Feather, the Redeemed and Dire Fleet Daredevil It has already been clarified by WotC that Flashback and Aftermath will work with Feather, the Redeemed. Specifically, because you control both replacement effects, you choose which one resolves, allowing you to cast a Flashback card that targets your creature from the graveyard then exile it, and return it to your hand at the end of turn.

My question is about what this means for Dire Fleet Daredevil? Does the fact that it would not go to Your graveyard mean that Feather's replacement effect would not apply? Although the wording specifies "your graveyard" the language is not as clear as usual ("exile that card instead of putting it into your graveyard", rather than "if that card would go to your graveyard, exile it"), so it leaves open the possibility of putting a card you don't own in your hand...

Feather's replacement effect does not apply to a card exiled and cast with Dire Fleet Daredevil.

Dire Fleet Daredevil specifically takes a card from an opponent's graveyard, so you do not own any card cast this way. Then the final step of resolving spells and abilities, rule 608.2k, says

  As the final part of an instant or sorcery spell's resolution, the spell is put into its owner's graveyard. As the final part of an ability's resolution, the ability is removed from the stack and ceases to exist.

Since your opponent owns the card, it would be put into that players graveyard, not yours, in this step.

The exact wording of Feather's ability is as follows:

  Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature you control, exile that card instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves. If you do, return it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.

Since the card would not be put into your graveyard at all, Feather's replacement effect does not apply and the card is exiled by Dire Fleet Daredevil's replacement effect.

This is confirmed in an official ruling on Feather's Gatherer page:

  If you cast an instant or sorcery spell that you don’t own, it won’t try to be put into your graveyard, so you won’t exile it with Feather’s effect or return it to your hand.

If Feather's ability instead replaced the spell moving to any graveyard, it still wouldn't put the card into your hand. Rule 400.3 says

  If an object would go to any library, graveyard, or hand other than its owner's, it goes to its owner's corresponding zone.

So, in that situation Feather's replacement effect would end up putting the card back into your opponents hand. This is almost always undesirable, so it's very likely that Feather's ability was purposely written to avoid that.


When can spells, quick-spells, and traps be activated during the battle phase? I read the rulebook but I still feel like I need a guide to this specifically. From the beginning of the battle phase to the end, when can each player cast spells or quick-spells, and activate traps?

Can either player do it before the turn player declares an attack? Can either player do it in response to the declaration of an attack, before the damage is calculated/dealt? Can either player do it before a second attack is declared? Can either player do it after all attacks are finished but before the 2nd Main Phase?

From the beginning of the battle phase to the end, when can each player cast spells or quick-spells, and activate traps?

Short Answer: If the card is Speed 2 or higher basically anytime, unless otherwise restricted by specific conditions or requirements.

Longer Answer: Basically anytime, although this also depends on the specific restrictions of each card, and the conditions that have to be met in order to be able to activate them.

As explained in previous questions, only Spell Speed 2+ cards can be activated during the Battle Phase(that is, normal trap, counter trap, continuous trap, quick-play spell, or any Speed 2 monster eff). Also remember that if you set one of these cards you can only activate it on the next turn, so be careful when doing so.

If your card is one of these you can activate it, unless otherwise restricted. For example, a card like Mirror Force can only be activated "when an opponent's monster declares an attack", and not in other situations:

  When an opponent''s monster attacks, negate the attack and destroy all opponent''s monsters in Attack position.

In this case only when an attack is declared (during attack declaration) is that you can activate this card. If Attack Declaration passes, and then you enter the Damage Step, you cannot activate it anymore, as you would have lost timing.

Let's analyze another case, Rush Recklessly:

  Target one face-up monster on the field; it gains 700 atk until the end of the turn.

This one has more freedom of when to activate. This card you can activate anytime during the Battle phase, even during Damage Step (as any card that modifies Atk or Def stats can be activated in that step, as indicated in some rulebooks).

Be aware that this is not the same as Damage Calculation, where only some cards can be activated (like Blackwing - Kalut, the Moon Shadow) You could even activated it at the start of the BP... but you would achieve greater tactical advantage if done on Damage Step (as your opponent will have attacked already thinking his Atk was higher).


From which expansion is this magic the gathering card? From which expansion is this magic the gathering card?

It's Meekstone

First printed in Alpha, but this particular one is probably from fourth Edition due to the look and wording on the card.

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2058


Drop or Discard in Mansion of Madness? One of the mythos cards in the game says that the investigator is out of ammo and that she needs to discard her weapon. Would you interpret this as the card should be removed from the game as oppossed to the cards that says the investigator needs to drop the item, ie. in the current room.

I would have said remove the card if it wasn't for that the investigators have an action called "discard" where they actually drop the items in the current room.

I interpret that card as "Discard means discard. Place in the discard pile."

The action is something that players can do to leave equipment cached for each other.

The mythos card is an act of aggression carried out by the Keeper. It probably costs Threat. There is also zero support in the fiction for a weapon becoming reloaded by being dropped.

EDIT: OK. So, I played Mansions last night for the first time in a while, and came up with this card. It's clearly Discard on the Mythos card and Drop in the Investigator action list. There's no confusion here at all, no interpretation necessary.


Pokémon attacks which deal no damage I am learning to play pokemon tcg since my 7yo kid is interested into it and with his friends play a completely random version of the rules. At least I can try to give him some meaning and have fun in the meanwhile... My problem is that I can't find a reliable source of explanations like for MtG or keyforge and the rulebook is very incomplete.

One question that I have is how to use those basic Pokémon which have attacks which deal no damage. (e.g. Cosmog or Cosmoem). I assume that these aren't Abilities (which should be marked as such) and that I could use from the bench, but they are only attacks that I can use only as active pokemon. This means that my opponent will probably be able to KO very fast the poor "attacking but not damaging" pokemon. I can see that there could be some peculiar circumstances where you could risk to put such a weak Pokémon in attack but I wonder if I am missing something since these very weak Pokémon seem to be rather common.

Ps by the way in the specific case of Cosmog/Cosmoem in my son's deck, the base version seems much more useful since at least draws a card... But as it stands both the base and the evoluted version stand helpless to take hits by the opponents and appear very useful for letting the opponent draw their prize cards...

They might be just weak cards designed as a filler for an expansion, but most of the time those cards can further evolve into much stronger Pokémon.

Speaking about Cosmog and Cosmoem, those cards mimic their console game counterparts where they are small and mostly useless. But Cosmoem is able to evolve into either Solgaleo or Lunala which are both strong lengendary Pokémon. In TCG, you can evolve in either of them without any limitation.

Here are all the cards Cosmoem can evolve into as of April 2019, you can see that they are nowhere near being useless:


Does Hedron Link Device remove the original faction from constructs? When Hedron Link Device is in play, if I also play Avatar Golem, is the original faction of a construct (e.g. Void, Enlightened, Lifebound) still applicable, or is it now removed?

(This is in comparison to MTG rules, which normally stipulate "... in addition to its other types" for effects like this.)

The original faction is still applicable. Note the exact wording of Hedron Link Device. "You may treat all Constructs as Mechana Constructs." Both the "May" and the "Treat" here mean that the original faction is still applicable. First off, it is "May", so you can just choose to not count it as Mechana at the moment if it will make your Golem better. Second, it is "treat as", which is not the same as "becomes."

In comparison to MTG rules, some cards have the ability "You may cast creature cards as though they had flash." Note that this does NOT give your creature cards flash. It just lets you cast them like they did.


Can I sacrifice and regenerate Augur of Skulls multiple times in the same turn? Augur of Skulls has

  {1}{B}: Regenerate Augur of Skulls.

and

  Sacrifice Augur of Skulls: Target player discards two cards. Activate this ability only during your upkeep.

Can I sacrifice and regenerate Augur of Skulls multiple times in the same turn as long as I have the mana open?

No, that won't work
Regeneration prevents the destruction of a permanent, but sacrificing a permanent is different from destroying it:

701.16. Sacrifice
701.16a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent he or she doesn’t control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect this action.


Is studying tactics for Go useless? There are plenty of chess tactics trainers online, to improve your chess skills, but I cannot find a single one for go. Is studying tactics useless for go?

On the contrary, studying tactics for go is essential. Books or online resources on Joseki, Tesuji,  and Life and Death situations are good places to start, followed by general opening strategy as you gain experience.

Playing games on 13x13 boards as well as the standard 19x19 will assist you in gaining experience in the balance between influence to the centre and territory along  the sides and corners.

However, programming go is considerably more complex than programming chess, leading to fewer good trainers available.


How to make a small slam in bridge with less than 30 points between the partnership? The following hand came up recently in the Common Game. I would like my gentle reader let me know how you would have bid in order to reach the optimal contract (6 clubs). I know that a small slam really is possible because a few partnerships, admittedly rare, actually bid and made 6 clubs. I suspect those partnerships used the Precision Club system, or some variation thereof; but any insights that you can provide would be much appreciated.

I propose the following sequence playing a standard approach, with EW passing throughout:

1C 1D
1S     4 Spades, denying a hand suitable to rebid 1NT
   2H  4th Suit Forcing to game, suggesting dislike for NT
3C     5-card Club suit, dislikes NT also, often denies Heart control
   4C  agreeing clubs, still forcing, extras
4D     1st or 2nd round control in Diamonds
   4H  1st or 2nd round control in Hearts
6C     We have the controls, and 5C is almost always a bad result

Another possibility using Single Raise Forcing (10+ Pts)  is:

1C  2C  forcing raise, 4+ support and 13+ support points
2S      4 Spades, two suited with longer Clubs than Spades
    3H  Denies Diamond A or K, shows Heart A or K, Game Force
3S      Spade A or K and Diamond A or K or singleton denied by partner
    4H  Holding both A and K, or singleton A, of Hearts; and
        likes the Diamond and Spade controls from Opener
6C      Looks like a super fit

It is also faulty analysis to claim that NS have less than 30 points combined. The South hand is worth 16 to 17 points in a Club contract (15 HCP and either 1 point for the fifth Club or two points for the two doubletons) and the North hand is worth 16 Dummy points in a Club contract (14 HCP - 1 for the unsupported QS + 3 for the singleton Spade). This is a combined partnership strength of 32-33 points, and as the auctions above indicate that it is quite reasonable, using standard methods, to find the Club slam.

If finding reasonable slams were easy, they wouldn't be worth so much. Bridge is designed to reward those who can accurately reassess hand strength during the auction, in light of bidding by partner and the opponents.


What happens if an alliance is created that would create an illegal battle? In Rex: Final Days of an Empire, it is possible for the following sequence of events to occur:

Sol Offensive is revealed as the Influence card and affects a zone occupied by the Sol player's troops (allowing him to move said to anywhere on the board).
The Sol player places some number of troops in a space occupied by another player (e.g. Letnev, but it is irrelevant).
The Sol Offensive is completed otherwise, and a second Influence card is revealed as a Temporary Cease Fire.
The Sol player and the Letnev player (who would otherwise have battled) now form an alliance.

Now, the placement of the Sol player's troops is illegal (the rules state you cannot place troops in a space occupied by an ally's troops). According to the rules (or an official ruling or FAQ), what should be done?

Apparently there are not yet any errata to clarify this issue, but a couple of house rule options leap to mind:

Your house rule seems like a good one. Since it must follow a Sol Offensive, re-moving the Sol units (i.e. changing the move that had just been made) seems to result in the fewest extra changes to the game
You could disallow alliances between players that occupy the same space. This might be a little harsh, but it's by far the easiest to enforce, and since the Sol player was attacking anyway, they won't be too often worried about being refused this option!
The suggestion I'd be tempted to make if it came up in a game I was playing (which it hasn't) is that the alliance is allowed, on the requirement that the pieces don't still occupy the same space during the battle phase (i.e. one of the players must move during their movement). You could require that agreeing this is a requirement of forming an alliance. If neither player moves, then the alliance is void because offensive troops were not removed from an ally's area (which works thematically too). Since players only get one move, forming this alliance would cost one of them a fair part of their turn, which might be too high a cost to form the alliance, but as long as the parties are aware of this I don't think this is a problem.


Which bidding system is assumed by default at BBO? Which bidding system is assumed by default at Bridge Base Online (for humans)?

I asked in chat several times in different games (ten times I think) and nobody answered.

Is it Bridge base basic? Or maybe YACL?

Simple answer- No system- its an open community. If high level players like JEC don't need to specify a system why would anyone else.
Partial answer- Most English speaking bridge players are American so can assume they play some sort of Standard American- they assume you are psychic so you know what they play.


What is the best tournament format for Cripple Mr Onion? I'm planning to run a Cripple Mr Onion tournament (the gambling variant of the game, but not for money), but I have never run a tournament before.

How should I structure this tournament?  What do I, as an organizer need to know to have this tournament go off successfully?

I'm willing to use and adapt a tournament format for similar card and/or board games but I need to know where to start.

The game requires at least two players, but not more than seven. So probably six or seven to a table. In my own (small) experience playing the game (and I've never played the gambling variant myself), it works better with a larger number.

I have no real idea how many players to expect. There'll be a couple of hundred at the Irish Discworld Convention, but no doubt the tournament will clash with other events. And some people there won't be interested. It might be two or three tables. Perhaps more. Perhaps just one.

Rules of the game (pdf): Cripple Mr Onion.

Totally missed when you gave the link to the rules.  That helped out a bunch.  As I understand it, Cripple Mr. Onion plays out much like Blackjack in that each player bets individually against the dealer.

There is a difference in that the dealer is a player too and the position of dealer is bid for each round.  I don't think that makes a ton of difference to what I'm proposing.

If you end up with 7 or less people you should do one table and one round.  At the end of the time, players are ranked by the number of chips that they have.

If you have more than 7 people you will need 2 rounds.

Divide the players up into X groups of Y people.  X and Y should both be between 3 and 7 (inclusive).
Split your available time in half, reserve 10 minutes for a break during which the chips will be counted.
At the end of the first time period, the person with the highest chip count at each table will move on to the finals.
For the finals, collect all the chips and redistribute them evenly.  (You don't want someone who had an extremely weak first table having too much of an advantage in the finals)
At the end of the finals, players are ranked by the number of chips that they have.

Example, you have 20 people.  The first round will be 5 tables of 4 people.  The finals will then be one table of 5 people.


When does play begin in Euchre? I'm the dealer.  The person to the left tells me to pick it up.  He plays before I discard.  As a result of the fast play, I forget to discard, and in the end of the play, I'm obviously holding onto one extra card.  Does the official play begin at the discard?  Or am I penalized for not discarding?

Officially play does not begin until the dealer has discarded.

(take the following quote with a grain of salt, there are tons of euchre variants and home rules that may contradict this).

http://www.euchrelinks.com/rules.html

  XIII. If the eldest-hand leads before the dealer has discarded, he
  cannot withdraw his card and change his lead, nor can the dealer be
  deprived of his right to play alone. The discard is not completed
  until the dealer places his card under the kitty, or on the table, and
  has quitted it; and when the dealer has once quitted the discarded
  card, he cannot change it.

  XVIII. If any player plays with six or more cards, or, if the dealer
  plays and omits to discard and fails to announce the fact before three
  tricks have been turned, such player or dealer cannot count the point,
  or points, made on their side in the hand, and they lose the deal. But
  if the adverse party win under such circumstances, they are entitled
  to count all they make.

If you had stopped play and discarded after the first card(s) were played, they cannot be un-play their card once you discard (and you can use that information to choose a discard).

Since you did not discard and played the hand with 6 cards, you cannot score points this hand.


Monopoly: Can I Buy Properties Right Before I Go To Jail? I rolled doubles three times in a row, and I landed on Illinois Avenue on my last roll. I want to buy it, but since it's my third double I'm going to jail. I want to buy it right now at the regular market price instead of at an auction because the other players have a ton of money and may bid very high for Illinois Avenue.

Can I buy it now? Thanks!

The rules state:

  If you throw doubles three times in succession, move your token immediately to the space marked "In Jail".

So when you roll the third doubles, you go straight to Jail and never visit the space you would otherwise land on, so you don't get to purchase it.


Dixit: what to do if two players cross the finish at the same time? What do you do if two players cross the finish at the same time?

Does anyone have any rules on this? I can't see anything in the instructions.

If two players cross the finish line at the same time, then the player with the most points wins. If they both have the most points the rules don't indicate any tiebreaker, but my suggestion is to just play another round, as it's a casual game and it will allow you to get in another round of fun.


Can't understand the end of Game of Life Game of Life

I can't really understand the ending of this game. How do I become Bankrupt or become a Millionaire?
Also, should I buy stock and insurance? Tragedies happens very infrequently and these cost a lot.

The rules for The Game of Life have changed over time. In the 1977 version the following happens when you reach the end (Day of Reckoning):

In the 1991 and 2000 versions the following happens when you reach the end (Retirement):


Does a Venomthrope gets an extra attack for using multiple weapons? This question is related to the 7th edition core rules and Codex Tyranids 6th edition:

The Codex has a "designer note" in the Melee Weapons section stating:

  Tyranid Melee weapons come as pairs. For game purposes, each pair is treated as a single Melee weapon. This means that Tyranid models must fight with two pairs of any Tyranid Melee weapons to gain a bonus Attack in close combat for fighting with two weapons.
  [...]

(emphasis mine)

The Venomthrope model has 4 lash-whips, which seems to indicate it should get the bonus attack for multiple weapons.

But, the army list entry for Venomthrope simply states he has

  Lash-whips
  Toxic miasma

Unlike the Ravener entry, for example, which specifically states:

  Two pairs of scything talons

So, does the Venomthrope gains the bonus attack? Given its base Attack attribute of 2, how many melee attacks can it make in a 'normal' assault phase (disregarding charge etc.)?

If possible, please support your answer with the relevant rules reference.
Thanks!

Updated note: as there are contradicting answers at the moment, I'm waiting to see some more up-votes or support from the rules before accepting any of them (both make sense IMO, but reach different conclusions)

The reason why the entry for Venomthropes does not list off "two pairs of scything talons" is because Venomthropes--unlike Raveners--have options for how to arm up that are zero cost.

Looking at the Fast Attack Ravener Brood entry, it lists under options:

  Any Ravener may exchange one pair of scything talons for rending
  claws - 5 pts/model

In other words, a Ravener will have two pairs of scything talons--all the time--unless you pay 5 pts/model to switch it out, using this optional upgrade.

Let's focus on the Designer's Note you referenced:

  Designer’s Note: Tyranid Melee weapons come as pairs. For game
  purposes, each pair is treated as a single Melee weapon. This means
  that Tyranid models must fight with two pairs of any Tyranid Melee
  weapons to gain a bonus Attack in close combat for fighting with two
  weapons. For example, a Hormagaunt armed with a single pair of
  scything talons does not gain a bonus Attack, but a Ravener with two
  pairs of scything talons, or a Genestealer with a pair of rending
  claws and a pair of scything talons, does.

If your model has four (4) lash whips, that is very straightforwardly two pairs of weapons.  Each pair is treated as a single melee weapon.  Your model therefore has two melee weapons and will gain a bonus attack in close combat for fighting with two weapons.

Or put another way:

set aside two lash whip models.  two bits, one pair, for game purposes single melee weapon.
set aside two lash whip models.  two bits, one pair, for game purposes single melee weapon.
does the venomthrope support holding all of the physical weapon bits?  If the venomthrope has all four weapon bits, the venomthrope has two melee weapons.

So in a normal assault-phase attack (non-charge), you would get 3 attacks: 2 (base attack score) +1 (double melee weaps)


How can I play a short/small, but still satisfying round of Diplomacy? I liked playing Diplomacy back in university, where I had almost no problem gathering seven people with a whole day (including the nights) to spend.

Nowadays however, I'd consider myself lucky to find maybe four like-minded people who have the better part of an evening to play board games, and my beloved Diplomacy set is gathering dust.

So, especially considering all the variants out there, I'm looking for ways to play and complete a satisfying round of Diplomacy in an evening's time (maybe 3h?) and with four to five players.

You probably need an odd number of players, say five, to make the game flow with a majority vs. a minority dynamic.

Second, you need to choose two countries to eliminate. Italy is the obvious first choice, least fun to play. Germany is the recommended second choice by the game designers. But that has the disadvantage of separating the board into England-France, and Russia-Turkey-Austria. In a game I once played, we eliminated Turkey, instead, as not really being part of Europe. It had the advantages of keeping the countries connected, and of making Austria fun to play with two fewer enemies. The game itself goes faster with two fewer people.

You put single armies in each city of these eliminated countries, and let human players defend these "city states" by supporting them.

The other rule is that a "minority-majority" wins. That is two people (a minority of five) can declare themselves co-winners if they control 18 (a majority) of the 34 supply centers. Not needing a single winner shortens the game. Alternatively, anyone that survives the whole three hours is a "winner."

In this game, Austria and Russia won. They carved up Turkey and the Balkans, then headed west, while England, France and Germany fought among themselves. Not hard for them to get 18. And the game lasted just over three hours.


Has anyone heard of a game called connect 5 I have memories of a game. I'm 30 now and I think I was most likely early teens when I played it, so probably sometime around 1998 or so. I think it was called "connect 5" but I'm not positive on that. It was played by dropping tiles into a physical vertical grid. The game was like the famous "connect 4" except.

You had to get 5 in a row rather than 4 to win.
The grid had far more positions than a connect 4 grid. The counters were much smaller to accomodate this.
It had some (two iirc) horizontal "tricky move" bars in the grid. Instead of dropping in a tile a player could chose to move these bars. This would move tiles sideways and could sometimes cause them to fall out of the grid.

My web searches for connect 5 doesn't turn up anything like this game. Is my memory faulty?

I found this game today at a house garage sale, called "Challenging Tricky 5 In A Row Game", which looks like what you're asking about:


How to tell whether a Pokémon Card is fake or not Recently, I have obtained many Pokémon cards, but I do not know how to tell if they are real. For example, some seem more shiny on the back then others, and there seem to be many typos like Caterpie EX for Charizard EX. Any ways of differentiating?

The best way to tell a real Pokémon card from a fake one is to compare it to one you know for sure is real

The YouTube web series "Bootleg Zone" did an episode on bootleg Pokémon cards and compared them to real ones. Consider this picture of a Professor Oak card. One of the English ones is fake and the other is real. Can you tell which one?

The middle one is the bootleg, but it's a pretty good imitation. By comparing it to the real one, you'll notice that the color is off a bit, but without knowing the correct shade, you can't tell. The bootleg also has some blurry text at the bottom, but that's tough to spot.

Of course, sometimes it's painfully obvious to any Pokémon fan.

I especially love how Gyardos is a Fire Horse Pokémon, and that these are rare 2nd Edition cards!

The full video shows lots of other examples, but the difference between a real card and a bootleg really ranges between "blatantly obvious mistake" or "almost imperceptible difference from the original". Some examples of tells were:

Slight miscolorations
Blurry text
Text in a different font
Text with different line breaks
A different card feel (paper quality, etc)
A different style of holographic film, especially one that goes all the way to the edge of the card (most holographic real cards are only on the Pokémon portrait)
A different card size
Being part of a set that it wasn't originally part of (e.g. a card with the Neo Genesis icon when it was really part of the Jungle set)
Blatantly wrong information (e.g. Bellsprout evolving into Mewtwo)

In most of these cases, comparing it to a real card is the best way to tell if it's fake. There is the official Pokémon Trading Card Database, which will help you spot any text or stat differences, but isn't great for differentiating colors (since your monitor may not precisely match the colors a printed card would appear in your room), and of course it can't help you with determining the feel of the card.

That said, if you got a pack of cards and some of them have obvious typos, I'd be surprised if the rest were legitimate.


Would an enchantment placed on an opponent still take effect if they played Aegis of the Gods afterwards? So, as I was rebuilding a vampire deck, I came across some curses and remembered a friend got Aegis of the Gods.

I understand Aegis of the Gods would stop me from playing the curse on them, but if I played the curse first would Aegis stop my curse effect from taking place, if it was played on a different turn after I played the curse?

Yes, enchantments already cast and resolved still continue to take effect.

There isn't much about Curses in the Rulebook, because they operate identical to Aura's, but it doesn't take away that it is its own subtype.

Rulings clarify that:

  17-10-2013    A Curse spell targets the player it will enchant like any
  other Aura spell, and a Curse stays on the battlefield like any other
  Aura. If the enchanted player gains protection from the Curse’s color
  (or any other characteristic the Curse has), the Curse will be put
  into its owner’s graveyard.

In the Comprehensive Rules it states:

  303.4. Some enchantments have the subtype “Aura.” An Aura enters the battlefield attached to an object or player. What an Aura can be
  attached to is defined by its enchant keyword ability (see rule
  702.5, “Enchant”). Other effects can limit what a permanent can be enchanted by.

So Curses like Aura's target an object or player depending on what it says on the card.

Aegis of the Gods grants the player Hexproof.

  702.11c “Hexproof” on a player means “You can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.”

So while Aegis of the Gods is on the battlefield you can't target that creatures controller.

But what about all the curses you already cast and resolved before Aegis of the Gods entered the battlefied?

Hexproof doesn't dispel or disenchant any enchantments. It just prevents an object or player from being targeted while hexproof is in play.


Are there any legal go arrangements that can never occur in an actual game? Are there any arrangements of stones that are:

legal, because all groups have at least one liberty, yet
impossible, because no sequence of moves could possibly result in such an arrangement.

I'm definitely not looking for illegal arrangements where a group exists without any liberties, like this:

$$ +--------
$$ | X X O .
$$ | X O . .
$$ | O . . .
$$ | . . . .

(By the way, what I'm looking for is the same concept as a Garden of Eden in Conway's Game of Life.)

Assuming you're only interested in what's on the board and passes are allowed.

I would go backwards then: what was the position just before?

It's quite easy to see that if you remove any stone of any colour from a legal position, it will still be legal.

So in deciding what was the last move, pick any stone of the player whose turn just ended and assume that that stone was placed without any capturing.

If the number of black and white stones is too different, include a sufficient number of passes for one player.

In other words, the way to get to a given position, the players just have to place their stones (in any order) to where we want them to be and nowhere else (with a certain number of passes if necessary). No capturing will happen then.


What happens if Falkenrath Gorger dies while a madness ability it granted is on the stack? Falkenrath Gorger says:

  Each Vampire creature card you own that isn't on the battlefield has madness.

Lets say someone has Falkenrath Gorger in play and discards Drana, Liberator of Malakir to a discard effect. In response their opponent casts Murder killing Falkenrath Gorger.

Now the madness has already triggered since Drana was discarded as part of the cost of the discard effect. However madness has been lost between placing Drana into exile and before casting her.

Can the player still play Drana from exile or is she stuck there now she has lost madness?

Bonus question (I'm fairly sure the answer is no) - if she is stuck in exile would playing another Gorger allow her to be cast from exile again?

The rules on Falkenrath Gorger already has this specific case covered.

  8/04/2016     If Falkenrath Gorger leaves the battlefield before the madness trigger has resolved for a Vampire card that gained madness with its ability, the madness ability will still let you cast that Vampire card for the appropriate cost even though it no longer has madness.

Since he'll leave the battlefield after you discarded a card the madness will trigger and you will be able to cast your vampire.

Second question: Madness is a trigger, if you choose not to cast the card it'll be put in the graveyard and you can't recast it.

  8/04/2016     If you choose not to cast a card with madness when the madness triggered ability resolves, it’s put into your graveyard. You don’t get another chance to cast it later.


What is a good opening for Go on a 13x13 board? I have been playing a lot of Go recently at lunch but we are playing on a 13x13 board instead of a 19x19.  I can't seem to ever win!  I am beginning to think that my opening is leaving me in a bad position.

I generally start by playing 2 of the 4,4's (my opponent mirrors) then I do a lower approach on one of his corners.

This is based off the same way I would start on a larger 19x19 board.  Any advice?

A standard opening is often based on where you would put handicap stones.
4-4 is what you play and it's correct, but people more and more agree that 3-3 is better on smaller boards since it secures the corner and since you're on 13X13; it's not too small of a move like on 19X19.
For the fuseki you can try to use asymmetric stones 4-3 and 3-3 or 4-3 3-4 like black or white below:

White also can play safety with two 3-3.
But maybe you don't lose because of the opening? 13X13 is a different game, the center is worth more points than on 19X19 (worth 2 corners + 1 side) and there is less middle game and more life&death + endgame (maybe this is where you fail?).
Usually, you shouldn't mindlessly launch an attack. Try to secure 2 corners and develop towards the middle while trying to reduce the opponent's territory.
On 13X13 the number of groups you can keep alive is smaller. On 19X19 you should make a maximum of 5 or 6 groups when on 13X13 I would make a maximum of 2, like on 9X9.
You could also try a variant of the Chinese fuseki for 13X13:

In conclusion, I think you fail at appreciating what move is urgent since the board is smaller. Having your game reviewed would help you a lot.


What are "attack" Spells? In the rules, it says

  Attacking a monster does not require making an evade test.  This
  attack may be unarmed, with a weapon, or with an “attack”  Spell card.
  This attack does not need to target a monster in the  investigator’s
  space.

You can avoid the evade test if casting an attack spell. So what spells are considered "attack" spells?

Bind Monster and Shriveling are both Attack Spells.  Just under the title of the card is the phrase, Spell, Attack.

Bind Monster will stun the target while Shriveling will do a good amount of damage if you pass the test to cast them.

Gloria Goldberg can start with Bind Monster while Harvey Walters can start with Shriveling.  Otherwise you will have to gain the spells during play by reading a tome.


Can a single Myr Servitor save itself when sacrificed to Eldrazi Monument? I have Eldrazi Monument and Myr Servitor on the board. Is the following play legal?

My upkeep begins.
Eldrazi Monument and Myr Servitor trigger at the same time, so I put the Servitor's ability on the stack first.
I resolve the Monument's effect by sacrificing the Servitor.
I resolve the Servitor's effect by returning it to play.

No.  Myr Servitor's ability has an intervening "if" clause ("if Myr Servitor is on the battlefield"), and whether this clause is true is checked both when the ability triggers and when it tries to resolve.  By the time it tries to resolve, the Myr Servitor won't be on the battlefield, and so the ability won't do anything.

  603.4. A triggered ability may read "When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect]." When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it resolves. If the condition isn’t true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the "intervening ‘if’ clause" rule. (The word "if" has only its normal English meaning anywhere else in the text of a card; this rule only applies to an "if" that immediately follows a trigger condition.)


What happens if neither player decides to do anything? My question is about Magic The Gathering. What happens if both players perpetually decide to do nothing in a turn, except draw and then discard to 7. What happens then?

The most likely outcome is that one player loses when he has no more cards to draw:

  104.3c If a player is required to draw more cards than are left in his or her library, he or she draws the remaining cards, and then loses the game the next time a player would receive priority.

Other possible outcome is a draw during a tournament game with time limit, though a player will likely run out of cards before they reach the limit.


When resolving Extract, do I need to know what card I'm looking for? Extract is a Sorcery which reads:

  Search target player's library for a card and exile it. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

Which option below, if either, is equivalent to the actual card text above?

Name a card, and then look through opponent's library for it. Exile a copy if any are found in the library. Opponent shuffles the library afterwards.
You may look through opponent's library; exile any card of your choice. Opponent shuffles library afterwards.

In short, do I need to know what I am looking for?

You don't need to name a card. If you need to name a card that card would say it, like with Cranial extraction for example.


How does Death-blow work in Warhammer Quest? I m not sure if this belongs here or in RPG, as I feel Warhammer Quest kind of straddles the line between the two. I am also unable to create a tag for Warhammer Quest, so it's tagged Warhammer Fantasy.

Since Warhammer Quest went out of print back in 1998, I think no rule has inspired more argument than Death-blow.

There seem to be two main camps for this rule.

A monster must be on full wounds and be slain outright with a single attack in order to activate the Death-blow.
Any melee attack which inflicts enough damage to kill the monster will activate this rule, regardless of how injured the monster was.

The rulebook says the following:

  DEATH-BLOW
  (Killing a Monster with a Single Blow)

  Sometimes a Warrior will hit a Monster so hard that he kills it with a single blow. If this happens he can carry on his attack to the next Monster, getting a chance to kill him too. This follow-on attack represents the mighty swing of the Warrior's blade hacking down his foes in one monstrous blow.

  If there is another Monster standing in an adjacent square to the Warrior's initial target, and that is still within the range of his
  attack, the swing of his blade may catch it too. Roll to hit and wound
  the Monster as normal. If this Monster is also killed with a single
  blow, the blow carries on round in the same direction to the next
  Monster, and so on.

  This mighty blow, which we call a death-blow, stops when the Warrior fails to kill a Monster with a single blow, or his blade meets
  an obstacle such as a wall or another Warrior.

  Note that if you kill a Monster with a single blow from an arrow or other missile weapon you do not get to carry on to the next
  Monster, as you cannot hit more than one target with a single arrow.

  Only Warriors may make a death-blow, not Monsters.

  Warhammer Quest Rulebook, pg 24

So, how do people feel this rule should work RAW?

What do people think are the RAI?

Are there any official sources/FAQs for this question?

Rules as Written

The use of the phrase "kills it with a single blow" does suggest option 1, that the monster must go from starting wounds to zero wounds as a result of the attack. This is reinforced by needing to kill each following enemy with "a single blow" or the Death-blow stops.

Though I have seen suggestions that the rule should be interpreted as "if the blow would kill it in a single blow", meaning a wounded monster may trigger a Death-blow if the attack inflcited more than it's starting wounds regardless of current wounds. This would allow you to trigger a Death-blow off wounded monsters, but still require the blow to be able to kill them even if they were unwounded.

Rules as Intended

A user on bwarhammerquest.runboard.com claimed to have corresponded with one of the GW game designers about this exact question.

http://bwarhammerquest.runboard.com/p561722,from=rss

  I wrote to Gav Thorpe recently and asked about the Death-blow rule in
  Warhammer Quest (posted below). With his hundreds, if not thousands,
  of hours of playtesting behind him, here was his reply on January 11,
  2013:

  Q: Gav, you have to tell us, after 17 years of uncertainty in
  Warhammer Quest, does a Monster have to be on full Wounds when you
  strike it in order to cause a Death-blow? We beg you, please end the
  controversy once and for all!

  A: From what I can remember (and it was a long time ago) there was no
  restriction on deathblows other than to kill the enemy in one hit. If
  previously wounded, that just makes it easier.

Gav Thorpe's response suggests option 2, if a wounded enemy is easier to Death-blow, than you must only need to inflict it's current wounds to trigger a Death-blow, making it akin to the D&D feat Cleave. This seems to contradict the RAW however.

I have also been advised that in the recent iOS remake of Warhamer Quest, Death-blow also works as described in option 2 (not owning an iOS device I am unable to confirm this).

Official FAQ

To my knowledge the only official Wahammer Quest FAQ was in Deathblow Magazine issue 3, and they did not mention this rule.

There is an unofficial FAQ, this contains many questions marked as clarified by Games Workshop UK, but it also does not mention this rule.
http://wquest.free.fr/faq/wq_faq_index.html

Summary

I think it really comes down to how hard you want the game to be, and how much you would rather RAW as opposed to RAI.

By straight RAW (option 1) the game becomes harder, as if you must inflict their starting wounds in a single blow you will not be able to Death-blow very much at all past the first few levels. This will make it slower to clear monsters and cause the party to take more damage.

The RAI version (option 2) that any killing blow will trigger a Death-blow will make the game easier, as you will get "more attacks", allowing you to kill monsters faster. This also means even high level characters will continue to make regular Death-blows.

Update - Option 3?

Interestingly, the new Warhammer Quest video game provides a 3rd interpretation of the rule, which is kind of a combination of the two. In this game you make a deathblow any time you slay an enemy with the first attack that hits it that turn.


Does this combo for my Rakdos EDH deck work? I have Rakdos, Lord of Riots, Razaketh, the Foulblooded and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth in play. I have done at least 10 damage so Kozilek would be free to cast. Can I sacrifice Kozilek to Razaketh, and before I actually find a card Kozilek has shuffled himself back in and I can tutor him up and cast him again, effectively having "pay 2 life, draw 4 cards" on the field. Does this work how I want to?

Yes, When you sacrifice a creature to Razaketh, it's ability goes on the stack, after that the dying trigger of Kozilek goes on the stack and since the last thing on the stack resolves first, your graveyard will shuffle in your deck and then you can find your deck for a card.


Flames of War with 1/72 miniatures I'm not a fan of 1/100 scale (and FoW infantry in 1/100 looks ugly).
Can I use 1/72 scale miniatures (infantry miniatures from Zvezda's "Art of Tactic", armor and SPGs from Italeri, etc.) with small changes in rules (for example, +25% to all ranges)?

Will the game remains playable?

15mm isn't actually 1/100 scale.  It's closer to 1/107.  You would actually need to increase all ranges and movement by about 49% for the scaling to work out. You would also need to increase your play area from the standard 6' x 4' to about 9' x 7.5'.  Otherwise your units would cross the board too quickly and mess with the scenario balance.

Base sizes become:

Small 1.86" x 1.49"
Medium 2.98" X 1.86"
Large 3.72" X 2.98"

With that, everything should be proportional and work out to be the same mechanically.  If you have a bad back, that table size could be problematic.

I think you may run into cost issues collecting armies at that scale.  Plus you'll lose the ability for quick pickup games and tournament play.  There are a few new producers of 15mm miniatures such as Plastic Solider Company that have moved to digital sculpting and injection plastic.  The detail on these models is much crisper than the hand sculpted models you are used to.  You may want to check those out before committing to using 1/72 scale.

If you want to stay at the larger scale, I suggest looking to a game like Bolt Action witch is designed for larger models(in this case 25mm).


Can you mix Warhammer Fantasy armies? My wife is interested in playing Warhammer Fantasy. We've tried to work out what army she'd like to play (we went through all the pieces on the GW website,  and she picked out these ones she likes the look of), and she actually wants to make an army from multiple different armies.  A mix of wood elves,  dwarves,  dark elves.... Etc.

We haven't invested in the rule book yet,  nor any pieces,  but I was wondering if this was possible (in the rules, or by house rules)  before we pick it what to buy. It's likely that she'd only be playing against me,  if that makes a difference.

For the sake of completeness:

Now Warhammer Fantasy is rebranded to Warhammer Age of Sigmar, that allows you to play with "whatever the heck you want" in any game. But even if you want to play rules hardcorelly, now they are only 4 factions, Order, Chaos, Destruction and Death.

All the armies you named in your question are part of "Order" so, by the new rules, they are completely allowed to be used together.


In Battlestar Galatica Pegasus expansion, does the cylon team win if the cylon leader wins? In the pegasus expansion, these points happen:

The cylon players win.
The cylon leader reveals his agenda
and he completed it successfully.

Did both cylons and cylon leader win the game OR did the cylons lose the game and only the leader wins?

The Cylons and the Cylon leader win the game, together. The Agenda Card condition indicates which side they favor. They will have another condition which seems counter to their allegiance, but they are predominantly on one side or the other.

From page 10 of the Pegasus rule book:

  Note that Cylon Leaders may win with the humans or the Cylons, as
  specified by their Agenda Card.


If I clone a Dryad Arbor is the clone a land? If my opponent plays a Dryad Arbor and I use a Clone to copy it, is the clone a land as well? Can I kill the clone with a Stone Rain? I'm assuming that if the clone is a land that it does not count to your one land played a turn limit?

Yes, the new Dryad Arbor copy will be a land, and it can be destroyed by Stone Rain. Rule 706.2 describes a copy effect copies:

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

This means that the copy will have the name "Dryad Arbor", no mana cost, a green color indicator, the type line "Land Creature - Forest Dryad", no rules text, and the power and toughness 1/1, all exactly like the card it is copying.

This does not count as your land play. To do this you do not play a land, you cast a spell that happens to become a land as it resolves.


Use of the special power "Diplomat" against another player not yet entered the game in Smallworld If you're playing a race with the special power "Diplomat" during the first round, are you allowed to declare peace with a player that has not yet entered the game?

I found an answer to this question in an answer to a similar question:

Q: Is a race with the Diplomat power allowed to nominate a player, who has just declined or who has not yet had a turn (and therefore has no active race) as an ally?
A: Yes indeed, the only restriction in the choice of an ally is that you cannot choose a player if you just attacked his active race.


Can I use lands from previous sets? bit of a  Magic n00b here. I was wondering, can I use basic lands that are not currently in standard? (eg dragon's maze) I just thought this might be  thing as no matter what set ut's in, basic lands do the same.

The only thing that matters for card legality is the name. Whether it's a "Forest" or "Grizzly Bears", the set that it was printed in is irrelevant; all that matters is if "Forest" is legal in the current format.


Can you choose not to assign damage to a second blocker? In a game of Magic, I attack with a 5/5, indestructible, trample. My opponent blocks with a 2/3 and a 2/2.

He hopes the 2/2 will die because of an effect when that creature dies.

Can I choose to just sink my five damage into the first creature and not touch the second

You can always assign more than lethal damage to a creature. In your example, you can assign five damage to the 2/3 and not touch the 2/2.

  510.1c A blocked creature assigns combat damage to the creatures it’s blocking. If it isn’t currently blocking any creatures (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage. If it’s blocking exactly one creature, it assigns all its combat damage to that creature. If it’s blocking two or more creatures, it assigns its combat damage to those creatures according to the damage assignment order announced for it. This may allow the blocking creature to divide its combat damage. However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that it’s blocking unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocked creature is assigned lethal damage. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. An amount of damage that’s greater than a creature’s lethal damage may be assigned to it.

The Judge's Corner has a great video that covers the specific scenario in your question and more.


What are the rules of 10x10 Draughts? How many pieces are on each side? A Checkers board has 64 (8x8) squares and 12 pieces on each side.
A 10x10 Draughts board has 100 (10x10) squares.

How many pieces are used on the 100 square board?

Each player starts with 20 pieces.

From Wikipedia:

  The gameboard comprises 10×10 squares in alternating dark and light colours, of which only the 50 dark squares are used. Each player has 20 pieces, light for one player and dark for the other, at opposite sides of the board.

You use the first 4 rows (with 5 squares per row being used).


When you use "just say no" to a "rent" do others player still need to pay? When player A uses two colored rent. And player B uses "just say no".

Does player C still needs to pay to player A?

I actually don't know the game but what I can see from the Wikipedia page the card only collects rent from one player any way:

  Multi-colored rent cards: The function of this kind of cards is collect rent of any one of the colors of your properties from one rival.


Frozen prize pile in canasta when all but one player has only 1 card in hand? What happens when the prize pile is frozen in canasta, and all but one player has only 1 card in hand, assuming no players have a canasta yet, and the player with more cards has already melded-in?

This occurred when playing a round of 3-person canasta. Both other players were down to two cards, while I had 6 cards in hand, and I had just taken the discard pile. I had already met the entry meld requirement. I then baited the next person in turn order to take the prize pile by discarding a card they wanted, they did and so ended the turn with one card in hand. That player then did the same thing to the remaining player. When it comes around to my turn, I am the only one with a hand and the other two have 1 card in hand.

So I froze the prize pile, seeing an opportunity to basically play all cards in the deck.

At this point, we all had a laugh (none of us are very experienced at this game) and decided to pack up the game with a nebulous winner, since it was late (I was thousands of points behind at this point: 1895 points versus 3595 and 3135.)

Am I right that in this situation, I can basically play the whole remaining deck? My thought process is as follows: I have 5 cards in hand, containing two pairs in suits I have not melded yet. I wait for the prize pile to get nice and fat (neither of the other two players can play anything) and then I take the prize pile, melding the minimum to do so (I can take the pile using either of the pairs in my hand.) At this point, I can just re-freeze the empty pile. If I do so, then there is a very high chance that I can take the pile again in subsequent rounds, because I have multiples in almost everything. Alternatively, I can just play the oodles I have and let the game continue, even I will have substantial card advantage.

Thanks!

Your thinking is correct. If you are the only player who has more than 1 card in hand, then there is nothing to stop you from melding the rest of the cards in the draw pile. This has happened to me in a 2 player game (when playing draw 1 instead of draw 2). Nothing here would be different about 3 players. Your opponents have no way of ever legally picking up the discard pile or going out as long as your first discard after picking up the discard pile is a wild card.

You most likely should have been able to play out that hand and won the game. Being thousands of points behind wouldn't have mattered; you likely could have gotten enough points on that one hand to win.


If I wanted to buy a card protector for every card in Arkham Horror (and expansions), how many would I need of each type? I've been considering purchasing a whack of Fantasy Flight Supply board game sleeves for my Arkham Horror game and expansions.  Does anyone know how many of each type of sleeve I would need to purchase to cover the various cards in the main box and all of the expansions to date?  Thanks!

You will need:

Set                     Investigator   Ancient One
Arkham Horror              189             179
Curse of the Dark Pharoah   76              90
Dunwich Horror             152             180
The King in Yellow          76              90
Kingsport Horror           112             207
Black Goat of the Woods     90              88
Innsmouth Horror            96             176
Lurker at the Threshold     56             110
Miskatonic Horror          112             336

Total                      959            1456

According to the Fantasy Flight Sleeve Guide, that equates to 20 packs of Mini American Board Game Sleeves and 30 packs of Standard American Board Game Sleeves if you have everything.


How likely is it to survive a game of Barbarian Prince? Barbarian Prince is a brutal paragraph based game. Your character must collect 500 gold and return to his homeland to win the game. Unfortunately, there are unfriendly guards, wolves, mobs of peasants, deadly ruins, and worse trying to end your life.

What is the best strategy to use when attempting to survive?
What are your approximate chances of staying alive for 70 days?

I would estimate between 60%-70%. The best strategy to use when attempting to survive for 70 days, is to try to avoid wounds. If the wounds that the Barbarian Prince receives are ever 1 less than his Endurance (fall unconscious), or greater than or equal to his Endurance you lose the game. This basically means that we need to avoid combat at all costs. The best way to achieve that is to hideout in a relatively safe location.

North of the Tragoth River

The first thing that is necessary to avoid combat is to cross the river. If you don't, at the end of each day, just before your evening meal you have a 50% chance (4/6) of being attacked by Mercenary Royal Guardsmen (e002). This encounter deals you on average about 1.71-1.55 wounds (depending upon if you Negotiate/Evade/Fight), and because it occurs about 50% of the time it also prevents you from Healing Wounds (r222) about 15% of the time. This is in addition to the normal event for the day that might prevent healing if combat or an escape occurs. If we stay North of the Tragoth River we will heal less than 0.85 wounds on average, but we will receive 0.86 (1/2 of 1.71) wounds on average plus any additional damage from other encounters.

Crossing the River

(I will fill in the percentages of crossing the river without dying at a later time. It is a little difficult to write up all the possibilities, because the strategy changes slightly based upon where you start)

Getting to the Mountains

After you get across the river, you need to head to the nearest mountain hex. Depending upon where you start, you should head to a different mountain range.

Ogon (0101): Head to 0103 mountain hex.
0701: Head to 0703, Barrier Peaks.
Ruins of Jakor Keep (0901): Head to 0703 Barrier Peaks.
1301: The worst starting position, head to 0703 or south to 1204.
Weshor (1501): Head south or west to the nearest mountain hex.
1801: You should already be in the mountains after crossing the river.

Hiding in the (safe) Mountains

The only way to receive wounds in the game, is through events and through combat. All events including combat are a function of the terrain that the Barbarian Prince is either resting in, or the terrain he was trying to move into before getting lost. Therefore, to minimize wounds, we only need to examine the likelihood of getting into combat for all 36 possible events for a terrain type and the amount of damage that you are likely to receive. Particular attention needs to be paid to encounters that prevent the Barbarian Prince from escaping (r220e), because escaping is one of the best tools for avoiding damage. Escaping is effective 50% of the time, but causes the prince's party to flee to a random adjacent hex (that isn't across a river). What is nice about this is, as long as we don't rest in the random hex we fled into, but instead travel back into the mountain hex then we will roll for an event on the relatively safe mountain encounter chart. I have included some of the safer terrains, and their percentage chance for combat, and percentage chance for a deadly inescapable combat.

Countryside: 10.74% combat, 2.83% lethal* (3x Wolves, 1x Goblin Keep)
Forest: 10.01% combat, 1.54% lethal* (1x Wolves, 1x Spectre)
Hills: 6.11% combat, 0.79% lethal* (1x Wolves, 1x Dragon)
Mountains: 2.82% combat, 0.39% lethal (1x Goblin Keep)

*Note: Forest, Countryside, and Hills all have at least one Great Hunting Cat encounter that prevents the victim from escaping. I didn't include this within the lethal calculation, because it doesn't occur that often for most terrains and with a combat encounter percentage of 10% or less you will usually be healed up enough to survive the encounter.

Wrapping it All Up

If you can make it to the mountains, you only have to survive the remaining days. This will usually mean that you will be escaping from combats (if they occur), and then attempting to travel back into the mountains to rest on subsequent turns. You will likely be suffering from starvation for much of the game, but since starvation only affects Combat Skill and Carrying Capacity (not escape chances), it shouldn't have much of an effect if you are only trying to survive. To figure the chances of not having a lethal encounter after X days, just take 1-(lethal encounter%) and raise it to the DAYS power. The result is about 76% chance. If you figure in the river crossing, the time to get to the mountains, the true survival percentage is probably a little bit lower. I would estimate a 60%-70% chance of surviving (with the above strategy).


Is there a mechanism to bring Mordheim characters into Fantasy? I've got a Mordheim warband and I've love to take some of the heroes into battle in a Warhammer Fantasy game. Is this possible?

Many of the characteristics are similar but is there a mechanism to create a points value and translate his skills?

There is no official method of doing this.

However at out local club we do things like this all the time as we often play casual games for fun.

I would advise looking for the lord/hero with the closest stat line and use his base points, make sure you don't have any lower stats that the codex character though.
Use his equipment list for any items you have and for any items that character cant take but you have look to other entries starting with those closed the the characters you used as your base point. if you have a hero look at the other heroes but if you used a lord choice look at the other lords before the heroes.

Make sure you agree this with your opponent first, it would work best if both of you are trying to do this. And remember this type of thing is just for fun, don't expect it to be balanced or even competitive.


Shaun the Sheep games rules? Recently I bought some Shaun the Sheep games from kosmos.de, but the rules are in German. Does anyone know the rules for next two games :

card game
board game

A German friend of mine translated the card game (I also bought it in Germany, but can't read German), it is available here: Translation of Shaun the sheep card game


Does the Changeling ability count for Happily Ever After? In Magic: The Gathering, there is a card that allows you to win automatically if you meet 3 specific conditions, one of which this question is about. On the card Happily Ever After, it states that if there are six or more card types among permanents you control and/or cards in your graveyard (and the other conditions), then you win the game, but I am unsure if specific creature types count. The MTG Gatherer states that supertypes (such as legendary) do not count but I do not know if creature types count.

No, that won't work. Creature types are subtypes and not card types.

205.2a The card types are artifact, conspiracy, creature, enchantment, instant, land, phenomenon, plane, planeswalker, scheme, sorcery, tribal, and vanguard. See section 3, “Card Types.”
205.3a A card can have one or more subtypes printed on its type line.
205.3m Creatures and tribals share their lists of subtypes; these subtypes are called creature types.

In regular games, you'll only see artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and finally tribal (which is never encountered alone, but always in combination with another card type).


Do actions that affect all cards also affect cards in your hand.? In Smash Up the wording on the cards is often critical to how they play. Unfortunately the rules are very light on certain situations and I haven't been able to find an answer online to a situation that arose at a game last night.

My friend was using Dinosaurs and Pirates, and was attempting to take the Tsar's Palace base. The bases ability is:

  Minions of power 2 or less cannot be played here.

He then played the Howl card from his hand. This states:

  Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of your turn.

Next he then tried to play a First Mate (Power 2) from his hand onto the Tsar's Palace, under the assumption that it is now Power 3 because of the Howl card.

My interpretation is that the Howl card, and all action cards, will only affect minions already in play on the table, and not minions in his hand. Therefore the First Mate is still Power 2 until it is played and therefore cannot be played on the Tsar's Palace.

Which of us was right? Do action cards that affect every minion on the table also affect minions in your hand?

Playing Howl, will not allow First Mate to be played on the Tsar's Palace base.

In this thread on BGG, Mark Wootton, who appears to be AEG's Director of Company Development said:

  Q: What about the Homeworld base ability and the War Raptor? The Homeworld states that when you play a minion on it you can play another minion of Power 2 or less. Is the Raptor a valid play, since before it's added to a base it's Power 2?

  A: The order of effects is:

  1) To play an extra minion check its power is correct. War Raptor = 2 Power

  2) Any abilities on that minion trigger. War Raptor becomes 3 (or more) Power

  3) Trigger any ongoing effects in play e.g Leprechaun or Flame Trap

  So if, for example you had an action played on the base that said "All your minions here gain +2 Power" you could still play a 2 power minion there. Because it is 2 power when it is played.

The base checks first if First Mate is the correct power, before Howl is applied.

(Note: I disagree with Mark Wootton's last example, although it is immaterial to the correct answer here. I contend that an Action worded as he suggests would only affect Minions currently "here" at the base. For the Action to affect Minions played later that turn, it would have to be an Ongoing effect (that might be what he meant, as there are Actions that are played on a base with similar effects).


Crebain and shadow effects Crebain has the following text:

  While Crebain is in the staging area, encounter card effects cannot be canceled.

With Crebain in the staging area, can shadow card effects be cancelled? For example, does A Burning Brand still work?

In describing the various parts of encounter cards, the rules say (on page 6):

  Shadow Effect Icon: If a card has a shadow  effect, that effect is denoted by this icon, which also serves to separate the shadow effect from the card’s in play effect.

This suggests that encounter deck cards have both "in play effects" and "shadow effects".  Since Crebain does not differentiate between the two classes of effects, it follows that with Crebain in the staging area, shadow effects cannot be cancelled.


Are the expansion number tokens in 5-6 players expansion different from the basic Catan? I am currently in the process of creating my own custom Catan board and wish to create number tokens for both original and 5-6 players extension gameplay. I have managed to find a detailed list of the original number tokens already, but cannot locate the list of the extension tokens (I only know there are 28 of them).

Could anyone let me know what numbers come under thoe 28, how many of them and whether of not they have alphabetical letters as well?

Many thanks!

Someone has created a pdf with all this information over on BGG here

If you dont have a BGG account to view the file I've converted it to a jpg for you.


Can I steal another player's tower of power stash cards with 5 of a kind? Tower of Power from the Barking Kittens extension allows you to hold 8 stash cards (separated from the deck before the game starts) and protects you against other players who want to steal cards from your hand (favor, 2 of a kind, and 3 of a kind), they need to take cards from your stash cards in your tower of power instead.
What happens if I use 5 of a kind to get the tower of power card from the discard pile? Can I steal the tower of power with all its remaining stash cards?

This is subtle but it is hidden in the rules:
In order to play the card, you need to wear the Tower of Power Crown:

To play this card, wear the Tower of Power Crown. Then take the Stash Cards, and without looking, put them inside on top of your head.

But if you wear the crown, you need to wear the crown for the rest of the game:

You may never move Stash Cards from the Tower of Power Crown into your
own hand. It only protects you from stealing stealers who want to
steal cards from you. Continue wearing the Tower of Power for the
rest of the game.

So if you retrieve the card from the discard pile after it is played (and not noped) then you can't play it anymore because you can't wear the crown.
You could play it if you already have the crown, but it does nothing because the stash is also empty.
So there is no way you can gain any benefit from playing the card a second time in the same game. So you better use your five of a kind to find a useful card.
By the way, the crown is awesome:


Dictate of Erebos and Undercity Informer stack question Situation: My opponent has Dictate of Erebos out ("Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature.").  He then attacks me with one of his creatures; I defend, killing his creature, but then I have to sacrifice a creature in response due to the enchantment.  I name Undercity Informer as the creature I will sacrifice.  In response to having to sacrifice him, I use his ability, pay 1, and sacrifice target creature (I chose Undercity Informer), and target opponent reveals cards from his/her library till they reveal a land and put all cards revealed into the graveyard.

Does this then mean I have escaped the cost of Dictate of Erebos as when the stack now unfolds Undercity Informer is sacrificed and his ability works and the creature to be sacrificed has already been sacrificed, so therefore cannot be sacrificed?

Or do I then pick a new creature to sacrifice?

You must pick another.

The Dictate's ability does not target, so the creature to sacrifice is chosen on resolution.

If you self-sacrifice the Informer in response to Dictate's ability, then it won't exist when the Dictate's ability resolves, so it won't be a valid pick for the Dictate's ability. You'll have to sacrifice a creature among the other ones you have (if any) when the Dictate's ability resolves.

If you wait for the Dictate's ability to resolve before doing anything, the Informer will no longer exist for you to activate its ability.

If the Dictate's ability targeted, the choice of creature to sacrifice would be made when the ability is placed on the stack, meaning you get a chance to respond after the choice is made. If the creature no longer exists when the ability is about to resolve (e.g. because you self-sacrificed it), the ability fizzles and you wouldn't have to sacrifice anything more.


Does Courser of the Kruphix's ability play multiple land cards? Courser of Kruphix says:

  Play with the top card of your library revealed.
  You may play the top card of your library if it's a land card.
  Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you gain 1 life.

Does this mean if the top cards in my deck are a series of land cards they will all be played as they are revealed or is it still limited by the one land per turn rule?

You play the land normally, as if it were in your hand, with all the same restrictions. You are still limited by the 1 land per turn rule. In order for a card to let you play more than 1 land, it would need to say "you may play additional lands", or it could say "you may put it onto the battlefield" instead of saying "play."

See the rulings on Gatherer:

  1/1/2014   Playing a land with the second ability counts as your land play for the turn. If you play a land from your hand during your turn, you won’t be able to play an additional land from the top of your library unless another effect allows you to.

And of course, the timing restrictions still apply too: you still have to play the land at a normal time, during your main phase when you have priority with an empty stack.


Why is this corner enclosure considered to be safe against 3-3 invasion? I have read somewhere, but unfortunately forgot where that the following enclosure is safe against the invasion at a.

$$ White invades at 'a' and supposedly dies.
$$ ---------
$$ -........
$$ -........
$$ -..a..X..
$$ -...X....
$$ -........
$$ -..X.....
$$ -........

What is the proper way to defend after white a? Is there a way for white to live, even in gote?

First of all, note that, unlike the more popular shape with a kosumi instead of a keima, this shape carries a lot more aji and is vulnerable to yose tesuji and approach moves.

$$ A lot less aji
$$ ---------
$$ -........
$$ -........
$$ -.....X..
$$ -...X....
$$ -..X.....
$$ -........
$$ -........

Oh, and by the way, an invasion is supposed to live in gote. Invading and living in sente is something you definitely don't want your opponent to be able to. In a shape with 3 (!) black stones vs a single white stone, living has to be super hard, and even a ko is a success for white.

Killing the invasion

The shape you showed, as is, is indeed save against an invasion. It involves a tesuji you need to remember though, and you also need to be able to read tsumego at, I guess, strong kyu level to be able to kill.

$$Wcm1 The invasion
$$ ---------
$$ -........
$$ -....2...
$$ -..1..X..
$$ -...X....
$$ -........
$$ -..X.....
$$ -........

B2 is tesuji to kill.

$$Wcm1 White can't live
$$ ---------
$$ -.98.....
$$ -.5..X...
$$ -0.O..X..
$$ -.7.X....
$$ -6134....
$$ -.2X.....
$$ -........

Why can't black simply block?

$$Wcm1 Black fails - white gets a ko
$$ ---------
$$ -..98....
$$ -.7.56...
$$ -..12.X..
$$ -..3X....
$$ -..4.....
$$ -..X.....
$$ -........

Aji

How is this shape dependent on the outside? Well, first, any approach move is virtually sente:

$$Wcm1 If black tenukies, the invasion becomes a huge danger again. But answering locally likely leads to overconcentration.
$$ ----------
$$ -.........
$$ -.........
$$ -.....X.1.
$$ -...X.....
$$ -.........
$$ -..X......
$$ -.........

Also, even nearby stones affect the tsumego severly:

$$Wcm1 Thanks to nearby stones, the fight is tough for black, he should not have tried to kill white in the corner.
$$ ------------
$$ -.OX........
$$ -XO..X......
$$ -X.O56X...Q.
$$ -OO.X79.....
$$ -XOOX8......
$$ -.XX13......
$$ -...........
$$ -..2.4......
$$ -...........
$$ -..Q........
$$ -...........

In short, the shape works, but it's so packed with aji that usually, it's better to hold back a little and play more solid.


How can I find what basic and stage 1 Pokémon cards can evolve to? My son just got a Breakthrough Elite Trainer Box. He's got several basic and stage 1 Pokémon and I'd like to find out what Pokémon those cards evolve to. What's the best way to find out how basic and stage 1 Pokémon can evolve?

TL;DR - Simple way
Use official Pokémon TCG Card Database where you can find cards that evolves from a card you have.
Explanation and hard way
Pokémon TCG uses the same evolution system as video games and anime, i.e. every Pokémon has determined number of possible evolutions. However, most of them has only one or zero evolutions. Bulbapedia List of Pokémon by evolution families has all possible evolutions available, if you don't know them at all. Mega evolutions are included here.
TCG also has its own additions to that system, although they are rather simple.
Sun & Moon evolution mechanics:

any Pokémon other than ♢ Pokémon

normal evolution rules: Basic → Stage 1 → Stage 2
some Baby Pokémon are excluded, i.e. Pikachu is Basic Pokémon

Pokémon ♢ (Prism Star)

card is Basic even if the particular Pokémon is normally not Basic

Deprecated evolution mechanics:

Pokémon EX, Pokémon SP, and Pokémon ☆ - always Basic, can have Lv.X or Mega Evolution
Pokémon BREAK and Pokémon Lv.X - power-up that enhances some Pokémon
Mega Evolution Pokémon

evolve like Stage 1 (are put onto Basic Pokémon)
player's turn ends immediately after Mega Evolving a Pokémon

Restored Pokémon - evolve like Basic Pokémon (can evolve into Stage 1 Pokémon)
Baby Pokémon

generation 2 and 3: evolve into Basic Pokémon
generation 4: Baby Pokémon are Basic cards that don't evolve at all

all other mechanics follow normal evolution rules

To get all cards your Pokémon can evolve into, find if it has an evolution and look it up in Pokémon TCG Card Database, which includes released cards, or in Bulbapedia List of Pokémon by evolution families (select a Pokémon, then select In the TCG), which includes also very old cards and cards yet to be released in English.


Countering cards played with flashback Can a card cast using its flashback ability be countered by a spell such as Cancel?

Yes. The only thing that flashback modifies is where the spell is being cast from when paying it's Flashback cost before being put on the stack, and where it goes when it leaves the stack if its Flashback cost was paid.

  702.31a Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that functions while the card is in a player’s graveyard and the other that functions while the card is on the stack. “Flashback [cost]” means “You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2e–g.


Redirecting damage to my own planeswalker Here's the situation. My opponent is at three life, has three creatures and a Nahiri, the Harbinger with three loyalty. I cast Rakdos Charm, choosing the "Each creature deals 1 damage to its controller." mode. My opponent controls the sources of damage, so are they able to redirect some of the damage to Nahiri in order to not lose?

I ask this because I was playing magic online a few days ago and a similar situation came up. I was surprised I didn't get the option to redirect damage to Nahiri myself until I read Rakdos Charm more carefully, but then I realised my opponent didn't get the prompt either. I'm wondering if the client handled this incorrectly, or there's some rule that caused this to happen.

No.

As of the Dominaria rules update in 2018, the planeswalker redirection rule is completely gone, so Rakdos charm cannot deal damage to a planeswalker at all.

  306.7. Previously, planeswalkers were subject to a redirection effect that allowed a player to have noncombat damage that would be dealt to an opponent be dealt to a planeswalker under that opponent’s control instead. This rule has been removed and certain cards have received errata in the Oracle card reference to deal damage directly to planeswalkers.

Keeping the original answer below for historical reference:

Damage can only be redirected if the source of the damage is controlled by your opponent, and even then it's the opponent that can choose to redirect it, not you.

  306.7. If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead. This is a redirection effect (see rule 614.9) and is subject to the normal rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 616). The opponent chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is applied.


Are slang words allowed in Scrabble? In Words with Friends, a Scrabble clone for the iPhone, slang words - such as the following - are permitted:

za, slang for "pizza,"
lez, slang for "lesbian,"
And so on...

Are slang words allowed in official Scrabble games / tournaments?

You can check for yourself at the Official Scrabble Dictionary.  According to that site:

za is a legal word
lez is not (Keep reading)

Words With Friends uses the Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon with a few additions per their website.  ENABLE is a public domain word list for use with word programs.

Thanks to @thesun's research it is obvious that the website is not the final word for Scrabble tournaments.  Apparently the Scrabble folks censor their website, and books of around 200 offensive words.

To get the complete list you have to join the National Scrabble Association and pay for it.  For most tournaments that will be the list used.  If the tournament is televised then perhaps those 200 offensive words will not be allowed.


Axis & Allies G40 Transport Question Can a transport enter a hostile sea zone, that was cleared of hostile ships (during the combat phase), during the non-combat phase to pick up friendly units.  For example:  If the UK fleet N of Egypt destroys the Italian ships in the sea zone around Malta, during the combat phase, can a UK transport enter that cleared sea zone, during the non-combat phase to pick up UK units on Malta?

Yes. Two opposing nations can't have units in the same zone simultaneously. But if the units of one side were "eliminated" in earlier fighting, then the surviving (attacker) can move units into the formerly disputed zone.


Over-success when holding in Diplomacy What happens if an army is holding and has more support than an army attacking     it?  It didn't say in the copy of the rules on Wikipedia.

A unit holding that has more or equal valid support to hold than its attacker stays put (wins).  Here are some examples:

Example 0: Greater Valid Support To Hold

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Army Belgium supports Paris
Army Ruhr supports Pairs

Paris's support plus itself is 3 strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong, so the defense is greater and Paris holds

Example 1: Equal Valid Support To Hold

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Army Belgium supports Paris

Paris's support plus itself is 2 strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong and the tie does to the defender so Paris holds

Example 2: An invalid support

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Fleet Belgium supports Paris (* invalid -- you can only support where you can move *)

Paris's support from Belgium was invalid, so it doesn't exist.  Paris is at one strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong and so Gascony wins and Paris is dislodged.

Example 3: A support of a move instead of a hold

Army Gascony -> Paris
Army Brest supports Gascony -> Paris
Army Paris Holds
Army Belgium supports Paris -> Brest (* invalid -- Paris isn't trying to move to Brest *)

Paris's support from Belgium wasn't to hold, so it doesn't help.  Paris is at one strong, and Gascony's support plus itself is 2 strong and so Gascony wins and Paris is dislodged.


Can the Balrog be used before going into decline? My friends and I had an argument over this the other night. The rules say that the Balrog can be used at "any point during your turn." So I attempted to use him to ruin my friends day (taking out one of his places of power) and then go into decline. He claimed that I could not do this as I had started conquest by moving the Balrog and therefore could not decline. I countered with the "Any point during my turn." would imply I could do it pre-conquest as that is still during my turn. I searched elsewhere on the internet but only found discussion boards and forums with similar arguments to the one my friend and I had.

There's actually an official ruling on this very point by Days of Wonder in the SWU FAQ:

Q.If my active Race controls the Pentacle, may I move the Balrog, then
enter in Decline?
A.Yes, since the Balrog may be moved "at any point
during [your] turn".

Some people may not like this ruling very much, but I don't think its existence can be denied!


How are you supposed to fight a discard deck? I get this is kind of a noob question, so bear with me. My friend plays a legacy discard deck, and he'll usually dark ritual or something to make me discard 3-5 cards in the first 3 turns, and by turn 5-6 my hand is empty. (More specifically he's running Griselbrand reanimator, so his hand is rarely empty.)

While this might not work against cheap aggro (I regularly win with RDW), I don't see how any other deck can really handle this. When he has a full hand and I'm limited to 1 new card per turn, which I have to either cast or lose thanks to specters, how am I supposed to ever catch up?

Yet at the same time I know discard isn't like auto-tournie-win, so I'm just not sure how people deal with it.

To give some info about my specific situation and the key cards I use, I am playing:

Legacy RDW with key cards being Stonewright / Lightning Mauler / Rakdos Cackler / Hellrider / Ash Zealot / Pyreheart Wolf / Ball Lightning / Trumpet Blast / Lightning Bolt / Pillar of Flame.
Legacy combo elves (Elfdrazi) with Priest of Titania / Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary / Ezuri, Renegade Leader / Llanowar Elves / Emrakul, the Aeons Torn / Seeker of Skybreak / Elvish Piper / Fierce Empath / Concordant Crossroads / a bunch of tutors / Vitalize.

My friend is primarily using Griselbrand Reanimator, using Griselbrand / Buried Alive / Animate Dead / Zombify / Dark Ritual / Cabal Ritual / Dark Petition / a bunch of tutors / Crypt Ghast and the death knell being Mind Twist (discard my whole hand) and Infest (kills all creatures in both my decks). On paper he wins using Sorin's Vengeance, Debt to the Deathless, Consume Spirit, and Exsanguinate, but Mind Twist is really what does it.

Against decks that rely on 3-8 precision cards to disrupt you but mostly consist of another strategy, I recommend these resources:

B&CG: How can I play around targeted discard? — general advice
Reid Duke: Thoughtseize You — to understand what your opponent is
doing

Against decks that are practically wall-to-wall discard, here are some techniques that may help:

Get "under" them

Play out your hand faster than they can rip it apart. This is what your red aggro deck is doing.

Rely on strong topdecks

One of the biggest weaknesses of discard decks: most discard cards are sorcery speed. Even once you're "hellbent," you'll usually be able to draw your card and play it on your turn. So you'll still be making land drops and you'll be able to cast most of the permanents and removal spells in your deck.

The worst thing about playing a dedicated discard deck is that half the cards in your deck just do nothing once your opponent is topdecking. So, focus your resources on taking out the cards of their that still have value — finishers, combo pieces, and engines of advantage.

Play out of your graveyard

With some exceptions, discard typically puts stuff in your graveyard. Flashback spells, reanimation effects, self-reanimators (like Gravecrawler).

Incidental Hosers

Some staple creatures are also, incidentally, discard hosers — for example, Wilt-Leaf Liege, Loxodon Smiter, and Obstinate Baloth.

Precision tools

This is a quality sideboard card:

You can drop it on turn zero, for free. It blocks all of Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Inquisition of Kozilek, Duress, and Hymn to Tourach. It's also a strong card against burn decks, many combo decks (e.g. Tendrils).


Where can I find the most reliable information on upcoming boardgame releases? Usually I just troll my FLGS to see what new has popped up and that works for me.  However, right now I have a pressing need to figure out what games have been recently released, and which will be released very soon.

Now I can (and have done) some Google searches to try to figure this out.  I'm not looking for answers with barebones information like that.  What I'd really like is to hear from people who have been keeping a better eye on game release cycles for a while.

What sites or sources of material have you found to be truly reliable?  I'm particularly interested in shorter lists of popular hobby games.  I don't have a  need to hear about new Monopoly expansions or tracking down every Indy game release.

Boardgamegeek has a section where you can look at games released within the last 1/3/6 months,  as well as unreleased games based on their expected release.  It then lets you sort these by number of people with it on their wishlist, which should give you an idea of how popular they are.


Can an on buy effect move the bought card? As I understand it, you buy a card, and that subsequently triggers a gain for non-Event cards. Am I correct in assuming, then, that an on-buy effect could not move a card due to it not being under your control yet?

TL;DR; there are "When-Buy" effects that move cards from the supply, but there will never probably be an effect that moves a specific, just-bought, card.

I've had an extensive discussion with Donald X. Vaccarino, the designer, on discord before answering here. To thoroughly answer to your question, the following aspects have to be clarified first:

When you buy a card, you pay for the "name" of the card and not a physical copy of it. The physical copy comes as a consequence of buying it.
There will probably never be an effect that moves a just-bought card, because you don't buy a specific physical card.

These are clarified in subsequent sections with the related sources.

Current when-buy effects

There are currently no "when-buy" effects that move a specific just-bought card, as of the time of writing this reply (before Dominion: Nocturne). Here is a comprehensive list of all "when buy" events. Most likely, there will never be an effect in the lines of "when you buy this, move it to ...", because it will be too confusing. This will become clear in a subsequent example.

Owning a card before you gain it

According to the Inheritance FAQ, as @Gendolkari also mentioned, when you buy a card, you own it immediately. Here is how buying an Estate works, if you have inherited Noble Brigand:

You declare that you are buying an Estate and pay for it.
The Estate that you are going to gain now is yours, thus it immediately inherits the Noble Brigand's text.
The "when-buy" activates and you attack every other player.
Then, you gain the top Estate card from the Estate pile to your discard pile.

How Buying works

When declaring "I am buying card X", you do not pay to buy and gain the topmost card of that name at the time of paying, but the topmost card of that name after all "when-buy" effects have been resolved. You are essentially buying an abstract card. Sadly, there is a no clear writing of this exact mechanism. Source: DXV on Dominion Discord channel, at 2017-08-27, 18:00 UTC+02:00.

For your information, here is the order of events: (summarizing from Base rules, p. 5, "Buy Phase", Hinterlands rules, p. 4, "Additional Rules")

You choose a card to buy and pay for it.
No cards have been moved from the supply yet.
Any "when-buy" events are now triggered, which might move cards (Port, Messenger).
You now gain the top card of that pile, with the name of the card you paid for, to your discard pile (unless otherwise stated).
Any "when-would-gain" events are now triggered.
The card moves to its final destination (e.g., discard pile) and it's gained.
Any "when-gain" events are now triggered.

This will become clear with the notorious Messenger example.

Messenger example

TL;DR; in a 2-player game, if there are 2 Messengers left in the supply, you buy Messenger and name "Messenger", you will only gain one, not both. This is how the official digital implementation is working.

Suppose that in a 2-player game, there are at least 3 Messengers left in the Messenger pile: Messenger A, Messenger B and Messenger C, in that order, with Messenger A being the top card. Here is what happens when you buy a Messenger and choose Messenger for the "when-buy" effect:

You spend $4 to buy a Messenger.
"When-Buy" ability triggers; you name "Messenger".
Due to step (2), you gain Messenger A from the Messenger pile (the top one).
Since step (3) was successful (e.g., no Trader was revealed), then every other player gains a Messenger; your opponent gains Messenger B.
"When-Buy" ability ends.
Due to buying a Messenger in step (1), you now gain a Messenger from the Messenger pile; Messenger C is moved to your discard pile.

Here's what happens if there are only 2 Messengers in the Messenger pile:

Due to buying a Messenger in step (1), you now gain a Messenger from the Messenger pile and fail, as there are no more Messengers there.

Talisman Example

You play a Talisman and buy a Ruined Village. Let's name Ruined Village A the top card. Here is the order of events:

You spend one buy and $0 to buy a Ruined Village.
The "when-buy" of Talisman is triggered, because Ruined Village costs up to $4 and is not a victory card.
You gain Ruined Village A from the supply, due to the "when-buy" effect in step (2).
Now, you gain a Ruined Village because you bought one in step (1).

If the next card is Ruined Village B, then you gain that one.
Otherwise, if the next card is Ruined Market, you gain nothing.

Note that in the last case you failed to gain a Ruined Village after buying one. The one you gained was from the "when-buy" effect. However, this effect did not move the specified card you were about to gain; it just instructed you to gain another copy of it.

As you can see, there are "when-buy" effects that move cards from the supply (Messenger and Port). You first resolve any "When-Buy" effects and then gain the top card from the respective pile, if there is one. For this reason, I assume there will never (probably) be an effect in the lines of "When you buy this, put it ...", because it would be too confusing.


City card and predicting when Supply piles will run low This card kind of has me stumped.  In my experience, the vast majority of games deplete the Province or Colony pile before any other, ending the game.  Which means in most circumstances, this card is basically an overpriced Village, which isn't a very strong card to begin with.

It seems to me the key is knowing when Supply piles are likely to run low.  Are there any things to look for in the setup of 10 Kingdom cards to help predict when this might happen?  Or are you better off waiting until it actually does happen before investing in this card?

More supply piles tend to go in 5 or 6 player games.

Cards that synergize with themselves tend to get bought out quickly - like Caravan, Treasure Map, and Laboratory. Extra buys also seem to increase the rate at which Kingdom cards get bought out.

Terminal actions (ones that do not give you +1 Action) tend to get bought less frequently, as each player would only consider 1-2 copies anyway. It seems lower cost cards (2 and 3) aren't bought out very much.  4-5 costs appear to go fastest.

I have noticed City itself is frequently the first one to get bought out if any will, and that immediately boosts all of them. Generally I tend to wait on City until I notice people are grabbing Kingdom cards, but I also generally lose to the guy who bought 5 of them.


How to capture territories with no numbers printed on them? In a&a 1941 if japan conducts an amphibious assault on soviet far east can she capture it? If yes, then does she still put the controller marker and does nothing else? (I mean no adding anything to japans national production chart since the territory of soviet far east does not have any number printed on it)

Correct. A Japanese marker is placed on it as it is a captured territory by the enemy and should be treated as such by the allies.

I.e. allies can't land on it without taking it, it can't be blitzed through it without battling units in it etc.

Simply up it just had no IPC value.


In this Go position, can black capture the entire length of the white arm? In the position below, can black capture the entire length of the white arm with a combination starting with placing a black stone on A?

Yes.  That white chain has only two liberties - A and the space next to A.  If black fills both of them the chain will be captured. None of the surrounding black stones are vulnerable to capture because of their eyes, so white has no defense against this play.

The space next to A will have no liberties when black plays in it, but that is okay because capturing the white pieces will open up the liberties as black plays their piece.

White could technically capture the stone at A by playing next to it, but doing so would be pointless because it would use up the other liberty and black would still be able to capture.