack before the original card resolves, whereas I think that the spells will go on the stack at the same time as the creatures go into the graveyard when Epic Experiment resolves.

I think it's instructive to go through both of your reasonings, since you're both partially right in a way but came to the wrong conclusion.

  the free spells get put on the stack before the original card resolves

Your friend is actually right here. BUT — don't forget the rules of casting spells. In order to put a spell on the stack (even if free) he must first choose any modes, targets, or additional optional costs for the spell. (See section 601 of the comprehensive rules.) Like he said, Epic Experiment hasn't resolved until after his spells are put on the stack, so it hasn't put the cards that haven't been cast in the graveyard yet and they can't be targeted.

Even the amazing Pull from Eternity can't help him — yes, a creature in exile can be targeted and the spell put on the stack, but Epic Experiment has to finish resolving. When Pull from Eternity resolves, it will no longer find the creature card in the Exile zone and will fizzle.

  I think that the spells will go on the stack at the same time as the creatures go into the graveyard when Epic Experiment resolves.

The spells actually go on the stack as the Epic Experiment is resolving, but the creatures and spells not spells go in the graveyard after the cast spells are put on the stack. Epic Experiment has three linked abilities:

(a) Exile some cards
(b) Cast some of (a)
(c) Then put rest of (a) in graveyard

So the trick is to use spells with graveyard shenanigans that don't target and do their magic when they resolve, or use cards like Gravecrawler or cards with Graveyard keywords like Flashback or the new Scavenge. Remember, the “may cast” means you could choose not to cast Unburial Rights as part of the resolution of Epic Experiment, and cast it for the Flashback cost after.


Can abilities that trigger when a permanent becomes targeted trigger multiple times from the same spell? Some abilities trigger whenever a (certain) permanent "becomes the target of a spell or ability." For example, Cephalid Illusionist says

  Whenever Cephalid Illusionist becomes the target of a spell or ability, put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.

Some spells can target the same permanent multiple times. For example, Seeds of Strength says

  Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

  Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

  Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

If I cast Seeds of Strength with a single Cephalid Illusionist as all 3 targets, will its ability trigger once or three times?

It will trigger once.

  601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires. A spell may require some targets only if an alternative or additional cost (such as a buyback or kicker cost), or a particular mode, was chosen for it; otherwise, the spell is cast as though it did not require those targets. If the spell has a variable number of targets, the player announces how many targets he or she will choose before he or she announces those targets. The same target can’t be chosen multiple times for any one instance of the word “target” on the spell. However, if the spell uses the word “target” in multiple places, the same object, player, or zone can be chosen once for each instance of the word “target” (as long as it fits the targeting criteria). If any effects say that an object or player must be chosen as a target, the player chooses targets so that he or she obeys the maximum possible number of such effects without violating any rules or effects that say that an object or player can’t be chosen as a target. The chosen players, objects, and/or zones each become a target of that spell. (Any abilities that trigger when those players, objects, and/or zones become the target of a spell trigger at this point; they’ll wait to be put on the stack until the spell has finished being cast.) Example: If a spell says “Tap two target creatures,” then the same creature can’t be chosen twice; the spell requires two different legal targets. A spell that says “Destroy target artifact and target land,” however, can target the same artifact land twice because it uses the word “target” in multiple places.

After having chosen all targets for Seeds, all those creatures become targeted by Seeds.

  603.2d Some trigger events use the word “becomes” (for example, “becomes attached” or “becomes blocked”). These trigger only at the time the named event happens—they don’t trigger if that state already exists or retrigger if it persists. An ability that triggers when a permanent “becomes tapped” or “becomes untapped” doesn’t trigger if the permanent enters the battlefield in that state.
  Example: An ability that triggers when a permanent “becomes tapped” triggers only when the status of a permanent that’s already on the battlefield changes from untapped to tapped.

Although it can be inferred from 601.2c, this rule says that the Illusionist will not trigger more than once from being targeted by Seeds, because even if the number of times that the Illusionist has been chosen for Seeds mattered, it can only become a target of Seeds once.


Does a Curse card count as a Victory card when playing the Bureaucrat? If I play a Bureaucrat and my opponent reveals a hand with a Curse card, does that Curse card go back on top of his/her deck?  Or does it not count as a "Victory card"?

No.  Curse cards do not have the type Victory.  They just have type Curse.

(You can see this in the rules or by reading the card closely - although they affect your VP total, they do not have "Victory" in the type line, just "Curse").


MTG: Indestructible creature with both damage and -1/-1 counters If let's say a 3/3 indestructible creature takes 2 combat damage and then 2nd main gets a -1/-1, does the creature die?

Am assuming no since its still technically a 2/2 indestructible with 2 damage on it and NOT a 3/1 indestructible with a -1/-1

It does not.

An indestructible creature will die from having 0 toughness.  It will not die from lethal damage (damage greater than or equal to its current toughness).

In your example, you have indestructible 2/2 (because of a -1/-1 counter), and it has 2 damage marked. It has taken lethal damage (as it has 2 toughness and 2 damage), but has toughness greater than 0, so it does not die.


Are Power Crystals a finite resource in Clank in Space? Are Power Crystals a finite resource in Clank in Space? There are only 5 physical tokens included in the game. When these are in the hands of users, does that mean that no one else is able to obtain one (until one is somehow returned to the supply)?

Yes.

There's a Major Secret that gives victory points for each Power Crystal one possesses. An unlimited supply of Power Crystals would provide a unlimited supply of points for the owner of that Secret. Anything that encourages a player to spend the entire game walking back and forth between two squares is a problem.
There's a cards whose effect is multiplied by the number of Power Crystal one possesses. An unlimited supply of Power Crystals would provide a unlimited benefits from those cards. Anything that encourages a player to spend most of the game walking back and forth between two squares is a problem.
There is precedent for limited quantities of resources, namely the items in the market.


Multiple melds for the same card Can you put down 2 melds of the same card? For instance, a friend accidentally started 2 piles of 5's. Should they have been combined?

Problem #1 - No clear answer
There are a wide variety of variations on Hand and Foot. The versions I've played with people who "know the game" have always allowed a clean and a dirty of the same rank, and never allowed wild canastas. (The two variations I've learned both use the term Canasta for a completed meld; some versions of the written rules use the term books.)
For clarity - some terms:
Clean Canasta: No wild cards, 7 cards (or more)
Dirty Canasta: some wild cards, 7 cards (or more)
Wild Canasta: 7 Wild Cards.
Extending aka Burying: adding cards to a completed canasta
Clean/Dirty/Wild Meld: a group of cards that will become a canasta of the same type when built upon further
Build: to add cards to a meld in order to make it a canasta.
Book: synonym for canasta, also, to collect the completed canasta into a smaller pile, "closing" it.

Pagat.com, however, says only one meld of a given rank per patnership, and allows wild canastas, and extending.
Gocampingamerica.com makes no restriction either way on melds, and shows no scoring for wild canastas, and disallows extending a canasta, but allows larger than 7 cards melded before booking the canasta. It also notes the lack of standardization in Hand and Foot Rules
rummy-games.com does not allow multiple melds of the same rank, but allows wild canastas, and not extending.
The versions I learned both allow a second meld (see below), extending, and disallow wild canastas. They differ on shuffling protocol, burying of wild cards and wilds per dirty meld. (One allows 3 wilds in a dirty meld, and burying wilds; the other requires a meld to always have more naturals than wilds.)

In the Versions I learned
Yes, you can have a second meld of a given rank, provided:

the first one is dirty
you need a clean canasta in order to go out
you have your partner's explicit verbal permission to make the new meld.

Usually, this happens right after someone goes to their foot.
In versions with no extending and no oversize canastas
You can close a canasta and immediately start a new meld of the same rank (provided you have the 4+ cards of specific ranks to do so).
In your situation
Tactically, unless you needed the clean canasta, or the extant needs a single card to complete, they should have melded those 5's into the extant 5's.


Can I cast a Slaughter Pact on a Spellskite after I played Lightning Storm and I already discarded some lands? My opponent has a Spellskite on board. He is at 17 life, has one blue mana and one land in hand. I just resolved Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace and I have my entire deck in my hand.

I have 2 Slaughter Pacts, 15 lands, and a Lightning Storm in hand.

Now because I'm a dumb I forget to cast Slaughter Pact before I play Lightning Storm.

After playing Lightning Storm, when I'm deciding how many lands I'm going to discard to add charge counters, is there any way to win the game? Let's say I'm in the situation where I can't play any more Slaughter Pacts in answer to Lighting Storm, but Lighting Storm is still on stack.

Given the situation you described (2 Slaughter Pacts and 15 lands in hand, and a Lightning Storm on the stack), you can definitely win.

I assume that you started by targeting your opponent with Lightning Storm. Then you still have priority, so you cast Slaughter Pact targeting the Spellskite. You also discard 7 lands to Lightning Storm's ability (failing to choose new targets) so that it has 14 charge counters and still targets your opponent.

Your opponent gets priority after each of those abilities goes on the stack, so they can activate either Spellskite's or Lightning Storm's ability to redirect Lightning Storm, but each of your activations redirects it back to targeting them, so that doesn't matter. After you have resolved the ability 7 times, pass priority with only Lightning Storm and Slaughter Pact on the stack. Your opponent should then activate Spellskite's ability once to change Lightning Storm's target to Spellskite.

After that ability resolves and your opponent passes priority, you should pass priority and allow Slaughter Pact to resolve, then activate Lightning Storm's ability once to redirect it to target your opponent. Your opponent should then activate the ability using the one land card in their hand to redirect it back to you. You can then use one of your remaining lands to activate Lightning Storm's ability one final time.

At this point in the game, your opponent has no non-land permanents, no mana, and no cards in hand. You have 1 Slaughter Pact and 6 lands in hand. The stack has a single Lightning Storm with 20 charge counters on it targeting your opponent. Once you both pass priority, Lightning Storm resolves and deals 23 damage to your opponent, who then loses the game.


What's the current state of Magic: The Gathering online play? I'd like to get back into this game, but the real appeal for me is the collecting aspect, especially trading cards and not knowing what to expect from a foil pack. It seems there are a lot of different options for online play, but what is the best way to replicate the experience of real-world collecting, deck building and playing online?

If you could perhaps detail some of the most popular methods of play and the kind of features they have, it would be appreciated. I don't imagine there's a client that supports all the cards yet? It would appear the only way to build a collection like in real life would be to play the official Magic: Online game. But it would be ultra swell if there were some free way of collecting cards.

There are two typical ways to play MTG online:

With the official client, where you spend money and build a collection of cards, just like with paper cards, except virtual. The community is very strong. The last number I seem to recall was that MTGO creates about as much revenue as the global paper MTG (and that was back in 2007), so the online player population is about as large as the offline population, except everyone is in one place, so it is infinitely easier to find a game at any given time. Managing large collections and building decks from it is of course also much easier.

The other way is to try one of the countless free clients out there, some of which provide rules checking. I'm not well informed of that scene, but a quick google search should get you started in no time. Of course, there is not much of a collecting aspect there, because you just put together your deck from the whole pool and play, but OTOH it's absolutely free, financially.

As for having a collection aspect AND doing so more or less free: AFAIK you could do that in the official online game. Money buys you tokens, and tokens buy you cards and entry fees to tournaments. In tournaments, you can win tokens. So, as the legend goes, if you're good enough, you can "go infinite", basically playing and increasing your collection for free. The existance of such players has been doubted, however, and I've never played MTGO, so I wouldn't know for sure.


Voracious Wurm and Wall of Reverence: which trigger happens first? Suppose Wall of Reverence is already in play. I play my Voracious Wurm, which has the following ability:

  Voracious Wurm enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the amount of life you've gained this turn.

Seeing as this is not a triggered ability, but a replacement effect, would I be able to gain life at my end step with Wall of Reverence's triggered ability, then add to the stack my Wurm's ability to gain X +1/+1 counters? (After all, that's life I gained in my turn.)

The following rules seem relevant here:

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

  614.1. Some continuous effects are replacement effects. Like prevention effects (see rule 615), replacement effects apply continuously as events happen -- they aren't locked in ahead of time. Such effects watch for a particular event that would happen and completely or partially replace that event with a different event. They act like "shields" around whatever they're affecting.

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

No.  Replacement effects do not use the stack; as rule 614.1 (which you quoted) says, "[R]eplacement effects apply continuously as events happen" — i.e., they happen immediately, at the same time as the event being replaced/modified (in this case, Voracious Wurm entering the battlefield).  Thus, if Voracious Wurm enters the battlefield before the beginning of the end step, it won't benefit from Wall of Reverence's lifegain (but the Wall will be able to target the Wurm later).

However, if the Wurm somehow (say, by giving it flash) enters the battlefield during the end step (or, less likely, the cleanup step) after the Wall's ability resolves, its P/T will be boosted by the lifegain from the Wall — but, of course, the Wall can't target the Wurm until your next end step.

And if, for some strange reason, the Wurm enters the battlefield while the Wall's ability is still on the stack, the replacement effect will happen before the Wall's ability resolves, so the counters won't be boosted, and as targets for the Wall's ability must have already been chosen by that point, the Wall won't be able to target the Wurm that turn either.


Who does the Warlord pay to -- the bank or the player who had their buildings destroyed? In our family, we've always interpreted the rules as paying to the bank. We had friends over who had played by Warlord paying to the player whose buildings they got destroyed. To us, it seems like the latter weakened the Warlord special ability quite significantly. I could not find an FAQ that would explain where the money goes.

I have two reasons to conclude you pay to the bank:

The rulebook doesn't say that you have to pay to the bank when building a district. This is assumed because it wouldn't make sense otherwise. Similarly, if the rulebook doesn't say whom to pay to destroy, then I assume it must go to the bank.
The warlord can destroy one of it's own district if he wants to replace it. The warlord still has to pay the amount, which then obviously would not go to himself but to the bank.


What are the original 16 base cards in Smash Up? A friend loaned me Smash Up with all the expansions but I'd like to start out playing just the "base" set.  Which 16 bases should I use?

(He already removed the duplicate bases from Level 9000 so I cannot identify them that way)

Every base is keyed to a faction. It's pretty easy to determine with which faction a base is associated, so look for the bases associated with the factions from the original game. If there are ambiguities, keep in mind that each faction has two kindred bases.

Bases from the original game:

Jungle Oasis
Tar Pits
The Grey Opal
Tortuga
Mushroom Kingdom
Cave of Shinies
Evans City Cemetery
Rhodes Plaza Mall
The Central Brain
Factory 436-1337
The Mothership
The Homeworld
Temple of Goju
Ninja Dojo
The Great Library
School of Wizardry


Old WW2 game played with cards instead of a board I don't have a ton of information, but maybe it's enough to help me out?  Played it a few times MANY years ago, was a lot of fun.

It's a WW2 game played without a board.  I remember playing as the Russians, and my friend who owned the game played as the Germans.  I think it may have been possible to play as others, but not 100% sure.  It's quite old and out of print, early 80's or older... think Avalon Hill in their hay day (although I don't think it was made by Avalon Hill, but it's possible).

Does anyone have any clue what I'm talking about?  would love to try to pick up a copy of it.

Thanks!!

Up Front?

Old 1980s Avalon Hill card game with Russians, Germans, and US in the base game and lots of expansions.  Recently funded for republishing on Kickstarter.


Do cards acquired with The Amazing Spider-Man count as extra draws? The card The Amazing Spider-Man includes the following effect:

  Reveal the top three cards of your deck. Put any that cost 2 or less into your hand. Put the rest back in any order.

Meanwhile, the card Berserker Rage (for Wolverine) includes this effect:

  You get +1 attack for each extra card you've drawn this turn.

Does putting a card in your hand with The Amazing Spider-Man count as drawing an extra card for the purposes of Berserker Rage and similar effects?

Unfortunately no, putting cards in your hand is distinctly different to drawing cards. Wolverine's Berserker Rage only counts for cards gained through an ability that says to "draw a card", or "draw that card", or "draw X cards" etc.

Devin Low (designer of the game) clarified this point in this question on boardgamegeek.


Road movement by tanks in Memoir '44 In Memoir '44 the rules specify that Tanks can move one extra hex (4 hexes instead of 3) if they remain on road hexes for their entire move.

My question is: What effect does this have on their ability to fire? Can tanks that remain on, and move only along, road hexes move 4 hexes and still fire, or are they limited to only 3 hexes of movement if they wish to fire? My son and I have been unable to resolve this from the rules.

For non-Memoir '44 players: For other units (ie infantry) the ability to fire after movement is determined by the extent of movement.

Armor can move 4 hexes and still battle at full strength.

From p. 5 of the Terrain Pack rules:

  Armor may move 4 hexes on a road and still battle.

The main rulebook makes it clear that Armor's battle strength is unaffected by its movement (p. 9):

  [Armor] always combats at 3 dice.

P. 15-16 of the FAQ has a concise summary of the effects of Roads on all units, which might be of interest if you have questions about other units.

  Armor - 4 hexes and battle


What is the advantage to starting your meld and laying it down when it isn't complete? Why not just wait until you have all seven? What is the advantage to starting your meld and laying it down when it isn't complete? Why not just wait until you have all seven?

If you have four cards to meld in your hand, and if you don't play them, then how is your partner going to add the three cards he potentially has in his hand?


English names for Machi Koro cards My version of Machi Koro is not in English and none of the online manuals I found contain the building names.

Can anyone provide a complete list of card cost and names? Card text would be helpful as well.

English language translations for the base game as well as two expansions are available at BoardGameGeek. Here is a link.

Value  Name
 1     Wheat Field
 2     Livestock Farm
 2-3   Bakery
 3     Café
 4     Convenience Store
 5     Forest
 6     Stadium
 6     TV Station
 6     Business Complex
 7     Cheese Factory
 8     Furniture Factory
 9     Mine
 9-10  Restaurant
10     Apple Orchard
11-12  Produce Market

And these are the landmarks:

Cost   Name
 4     Train station
10     Shopping Mall
16     Amusement Park
22     Radio Tower


In Sorry can I split a 7 move card to a single pawn and move it only 2? Say I have a pawn in the safety zone with 2 spaces to go. It is the only pawn left to move. All the other pawns are already home. If I draw a move 7 split between pawns card, is it legal to move my pawn only 2? It's like I just split the move between 1 pawn and no other pawn.

No, you cannot use the 7 card if you lack a man (or pair of men) that can move a total of 7 spaces.

In the scenario you provided, you have one man that can move 2 spaces, and all three other men can move 0 spaces (whether this is as a result of being on Start or being in Home is actually irrelevant, as the only three cards that can move a man out of Start are 1, 2, and SORRY!). Since you cannot split the 7 card with any of the three men that can move 0 spaces, your only other option would be to move the remaining man 7 spaces, which also cannot be done. Therefore, you forfeit that movement (and thus, the turn).

It's worth noting that the only 4 cards that could be used in the exact scenario you provided (three men in home, last man 2 away) are a 1, a 2, a 4, and a 10 (forces your man one space back). Any other card would automatically cause a forfeited move because you cannot perform the movements on the card.


Is there a damage phase in the final round of Steampunk Rally? In Steampunk Rally - a player crossing the finish line triggers one more final round, and then the winner is determined by who finishes the furtherest along the track.

The question I have is - during this final round - is there still a damage phase - in which an invention may explode and be taken back to last place?

Yes. There's nothing that indicates it should be skipped on the last round. Effectively, you can't just walk across the finish line; you need to have a machine to win.


How is 6-player Diplomacy (no Italy) different from 7-player? The most common way to play 6-player Diplomacy seems to be by having Italy's units hold every round and disband instead of retreating. How will this affect the balance and feel from the 7-player game? Which countries will be most affected? In general, how should each country change its strategy?

The biggest beneficiaries of Italy's absence from the game are its two immediate neighbors, France and Austria Hungary. All other countries lose by comparison, but especially Germany.

In a seven player game, I would rank France behind England, Turkey and Russia, because of France's vulnerability. Without the threat (and check) of Italy in the south, France becomes the strongest country.

Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy are neck-and-neck for the three weakest countries in a seven player game. Without the threat of Italy, Austria-Hungary is now equivalant in power to Turkey, Russia, and an England weakened by the new French power. Meaning that Germany is left alone at the bottom. It is a case of "misery loves company.

I once played Austria-Hungary in such a game. Did well on the eastern front, balancing Russia and Turkey, but France walked away with things in the west. After the game, "England" (a very gifted first-time player) pointed out that he, Germany and I should have combined against France; and that when my fleet was ejected from Tunis, I should have "retreated" it to North Africa instead of the Ionian sea, to support his entry into the MidAtlantic Ocean.


End of abilities given off by creatures If I'm attacking with creatures that give off abilities and the other person blocks and kills the creature does its ability die off with the creature at that same moment leaving the others creatures without it.

"Give off abilities" is not clear. It helps if you use proper jargon or at least an example. I believe you are talking about continuous effects created by static abilities such as Wizened Cenn's.

Effects created by static abilities take effect the moment the object on which they reside enters the battlefield, and they end the moment that object leaves the battlefield.

For example, say you have Wizened Cenn and Amrou Seekers on the battlefield, and your opponent deals 2 damage to each of your creature. This marks two damage on both your creatures. This kills off your Cenn, which reverts your Seekers to 2/2, which kills them off too.


Can I survive every enchantment, creature, and artifact in the game entering the battlefield at the same time? This question is inspired by Frank Karsten's (pretty ridiculous) article What If Every Enchantment in Magic Entered the Battlefield at the Same Time? His conclusion at the end of the article, where he went even further and considered all creatures, artifacts, and enchantments entering the battlefield at the same time, was:

If Magic Online’s implementation is correct and I’m not forgetting anything, then Enchanted Evening would turn everything permanent (including any cards that might save me) into enchantments, which become creatures with no abilities due to Opalescence/Humility. So the main conclusion from the enchantment section extends to all permanents:
You'd die to Lich, and nothing could save you.

Lich sets your life total to zero when it enters the battlefield, and since none of the other permanents have abilities, you're toast.
Or are you? The comments to that article (and this question) suggest a few ways to get past this:

Curse of Death's Hold kills everything, including Lich (because they're all 1/1 creatures) before you die. So you live.
Phyrexian Unlife, Transcendence or Lich's Mastery keep you alive.
Play Gideon of the Trials and get an emblem. This emblem says "As long as you control a Gideon planeswalker, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game." This hinges on whether Gideon, with all the other permanents in play, still qualifies as a Gideon planeswalker.
Play Kiora, Master of the Depths and get an emblem. Kiora's -8 ability says "You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have it fight target creature." Then create three 8/8 blue Octopus creature tokens." The plan now is to get the Octopus tokens to fight Humility and Opalescence (which are now creatures), kill them, and restore the abilities to all the other permanents that might keep you alive.
Get Imprisoned in the Moon to enchant Lich, removing all its abilities and keeping it from killing you.
Illusions of Grandeur gains you 20 life after it enters the battlefield, putting your life total above 0 again.

At this point the rules questions are well past my head, so I'm asking this here: of all these methods to survive Lich, which (if any) work?
If the exact order of things matter, we assume that I have 4 Plains in play and one each of every enchantment ever printed in the graveyard, then cast Replenish. In the case of Gideon/Kiora, we assume they are already in play and have created an emblem.

The key here is that Lich's ability is an "enters the battlefield" replacement effect. It modifies your life total before anything is actually on the battlefield. Then you lose the game the next time state-based actions are checked after everything enters the battlefield. Trying to do anything after that point won't save you. This is covered by rule 614.1d and 614.12:

614.1d Effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,” “As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . . “ are replacement effects.

614.12. Some replacement effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield. (See rules 614.1c–d.) Such effects may come from the permanent itself if they affect only that permanent (as opposed to a general subset of permanents that includes it). They may also come from other sources. To determine which replacement effects apply and how they apply, check the characteristics of the permanent as it would exist on the battlefield, taking into account replacement effects that have already modified how it enters the battlefield (see rule 616.1), continuous effects from the permanent’s own static abilities that would apply to it once it’s on the battlefield, and continuous effects that already exist and would apply to the permanent.

Because none of the effects created by the other enchantments already exist while they are entering the battlefield, none of them can modify or stop this ability on Lich.
Looking at the specific options:

Curse of Death's Hold will kill all of your permanents because Opalescence only affects non-Aura Enchantments. But this won't help because all of those permanents will die as state-based actions are checked, at the same time you lose.

Phyrexian Unlife, Transcendence, and Lich's Mastery will all be affected by the Opalescence/Humility combo mentioned in the quoted section, so they will not have any of the abilities that would keep you from losing.

Using Gideon to save yourself would work here, but it requires modifying the initial problem. I would argue it's not a valid solution to the question posed in that article. Gideon will be affected by Opalescence/Humility, but I can't think of any enchantment that would remove its Planeswalker type, so it will still be Gideon and the emblem's ability will still save you.

Kiora would be another modification to the initial problem, and it won't help you anyway. If the plan is to activate Kiora's ability after everything enters, you would already be dead and it wouldn't have any abilities anyway. If the plan is to instead activate the ability before everything enters, then after everything enters the emblem's triggered ability wouldn't even have a chance to be put on the stack before you lose.

There are two problems with Imprisoned in the Moon here. First, an Aura cannot enter the battlefield attached to a permanent that's also entering the battlefield at the same time. So you can't even attach it to any of the enchantments when it enters. Second, even if you could attach it to Lich, that would only happen after you lose all of your life. It is already too late to save you at that point.
If you could attach Imprisoned in the Moon to one of these enchanments, then attaching it to either Opalescence or Humility would save you here. Breaking that combo would allow all of your other enchantments to retain their abilities, including the ones that stop you from losing the game.

Like the other enchantments in point 2, Illusions of Grandeur will be affected by the Opalescence/Humility combo, so it won't do anything either.


When referring to "every location" in Dead of Winter does this include the colony? When a crossroad card says that something happens at every location does that include the colony? Does the colony by itself count as one location or do each of the numbered entrances count as a location?

Specific case: A card offers to draw two zombies away from every location. How many of them will be gone from the colony? Zero? Two? Up to twelve?

The Colony is a location with six entrances. So for instance Raiding Party says add two zombies to every location. This includes the colony which would get one zombie in Entrance 1 and one zombie in Entrance 2

In your specified case when taking away zombies you would again take only two from the colony not two from every entrance

From the manual page 5:

  The game board is made up of 7 different locations, including the colony board and 6 location cards.

Page 12; note the specific phrasing indicating that other locations are "non-colony locations" thus including the colony as one location just a special location.

  Add 1 zombie to the colony for every 2 survivors (including helpless survivors) present there (rounded up). Add 1 zombie to each non-colony location for every 1 survivor present at that location.

thus the colony IS a location. a single location. The rest of it is a combination of cards saying to add/remove zombies from locations and not entrances.


That should be simple - don't play at 14 in your final diagram. Instead, try this:

$$Bm7
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . B . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . 7 X 5 . |
$$ . . X . 8 . O 3 O 1 . |
$$ . . . . . . . 6 4 2 . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ----------------------

Note how white is alive, while black has an empty triangle, a bad shape in this case. It is not easy for black to attack the white stone on the right side. For instance:

$$
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . 1 . . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . 2 O . . |
$$ . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ . . . . . . . X X X . |
$$ . . X . O . O X O X . |
$$ . . . . . . . O O O . |
$$ . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ----------------------

If B1, white can split at 2. If B1 at 2, white can move fluently to the right side by playing at 1 herself. In the meantime, black has no eyes yet.

In the original diagram, B13 might be a bad move. I don't know this joseki, but I'd guess black should try something else instead, possibly before 13.


What is the best way to respond to this pincer joseki deviation? Every now and again when I approach a corner, opponent plays 1-space pincer and I jump out, my opponent immediately peeps. This seems like aji keshi and bad shape, but I've been stumped as to how to really take advantage of it. Normally what I would get out of this joseki is a nice influential wall facing the center, but now it seems I must sacrifice my corner aji to get the wall.

$$cm1 Should W connect?
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 1 . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

If W connects (below), she is free to invade the corner in the future and can connect underneath to 4 if necessary, so is chasing B's group the way to proceed

$$cm1 W does have options...
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . 4 . X . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . . , . . 1 2 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . 3 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

However, if the normal joseki were played out before black peeped (again, below) W would probably be happy to solidify her wall and then jump in the corner. The better way for B to cut would be 1 at 2.

$$cm1 A poor way for black to cut
$$ +---------------------------------------+
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . X . X X X . O . . 4 . . |
$$ | . . . , . . . . O O O X 1 3 . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . O . . . . O 2 O . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |

But without the wall already in place, W has difficulty mimicking this result. So what should W do?


Is there a card that protects me from a (self-)milling death? Is there a card with the ability: You do not lose the game being for unable to draw a card?

I've found one so far; Mine, Mine, Mine! but it applies to all players.

A little back story; I have Reliquary Tower that has the ability; You have no maximum hand size. I also have several cards that allow me to get an abundance of card draws: for instance I have Dragon Appeasement, if these two are paired in my devour deck I can get a wealth of cards, enabling me to play out Thromok the Insatiable all the sooner.

This would of course mill me out pretty quickly, so I was hoping for a card that does for me in prevention of loss by having no library what Phyrexian Unlife does for having 0 life.

I'm hoping there's a keyword I didn't think of, and that someone has a card in mind for this.

Win the game
Cards which change "draw from an empty library" into a win condition:

Laboratory Maniac is the most famous card to do this.
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries has a static effect to do the same.
Thassa's Oracle has an enters the battlefield trigger which causes you to win if the number of cards in your library is less than your devotion to blue.

Shuffle your graveyard into your library
Some cards can cause you to shuffle your graveyard into your library, including Emrakul, the Aeons torn (among other mythic eldrazi cards). Elixir of Immortality will do the same, cheaper for a gain of 5 life. Other similar cards exist, including Finale of Revelation.  Gaea's Blessing is notable for shuffling your graveyard into your library specifically if it itself is milled.
Don't draw a card
Blue Sun's Zenith You can read this as "UUU: don't draw a card", and add the card to your library, so you can draw it next turn and repeat.
Don't lose the game
Various cards include a "you can't lose the game" effect, such as Platinum Angel and Angel Grace.
Miscellaneous

There is also the slightly convoluted combo of Consecrated Sphinx, Notion Thief which you then Donate to your opponent before doing anything to cause you to draw a card outside of your draw step. The draw will be redirected to your opponent, which will trigger the sphinx, which will allow you to redirect 2 more draws and repeat the process to mill your opponent out to defeat. Probably not as good as Lab maniac, but worth remembering.
Nexus of Fate has a replacement effect which causes it to go to your library rather than your graveyard, so you never deck yourself if you can cast it every turn (unless something else causes you to draw). As Nexus of Fate gives you an extra turn, this is a win con if you have some way of damaging the opponent on every turn.
Murderous Rider goes to the bottom of your library when it dies so you can play a similar trick with this if you can draw it and kill it every turn.


How can white checkmate black in this chess puzzle? I was thinking about making some good chess puzzles and I found an interesting approach .

White to move.

Assuming both players try to checkmate their opponent's kings , who will win the game?

Assuming white is moving up the board in the position as shown,

1.Rxg8+ Kh7
2.Rxg7#

BTW, the usual notation for Knight is N, not H.

You can also use online tools to make better pictures (and to produce more easily-shareable notation for the board).

For example https://www.365chess.com/analysis_board.php

For instance, your puzzle in FEN is

RR4bk/1B1ppnp1/5PnP/2pN2P1/1b6/2P2pp1/1P1P1p2/7K w - - 0 1


Does Supernatural Stamina return a creature token to the board? Supernatural Stamina reads:

  Until end of turn, target creature gets +2/+0 and gains "When this
  creature dies, return it to the battlefield tapped under its owner's
  control."

If I cast this on a creature token, and it dies (say through combat damage), will it return to the battlefield? Or will it disappear as soon as it dies?

I'm sorry to disappoint you but a token won't return with Supernatural Stamina.

This is because of the following rules:

  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.)

So it will go in the graveyard, the trigger from Supernatural Stamina triggers and then once state based actions are checked the token ceases to exist. The trigger won't find the token and can't resolve.

Note that a token can never leave any other zone than the battlefield due to the following rule, there is no way to bring it back.

  110.5g A token that has left the battlefield can’t move to another zone or come back onto the battlefield. If such a token would change zones, it remains in its current zone instead. It ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked; see rule 704.


Spoons: is passing your cards w/o looking cheating? In the game of spoons (aka "pig" or "tongue"), you can simply not look at your cards, passing them on directly, so as to be ready to pick up a spoon at any moment (fixated on the spoons, with your hand hovering near a spoon). Is this "cheap" or "cheating" in any way, or just sometimes a good strategy? My sister says it's bad sportsmanship, but I insist it's just part of the game.

Edits:

I accept that keeping your hand near the spoons will incite violence, so let's assume I don't do that.
I only employ this strategy when it makes sense (when I'm unlikely to make a match of 4, and I'm furthest from the dealer)
It does not make sense for everyone to play this strategy, since the more people employ the strategy, the less benefit they get (it becomes a better strategy to try to make a match, since matching is more likely). I feel this adds an interesting element of game theory; you have to anticipate what strategy others are using, and do the opposite.

Given that this is a highly variable kitchen table game, most of the answers you'll get here are opinions. That said, I think that keeping your hand hovering next to the spoons is practically cheating, at the very least, it's a pretty cheap way to play. Not looking at your cards is fine, but everyone should have their hands in front of them unless they're actually grabbing a spoon.

While what you're doing may be within the rules in some circles, it may detract from the game. Imagine a game where everyone played with your strategy!


How does the Sorcerer flare card work with non-viable races in Cosmic Encounter? This issue came up in a game of Cosmic Encounter tonight and we were unsure how to resolve it.  The wild effect on the Sorcerer flare card allows the player to force the two main players (offense and defense) to swap powers. It then says this swap continues after the encounter is over.  We took this to mean that the swap is permanent, which is pretty freaking powerful!

However, adding to the confusion was that the defending player only had two of his home planets colonized at the time, meaning that his power was removed at that time because his race was "non-viable."  The attacker had three of his home planets, so his power was active.  We could not agree on whether this meant the defending player would get to use the offensive player's power, while the offensive player would have no power (because the defending player "traded" his non-power), or whether the powers would swap but then the defending player would lose it immediately because they still only had two home planets colonized.

In addition, is the trade really permanent?  That seems like a very powerful ability to be Wild, especially when the Super ability for the Sorcerer on the same card is relatively weak (allows them to use their ability to swap Encounter cards even as an ally)

The change is permanent. (Yes, it is powerful, but Wild flares are often powerful; frequently more powerful than the Super, which is usually just an enhancement to the base power.)

The fact that the change is permanent also helps to clarify your question. The defender isn't using the attacker's power; the defender is using their own power, which happens to be the power the attacker started the challenge with. Since it's their own power, its usage is controlled by the number of their home bases.


What are the password requirements for the new Planewalker points system? What are the requirements for the new planeswalker points login system? I attempted to log in with my DCI number today (which I don't do often) and it informed me I needed to upgrade my account. It was clear on the requirements for the user id but there are none listed for the password on screen and it refuses to accept anything I can think of.

My first instinct was to goto Wizard's support system, but it requires you to be logged in to contact them so I am locked out.

Click the "?" next to the field where you have to enter your new password, and it tells you the password requirements.

  Password Must Contain:

  Minimum of 7 characters
  Maximum of 29 characters
  Uppercase letter (1 or more)
  Lowercase letter (1 or more)
  Number (0–9)
  Special character (e.g., !, $, *, etc.)

  Passwords Cannot Be:

  Your Login ID
  Your email address
  Your screen name
  Your DCI number
  A drawing of your favorite Planeswalker


Can I use an instant speed Act of Treason effect to take a Seedborn Muse and use its ability? Can I trigger an instant speed “Act of Treason” type effect (like with a Vedalken Orrery or Jeering Instigator, for example) to grab a Seedborn Muse before an opponent’s untap and untap all my permanents?

Well, obviously there will be points in the game prior to your opponent's untap step. For instance, on the turn before your opponents turn, you can grab the Seedborn Muse during the ending phase. If that's your turn, you can announce after your second main phase "I am casting Act of Treason using Vedalken Orrery's ability". Or, if you're in a multiplayer game, if that's another player's turn, then when that other player announces the end of their turn, you can say the same; when a player says they're ending their turn, they're just passing priority, and other players have the chance to take actions before the turn actually ends.

However, there are two problems.

First, Act of Treason only lasts until end of turn. If you do this during the end step you will pass Seedborn Muse back more or less immediately after it. You will not have Seedborn Muse by the time the next turn starts and it will be back under the control of whoever had it last.

Second, once the untap phase begins, it's too late to do anything to affect what happens in the untap phase. Even when something is "instant", you still have to wait until you receive priority, and

  No player receives priority during this step so spells or abilities cannot be played. — Rules for the Beginning Phase

You first receive priority during your Upkeep, by which time Seedborn Muse has already had its effect and it is too late for gaining control of it to do much for you.


What happens to "usable once only" cards when Illusion is played? In a Munchkin game yesterday, a level 8 player (let's call her "Jennifer") was fighting a Hippogriff. After counting gear bonuses, Jennifer's combat strength was 15 and the Hippogriff's was 16.

If Jennifer won the combat, she would have won the game, so people started unloading cards that affect combat. The following cards were played:

Jennifer used a "+3 to either side, usable once only" (+3 UOO) card to help herself, making the fight 18/16 in her favor
Another player used a +3 UOO card to help the Hippogriff, making the fight 18/19.
Jennifer used a +2 UOO card on herself, and another player used a +2 UOO card for the Hippogriff (20/21)
Jennifer used a +5 UOO card on herself, and another player used a +5 UOO card for the Hippogriff (25/26)
Jennifer used a "-5 to monster" card on the Hippogriff, and another player used a +5 UOO card for the Hippogriff (25/26)
Jennifer used a +2 UOO card on herself, making the combat 27/26 in her favor

At this point, another player threw down Illusion and Plutonium Dragon to replace the Hippogriff. The relevant part of Illusion is

  Discard any one monster in this combat, along with any cards that have been played to modify it, and replace with a monster card from your hand.

We then had a long argument about which cards remained in play.

All of us immediately agreed that the "-5 to monster" card was a modifier for the Hippogriff, and disappeared with the Hippogriff.

For UOO cards played to help Jennifer, half of us thought that they were gone, because they had already been "thrown," "fired," "drunk" or otherwise used up. The other half thought that the cards remained in play, because it was still the same combat and Illusion didn't explicitly say that anything should be done about cards played to help the munchkins' side.

Most of us argued that the UOO cards played to help the Hippogriff's side of the combat also went away. Some of us cited the wording of Illusion; others thought they too were used up. A few of us maintained that UOO cards are not technically "modifiers," and therefore should have remained in play.

What should have happened in this combat (assuming no further cards were played)?

I don't have an official ruling to cite, but my interpretation would be that Illusion only removes the monster and any Monster Enhancers specific to that monster, but does not affect any one-shot items or other "±X to either side" cards.

What's confusing here is that, instead of using the standard term "Monster Enhancer" (like, say, the Mate card does), the Illusion card text just says to discard "any cards that have been played to modify [the monster]".  However, as far as I can tell, these two terms as effectively synonymous; the rules essentially define a Monster Enhancer as any card played to modify an individual monster:

  Monster Enhancers

  Certain cards, called monster enhancers, raise or lower the combat strength of individual monsters. (Yes, you can have a negative enhancement.) Monster enhancers may be played by any player during any combat.

  All enhancers on a single monster add together. If there are multiple monsters in a combat, the person who plays each enhancer must choose which monster it applies to. Exception: Anything that enhances a monster also enhances its Mate … if Ancient, Enraged, and Mate are played on a single monster, in any order, you are facing an Ancient Enraged monster and its Ancient Enraged Mate. Good luck …

(The Mate card text was changed to explicitly refer to Monster Enhancers in The Great 2010 Changeover; I suspect that the lack of a similar change to the Illusion card may have been an oversight.)

The essential difference between Monster Enhancers and one-shot items is that Monster Enchancers modify a specific monster (and possibly its Mate, per the explicit exception quoted above), whereas one-shot items add a bonus to a side in combat.

In particular, if there are multiple monsters involved in a combat (e.g. due to Wandering Monster cards being played), a one-shot item granting a bonus to the monsters' side will not be tied to any specific monster, and will not disappear even if some of the monsters are subsequently removed from combat by any means.

Of course, if all the monsters leave combat with no replacement (and no new wandering monsters appear within the rules-prescribed 2.6 seconds), then the combat is over and any bonuses of any kind become irrelevant.