Killing opponent's Arclight Phoenixes with Massacre Girl, with Cauldron Familiar in graveyard My board: 5 lands, Cauldron Familiar in graveyard, food token

Opponent's board: 1 untapped red mana, 2 Arclight Phoenix, Shock in hand

I want to play Massacre Girl and sweep up opponent's board. With no other creatures, Massacre Girl's trigger doesn't do anything, so I need to bring back Cauldron Familiar first. But opponent has a Shock, so if I bring back Familiar and then cast Massacre Girl, they will Shock in response to my Massacre Girl and the trigger does nothing.

Here's my plan:

I will cast Massacre Girl.
Once Massacre Girl enters the battlefield and triggers, in response to the trigger, I will bring back Cauldron Familiar.
Opponent can now Shock the Cauldron Familiar, but since Massacre Girl has the line of text "Whenever a creature dies this turn, each creature other than Massacre Girl gets -1/-1 until end of turn" and it is already on the battlefield, it doesn't matter, the Phoenixes get -1/-1, and Massacre Girl sweeps them up anyway.

Does this work, or does this ability on Massacre Girl not matter until the trigger is resolved?

Your opponent can prevent another -1/-1 effect, no matter how you play it.

The clause "Whenever a creature dies this turn, each creature other than Massacre Girl gets -1/-1 until end of turn" is part of the Massacre Girl's ability, because there is no new paragraph separating the lines.

  113.2c An object may have multiple abilities. If the object is represented by a card, then aside from certain defined abilities that may be strung together on a single line (see rule 702, “Keyword Abilities”), each paragraph break in a card’s text marks a separate ability. [..]

It is a delayed triggered ability that only comes into existence as the ETB ability resolves. If the Familiar dies before the ETB has started resolving, it will not create another -1/-1 effect.

  603.7a Delayed triggered abilities are created during the resolution of spells or abilities, as the result of a replacement effect being applied, or as a result of a static ability that allows a player to take an action. A delayed triggered ability won’t trigger until it has actually been created, even if its trigger event occurred just beforehand. Other events that happen earlier may make the trigger event impossible.

If you return the Familiar after the ETB has resolved, your opponent can simply decline to Shock the Familiar.

Therefore, if your opponent plays correctly, you will not get a second -1/-1 effect and the Phoenixes will survive.


Does Leyline of Singularity works on tokens? If Leyline of Singularity is in play, will  my opponent be able to have multiple "2/2 zombie tokens" in play?

It does count for tokens; you will not be able to have multiple tokens with the same name. The name of a token is defined by the spell that created it:

  110.5c A spell or ability that creates a creature token sets both its name and its creature type. If the spell or ability doesn’t specify the name of the creature token, its name is the same as its creature type(s). A “Goblin Scout creature token,” for example, is named “Goblin Scout” and has the creature subtypes Goblin and Scout. Once a token is on the battlefield, changing its name doesn’t change its creature type, and vice versa.

So in your example, if an effect creates a 2/2 Zombie token, then the name of that token will be "Zombie."

Furthermore, the legendary rule does apply to tokens:

  205.4d Any permanent with the supertype “legendary” is subject to the state-based action for legendary permanents, also called the “legend rule” (see rule 704.5k).

and

  110.5e A token is subject to anything that affects permanents in general or that affects the token’s card type or subtype. A token isn’t a card (even if represented by a card that has a Magic back or that came from a Magic booster pack).


How many points for all four safeties? How many points are awarded for all four safeties played by the same team or player in Mille Bornes - 300 or 700?

Assuming you're playing an edition by Parker Brothers (where the game is played over multiple hands and the first to 5,000 points wins), you get a hundred-point bonus for each safety played, and another 300 bonus if you play all four safeties, according to https://gamerules.com/rules/mille-bornes-card-game/ and https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/MilleBornes.pdf :

  SCORING

  Score as many points as miles traveled ... X

  Bonus for 1000 mile trip ............... 400

  Bonus for safety card .................. 100

  All 4 Safety Cards played by 1 team .... 300

  Each Coup Fourré ....................... 300

  Delayed Action ..........................300

  Safe Trip .............................. 300

  Shut Out ............................... 500

The 300 points bonus for al four is explicitly "in addition" to the 100 points for each one:

(Again from https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/MilleBornes.pdf ):

  All four Safety Cards played by the same team (add this bonus to the 100 points scored for each safety card): 300

And also confirmed on Wikipedia

  All 4 safeties: 300 bonus in addition to the standard 100 points for each of the safeties individually plus any coup-fourré bonuses.

ADDENDUM:

If you're playing the Dujardin edition, the games is just one hand (ending at 1,000 miles), and there's no bonus for playing all four safeties.


Which Game of Thrones LCG house/expansions best reflect a play style similar to 'blue' decks in MTG? I've recently committed to buying the Game of Thrones Living Card Game from Fantasy Flight so I can play with a number of friends who also have it.

At this stage, I know will be buying the Core set, but am a bit overwhelmed at all the available expansions and chapter packs. To be competitive amongst my friends (not tournaments), I know I need to get additional cards beyond those in the core set.

I really enjoyed playing 'blue' decks in Magic due to their control of the field and 'tricks' up their sleeve by being able to cancel or negate the effects of my opponents.  I really dislike rush/monster heavy decks as well.

So, my question is, which Game of Thrones LCG house/expansions best reflect a play style similar to 'blue' decks in MTG as described above?

So I've been playing the game now for almost a year. Have gotten to the finals in a store championship and won some private tournaments amongst my meta (about 6-8 players) :)

To answer my own question,  it would be the lannisters due to the sheer amount of kneeling effects that they have. Martell would be a close second in terms of annoying events and the general 'negative play experience' it gives to your opponents via icon stripping and challenge denial


Can one creature block multiple attacks? I'm not much of a Magic player myself, although I do know a bit about the game. Recently, I got into an argument about whether one creature can block multiple creatures' attacks.

It looks like rule 509.1a specifies that each blocking creature blocks one attacking creature:

  509.1a The defending player chooses which creatures that he or she controls, if any, will block. The chosen creatures must be untapped.
  For each of the chosen creatures, the defending player chooses one
  creature for it to block that's attacking him, her, or a planeswalker
  he or she controls.

But the point of the argument was, can "one" creature be chosen multiple times? Because it seemed like multiple blocking creatures could block one attack, but not the other way around.

No, one creature cannot be chosen to block multiple attackers (unless otherwise specified on the card, like Avatar of Hope). Each blocking creature may be assigned to one attacking creature. The rule, as you've pointed out, states (emphasis mine):

  509.1a The defending player chooses which creatures that he or she controls, if any, will block. The
  chosen creatures must be untapped. For each of the chosen creatures, the defending player
  chooses one creature for it to block that’s attacking him, her, or a planeswalker he or she
  controls.

The rule starts out by saying that the defender chooses all creatures that will block. Declaring all blockers at the same time is important. The defending player then assigns each blocker to one creature to block. Since all blockers are declared at the same time, it cannot be assigned to block one creature multiple times; each blocker is assigned to one attacker when blockers are declared.


Which expansions should not be used together in Carcassonne? I have really been into Carcassonne lately and have purchased many expansions, even though I'm still missing some of the rarer ones. I have the following:

Base Game
Expansion 1: Inns and Cathedrals
Expansion 2: Traders and Builders
Expansion 3: Princess and the Dragon
Expansion 4: The Tower
Expansion 5: Abbey & Mayor
Expansion 6: Count, King & Robber
Expansion 8: Bridges, Castles & Bazaars
All 6 mini expansions

I have since realized that many expansions have rulings that contradict and/or cause ambiguous situations together and that some just cannot be played at the same time. Are there expansions that should just not be played or are there known combinations of expansions that are the ideal game? I'm looking to have the most fun possible without having arguments over how the expansions work together.

Edit: Here is an example of problems that can occur with some expansions. This is a question I posted a few days ago: Carcassonne interaction between "The Robbers" and "The Messages"

Thanks
L-P

I made games with this expansions.

Base Game, Inns and Cathedrals, Traders and Builders, Princess and the Dragon, The Tower, Abbey & Mayor, Count, King & Robber; Bridges, Castles & Bazaars and wheel of fortune.

And all worked fine together, the most important are: 1. the game can have 4 or 5 hours long and 2. beware when the fields with barn are unexpectedly joined under some bridge.


Undying vs first strike What happens when an undying creature dies being dealt damage by a creature with first strike in a combat?

For example:

If Nearheath Stalker blocks an Abattoir Ghoul and dies will he deal combat damage after returning to the battlefield? Will Abattoir Ghoul die after this battle?

No, the creature returned to the battlefield by undying is considered a new creature because it changed zones (two times, from battlefield to graveyard and then back from graveyard to battlefield). It's not in combat, and won't deal combat damage to Abattoir Ghoul.

  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:

This rule has some exceptions, but undying isn't one of them.


Identify old Lithuanian board game In the Lithuanian historical museum is an old piece of wood with a scratched game board.

The game board consists of a square grid with five lines in each (horizontal and vertical) direction. There are also lines from each corner of the grid to the opposite corner, and lines between the midpoints of the outside of the grid.

Pieces are placed on the intersections of lines.

Does someone know the name of this game?

From your description, it sounds like you're describing the game-board for Qirkat, which is a precursor to Checkers/Draughts:

There are many games which use this or a similar board (this Wikipedia link lists some of them), but neither Qirkat nor any of the variants I know have a uniquely Lithuanian origin.

As far as I understand, this type of game board was rather wide-spread throughout medieval Europe, although exactly what games were played on them isn't so clear from country to country. Without, for example, pieces or instructions, both of which are generally harder to find in the archeological record, it's mostly a matter of speculation.


Can someone explain me why was this a split pot? texas hold'em I would want to ask you why was this a split pot.

You get the highest possible five card combination. The remaining hole cards are lower than the A and K on the table -- best five cards then is Three of a Kind in 10s, Ace, King.  Other cards are ignored, so both players have the same hand.


Are newly gained items considered Bequests in Haunt 94: Last Will and Tournament? This question is spoiler-free.

In Haunt 94: Last Will and Tournament, what is considered a Bequest? Is it just the item and omen cards that we start the Haunt with? Or is it also any items and omens that we gain afterwards?

We had played where we thought it was any item and omen, since the rule book was a bit ambiguous. However, this resulted in a stalemate and we gave up as we went into our third hour of play time. Basically, we gained items far faster than we could get rid of them. So we are unsure if we were playing correctly.

From the secrets of survival tome:

  Each hero draws an item card, then each counts
  his or her total number of item cards and omen
  cards that can be traded or stolen. (A card that can
  be traded but not stolen, or vice versa, counts. For
  example, the Armor and Blood Dagger count, but the
  Bite doesn’t.) These cards represent your Bequests,
  which will change as you gain and lose cards.

Especially that last part is interesting for your question: These cards represent your Bequests,
which will change as you gain and lose cards

This means that every omen and item card which fits the previous description you gain will become a bequest, if you lose one they will stop being a bequest.

for other confusions: read this


The New Dungeon lengthening Now and again I play the The New Dungeon (with people who don't normally play board games), but I'm always struck by how fast the game is over. It seems like you're barely getting started on the higher levels before someone's off back to the staircase with a winning bagful of loot.

Does anyone have any simple custom rules for lengthening the game, or even to make it more interesting?

Wow, I was just looking at this game again the other day, too funny.

While I haven't played in a few years, I do remember our group has used one (or both) of he following rules to make things play longer:

Increase by 50% or 100% (depending on how long you want the game to play) the amount of loot necessary to win the game.
Require that in addition to collecting enough loot, you must have collected at least one piece of treasure from each floor, or from a specified number of floors.


Does Battlestar Galactica just poof out of existence the very instant Fuel drops to 0? In my first (and so far only) session of Battlestar Galactica1, I played as a human, and an unfortunate string of events led to Fuel dropping to 1 while we had traveled measly 6 Distance.

On the next jump2 our Admiral drew two Locations, both of which cost Fuel to reach: one of these Locations costed 1 Fuel, but it gave 2 Fuel after the jump.

I thought we were saved - Battlestar would jump, we would drop to 0 Fuel but gain 2 Fuel immediately after, and the play would continue. However, the Admiral - a BSG veteran - said the latter Location would still result in a loss because humans would lose the instant Fuel dropped to 0 and it didn't matter if that Location gave 2 Fuel after the jump.3

Was that ruling correct? Do humans lose the instant any resource drops to 0? In other words, do the rules actually protect from such edge cases and the "you lose the game if a resource is at 0" check is supposed to happen at a specified turn phase (like, say, end of turn)?

1 For complexity's sake, we were playing with Pegasus and Daybreak expansions.

2 (Caused by a Cylon Leader to whom I, in a stroke of unadulterated genius, had given Executive Order.)

3 After which he promptly used a special ability to discard the Locations, drew another one, saw that it also costed fuel and declared that - as is customary in BSG - humans lose.

The humans do not lose the moment a resource drops to zero. They only lose if a resource is zero at the end of a player's turn.

From the base game rulebook:

  If at least one resource is depleted to 0 or less at the end of a player’s turn, the game immediately ends and the Cylon players win. This is the most common way for the Cylons to win. Note that it is possible for the human players to reach 0 of a resource type and then increase it during the same turn without losing the game.

I don't believe the expansions change this.


Where can I find Bobby Fischer's debut game? Once I saw the game in an encyclopedia, and I remember being impressed.  Now, I'd like to find it again.  Is there some inventory of famous games I can find it in?

Presumably you're talking about the Game of the Century, in which 13-year-old Bobby Fischer beat IM (International Master) Donald Byrne, winning a brilliancy prize in the process.

This was of course not Bobby Fischer's "debut" game in that he had played plenty of other tournament games before this; in fact, he won the United States Junior Chess Championship almost a year beforehand.  However, this is the "earliest" game most people think of when they hear "Bobby Fischer."

13-year-old Bobby Fischer plays 17... Be6!!, sacrificing his queen

As for an inventory of famous games:  Wikipedia has a list.  Chessmaster also comes with a list of famous games annotated by Grandmasters.


What's the number of cards per rarity in a regular set of MTG? I am trying to do a calculation for modern masters that is coming out next year and to complete it I need to know, How many commons, uncommons, rares and mythics are in a regular set of mtg(Scars of mirrodin for example)?

Modern Masters contains 229 cards (101 commons, 60 uncommons, 53 rares, and 15 mythic rares).

The Scars of Mirrodin set contains 249 cards (101 common, 60 uncommon, 53 rare, 15 mythic rare, and 20 basic land).

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/218


Clarification about drawing and assigning plot cards The rules are explicit about plot cards being assigned only once per round, there being only five rounds in a game.

However, a single round can go through several leaders (if votes fail).

My question is, are the plot cards distributed simply by the person who is the leader at the time that the new round starts?

If so - it appears that there would likely be a bit of gaming going on with voting to approve a mission or not, not only due to who's on the mission, but who will be the leader next, so they can assign the plot cards.

Is this by design?

Plot cards are distributed by the first leader of a round only. Indeed, it is important to know who will be first leader of the next round, as they will be the ones distributing the cards.


Sacrificing to regenerate from Supreme Verdict I have Varolz, the Scar-Striped out along with a few minor creatures. My opponent on his turn casts Supreme Verdict. Before the Verdict resolves can I use Varolz's regenerate ability by sacrificing one of my lesser creatures? Will my Troll survive the Verdict?

Sure you can.

With Supreme Verdict on the stack, you respond by activating Varolz's regenerate ability.  This resolves.

Supreme Verdict now resolves, destroying all creatures. Varolz's regeneration shield protects him, and he becomes tapped and survives the Verdict.

Obligatory comp rules citation:

  614.8. Regeneration is a destruction-replacement effect. The word "instead" doesn't appear on the card but is implicit in the definition
  of regeneration. "Regenerate [permanent]" means "The next time
  [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage
  marked on it and tap it. If it's an attacking or blocking creature,
  remove it from combat." Abilities that trigger from damage being dealt
  still trigger even if the permanent regenerates. See rule 701.12.

This is all pretty basic stuff of course.  Perhaps some confusion arises from the fact that Supreme Verdict "can't be countered".  This just means that it counterspells etc won't work on it, not that there is no possible means of escaping the Verdict's destructive effect.


What happens if I become an illegal target of Cruel Entertainment? Cruel Entertainment is a card from Commander 2016 that says:

  Choose target player and another target player. The first player controls the second player during the second player’s next turn, and the second player controls the first player during the first player’s next turn.

Let's say this is cast, and I'm one of the targets. While Cruel Entertainment is still on the stack, I give myself hexproof by flashing in Aegis of the Gods or something similar. The other player is still a valid target, so the spell resolves — but what happens when it does?

Do I still control the other player in their next turn?
Does the other player still control me in my next turn?

There aren't any Gatherer rulings about this scenario attached to the card — all the rulings but the first two just talk about how controlling a player works.

Nothing happens at all as the spell resolves. Neither player controls the other.

Under 608: Resolving spells and abilities comes these rules:

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. [...] If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. Illegal targets, if any, won’t be affected by parts of a resolving spell’s effect for which they’re illegal. Other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them. If the spell or ability creates any continuous effects that affect game rules (see rule 613.10), those effects don’t apply to illegal targets.

Since one of the players is an illegal target:

that player can't be made to control the other player.
that player can't be made to be controlled by the other player.

Both players retain control of their own turns as normal and the spell has no actual effect on anything.


Why does Wizards of the Coast print terrible MTG cards? I understand that there needs to be a wide variety of power levels in Magic: The Gathering. Even bad cards will see play in limited formats, some because they fill a specific niche (flying removal, fat colorless flyer, providing a counter to certain decks), and others because those decks can't afford to be too picky. However, some cards are just unforgivably terrible. I'm talking about cards that you would only run in sealed if you had absolutely no other options:

Mindless Null: Black 2/2 for 3 with a big disadvantage

Defensive Stance: literally does nothing in exchange for you getting card disadvantage

Merfolk of the Depths: Would still be bad if it only costed 5...

Archangel's Light: 8 mana just to gain some life and put cheap cards back into your deck. And it's a mythic rare....

There are many more examples, but I think these best illustrate my case. Obviously I'd rather have these cards in the game than not have them at all, but I feel like Wizards of the Coast could have made Magic a more enjoyable game just by keeping the flavor and making all of these cards a tiny bit better...yet they didn't. Why?

I already posted a link to Maro's article, but here's his summary:

By definition, some bad cards have to exist. (The most important reason.)
Some cards are “bad” because they aren’t meant for you.
Some cards are “bad” because they’re designed for a less advanced player.
Some cards are “bad” because the right deck for them doesn’t exist yet.
“Bad” cards reward the more skilled player.
Some players enjoy discovering good “bad” cards.
Some “bad” cards are simply R&D goofing up.

I agree with his "most important reason" very strongly.  If all cards were created equal or almost-equal, then skill-intensive deckbuilding formats such as draft would come down to the luck of the draw, rather than card-analysis skills, a lot more often than they should.


Playing with less or more than 10 Kingdom card types in Dominion In Dominion you choose 10 of the 25 Kingdom cards to play with in a given game, generally at random. Is it possible/advisable to play with less or more sets? I've considered playing with less to make it simpler for new players, and likewise more to add possibilities for players that are already familiar with the card types, but I've never heard of anyone else trying it before. It would throw off the end conditions (one of which is running out of three stacks of Kingdom cards, which is respectively more/less likely in my examples); would it unbalance any other game aspects or lead to problems?

I think playing with less would be fine.  From the games I've played with there are about 2-5 stacks that never get any buys, and 1-2 that get bought down really fast.  For inexperienced players I think it would be a big plus.

However, for experienced players it could change some of the strategy a bit.  The other stacks, even if unbought, can serve as a threat that players may buy those.  For example, if there were multiple reaction cards then the attack cards seem less desirable.  So right there 2-4 stacks may be off-limits on the premise of mutually assured destruction.  However, with no reactions attack cards gain a lot of value.

Thus adding more cards would be bad IMHO for experienced and inexperienced players but for different reasons.  The inexperienced players would be too confused while the experienced players would settle on 'sure fire' strategies with so many other strategies to game against.  A limited selection limits the amount of competing strategies, and hence may reduce the number of spoilers to more entertaining card selections.


Aura Trample removed by High Priest of Penance I've been searching high and low for this: say a High Priest of Penance (with an indestructible aura) blocks a creature with Rancor, i.e. trample. Can I stop the trample effect by destroying either the creature or the enchantment, before trample happens? Since it first assigns damage to the priest who then can destroy a permanent...?

  702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it.

You can't stop your opponent from trampling over your High Priest this way. Although you are correct that trample damage is not assigned simultaneously between creatures and players, it is dealt simultaneously.

  510.2 Second, all combat damage that's been assigned is dealt simultaneously.

So both you and your High Priest are dealt damage at the same time. At that point, you may use your Priest's ability, but destroying the attacking creature or aura will have no effect on what already happened.


I have an Ivy Lane Denizen, how does targeting work? I have an Ivy Lane Denizen, it says that he may put a +1/+1 counter on target creature whenever a creature enters the battlefield under my control. Does the counter go on Ivy Lane Denizen specifically or on the creature that just entered? Or does "target" mean I choose any creature of my choice?

Cards in Magic: The Gathering (at least when looking at the official Oracle wording, found on Gatherer) usually mean exactly what they say, nothing more and nothing less. If you had to place the counter on the denizen, it would've said "Whenever another green creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Ivy League Denizen.", and if you had to put the counter on the creature that just came out, it would've said "Whenever another green creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature."

When an ability or spell you play uses the word "target", you are entirely free to choose a target to your liking, within any explicitly mentioned restrictions (it has to be a creature since it says "target creature", said creature can't have shroud or protection from green, etc.)


What are the differences between Elder Sign and Elder Sign: Omens? I've played the board game Elder Sign. I have read some reviews and seen a gameplay video of Elder Sign: Omens, the iOS app based on the board game, but I haven't been able to find info on exactly how similar the two are. I see that they even share the same tag on here, so I'm guessing they are pretty close, but I'd like to know more definitively.

Is Elder Sign: Omen basically a straight-up single player version of the board game, or are there some mechanical differences between the two? If so, how do they differ?

There is a thread on BGG discussing the changes. They are far to numerous to mention all the changes, but some of the most notable are:

There are no allies.
Spells are cast after rolling, but don't carry over to other investigators.
Only 1-4 investigators instead of 1-8
There are no midnight events.
Assisting investigators aren't penalized when you fail.
Monsters are added automatically, you cannot choose where they are placed.


Prevent a player from using creature type? Is there a card that has an ability to the effect of "Choose a creature type. Creatures of that type cannot be summoned."? I feel like I would have found something on it if there was, seeing as it counters A LOT of decks, but I'd like to get confirmation.

That specific effect does not exist. However, there are some cards with effects that are probably less powerful, but still can do significant damage to a tribal deck:

An-Zerrin Ruins prevents creatures of a chosen type from untapping.
Circle of Solace allows you to prevent damage from creatures of a chosen type.
Engineered Plague decreases the power and toughness of creatures of a chosen type. Outbreak has a similar effect, but just for one turn.
Tsabo's Decree destroys creatures of a chosen type, and also makes your opponent discard creature cards of that type.


What would happen to other players creatures upon death? I have Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in play. We are playing with 3 people. If i beat one player, would the creatures he own die? So i would get 2/2 zombie tokens from his creatures?

According to the Comprehensive Rules (http://media.wizards.com/2017/downloads/MagicCompRules_20170119.txt), this is what happens when a player loses the game:

  104.5. If a player loses the game, he or she leaves the game. [...]

  800.4a When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game and any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end. [...]

The definition of the word "die" is:

  A creature “dies” if it is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.

Since a losing player's creatures leave the game instead of being put into a graveyard, those creatures are not considered to have died, and Kalitas does not give you any tokens.


Volatile Rig blocks Xathrid Necromancer: What happens? My opponent has a Volatile Rig in play. The Rig has some silly coin flipping abilities:

  Whenever Volatile Rig is dealt damage, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, sacrifice Volatile Rig.

  When Volatile Rig dies, flip a coin. If you lose the flip, it deals 4 damage to each creature and each player.

I attack with some creatures, including a Xathrid Necromancer. He blocks the Necromancer with his Rig.

When we get to combat damage, the Necromancer is going to die, and the Volatile Rig is going to take damage, triggering its first ability. I'm going to get a 2/2 zombie off the Necromancer's ability.

  Whenever Xathrid Necromancer or another Human creature you control dies, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token onto the battlefield tapped.

If the Rig blows up, will I possibly lose my zombie to the second ability of the Rig? Or do I get the zombie after all the Rig abilities have resolved?

Your zombie will be safe, because you are the active player.

All combat damage is dealt simultaneously. This causes the Rig to trigger, but triggered abilities don't go on the stack until the next time state-based actions are checked. When state-based actions are checked, the Necromancer dies because he has taken lethal damage. This causes the Necromancer trigger to happen. Once state-based actions are done being checked, both the Rig ability and the Necromancer ability are put on the stack. Because you are the active player, your ability is put on the stack first. So the Rig ability will resolve, causing a coin flip. If that coin flip is lost, another triggered ability will be created, and put on the stack at the top. When that coin flip is lost, your zombie hasn't been created yet.

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

Note that this would be different if it were your opponent's turn instead. In that case, your zombie trigger would go on the stack after the Rig trigger, thus resolving first.

  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.


What cards transfer mana from colorless to any color? So all I need to know is if there are any known MTG cards that say "pay one colorless mana: produce one mana of any color."

For once per turn effects, something like Mana Prism or Prophetic Prism do that. For permanent "spend mana as if it were any kind", something like Mycosynth Lattice might be your only option.


Targeting question in regards to illegal target I'm watching this video from the Judge's Corner on YouTube:
Targeting - Judge's Corner #10. One example shows these cards being played:

Middle first, left second, right third. The video says that once they resolve the left card wont have a valid target so it can't even be played. Does this mean that the card just stays in the persons hand as if it didn't happen?

No that is not what that means. What happens is

Your Shambleshark is on the battlefield
You opponent casts Assassin's Strike targeting Shambleshark. At this time this is perfectly legal, so Assassin's Strike goes on the stack.
You respond with Ranger's Guile targeting Shambleshark as well.
Your Ranger's Guile resolves granting Shambleshark +1/+1 and Hexproof
Your opponent's Assassin's Strike tries to resolve, but when it does it checks to see if it still has a legal target. When it does this it sees that Shambleshark now has Hexproof and is no longer a legal target. Assassin's Strike then gets countered due to a lack of legal targets, this works just like any other countering; the card has no effect (so you won't discard a card either) and goes to the graveyard.

This is all because of this rule (relevant parts only):

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. ... The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word "target," are now illegal.


How are mines triggered in Captain Sonar? For all normal system activations, the real-time game is put on hold:

  To activate a system...announce "STOP" and raise a fist. All other players stop what they are doing and listen.

This seems important for multiple reasons, including making sure the game is in a single consistent state during the resolution of the activation.

However, the rules also seem to treat triggering a mine differently from activating a system:

  At any time, except while surfaced, the Captain can trigger a mine by raising a fist, announcing "TRIGGERING A MINE"

So: does triggering a mine count as a system activation?

If yes, does that mean that you have to charge the system once to drop and then charge it again to trigger, and that the engineer must have weapons systems online for both drop and trigger? Or if no, does that mean that the game isn't on hold while the trigger is resolved, even though the game is on hold while the very similar torpedo explosion is resolved?

You must STOP in order to trigger a mine, and the Engine Room can't have a breakdown for the MINE + TORPEDO system.

This thread over on BGG relays information from the designers. In order to detonate a mine, the Engineer needs weapon systems online:

  And to detonate a mine you also need to have ALL the red "lights" clear in the Engine room

The last line also clarifies that a STOP needs to occur during detonation:

  With these answers, I think a good way to describe the rules is that each team is only allowed 1 STOP (either system activation or mine detonation) between movements.


Betrayal at House on the Hill -- what counts as a turn for attacks? For the monster turn -- if I have several zombies (as an example), can they each attack on the turn? So, I move one zombie and attack someone, and then I move another and attack someone else? Until I have moved and/or attacked with each zombie? Just want to make sure we are understanding the definition of "turn".

The Traitor always gets to move and attack with each monster, separately, after they have finished their own turn (unless a Haunt-specific rule tells you otherwise, of course).

From the second edition rulebook (page 17, or page 12 if you are cross-referencing the first edition rulebook):

  After you finish your turn, you move and attack with all of the monsters, if any.


Scattergories Duplicate Answers The rules of Scattergories state:

  Players score zero points for an answer that duplicates another answer in that round.

However, how do you define "duplicates another answer"? Should only the exact same words be considered "duplicate"? Or is there some room for interpretation? For example, if the category is "Professional Sports Teams", are "Jaguars" and "Jacksonville Jaguars" considered duplicate answers, since "Jaguars" is the operative word in both cases? Or do they both count, since they are not exactly the same words?

The rules are not exactly clear on the definition of duplicate, so it is truly up to the players as a group to decide.

In my experience, if they refer to the same thing, they are considered duplicates, in your example as the "Jacksonville Jaguars" and "Jaguars" are the same team, they should be considered duplicate answers. This encourages thinking out of the box and looking for less common answers, that's the fun of the game after all.


What are the legal tournament formats for MtG? What are the current legal tournament formats for Magic: The Gathering?  What are the differences/definitions of each format?  At what point do sets rotate in/out of a format?

You can visit the Banned / Restricted Lists for DCI-Sanctioned Magic: The Gathering Tournaments page to see a list of formats, plus deck construction rules and a list of banned/restricted cards for each format.

With the exception of prerelease Limited, new sets enter their appropriate formats on the day of their official release. The specific dates for upcoming sets are spelled out in the "New Releases" section of the most current Magic Tournament Rules (PDF link).

As for a description of each format, plus differences and defining characteristics, is probably overly broad as a question.


Are airplanes involved in defense if they are on an aircraft carrier? In AAA, if you are defending against a sea attack, and you are defending with an aircraft carrier, do the airplanes on the carrier contribute to the battle or are they considered cargo? The rulebook doesn't seem to define a specific rule for this scenario.

The air units that are on an aircraft carrier participate in the defense, they are not considered cargo. On page 20 of the rulebook under Order of Play.

Air Units: A given air unit may participate in the sea combat or the land combat portion of the amphibious assault; it may not do both. The attacking player must declare the air units involved in the land and sea combats and cannot change their assignments later. Attacking air units, whether involved in the sea or land combat, may retreat
according to the normal rules. Defending fighters on aircraft carriers can defend only in the sea combat. Defending air units in a territory can defend only in the land combat.

And in the Appendix (page 30) under Aircraft Carrier, or (page 27) under Fighter the example image.

The Sinking of a Defending Carrier: The attacking Japanese submarine sinks the U.K. carrier, then submerges after the defenders Fire. Both the U.S. and U.K. Fighters can Fly 1 space to safety. They can land at New Zealand (a friendly territory), or on the U.S. carrier (a friendly carrier). Otherwise they are destroyed.
Fighter Defense: Whenever a carrier is attacked, its fighters (even those belonging to friendly powers) are considered to be defending in the air and can be chosen as casualties rather than the carrier. (However, a fighter can’t be chosen as a casualty from a submarine hit, because submarines can attack only sea units. See Submarines, on page 32.)

and from the online FAQ:

If my fighters are on an ally's carrier, when do they move and fight?
Your fighters move along with the carrier when it moves. They can't fly out to attack on your ally's turn, but they fight normally if the carrier's sea zone is attacked. If the carrier moves into an enemy sea zone to attack, however, your fighters can't be part of the attack but they can be taken as losses, if you agree to sacrifice them.


Is it possible to intentionally draw a game? I was told today that it's possible to do an effective "friendly mulligan" (draw to 7 cards) by intentionally tying the game and starting a new one.

I've heard of people intentionally drawing matches a lot of times, but is it legal to intentionally draw a single game?

Yes, it's fine.

From the tournamet rules:

  2.4  Conceding or Intentionally Drawing Games or Matches

  If a game or match is not completed, players may concede or mutually agree to a
  draw in that game or match. A  match is considered complete once the
  result slip is filled out or, if match slips are not being used, a
  player leaves  the table after game play is finished. Until that
  point, either player may concede to or draw with the other, though  if
  the conceding player won a game in the match, the match must be
  reported as 2-1. Intentional draws are always  reported as 0-0-3.

  Players may not agree to a concession or draw in exchange for any
  reward or incentive. Doing so will be  considered Bribery (see section
  5.2).

  If a player refuses to play, it is assumed that he or she has conceded the match.

But remember that you can't use the sideboard if you decide to draw before starting to play:

  2.3  Pregame Procedures

  The following steps must be performed in a timely manner before each game begins:

  Players may exchange cards in their decks for cards in their sideboards. Players may only do this after  the first or subsequent
  game of the match and not for games that are restarted or games that
  are drawn  before any game actions are taken.

Matches are played until time has run out or until a player has won a certain number of games. Therefore drawing a game will not use up one of the games in the match, because there is no limit to the number of games that can be played in a match:

  2.1  Match Structure

  A Magic match consists of a series of games that are played until one side has won a set number of games,  usually two.
  Drawn games do not count toward this goal. If the round ends before a
  player has won the required  number of games, the winner of the match
  is the player who has won the most games at that point. If both
  players  have equal game wins, the match is a draw.


Can a solo game be converted into a cooperative game (and vice versa)? Note: this is not (just) a theoretical question. I have been asked to develop a solo game mode for the game that I am working on, and I'm wondering if I should start with a cooperative mode instead.

Q 1: Given a solo game (i.e. a game designed/intended for one player), what qualities must it have - positive and negative - for it to have a natural extension for multiple, cooperating players?

One such quality would be the control of several characters: if the player is responsible for the movement/actions of several otherwise-independent characters, it would be reasonable to assign each character to a player (thereby creating a "cooperative" game).

Q 2: Given a multiplayer cooperative game (i.e. a game designed/intended for several players to work together toward a common goal), what qualities must it have - positive and negative - for it to have a natural... distillation to a solo game?

Most of what I've come up with on this end is a list of things/games that won't work.
Escape: Curse of the Temple and Space Alert are two popular cooperative games that are played on a timer (which is actually an audio soundtrack). Without changing the soundtrack/game length, it would be tough for a single player to do what 4-5 players are usually responsible for.

The game play of Hanabi relies entirely on the limited information that each player has, and on controlling communication. A single player... well, it would be hard to imagine Hanabi keeping its elegance in a solo mode.

Q1: Two things it must have:

Two or more opposing factions or teams. A solo player is simply on one side, then by expanding the game to allow players to be on either side, the game can become multiplayer and/or cooperative.
A limit to the number of rewards or prizes the factions are trying to accomplish. This is what evokes the competition. A solo player is competing against the computer to be the first to win the prizes. Then to expand to multiplayer/cooperative, the players are on separate teams are now competing for the limited number of prizes (and be the fastest to do it).


Can I use a meeple the turn after begging? In Champions of Midgard, the rules state that I can Beg with one of my meeples:

  If you find yourself unable or unwilling to activate a board location, you must Beg. To Beg, lie a worker down on your player board then take 1 Food and 1 Blame from the supply.

Can I then use that meeple on a subsequent turn (within the same worker placement phase of the current round) or is that meeple effectively placed at a location on the board and unavailable to me for the rest of the round? The meeple stays on my player board, so it seems that I would be able to use it on my next turn, but is that correct?

Per the second edition rules:

  During the worker placement phase, players take turns placing their workers on board locations and
  executing their effects.

This makes it clear that workers "on board" are used. It never mentions which board, so that would imply that workers placed on any boards are used, and cannot perform other actions.

Also note that your "worker supply" is placed off to the side of your player board, and never directly on it. (A lot of people like doing that, hence why the "lay the worker down" language was added in the second edition rules, but officially unused workers are not on any sort of cardboard.)

The spirit of the game rules is that begging is a last resort option for someone who needs food but does not have access to it via the normal methods. It's not supposed to be an "extra" loan, and especially not to pass ones turn (which in very rare cases might have strategic value!)


Can you bring cards with altered art to FNM? If I brought a card with altered art, but nothing else changed on it such as this one:  to Friday Night Magic would I be allowed to use it?

The tournament rules have the following to say about alters:

3.3. Authorized Cards
(...)
Artistic modifications are acceptable in sanctioned tournaments, provided that the modifications do not make the card art unrecognizable, contain substantial strategic advice, or contain offensive images. Artistic modifications also may not obstruct or change the mana cost or name of the card.
The Head Judge is the final authority on acceptable cards for a tournament.

The last line would be the key element - I suggest you always ask the Judge prior to the tournament whether you're allowed to play a certain card, and be prepared for a no as an answer just in case (which means bring unaltered copies of the card).
Not all events labelled "FNM" by stores are sanctioned events, however, and as far as unsanctioned events go, you can bring whatever cards the other players accept.


Do Friday Night Magic games count toward your DCI rating? I've gone to a few FNM drafts, and it's structured as three qualifying matches, followed by a single-elimination tournament for the top 8.

Do all these games affect your DCI rating?

Yes they do, but they have less impact on your rating, and a less serious level of rules enforcement, than tournaments at a higher level of play.

From the Wizards site:

  FNM events are 8k tournaments and have
  a Regular Rules Enforcement Level
  (REL).

Here's how that 8k figure factors into the calculation of your rating change after winning/losing a watch:

The Elo player-rating system compares players’ match records against
their opponents’ match records and determines the probability of the player
winning the matchup. This probability factor determines how many points a
players’ rating goes up or down based on the results of each match. When a
player defeats an opponent with a higher rating, the player’s rating goes up
more than if he or she defeated a player with a lower rating (since players
should defeat opponents who have lower ratings). All new players start out
with a base rating of 1600. The DCI uses the following equation to determine
a player’s win probability in each match:

Personal Calculation:
                              1
Win Probability = --------------------------------------------------------------
              10^(( Opponent’s Rating–Player’s Rating)/400) + 1

This probability is then used to recalculate each player’s rating after the
match. In the equation below, players receive 1 point if they win the match, 0
if they lose, and 0.5 for a draw. Players’ new ratings are determined as
follows:

Player’s New Rating = Player’s Old Rating + (K-Value * (Scoring Points–Player’s
Win Probability))

For comparison, there are lots of more competitive tournaments at the 16k level, and Premium tournaments are at 32k!


Betrayal at House on The Hill, 2nd Edition - Monsters First time playing - I've read through the instructions (3 times) and it mentions MONSTERS - how do the monsters come into play? The instructions talk about monsters having turns and their abilities, but no where does it say how monsters come into play.... please help!

Once you fail a Haunt Roll (roll 6 dice, if you roll less than the number of Omens drawn so far, it is a fail), the haunt starts.

Monsters will come into play by specific instructions once the Haunt starts, each Haunt is completely different from one another, it may be that the Traitor can spawn Monsters or that you start the Haunt with Monsters already in play, alternatively, a Haunt may not involve Monsters at all. In any case, the Haunt instructions will tell you.

You can check "The Haunt" section in UltraBoardGames' guide for more information.


What if multiple players have the same hand via using all the shared cards? I'm trying to learn the basics of poker, and I encountered this bit of info:

  Sometimes the best texas hold em hand is made by the five shared cards on their own. If they were 10-10-10-10-A and you had 9-9 your hole cards would not play as there is a four-of-a-kind of higher value already showing.

I am unclear about this. What if every player chooses 10-10-10-10 as their hand, since they're shared cards? Who wins?

This would be a split pot if cards are revealed at show down.

In Texas Hold 'Em players make the best 5 card they can from the 7 they have available.  When those best 5 are the 5 community cards this is known as 'Playing the board'.  If multiple players best hand is 'the board' and this is the winning hand then it is a split.  the 2 cards they have in there hand take no part in determine the winner.

eg. two players hole cards are AA and 23.  The board comes out 6789T.  Both players have a Ten High Straight and nothing more so split if cards shown at showdown.


Help identify the game that this board with marbles and a drawn pattern is used to play I found this home-made board amongst my father's possessions, it must use marbles but I have no idea how it is played. Can anyone throw any light on the subject?

It looks like it's a version of Awithlaknannai, or given the number of segments more accurately Fighting Serpents (which is a translation of the name "Kolowis Awithlaknannai" anyway). It's an abstract game with rules similar to Checkers but, as you've noticed, a slightly odd-shaped board.


Does Hospital Debts incur the 2 experience point penalty if the investigator is defeated? When the investigator is defeated, the cards in play get discarded. Does Hospital Debts still incur the Forced penalty of earning 2 fewer experience points now that it is discarded?

This was fixed in the Official FAQ Document:

  Rules Reference page 10, column 1, “Elimination”
  Add the following, as step 0 (i.e. before step 1): “0. For the purpose of resolving weakness cards, the game has ended for the eliminated investigator. Trigger any “when the game ends” abilities on each weakness the eliminated investigator owns that is in play.  Then, remove those weaknesses from the game.”


Combat super crisis cards during final jump in the Pegasus expansion Can a combat super crisis card that has a civilian ship in its set-up evacuate a prepared civilian ship from the New Caprica board onto space around the Galactica?

No. From the rulebook (pg. 15):

  During the Prepare for Jump step of every subsequent New Caprica Crisis Card, when an evacuation icon appears, the current player takes one civilian ship from the top of the Prepared Civilian Ships stack and moves it to any space area with a viper launch icon.

There's no mention that it can happen any other way.

To be honest, I'm surprised that there is even a combat set-up card in the New Caprica Crisis deck that would have a civilian ship on it, although I don't have it in front of me to check. Can you show an example of the card you mean?

I wonder if you've switched back to the regular Crisis deck after Galactica returns? You should be continuing to use the New Caprica Crisis deck. Additionally, just some extra info from pg. 16:

  During the New Caprica phase, ignore any effect that would place, destroy, or move ships in any space area around Galactica or centurions on the Boarding Party track, until the Galactica returns to orbit (see page 17).


Where can I find the rules for Game of Life 1991 UK version? I have the Game of Life board game and lost the instructions. I found the 1977 & 1991 instructions online but they are not the same as my version.
On the box there is that mine is of 1992 but still the 1991 instructions version are completely different. My version has mostly yellow tiles, few orange and some red tiles. No blue or white or green or Life tiles at all. Nor Pay Day tiles.

I have some tiles stating Casino tiles, take X amount of money or risk it. But how can you risk it? My version is you have to pay $20 K to go to university. Other versions say $40 K and above.

Life insurance cost $25 K. I have no Automobile or Homeowners Insurance Policies.

The cards I have are: Bank Loans, Salary, Career & Status Symbol. (No House Deeds & Stock Cards)

Where can I find the rules for this version?

I haven't been able to find them online anywhere, but I believe I can narrow your search.

This particular box was marketed exclusively to Great Britain, which makes them less popular than most English versions which were aimed at US buyers. Thus it's likely no one ever bothered to upload a pdf version of the game. Although the copyright is 1992, it's called the 1991 UK edition.

You can verify that it is the Great Britain marketed version by checking the bottom left corner (assuming you're looking at it with University going left and Career going right, as you do in your photo) and seeing the characters 4560GB written vertically. It's quite small, but is just next to the Hurricane tile.

You can ask Hasbro themselves for the rules to this edition at their customer service website at https://hasbro-new.custhelp.com/app/utils/login_form/redirect/ask (note, a login is required) or you can write them at

  Hasbro UK Ltd
  PO BOX 43
  Newport
  Gwent
  NP19 4YH

I hope this helps focus your efforts on finding the rulebook appropriate for your game!


How to identify when to try a "Merriamac Coup" in bridge? A "Merrimac Coup" in bridge usually refers to the "suicidal" lead of a king, in order to force out an opposing ace before the opponent is ready to use the ace as an entry. If that hand (usually dummy) is short of entries, this might cause "transportation" problems in establishing and cashing a long suit.

Suppose I can see that dummy has a broken long suit, and a side ace. Would this be a good time to try the Merrimac Coup?

Suppose I am the opening leader, with a king. Are situations based on the bidding and my holding where I should try a Merrimac Coup before seeing dummy?

Are there situations where declarer was originally a responder, and might be short of entries, so that I should try a Merrimac Coup into the "closed" hand?

And can there be a Merrimac Coup with a card other than a king? Suppose I have A-Q of a suit as opening leader, lead the ace, and see a king  (plus a long suit) in dummy. Would the lead of the queen to dummy's king constitute a Merrimac Coup?

It really depends. If you think declarer hasn't got enough tricks after your sacrifice of the K, and would absolutely need to establish dummy's suit, then yes, you could try it.

It is theoretically possible to execute the Merrimac on the opening lead, but the situation would probably be very rare. I haven't seen any, but I suppose given some time, we can cook up an example.

Yes, Merrimac can also be done on the closed hand, if you have a good enough read of the hand (which you should strive to, in any case).

And yes, using the Q to knock out the K can also be termed as a Merrimac Coup.

Not sure if I answered your question.


What happens to token creatures and planeswalker creatures that die? The Allied Fires Challenger Deck from Magic 2020 contains Sarkhan the Masterless, who can both create dragon tokens, and turn other planeswalkers into dragons.

If a planeswalker that becomes a dragon dies, does it go into the graveyard? What about the dragon tokens that Sarkhan creates?

If a planeswalker becomes a creature, it acts as a creature in every way, including being able to kill it and send it to the graveyard with normal damage.

This means that if you activate Sarkhan the Masterless's +1 ability, then all your planswalkers (including Sarkhan) could be killed with something like Doom Blade or Flame Lash. It will be sent to the graveyard just like any other creature.

When a token creature dies, it does go to the graveyard, but then ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked. You can see more details about that here.


Do players make rolls with the dice simultaneously or just make a mad dash of individual rolls? When the players begin rolling in Escape: The Curse of the Temple, do they all pick up the dice they want to roll and roll all at once, then wait for everyone to be ready to roll before all rolling again, or does everyone just roll as fast as they can on their own?

The very first paragraph of the rules answers your question. [Emphasis in original]

  Escape is a real-time board game. Instead of playing the game in rounds, each player rolls his five dice as quickly and as often as he can without waiting for his teammates!

You can see this in this game play video.

[I just picked the first video returned by Google. I haven't reviewed it for quality. I set the start time to a spot where the player on the right rolls dice twice in the time the player on the left rolls the dice once.]


Does exhausting a card with The Force activate its power? In Star Wars: Empire vs Rebellion, the card "The Force" says the following:

  Exhaust 1 ready resource card of your choice of either faction.

Does exhausting the card mean that the power associated with the card gets activated, just like how it does if a player normally chooses to exhaust the card?

I could see it going either way. If the power is activated, then it is strategic to activate powers when the player doesn't want it activated (e.g. activating Diplomacy when they have a good hand). However, I can't see any situation when you would want to exhaust a card of your own faction (why not just exhaust that card normally?).

On the other hand, if you don't activate the power, then it would allow you to disable an opponent's card or strategically flip your own character without activating its power. But I'm concerned that this might make The Force a bit too powerful.

I can't figure it out from the rules (it only defines exhausting in terms of using the powers) and the FAQ doesn't describe it. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

Exhausting is a cost to use an ability.  An ability is not the effect of exhausting.  So if some other effect causes a card to become exhausted, it would not trigger the ability.


Have I Been Misplaying France in Diplomacy? France is considered one of the "better" countries to play in Diplomacy. That's true insofar as it a "corner" and not a "center" country like Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

In descending order, my favorite strategies are 1) Go for the Mediterranean, 2) Ally with England vs. Germany 3) Ally with Germany Vs. England. But I've found France a tough, frustrating country to play when one can't use a Mediterranean strategy (because of what's going on elsewhere). A couple examples:

In one game, England "allied" with me against Germany, than stabbed me, leading to a Franco-German alliance (my least favorite). Meanwhile, Italy stabbed Austria, A Venice-Trieste, and got two builds in 1901, three in 1902, and had her choice of allies: with Russia vs. Turkey and Germany, with England vs. France.

In another game, I had to ward off an Anglo-German invasion. But the English army that went to Belgium marched into the Ruhr, again leading to a Franco-German alliance. But by the time we reshuffled the alliance, Austria-Hungary had stabbed Italy, overextended in a Lepanto opening, captured Venice and Rome, and dominated the Med. With Turkey, Italy, and the Balkans, Austria and Russia had the 18 centers to declare themselves co-winners.

Have I been misplaying France? Or has my inability to control the Med been due to my northern troubles, and the Austro-Italian imbalances? Can I hope for a more "fortunate" result playing France in future games, against, say, random opponents?

It sounds to me like both games you've failed to negotiate an alliance with England.  That isn't necessarily your fault, but in order to concentrate on the Med you would need to at least be able to negotiate a neutral England, if not an entirely friendly one.

Some ideas you might want to try

It sounds like in both games you stumbled into an FG alliance that was not in a strong position.  You might do better if you attempted to negotiate the FG alliance from the start.  That way you can be directing the flow of the conflict, rather than reacting to it.
England is likely worried that in an EF alliance, F usually grows faster and is in a more solid position after taking down Germany, while E ends up overextended.  So you'll likely need to give him the better side of the split, and make it clear that you are committing to the South so that E knows he isn't the next target.  You can also make things easier by making sure that England has a good path to grow after the initial attack on Germany, which generally means you want a weak Russia.  At the same time, don't make yourself too inviting of a target for E.  Many alliances are broken due to people who are too trusting and make it too easy for their partner to stab.

The more you play Diplomacy, the more you realize that none of the countries are really better than the others, so don't get frustrated that you didn't get a good result while playing a "strong" country.  Focus on where your negotiations failed to bring the results you wanted, and try to improve on that in your next game.


Is there a rule specifying which direction your card faces? With the introduction of Link cards, it makes a difference if some cards face you or face your opponent. Is there a rule that specifies that a card has to be played facing you?

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

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

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


What's the tactics for Tac Tix? What I've found is:

First Player If N Is Odd (non-misere): The player takes the center
piece and symmetrically imitates every one of the opponent's moves.
Second Player If N Is Even (non-misere): Player copies opponent's
moves symmetrically. You will eventually take the last piece and win.

But what should I do when N is even and I go first, or when I go second and N is odd?
My best guess is I should count amount of rectangles and alone "chips" and, based on that, make moves, but the problem is that I'm not sure that this will work and maybe you have a better strategy for this game.

The game is solved. The "tactic" for playing the losing side is to hope the other player makes a mistake. With perfect play, there are no moves that are better than others for the losing side : they all lose.
If the winning-side player fails to play optimally, then your move should attempt to restore the position to one it could have reached if you had been the winning-side all along.
For instance, on a 3x3, if your opponent goes first and takes a side square instead of the center, then you should take the 2x1 region of the center and the opposite side square.
Note though that the winning-side player has other equally-winning moves beyond what the winning algorithm prescribes, it's just that the algorithm reduces it to a sufficient move. On a 3x3, for instance, the first player could take the whole center row and still be winning.


Rules or constraints for assembling the cards in your Pokemon deck Trying to learn Pokemon TCG. My understanding is that, as a Pokemon TCG player, its your responsibility to assemble your own deck (stack of Pokemon cards) prior to coming to the game/match/fight/battle. So by the time you get to the battle, you already know what cards are in your deck, and you've intentionally selected for them to be there.

If that's true, then what are the general rules/strategies/constraints when assembling your deck? Things such as:

Is there a max deck size (max # cards) a player can bring to a battle?
Is there a max # or % of Pokemon/Trainer/Energy cards you can have in your deck?
Do you have to shuffle your deck prior to play?
What happens when you run out of cards in your deck during play?

Thanks in advance!

Basic stuff like your questions are handled by rulebook.

  (...) assemble your own deck (stack of Pokemon cards) prior to coming to the game/match/fight/battle. So by the time you get to the battle, you already know what cards are in your deck, and you've intentionally selected for them to be there.

Yes, that's right. (rulebook page 22)

From time to time, there are also special tournaments where you build a deck from cards you get from organizers just before the tournament starts (and no other cards) so you don't need a preconstructed deck.

  Is there a max deck size (max # cards) a player can bring to a battle?

Unless stated otherwise, Pokémon TCG deck has always 60 cards. (rulebook page 22)

  Is there a max # or % of Pokemon/Trainer/Energy cards you can have in your deck?

At least one Basic Pokémon is required. Cards are limited by their name - you can't have more than 4 cards with the same name in your deck (except Basic Energies). No other limit exists. (rulebook page 22)

On all official tournaments, there are additional restrictions on cards that can be used.

  Do you have to shuffle your deck prior to play?

Definitely yes, Pokémon TCG is based on randomness, random drawing is one of the core concepts. (rulebook page 8)

  What happens when you run out of cards in your deck during play?

During your turn, nothing. But drawing at the beginning of your turn is mandatory, so if you can't do that, your opponent wins. (rulebook page 8 or 10)


Do you only get one chance at casting a spell? There is an Encounter card that was drawn that caused Stamina damage. The player has a spell that negates any Stamina damage at the cost of one Sanity if roll is successful.

If that roll fails is the player able to re-roll until they are successful or lose all Sanity?

In addition to that, if the current Environment effect is Planetary Alignment which reduces all spell Sanity cost by one it would make the Sanity cost zero. In this case would the player be able to roll until successful with infinite chances?

Yes, you get only once chance.
The key phrase is "cast and exhaust". An exhausted card can't be used again until it's un-exhausted during the next turn's upkeep. And the spell is exhausted whether or not you succeed at casting it.
The rules are a little bit fuzzy on this, but this official FAQ has a pretty clear answer:

Does an unsuccessful attempt to cast a spell still exhaust it?
Yes.


Can you sacrifice a creature that's in the middle of an attack? Earlier tonight, I was playing magic. My opponent had a card out that allowed him to place a 2/2 goblin token on the board for every creature that made an attack. He also had one out that allowed him to sacrifice one of his creatures and destroy any nonland permanent.

He declared an attack with one of the goblin tokens, thus placing another goblin token on the board. He then sacrificed the attacking token before it attacked and my blocker destroyed it.

I'm new to the game, but it seems to me that if he sacrificed it prior to its attack, it shouldn't have counted as an attack. So he couldn't have placed the new token on the board. Am I wrong?

Your opponent could have declared that token as an attacker, then sacrificed it before actual combat damage happened. It would have counted as attacking — at least until it was sacrificed — but it wouldn't have actually done any combat damage to its blocker.

The combat phase works like this:

  Beginning of Combat Step

  Nothing has happened yet, but you're considered to be inside the combat phase. Players can cast spells and use abilities.

  Declare Attackers Step

  The active player may declare which of their creatures are attacking.
  Those attacking creatures get tapped. They're now considered to be Attacking for the rest of the combat phase, even if something untaps them somehow.
  Players may now cast spells and use abilities before moving on.

  Declare Blockers Step

  The inactive player may declare which of their creatures are blocking.
  The inactive player assigns the blocking creatures among the attackers. These creatures are now considered Blocking for the remainder of combat, even if something taps them somehow. Any attacker assigned a blocking creature is now considered Blocked for the remainder of combat, even if its blocker disappears, and will not deal combat damage to you personally (unless it has trample, or something else that lets it do that).
  Players may now cast spells and use abilities again before moving on.

  Combat damage happens.

  Any attacking creatures still alive and present at this point attack their blockers and/or the opposing player/planeswalker/etc.
  Nobody can cast spells during this process.

  Combat finishes, the board gets cleaned up (dead creatures removed, etc).

It sounds like the Goblin in question was given a blocker during the Declare Blockers step. At that point, the other player does have the opportunity use an ability to sacrifice the goblin, and if the goblin is doomed to die, that's probably a good choice.

However, once combat damage happens, that sacrificed goblin won't be around anymore. You say this:

  I'm new to the game, but it seems to me that if he sacrificed it prior to its attack, it shouldn't have counted as an attack.

It will have counted as attacking, but since it's dead by the combat damage step, it's gone and won't actually be there to do anything. Your blocker won't take damage from the goblin, for instance - the goblin will be dead and gone.

(There was a time in the past when you could cast spells and use abilities during combat damage, so that the goblin could deal combat damage and get sacrificed too, but that was weird and got removed from the rules a few years ago in M10.)


If I copy a creature spell and it resolves, is the new permanent a token? If I copy a creature spell while it is on the stack, and then this copy resolves, I will get a creature object on my battlefield. Is this object a token? Or is it a nontoken object that happens to not have a physical card associated to it?

Yes, it becomes a token permanent.

706.10f Some effects copy a permanent spell. As that copy resolves, it ceases being a copy of a spell and becomes a token permanent. (See rule 608.3b.)

608.3b If the object that’s resolving is a copy of a permanent spell, that object becomes a token permanent and is put onto the battlefield under the control of the spell’s controller. It is no longer a copy of a spell. The token put onto the battlefield this way is not “created” for the purposes of any replacement effects or triggered abilities that refer to creating a token.

Note that this token copies all of the characteristics of the permanent spell that it copied, including mana cost, name, etc:

111.11. A copy of a permanent spell becomes a token as it resolves. The token has the characteristics of the spell that became that token. The token is not “created” for the purposes of any replacement effects or triggered abilities that refer to creating a token.

109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. Objects can have some or all of these characteristics.


What happens if I sacrifice the land chosen by Glacial Chasm? When Glacial Chasm enters the battlefield, you have to sacrifice a land. Is it possible to sacrifice, let's say a fetch land, after the glacial chasm targets it for the enter the battlefield trigger?

I was sure the land you were supposed to sacrifice to glacial chasm trigger had to be sacrificed by glacial chasm, and could not be sacrificed in response. Would not the target of glacial chasm now be illegal?

No.

The important thing here is that Glacial Chasm's enter the battlefield ability does not target. Just because a spell or ability has you chose something doesn't mean that the spell or ability targets that thing.

  114.1a An instant or sorcery spell is targeted if its spell ability identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],” where the “something” is a phrase that describes an object, player, or zone. The target(s) are chosen as the spell is cast; see rule 601.2c.

If a spell targets, it will have the word "target" in the rules text. The exceptions being that aura spells are always targeted, and some keyword abilities, such as equip, have the word target in the rules of the keyword rather than printed on the card.

So in this case, because the ability does not target, you do not choose the land you will sacrifice until the ability resolves. So if you sacrificed a fetch land in response to Glacial Chasm's enter the battlefield trigger, you will still have to chose a land to sacrifice when that trigger resolves, and by that time your fetch land will no longer be available to choose.

If the ability said "sacrifice target land" instead of "sacrifice a land", then you could do what you want, because targets are chosen when the ability is placed on the stack, not when it resolves. However, the phrase "sacrifice target ____" does not appear on any MTG cards currently. It would be a strange thing to have, because "sacrifice" already requires you to choose a permanent you control.


How many cards do I need to make a collected set "draftable?" I have very fond memories of (Triple) Innistrad, which is an absolutely amazing draft format, probably without equal.

I'd like to be able to have a playset that I can pull out, years from now, and draft amongst my friends.

I want a complete set that also serves as a rough facsimile of drafting from packs, i.e. with a card distribution roughly similar to actual Limited rather than Cube — including both the rarity distribution and the chance to see multiples of various cards, which is vital to actually being able to play the set in Limited as intended. I don't mind taking some time to set up "packs" before drafting or sort cards afterward.

How many copies of each card would I need, by rarity, to supply one draft pod (of 6-8 players), with a card distribution roughly similar to a real draft?

It depends on how you want to build your packs. If you plan to build proper packs then the choices are different then if you just want to grab random cards. The best experience would be from the former so I will go off it.

The double faced cards were seeded from a sheet with a single mythic, two of each rare, six of each uncommon and eleven and each common. Although you could reduce the card count by half if you wanted without killing the chances too much (more Garruk and higher or lower common chance to taste). Pretty straight forward to reproduce for either 60 or 121 cards (mostly common).

Your normal rare and mythic slot would be best served by one of each mythic and two of each rare, but you can design a system to reproduce the 1/8 ratio (remember there are 4 rares per mythic) such as using half the mythic cards you have before shuffling the rares.

Going to common and uncommon you probably want to drastically cut the number of copies. I would think two of each uncommon would be enough, although you could do three if you wanted that possibility. Similarly with commons four to six would work depending on how many dupes you want to see.

For simplicity I would either pick 1:1:2:4 or 1:1:3:5 for each card type and handle the various slots separately. Although once you have built this out (or have a tool to test) you could try just building normal packs from either ratio and see what rarity density you see.

Finally if you wanted really good packs it may make sense to pre-seed each pack with a common of each color (or two cards of each color if not segregating by rarity). While that doesn't eliminate packs that suck for some people it does stop the "nothing in my color first pick" annoyance in cubes.


When do you place the +1/+1 counter for Anafenza? If I attack with Anafenza, the Foremost and one other creature do I get to place a +1/+1 counter on the other creature or does it have to be tapped before combat?

Yes, you can put the +1/+1 counter on any creature that is tapped, including a creature that tapped to attack. The situation plays out like this:

You declare which of your creatures are attacking, including Anafenza and another creatures. You tap those creatures.
Anafenza's triggered ability goes on the stack, and you choose the target. At this point, you can choose any other tapped creature, including one that just tapped to attack.
The triggered ability resolves, and the creature gets a +1/+1 counter.


Square cards larger than 70mm (2¾″) Many board games use square cards that are 70mm × 70mm, about 2¾″.

Are there any that use larger square cards?  If so, what's the largest square card that is in use?

I'm mainly interested if there are any square cards larger than 70mm. I'm working on a game that needs square cards, and 70mm isn't big enough. The company I'm at wants to use sizes of cards that are already in use, where possible.

The reason the cards need to be large is because people are putting tokens on top of them when they're in play, not because they have to display much information.

I believe that Jungle Speed uses 80x80mm cards with rounded corners.


Name of a board game with a world map and an airplane traveling to different cities I am trying to find the name of an old board game.

It had a picture of the world on the board with different cities. A line is drawn from each city to a destination. That is the only place that city can fly too.

The pieces are an airplane and cards that has pictures of each city on them that can be flown too. The plane can only go to where the line is drawn to another city. Example: if the plane is in Rome, the plane may only go to London, Paris, or Rio de Janeiro.

Also there are fake 100 dollar bills. Each player bids on the flight. Whoever wins the bid sends the plane to one of those 3 cities then from there bidding starts again to go somewhere else.

The idea is to go to all the cities you have in your hand. I believe the name of the game is Holiday or something like that.

If anyone knows the name of the game, please let me know.

Your memory of the game's name is pretty much correct,
The game in question is called "Holiday!"
(note the !, as there is another game called "Holiday" that is quite different to what you remember).

The rules to "Holiday!" are almost exactly as you remember, with the addition that the destination cards also hold a day of the week, which awards a player additional points for reaching the destination on that day.


Are there times when "doubling" will not help the opponents make the hand? In bridge, if I "double" (the stakes for) an opponent's contract, it usually means that I see a way to defeat the contract. Of course, declarer hears my double and will reasonably conclude, "Tom has the key cards," and "finesse" around, or "endplay" into me. In this case, declarer will have a better chance of making the contract than if I had kept quiet about my strength.

I am asking about possible exceptions to this rule.

One might be, where I know that declarer overbids and gets into games with 22-23 hcps and no compensating values in distribution or extra trumps. I have 7 hcps, and unless dummy has a maximum, partner will have 10 (the majority between us), and we will be odds on to defeat the contract.

One expert (I believe that is was Sheinwold or Jacoby) opined that a time to double was if you had no trumps (and good high card strength). If opponents have nine, and declarer plays you for the Hxxx (H is a random honor) of trumps that your partner actually has, s/he might be unpleasantly surprised. Best of all, partner might have xxxxx or Hxxxx, with the 5-0 break in an eight card fit being the nastiest of all.

Do either of my examples or other instances hold where a double does not help, and may mislead declarer in the play?

Other than the pedantic answer (any time Declarer can't possibly make), there are plenty of times that it doesn't have the impact you're suggesting.

First off, there are a lot of ways you can end up in a doubled contract.  You might make a negative double and then your partner passes to convert to penalty, for example. That gives declarer some information, though, so I assume that's not in the spirit of your question.  However, there are other possibilities...

Auctions where opponents make a pre-emptive or sacrificial bid, where it is obvious that they will not make the contract to both defenders.  In that case, a double is simply pro forma, and either player might make the double simply based on bidding position.
Auctions where a double is optional (showing strength), and the responder passes the double, give only limited information to declarer since both players have shown something
In some duplicate forms, there are auctions where it is clear both sides have a game, and one side must double the other side in the hope to set by enough to exceed the points likely made at the other table(s); again, that won't convey very much information.

Secondly, you certainly point out an example where one player knows of a problematic distribution for declarer, but it doesn't convey information as to which player has the trump stack.  That's a risky bid, though, and I'd usually not make a double solely based on a trump lack or a trump stack, as it's not worth letting Declarer know there's a trump imbalance.  A doubled contract where the double comes out of nowhere is a big "be careful" sign to declarer, and will inevitably make them more likely to make the contract than they would be if not doubled - even if they don't know who has the stack.  And having 0 means partner could have 5 - or could have 2, and they could've underbid their 6-5 trump fit.

I don't think doubling based on opponents bidding a tight game, when you don't have anything special for yourself, is a great idea either; it can be appropriate in duplicate when you are in a competitive situation and they bid something that doesn't make sense - either you get enough points to compensate for you not getting the contract or they get a top board anyway - but it's still quite risky, and in the situation you describe (they having, say, (12-14) and (8-10) and you having 7, partner having 9-11) it seems like a poor choice as if they're in an unreasonable game you do well anyway, but obviously it's situational.  Again, you're more likely to put them on high alert than anything else.

I think overall, though, any bid shows some information to both sides; it's the nature of bridge.  The question is always whether you have conveyed information that is detrimental to your side in excess of the value of the information conveyed (or the points earned, in the case of the double).  I don't think it's a good idea to double to "mislead", as first off you mislead everyone at the table partner included; and second, then you're just gambling, which is a bad idea unless you're really down and need a miracle.


Do you know any rules that make Pandemic's difficulty more even? Pandemic varies vastly in difficulty depending on the number of players. Does anyone know of any custom rules that make it more even?

Pick up the On the Brink BGG expansion.

The forums at Boardgamegeek state that it definitely eases up the difficulty of the 4 and 5 player versions as well as providing more options.


Drawing an Extra Card During Mulligan Errors prior to the beginning of the game have a less disruptive option—a forced mulligan—that
  is not available at any other point during the game.
  ...
  If more than one
  excess card was drawn (for example, eight cards drawn during a mulligan to 6) his or her
  opponent continues removing cards until the correct number has been reached.

When I played in FNM I accidentally drew 7 after I took a mulligan. My opponent forced me to mulligan down to 5. After reading the Infraction Procedure Guide and seeing that it says to go down to the "correct number," was I supposed to be forced to mulligan to 6?

Question: How do I handle this situation for Regular REL and Competitive REL? Would I go down to 5 at Competitive?

Friday Night Magic runs at Regular REL, and is covered by Judging at Regular. The Tournament Rules and Infraction Procedure Guide cover Competitive and Professional REL. This answer borrows from all three documents and covers all three RELs.

Should I call a judge?

Absolutely.

Am I required to call a judge?

No. According to the Infraction Procedure Guide, it is acceptable for players to agree on a fix without calling a judge.

  If a minor violation is quickly handled by the players to their mutual satisfaction, a judge does not need to intervene.

Should a judge intervene if I don't call?

Judging at Regular describes that a judge should intervene, since you did something illegal.

  You should intervene if you see something illegal happen in a match, but beyond this you have a lot of room to tailor your actions. For example, whether you step in when you see a player miss a trigger should be determined by the tone you want to strike for your event – it may be appropriate to provide this extra help in a more causal environment, but not appropriate if your play group is more competitive.

This is reiterated in the Tournament Rules:

  Judges do not intervene in a game to prevent illegal actions, but do intervene as soon as a rule has been broken or to prevent a situation from escalating.

What is the ruling?

At Regular REL, you will simply lose the extra cards. They'll be shuffled back into your library. From Judging at Regular:

  If the identity of the card(s) were known to all players, return them to their proper location. Otherwise, determine how many extra cards have been drawn, take that many cards at random from the player’s hand and place them on top of the library. If the extra cards were drawn while drawing the opening hand, shuffle the extra cards back into the deck instead and allow the player to continue making mulligan decisions.

At Competitive or Professional REL, the ruling is different. You receive a warning, and then you have a choice. You may choose to allow your opponent to see your hand and remove cards equal to the excess number. If you do, then you can choose whether or not to mulligan. Otherwise, you must mulligan. From the Infraction Procedure Guide on Game Play Error — Mulligan Procedure Error:

  If the player has too many cards in hand, he or she may choose to reveal his or her hand, and his or her opponent chooses a card from it to be shuffled back into the library. If more than one excess card was drawn (for example, eight cards drawn during a mulligan to 6) his or her opponent continues removing cards until the correct number has been reached.

  If cards are not removed from the hand this way (either due to an error that didn’t lead to too many cards, or by the player choosing not to reveal), that player takes an additional mulligan.

  Players may continue taking mulligans after the remedy has been completed.

Examples:

You mulligan to six, but accidentally draw seven. You choose to reveal your hand. Your opponent removes cards equal to the excess (one card). You are left with six cards, and  and you retain the option to mulligan.
You mulligan to six, but accidentally draw seven. You choose not to reveal your and. You are forced to mulligan. You are left with five cards, and you retain the option to mulligan.


Is it possible to change or destroy goods that a scout is sending? In the rulebook of Civilization (p.26) it says that

  The player declares which of their cities the scout is "sending" the
  square to during the Start of Turn Phase, and all the icons in that
  square (including trade, production, culture, coins and resources) are
  then considered to in that city's outskirts for the rest of the turn.

Is it possible to disturb the acquisition of the "icons"? (or to change the icons?)

I'll give you some examples, when you might get into thinking of this question

1) The scout is moved

The scout might be moved by a culture card, such as Disoriented, Lost or Out of Position (Played in the City Management Phase). Will the scout still send the "original" icons, or are the icons changed?

2) The square is changed

a) .. by a culture event card:

Drought (Played at the Start of Turn Phase) would make the square a desert square (One trade icon on it). Would the scout send the original icons, or would you get the trade at the trade phase?

Deforestration (Played at the Start of Turn Phase) can be used to make a square a grassland square.

Flooding (Played at the Start of Turn Phase) can be used to make a square a water square.

Sabotage, Catastrophe or Disaster (Player at the Start of Turn Phase) can be used to destroy a building. If the scout was on a building, would it be sending the icons on the building, or on the square below the building?

b).. or by a technology

Gunpowder (City Management Phase) can be used to destroy a building or ancient wonder.

c) .. or by a player action

If the scout is in outskirts of another player, and that player builds a building/wonder/great person on it. Will the player with the scout receive the original or the new icons?

Also, the scout might be in the outskirts of a city A, and a player might want to have more hammers in his another city (city B). Now, if he builds a building/great person with hammers below the scout, will the scout send these new hammer icons to the city B (or the icons below the new tile, assuming that the scout is paired with the city B)?

From the FAQ 2.0, page 2, we have the following:

  Q: Can a scout gather icons and/or resources from a square  in another
  city’s outskirts? What if the square contains a  building or a wonder?

  A: A scout can gather resources from a square in another city’s
  outskirts, even if that square contains a building or wonder. If  the
  scout sends those icons and resources to a different city,  the
  original city cannot also use those icons and resources.

  Q: When a scout moves into or out of a square with a coin  icon, is
  the coin total updated immediately?

  A: Yes. This can result in an economic victory.

Given this, it appears that two things are true.  First, when a scout moves, the tile it is sending to the city also updates (as evidenced by the coin example).  Second, if a scout is on a tile of one city, the resources from that tile can be routed to a different city or not, but cannot be double counted.

It would appear from this that the behavior of the scout is to have the tile it is on considered part of a city of your choice.  If the scout moves, the resources it is sending are changed to the scout's new location.  If the tile the scout is on is modified, the resources the scout is sending also update (exactly the same as if that tile were in the city radius of the city the scout is sending resources to).


Do I get to play a planeswalker's ability when I transform the card? Assume that I played an ability of Garruk Relentless and I successfully transformed him, do I get to play his transformed ability or do I have to wait for the next turn?

Gatherer says that

  You can’t activate a loyalty ability of Garruk Relentless and later that turn after he transforms activate a loyalty ability of Garruk, the Veil-Cursed.

So you can't. The actual rule in play here is 606.3:

  A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent they control any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn, but only if no player has previously activated a loyalty ability of that permanent that turn.

(Emphasis mine.) Transforming a permanent does not make it into a new object, by rule 711.12:

  When a double-faced permanent transforms, it doesn’t become a new object. Any effects that applied to that permanent will continue to apply to it after it transforms.

Therefore, if you have already played one of the loyalty abilities of Garruk Relentless this turn, then after he transforms into Garruk, the Veil-Cursed he is still the same permanent so the rules forbid you from activating any of his loyalty abilities.


In what systems are opening 4 card majors ok? I had several 4 card majors yesterday.  Is there a system that opens 4 card majors.  Partner says no, only in response.

There are plenty of systems that open on 4-cards, I myself play one, and that is not very uncommon here. 4-card systems are commonly used to teach Bridge. Most people prefer 5-card major though, and 4-card major feels outdated these days.

A couple of the more well-known 4-card systems are

ACOL
Standard American, originnal


What does outlast do? On Disowned Ancestor it says

  Outlast {1}{B} ({1}{B}, tap: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Outlast only as a sorcery.)

Why do you pay the cost to activate it twice?
Would it not be the same if it said

  Outlast {2}{B}{B}, tap: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Outlast only as a sorcery.

I don't understand what the point of paying the mana twice instead of doubled would be?

You do not pay the cost twice. The part in parentheses is called reminder text, and doesn't actually do anything it just reminds you how Outlast works. The card would function exactly the same if it read "Outlast {1}{B}"

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

  702.106. Outlast

  702.106a Outlast is an activated ability. “Outlast [cost]” means “[Cost], {T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”