What card game is this? Similar to spades I'm from a latin american country and a game called casino is very popular (not to be confused with poker or actually casino games)
It's a four player game with a partnership. Making it a 2v2. The first team to reach 21 points wins.
The cards considered points are the aces scoring as 1 point. The 10 of diamonds and the 2 of spades both counting as 2 points respectively.

The dealer gives 13 cards to each player.
This is where the games separates itself from spades or all fours.
Instead of going by rounds and winning tricks or bidding how many points you'll get, the game is played by taking towards your team as many cards as possible. You do this by taking same numbered cards.

Example. The first player to play puts down a 4 (since it's advice to start playing low numbered cards) the next player decides, if possible, to take the 4 in the table with a 4 of his own. If he does he adds to the team card pool. If he wishes not to take the card or can't he has to drop another card. For example putting down a 3.
Now the next player may choose to use a 7 he has in his hand and take both cards, (because 4+3=7) and so on and so forth.

Points start appearing when you add them to a certain card. For example if you know you have all four kings you can add an ace (which counts as a number 1) to a queen (making it 13 the numerical value of a king)

At the end of the round you count how many aces your team got or if you got the 10 of diamonds or the 2 of spades
So that's the main difference with other trick and bid games. There are times where there are several cards in th table when the first 4 turns finish and players may choose to either take or add and combine cards.

Sounds like Cassino (also called Casino according to Wikipedia).


Do I have to break a full property set to pay if I owe money in monopoly deal? I owe 5 million due to rent and I have only a full property set.

Do I have to break the full set to pay or do I keep the property set and pay nothing?

TL;DR - Yes you will have to break a full set.

Looking at the rules here regarding payment of rent it says

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

So, if you are able to pay the rent you must do.  As you have a full set in front of you, you have cards.  Therefore you must pay.

There is nothing in the rules that says once you have a set it is 'safe' somehow and can not be broken.


When does Battalion count the number of creatures that attacked? Consider Mardu Ascendancy, Legion Loyalist, and another creature.

The Loyalist and other creature are Declared as Attackers. Mardu Ascendancy sees at least one non-token attacker, and creates a 1/1 red goblin tapped and attacking.

Does the Battalion Ability of Legion Loyalists account for the three creatures that are attacking, or only the two creatures I attacked with?

Battalion is an ability word, and as such it only represents a regular triggered ability that triggers after attacking creatures have been declared. It triggers at the same time as Mardu Ascendancy (or would, if you were attacking with three or more creatures), and won't trigger again afterwards if you somehow managed to declare more attackers (which I don't think is possible, see next paragraph).

That said, Battalion specifically cares about creatures actively declared as attackers, not just attacking creatures. So other than the timing issue, a creature put onto the battlefield attacking will never count towards the amount of creatures required to trigger Battalion.

  508.3a An ability that reads “Whenever [a creature] attacks, . . .” triggers if that creature is declared as an attacker. Similarly, “Whenever [a creature] attacks [a player or planeswalker], . . .” triggers if that creature is declared as an attacker attacking that player or planeswalker. Such abilities won’t trigger if a creature is put onto the battlefield attacking.


Bazaar Trader combo and Void Snare - Ownership vs. Control I use Bazaar Trader and Act of Treason to gain control of a creature my opponent controls.

If my opponent uses a card such as Void Snare on that creature, does the card go to my hand or my opponents hand?

As you note in your title, there is a difference between ownership and control.

  110.2. A permanent's owner is the same as the owner of the card that represents it (unless it's a token; see rule 110.5a). A permanent's controller is, by default, the player under whose control it entered the battlefield. Every permanent has a controller.
  110.5a A token is both owned and controlled by the player under whose control it entered the battlefield.

So clearly, we know the owner of the card, and where it goes as a result of void snare.

But let's say, for some reason, it said controller's hand instead of owner's hand. That's already covered: cards only ever go to their owner's hand.

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

As for who the owner is, well that's also defined for us:

  108.3. The owner of a card in the game is the player who started the game with it in his or her deck. If a card is brought into the game from outside the game rather than starting in a player's deck, its owner is the player who brought it into the game. If a card starts the game in the command zone, its owner is the player who put it into the command zone to start the game. Legal ownership of a card in the game is irrelevant to the game rules except for the rules for ante.


In Diplomacy, Is the "Three Emperor's Alliance" a Good Strategy For Russia? Russia, which gets an extra piece, is in some ways the most powerful country in Diplomacy. It is also one of the most vulnerable, insofar as it is surrounded by four potentially hostile countries. (Only Germany and Austria-Hungary is in such bad shape in this regard, an important fact for this question.)

The Three Emperors' Alliance between Russia, Germany and Austria was originally started by GERMANY's Bismarck (in real life). But as the strongest of the three, perhaps Russia could be the greatest beneficiary?

The idea is to use the weaker Teutonic powers to knock out the stronger enemies, England and Turkey. Russia gets Norway and Edinburgh in the north, Rumania and two, maybe three Turkish supply centers in the south. And in any event, secures both flanks.

Then Russia might ally with one Teutonic power against the other, or possibly with France and Italy against the two Teutonics. If they were playing a "short" game, where any three countries with a total of 18+ supply centers can declare themselves co-winners, they'd have the game won right there.

How would this compare with more "traditional" strategies, like the "juggernaut" of allying with Turkey?

I've never played Russia "on my own" but once "inherited" a Russian game from someone who had to leave early and had an alliance with Turkey.

An ARG alliance would seem to heavily favor Russia, so you might offend Austria and Germany even asking for it.  The main reason is that such an alliance requires both Germany and Austria to turn their backs on Russia and move their forces away from him.  On the other hand, Russia's forces and builds remain in positions that could quite easily be turned against his allies when the time is right.

There are also limited opportunities for the three to apply joint pressure.  Italy is unlikely to work with Austria and Russia knowing that he is probably next, and Turkey can be a tough nut to crack without Italy's help.  Similarly, Germany can't provide much help to Russia in breaking into England.

The best way to pull it off is probably to try to keep the alliance hidden.  Have Germany focus on working with France against England, and portray a neutral stance against Russia.  Similarly, have Austria focus on the good old Juggernaut threat and get Italy to commit against Turkey while making a show of aggression against Russia.  Don't let the alliance become obvious until you've been able to weaken the corners.  Even then, it would seem much harder for Germany to now turn on France rather than just continuing with his "false" ally and moving against Russia instead.


Can two bases be scored in one turn? If a base scores and a minion moves to another base, like First Mate or Flying Monkey, and the new base has more power than the breaking point, does the new base score on this turn or next turn?

According to page 6 of the rules, the last thing you do after scoring a base (after discarding minions, and moving the First Mate and its ilk) is to "Check to see if another base is ready to be scored. Score it too, the same way."

So every time you score a base, you check all of the other bases and see if they're ready to be scored. The player whose turn it is still decides what order to score them in.


If I have two things that activate at the beginning of the end step, what happens? What happens if I have two cards that have an effect that happens at the beginning of my end step? Which of them activates first, or do they activate at the same time.
I am asking because I am using:

Both of them have an effect that activates at the begining of the end step, but could I exile Obzedat before the Revolt effect activates?

Unfortunately, you don't get the servo.

Hidden Stockpile has an "intervening if" trigger, which means it checks the state to see if it even goes on the stack.  If a creature had not left before the end step, then it won't ever go on the stack.

  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.)


Using Mimicry on an invalid target I have some questions about which of these are legal plays when attacking a creature that has the mimicry attribute.

  Setup: I have a creature that only has mimicry on it. It is attacked by another player who has a creature that only has carnivore on it.

Let's say I have:

A creature that only has the swimming attribute.
A creature that only has the burrowing attribute, and is FED.
A creature that only has the high weight attribute.
A creature that is protected by its symbiont.
A creature that only has the camouflage attribute.
A creature that only has the hibernation ability attribute, and is using it.

Are these legal plays to force a player to attack an invalid target?

I understand the camouflage one possibly being OK, since we thought about how chameleons aren't always camouflaged, but what about animals that violate the theme more expressely, like swimming?

I heard arguments while playing that playing mimicry to force a player to attack a high body weight creature was ok because "animals puff up all the time to look bigger than they are", and hence, avoid getting eaten.

Assuming that you're referring to the original version of Evolution. (I'm pretty sure the North Star Games version doesn't have mimicry). The new target must be eligible for attack by carnivore. You can not force it to attack an invalid target.


Do I only discard down to 10 after drawing 2 cards on my turn? If at any time outside of my turn I end up with more than 10 cards, for instance from having cards returned to my hand by another's action, do I keep and play from them on my turn only to discard down to 10 cards after I draw two cards on my turn?

The only mention of discarding down to 10 is on page 4 where it explains drawing two cards: "If you have more than 10 after drawing, discard down to 10."

Yes.
Your hand limit only applies after your draw step.
From the most recent rulebook, "This Is How You Roll" turn order on page 5:

4. Draw 2 Cards
Just what it says: draw 2 cards. If you need to draw, reveal, search for or look at a card and your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile. Put it on the table face down — that’s your new deck. Start drawing from there.
The maximum number of cards you can have in your hand at this time is 10. If you have more than 10 after drawing, discard down to 10.


Public knowledge in Settlers of Catan? Settlers of Catan has a lot of public knowledge.  For example, a player cannot hide how many resource cards or development cards they have.

Are any of the following public knowledge?

Size of the bank: are players allowed to pick up the stack of remaining wheat and count them?
Trades: are two players allowed to trade in a way that no one else knows what was traded?
Discarded cards: if a player rolls a 7 and has to discard resources, do they have to state what they're discarding, or are they allowed to sneakily put down cards in hopes that no one saw them?

It is my experience that when players trade, the player who's turn it is asks for resources or offers them.  The other players will then respond to the proposed trade however they see fit.  All this information is done publicly and other players  may offer a better trade to undercut another player.  There isn't anything in the rules about trading having to be done publicly, but it's the only way I've seen the game played.  Also, if you play the game online on the games official website, all trades are offered publicly by a player requesting a resource, and the results of that trade is shown to all users.  The same goes for if the player chooses to trade with the bank.

Since the size of a players hand is public knowledge, (that is declared explicitly in the rules) when they discard cards, how many cards they've discarded is also public knowledge.  You can watch them return the cards to the bank, and make a accurate educated guess of how many cards of each type are returned.  Thus, while it's not in the rules for them to declare how much of what they're discarding, it's easy to guess most times.  On the online version of the game, that information is offered to the player.

Finally, how many cards are left in the bank is something that is mentioned in the rules.

  If there is not enough of a given resource in the supply to fulfill everyone’s production, then no one receives any of that resource during that turn.

Thus, during resource production, a count of how many resources are left in the bank of a particular type should be made if it looks like there will be a shortage.  I can't find reference in the rules if there are other times when the resource should be counted, but there is nothing in the rules saying you can't do it either.  However, in the official online implementation of the game, that information is NOT offered to the player.


How can I beat green Tron with a control deck? I've been building a Modern control deck based around the Gifts reanimator engine. The general gameplan is to slow your opponent using counters and removal until you can reanimate a big creature for massive advantage, hopefully negating a bunch of your opponent's cards.

Based on playtesting, my worst matchup by far is green-based ("mono-brown") Tron. I can barely win about one match out of ten against the deck.

Compared to blue-based Tron decks (UR with Through the Breach and UW with Unburial Rites combo), green-based Tron has fewer critical spells and a higher density of threats, making it more resistant to counters and disruption. They also have a broader variety of angles of attack, thanks to the easier inclusion of cards like Karn and Mindslaver. I've had games where I've Needled Karn, Extracted all four Mindslavers and Urza's Towers, only to still lose to an Emrakul hardcast the hard way.

The deck is practically all colorless once it gets past the first few turns, so Iona isn't nearly as strong as she is against the Gifts-based Tron deck.

Which creatures (i.e. reanimation targets) are most advantageous against Tron decks?
What general strategies can a blue-based control deck employ against green Tron decks?

For reference, this is my current decklist.

General Strategies:

It is a terrible matchup indeed. Your deck wins on the late game (except for possible reanimation auto-wins with Iona and Elesh) and the inevitability of Emrakul makes that impossible.

Anything that invalidates one of the threats of the deck will just be wasting time until Emrakul comes down, so I would try to attack the core of the deck: the lands!

From the two obvious land destruction lands I believe you are running the right one in Ghost Quarter. Tectonic Edge is probably terrible, since the deck can actually function with only 3 lands.
Crucible of Worlds can make a powerful combo with Ghost Quarter and that would force the Tron to bring in anti-hate from the sideboard.

Reanimation Targets:

I can only think of one: Terastodon, targeting his Tron pieces. If you can counter his threats and get that online on turn 5 he'll probably be in pretty bad shape.


Can you play trump if trump hasn't been played and you have action cards in Rage? Is it true you can’t lead a trump card unless trump has already been played, or all you have in your hand are trump cards?
Can you play an “Out Rage” card on top of an “Out Rage” card?
Can you play a “Change Rage” card on top of an “Out Rage” card?
Say a player has two action cards, one trump card and trump hasn’t been played yet. Can they play their trump card, or do they have to play an action card?

No.
Yes, but it would have no effect.
Yes.
Has its own question (asked two hours after yours, but separate questions are better)

PDF of the rules


What is the difference between Hexproof and a card like Canopy Cover? Canopy Cover is an Aura enchantment that includes this effect:

  Enchanted creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.

This sounds the same as Hexproof's definition in the glossary:

  This permanent can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.

So what's the difference between Canopy Cover and a card like Alpha Authority, which just says "Enchanted creature has hexproof"?

Why does Canopy Cover spell it out like this?

The effects are different because of what you/your refers to: it refers to an object's controller.

Canopy Cover's effect is radically different from an effect that says "Enchanted creature has hexproof", but the difference only becomes important when you use it on a creature an opponent controls.

Let's suppose you're a Green player facing a Blue player.

Enchanting your opponent's creature with Hexproof means you can't target it

Doing so means the creature now has a static ability that says:

  This permanent can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.

The "your" here refers to that creature's controller - Blue player - so now Blue player's opponents can't target that creature with spells or abilities. That's you, Green player. You now cannot target that creature with spells or abilities.

Enchanting your opponent's creature with Canopy Cover means they can't target it

Doing so means the enchantment says:

  Enchanted creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.

Since you are the enchantment's controller, the "your" in this case refers to you, the Green player. So your opponents can't target that creature with spells or abilities - that's the Blue player.


Easy Search for Renamed Units I am just now getting started with Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and I have found something that is confusing and difficult to remedy. In the free Warscroll pdfs for The Empire army, it lists several units named with 'Empire' (Empire Greatswords, Empire Pistoliers, etc.), but in the General's Handbook and Skirmish books, it appears those same units have had their names changed to use 'Freeguild' instead (Freeguils Greatswords, Freeguild Pisoliers, etc.). Now, I wouldn't think it is such a big deal, but I cannot find anything that, for lack of a better why to describe it, a simple changelog of units that have been updated with new names, and in some cases new keywords and rules. Is ther any sort of log that exists? If so, where do I need to look?

As of '8-25-17', coinciding with Games Workshop's "General's Handbook 2017," Warhammer Community has released updated FAQs for the Grand Alliances, as well as updated the legacy Compendiums for the old armies (Bretonnia, Beastmen, Tomb Kings, etc). In these Compendiums, at the very end, there are list of units with Substitute Warscrolls, as was stated by user 'aslum' on '7-31-17' that now includes not just Named and out-of-production models, but also models that have had their unit's name changed for the Age of Sigmar lore (Empire Greatsword -> Freeguild Greatsword for example) and updated Pitched Battle profiles for legacy units. Here is a direct link to them.


How many moves can I make in a single turn in Maharaja? The Maharaja rules state that I can take my two actions any way I like.  I can even sub-divide the actions.  So for example, given the "build palace and house" action, I could build a palace in one city, move my architect to the next city, and then build the house of that same action in the new city.

So far so good.

The question I have is: how many times can I make moves during my turn?  Only once?  More than once?  For example: after taking one action, moving, and taking part of my second action - can I then move a second time to another city and take the remainder of my second action?  If yes, then I could perhaps have visited as many as four cities in one turn (based on two actions, with each action sub-divided).

Anyone know?

I don't have the original rules with me, but based on my memory and rules from BGG:

  7.0 ACTIONS

  7.1 Travelling

  Moving an architect is a free action, that does not feature on the action disc. The player may freely move his architect
  at any time during his turn. He may move his architect to a city,
  build there and then move him to another city to build there again,
  and so on.

  The only restrictions to moving an architect are: He may never be
  moved through a village in which no house (of whichever player) is
  present; He must sometimes pay for his passage.

I would say - Yes, you can move as many times as you want, even between your actions (And theoretically build in four different cities, or even five with builder special role card in one turn) as long as you can move to them and pay the passage fee.


Can Bazooka Joe use Black Ops when attached to a unit? Bazooka Joe has the Black Ops special rule that allows him to be given a free order during the command phase.  The Black Ops rule is not listed as a "Shared" rule, so it is not normally given to any solider unit he joins.  Heroes become part of a squad when joined, so they can't independently receive orders anymore.

Shared - "If at least one miniature in a unit(including Heroes) has a shared ability, the entire unit is considered to have the ability.
Black Ops - "During the command phase, units with the Black Ops ability may be issued an order for free. In addition the unit may be issued an order regardless of its position on the battlefield"

When a hero is attached to a unit they are treated as part of that unit.  Any unit he is attached to wouldn't have the Black Ops ability on it's own.
Does this mean that Joe loses his Black Ops special ability while he leads a squad?

This has been errata'd in the FAQ.  Black Ops is now Shared and a unit that is joined to Bazooka Joe will automatically have the rule extended to them.


Sphere of Resistance and Trinisphere If I play lets say a artifact with CMC 1 and there is two Sphere of Resistance in play and a Trinisphere. Do you have to pay 5 mana or just 3?

You have to pay just 3. From a ruling on Trinisphere, emphasis added:

  12/1/2004: Trinisphere's ability affects the total cost of the spell. It is applied after any other cost increasers or cost reducers are applied: First apply any cost increases. Next apply any cost reducers. Finally look at the amount of mana you have to pay. If it's less than three mana, you'll pay three mana.

So, after taking into account all the present Spheres of Resistance, we determine whether the spell you're casting costs less than 3 mana. Your artifact's already been beefed up to costing {3}, so Trinisphere does nothing extra to it and remains costing {3}.

The rules basis for this is in (currently) Casting Spells, 601.2f. Emphasis added again:

  601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. If multiple cost reductions apply, the player may apply them in any order. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be {0}. It can’t be reduced to less than {0}. Once the total cost is determined, any effects that directly affect the total cost are applied. Then the resulting total cost becomes “locked in.” If effects would change the total cost after this time, they have no effect.

In that bolded section in the middle we're applying Sphere of Resistance, and any other cost increases and reductions. Then in the bolded section at the end, we apply effects like Trinisphere which just directly say what the total cost is.


Pulling double after Weak 2 and competition This hand is discussed in the April 2021 ACBL Bulletin (p. 8) as a tempo issue, but I am interested in the underlying bidding issues
Bidding

East
North
West
South

2 S
3H
3S
Pass

Pass
4C
Dbl
Pass

4S
Pass
Pass
Pass

East hand

S
H
D
C

KTxxxx
xx
Txxx
Q

West hand

S
H
D
C

Jxx
AQx
AQJx
xxx

Is West's double a reasonable action?
Is East correct to pull the double?

Both sides vulnerable, duplicate match points, assume Am Std or 2/1 bidding.

I would never pull a double on that auction, regardless of my hand. "The book of rebids by preempter is 1000 pages long, and they're all blank," as the saying goes. Responder is the captain on this auction, and the double is not cooperative. If I'm not willing to sit this double, I shouldn't have opened.
West's double is a bit aggressive, but not terribly so at matchpoints. The AQx in hearts is a great holding, and the three clubs are at least trumps not held by the opponents and a good opening lead. The diamonds are also likely worth a couple of tricks. You're counting on a favorable layout or perhaps a trick from partner, not an unreasonable hope at these colors. The diamond king in dummy would be very unwelcome.


MTG: Sideboard if maindeck has more than 60 cards I did some calculation and found out, that my Living End deck (modern) might be better of with 66 cards maindeck. SB still contains of 15 cards.
Depending on the match up, I'd like to cut my deck for game two down to the normal 60. The SB than would contain 15+6 = 21 cards.
Is this legal?

In constructed play your sideboard can not contain more than 15 cards at any time. The relevant rule here is rule 100.4a from the comprehensive rules, for constructed play:

  100.4. Each player may also have a sideboard, which is a group of additional cards the player may use to modify his or her deck between
  games of a match.

  100.4a In constructed play, a sideboard may contain no more than fifteen cards. The four-card limit (see rule 100.2a) applies to the
  combined deck and sideboard.

No specific circumstances are mentioned so it applies at all times. This rule was updated with the M14 core set. Matt Tabak explained it as follows in the M14 rules preview article (emphasis mine):

  With the new rule, your main deck is still sixty or more cards but your sideboard is now up to fifteen cards. Additionally, you are not required to swap cards between your main deck and sideboard on a one-for-one basis. For Games 2 and 3 (and so on), as long as your main deck is sixty or more cards and your sideboard is no more than fifteen cards, you're good.


Could I double team a blocker with Swift Kick? Swift Kick
So lets say I have a 1/1 and another 1/1 on the field

My opponent has a 3/3

I attack with 1/1, and they block with 3/3
If I play Swift Kick on my unused 1/1 making it a 2/1 and target their 3/3 with it (Because Swift Kick says I can, I know you can't declare a new attacker after your first ones)

What happens?

Would their 3/3 kill my 2/1, then lose the 2 damage and kill my 1/1 and live

Or
Would their 3/3 kill my 2/1, and take 2 damage, and kill my 1/1 and take one damage and die?

The second one. Damage that you do to a creature lasts until the end of a turn, and then it wears off. So you can do it 2 damage first with Swift Kick, then after that do it 1 damage with normal combat damage.


How does Phasing work with Phyrexian Unlife? I have the card Phyrexian Unlife on the battlefield, and I have less than 0 life. If I cast Teferi's Protection, what happens? Do I lose the game because Phyrexian Unlife is phased out? Or does it still keep me alive?

If you have zero or less life, a phased out Phyrexian Unlife will not save you from losing the game. Under the rules for Phasing, rule 702.25b says

  If a permanent phases out, its status changes to "phased out." Except for rules and effects that specifically mention phased-out permanents, a phased-out permanent is treated as though it does not exist. It can't affect or be affected by anything else in the game. A permanent that phases out is removed from combat. (See rule 506.4.)

Since the phased-out Phyrexian Unlife can't affect anything else in the game, that means it can't affect whether you lose the game from having 0 or less life.


Would a 1/1 token with persist dying trigger on death effects a second time? If I had a 1/1 token with persist, would it come back as a 0/0 and die a second time? Would it still trigger on death effects?

Presumably you are doing this with Cauldron of Souls.
Persist doesn't do anything on tokens because they stop existing when they leave the battlefield and can't change zones once not on the battlefield.  See the card ruling on the Cauldron:

If a token with no -1/-1 counters on it has persist, the ability will trigger when the token is put into the graveyard. However, the token will cease to exist and can’t return to the battlefield.

The relevant rule behind this is:

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

However, if you gave a non-token 1/1 persist (such as Raging Goblin), then it is as you suggest.  The creature would return to the battlefield, and then promptly be put back in the graveyard the next time state-based actions are checked (whenever a player would gain priority) due to having 0 toughness:

704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:
704.5f If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it's put into its owner's graveyard. Regeneration can't replace this event.


Hideaway Lands and Additional Costs If I were to use say Spinerock Knoll's or Mosswort Bridge's Hideaway ability to cast Tooth and Nail, am I able to then pay the entwine cost to have both effects?

Im not sure whether the card being exiled effects whether I can use the entwine cost or not.

I am also not sure if casting without paying the manna cost stops me from being able to use the entwine cost...

My gut feeling is that additional costs are separate from Manna costs so I would be able to do this? Am I right?

Yes, you may choose modes and pay additional costs for a spell if you cast it through a Hideaway land.
Tooth and Nail is a modal spell; if you choose both modes, you incur an additional cost. You may choose modes if and when you cast a spell. As long as you do cast the spell (as opposed to copying it, or putting it on the stack in some other way), it does not matter where you cast it from or whether its mana costs have been altered in any way. Choosing to Entwine simply increases the cost of the spell from (in your case) {0} to {2}, after you paid {G} for the land's ability.
The Hideaway lands' activated ability reads:

You may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost if [..]

It allows you to play the exiled card (which means cast if that card is a spell) for no mana cost (the cost printed in the upper right of the card), if a certain condition is met. If you do, you proceed to cast the exiled card just like you would from your hand.

Casting Spells

601.1a Some effects still refer to “playing” a card. “Playing a card” means playing that card as a land or casting that card as a spell, whichever is appropriate.
601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. [..]
601.2b If the spell is modal, the player announces the mode choice (see rule 700.2). If the player wishes to splice any cards onto the spell (see rule 702.46), he or she reveals those cards in his or her hand. If the spell has alternative or additional costs that will be paid as it’s being cast such as buyback or kicker costs (see rules 117.8 and 117.9), the player announces his or her intentions to pay any or all of those costs (see rule 601.2f). [..]
601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. [..]
702.41a Entwine is a static ability of modal spells (see rule 700.2) that functions while the spell is on the stack. “Entwine [cost]” means “You may choose all modes of this spell instead of just one. If you do, you pay an additional [cost].” Using the entwine ability follows the rules for choosing modes and paying additional costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.


Can different Aces have different values? I understand that Aces are worth either 1 Point or 11 Points, depending on the player's will. But how are multiple Aces valued? Here are some examples:

Ace, Nine, Ace
Is this always x+9+x, where:
Case 1:
x = 1 or x = 11;
(This hand would always be 11 or 31)
Or can this be x+10+y, where:
Case 2:
x = 1 or x = 11;
y = 1 or y = 11
(This hand can be 11, 21, 21 or 31)

First off Ace value is either 1 or 11 (this is why face+ace is a blackjack)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackjack

Second you choose what it is worth, but most places will assume you want 11 unless it will bust you

So in your hand you can choose between 12,22,22,32


What tokens are endless despite having a limited supply? What tokens should be treated as unlimited in supply despite having a limited number in the game box, i.e. focus tokens, travel tickets, and the like? Naturally it makes the game 'harder' for the investigators should these run out, so I was curious what items have been confirmed to be allowed to have replacements simply because the game did not come with enough tokens for these edge case game sessions.

Any token, other than Clues, Gates, and Monsters, is always available.
  If there are no remaining tokens of the specified type, track those
  tokens on paper or with a small object such as a coin.

Source: Reference Guide, "Component Limitations" (page 3)


Appetite for the Unnatural and Clone Legion vs. hexproof creatures Clone Legion

  For each creature target player controls, create a token that's a copy of that creature.

Appetite for the Unnatural

  Destroy target artifact or enchantment. You gain 2 life.

Will this effect an enchantment on a creature which has hexproof?

From the Comprehensive Rules:

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

Appetite for the Unnatural targets the enchantment, not the creature itself, so it will resolve and destroy the enchantment (unless the enchantment itself somehow has hexproof too).

Clone Legion targets a player, not creatures, so unless that player has hexproof, it will make a copy of all their creatures, including the ones with hexproof. Any enchantments on those creatures won't be copied.


Order of triggered abilties I control an Illusory Gains. My opponent casts Torch Slinger. Does my opponent get to do his kicker and damage my creature, or do I gain control of the card prior to the kicker ability and I do the kicker, or is the kicker canceled out.

Your opponent will get to choose the target of the damage.

Generally, players put triggered abilities on the stack in APNAP order:

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

The "APNAP" rule means "active player, non-active player":

  If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the player seated to the active player’s left) makes any choices required, followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the “Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order” rule.

So in your case, your opponent is the active player and casts a creature with kicker. When the creature enters the battlefield, your enchantment and the kicker ability trigger at the same time. You control the enchantment trigger and your opponent controls the kicker ability. Your opponent chooses the target for the damage and puts the ability on the stack, then you put the enchantment trigger on the stack.

The enchantment trigger resolves first and you gain control of the new creature. However, that does not change the controller of the kicker ability:

  603.3a A triggered ability is controlled by the player who controlled its source at the time it triggered, unless it’s a delayed triggered ability. To determine the controller of a delayed triggered ability, see rules 603.7d–f.

So even if your opponent loses control of the creature whose ability triggered, he will still control the kicker ability on the stack.


Which features are scored first in Carcassonne? I am playing with the The Gold Mines expansion in Carcassonne and I was wondering what the scoring order of features is. Which features do you score first?

I was playing and I placed a piece that completed both my mom's monastery and a road she shared with my brother. Gold was on the piece with the monastery and an adjacent piece and the road went through both those pieces. If the monastery was scored first my mom would get all the gold but if the road was scored first she would have to split it.

According to the Carcassonne Wiki here the rule is :-

  When players tie on a feature or when multiple features are scored together, gold is distributed to the involved players one bar at a time, beginning with the active player.

This view is also backed up by the complete annotated rules.  This document also says Rio Grande Games (RGG) and Hans Im Gluck versions both printed the rules slightly differently.

  The RGG version of the rules states “all players who score completed features with gold bars
  take one gold bar for each feature they score and that has gold bars.” This seems different from the
  HiG rules, where the rule is to only take one gold piece at a time.


How to find Enchantments or Artifacts that have multiple effects? I've tried the Gatherer and Advanced Google Search and cannot find a good way to find cards of the type I'm hoping to find.

I'm looking for enchantments or artifacts that have multiple effects possible when conditions are met.

For example, Jeskai Ascendancy has 2 separate effects when you cast a noncreature spell.

A better example is Waste Not that triggers for creatures, lands or any spell if a 'discard' action happens.

I'm not sure there is a good way to search for this type of card, so if anyone has suggestions, I would gladly welcome them.

As a starting point, the following Gatherer search finds all of the cards with multiple triggered abilities that have the exact same trigger condition: text=m/(\b(When(ever)?|At)\b[^,]+),.+?\1,/. This uses Gatherer's regular expression search functionality to find cards with "When...", "Whenever..." or "At..." matching up to the first comma, and then the exact same text later on the card. This has a couple of false-positive matches of cards with commas in their name (like Brimaz, King of Oreskos). It also matches cards with multiple triggered abilities with the same trigger condition and different "intervening if" clauses (like Duergar Hedge-Mage).

It's a lot more complicated to find cards like Waste Not with trigger conditions that are similar but not identical, because it is unclear how that "similarity" would be rigorously defined in general.


Poker Chip Alternative I'm looking for a chip- or coin-like item that has the following qualities of poker chips, but without the association with gambling:

high quality materials
approximately same size and weight (not paper)
attractive design
multiple colors

Does anyone know of something like this?

Most games of checkers have cool designs and stack and are pretty durable. They're obviously not poker chips. They generally only come in red or black, but I've spray painted them different colors to make generic Magic the Gathering tokens (the fact that they stack is nice for things that make lots of 1/1 dudes...) and they come out pretty good. Just a quick coat, let it dry, flip it and do another quick coat.

You can often buy checkers games for cheap from thrift stores.


How does Puncturing Light work against a creature buffed in size? Puncturing light is an instant that has:

  Destroy target attacking or blocking creature with power 3 or less.

If a creature has a buff on it until end of turn that makes it a 4/4 for example, would puncturing light still be able to kill this creature? In a stack what would happen to the puncturing light if the buff were applied after puncturing light was played.

If its power is greater than 3 (whether its power has been increased by a "buff" or not), then it can't be targeted by Puncturing Light, so you are unable to cast Puncturing Light targeting it.

If the power of a creature targeted by Puncturing Light increases so that the creature's power is greater than 3 when Puncturing Light would resolve, Puncturing Light will be countered by the game rules (for having only illegal targets) instead of resolving.


How can I search MagicCards.info for an exact color identity match? My friends and I are experimenting with various potential Commander decks at the moment — we're drafting far more than we're playing, for a mix of practice, learning, and fun. This means it's semi-regular we'll look up a new commander for certain colours.

Searching for mono- or dual-colored commanders is fine with the colour identity search, using ci:r t:legendary t:creature for monocolored red commanders, or the same legendary creature filter with ci:wum for white/blue commanders.

However, every search for three-coloured commanders and above also includes every two-colour commander that could be found therein. A search for Temur commanders with ci:gurm turns up all the green-blue-red commanders, but it also turns up all green-red, green-blue, and red-blue commanders, meaning I have to mentally sift those out each time I want to explore commander options. The exclusive (!) filter of ci!gurm has no noticeable difference.

How can I perform an exclusive color identity match for commanders of three colours or more, in order to get a commander who has those exact colours, without also getting commanders that match only a subset of those colours?

When you search ci:gur on magiccards.info, you are looking for cards that match that color identity, i.e. that are legal in a deck with whose commander has a GUR color identity, including artifacts. When you append the m, it appears to search for cards that have more than one of those colors in their color identity.

So, in that context, when you are looking for a GUR commander, you are really looking for a card that matches that color identity, but does not match any subset of that color identity.. You can express that using the negation syntax to filter out those sub-combinations, like -ci:ru. The final search is t:creature t:legendary ci:gur -ci:gu -ci:ur -ci:gr. This results in a total of six creatures that have that exact color identity.

I created a Chrome extension to help construct that search automatically. I also recently discovered EDHREC, a site with similar search functionality.


Does an enter-the-battlefield effect count the permanent that created the ability? Filigree Angel has an ability that triggers when it enters the battlefield, which has you gain 3 life for each artifact you control.

It is itself an artifact creature. If I have no other artifacts on the battlefield when it comes into play, do I gain 3 life?

Yes (assuming nothing else happens). The basic reason that it happens is that the artifact creature is already on the battlefield when the trigger happens.

When it enters the battlefield, that trigger puts the life gain effect on the stack.  When that effect resolves, it counts how many artifacts you control at that point and you gain 3x life.

So, if an opponent removes the angel while the life gain is on the stack, you end up gaining no life.


Pawn movement in Chess? My opponent moved his pawn to the 7th rank. It was blocked by my bishop. He captures the bishop and promotes the pawn to a queen.

I was under the impression that a pawn captures diagonally and not in the same direction of movement.

Is there a rule that allows a pawn to capture a piece directly in front of it?

Pawns cannot capture in a forward direction, even though they move that way. If they could, there would be no way of blocking them. E.g. 1. e4   e5.  2. e4xe5. So the pawn cannot capture the blocking bishop.

Pawns capture only in a forward diagonal direction. But there are two such directions; left diagonal and right diagonal. Pawns are the only pieces in chess that capture differently from the way they move.


Can I cast an instant or activate an ability between "whenever a creature dies" triggers, if the creatures die at the same time? Let's say I'm playing Dark Prophecy, which has an ability which states

  Whenever a creature you control dies, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.

and I have a Naturalize in my hand.

Suppose I'm attacked, and lose 2 creatures in combat. Because of the combat damage I'll be taking, I can't afford to lose 2 extra life, but I can lose 1, and want the card draw. Can I cast Naturalize after letting it trigger just once, and destroy my own Dark Prophecy before it kills me?

No, you cannot.

Creatures die as a state-based action, which means they all die at the same time. This means the triggers from Dark Prophecy go on the stack at the same time. Since these all occur as part of the state-based actions, you can't "interrupt" the placing of the triggers on the stack and either you will get 2 triggers of Dark Prophecy or 0, depending on when you cast Naturalize.


Eclipse ship parts - infinitely stackable? Are all the ship part tiles infinitely stackable? We were ending up with Interceptors with 6 Ion Cannons (adhering to the power supply of course). And are the power sources stackable? Can you stack two or three Nuclear sources, for example, to generate 9 power?

As long as you're obeying the basic rules of shipbuilding, you can put as many of any ship part (Ancient ship parts notwithstanding) on your ship as you wish.

While the effects of ship parts are cumulative (e.g. two power sources would provide twice as much power as one), ship parts themselves can not "stack" infinitely.  Each ship class has a very finite amount of space, which is printed on the player card.  A typical (e.g. Terran) Interceptor, for example, only has four slots available for ship parts, one of which must be used for a drive.  If you want to put a new ship part into one of the spaces, you have to remove the old one (or cover up the pre-printed one).

In other words, only four ship parts can be active on the Interceptor at any time.

So between the drive and (presumably) a power supply, you could have at most two Ion Cannons on an Interceptor.


Clone legion - multiple creatures enter battlefield at same time Let's say I play Clone Legion on my opponent. He has 4 creatures, one of which is Deathbringer Regent. Do I get to have all 4 creatures, or do I get all 4, but deathbringer wipes out the 3 others so at the end, I only have deathbringer? I would assume all enter the battlefield at the same time, and thus deathbringer does not wipe those 3 - and thus, I'm left with 4 creatures, not one.

Deathbringer Regent won't do anything for you, but not because of timing — it does nothing because its ability only functions "if you cast (this card) from your hand", which you didn't do.

You cast Clone Legion, which created a token copy of Deathbringer Regent. That copy checks to see if it was cast from your hand, recognises it's never been in your hand and was never cast because it simply winked into existence on the battlefield a moment ago, and therefore its ability doesn't trigger.

(Note that this is because it's a token copy. A card like Clone copying Deathbringer Regent would behave exactly like the real deal.)

Let's pretend it would trigger though (it wouldn't) and examine the timing: Deathbringer Regent would enter the battlefield simultaneously with the other creatures, and it would also wipe them all out. This is because they all first enter the battlefield, then we check triggered abilities (the ones that start with "when..." or "whenever...") and put those on the stack. Deathbringer Regent and all the other creatures enter, then we check its ability, put that on the stack, and then it'll shortly afterwards resolve — and all other creatures on the battlefield would be destroyed.


Can we look at R&D cards that are trashed by virus install? Noise is a Runner whose ability states:

  Whenever you install a virus program, the Corp trashes the top card of R&D.

Can the Corp and/or the runner look at that card?  Is the card trashed face up or face down?

I'll start by saying that Fantasy Flight Games has never officially commented on this, but there are a few threads on both their forums and Board Game Geek that come to the same conclusion.

The top card of the R&D gets trashed face down. This thread on Board Game Geek comes to this conclusion based on a few sections of the rules:

Page 6 talks about cards going into the Archives face up or face down. Notice this also addresses whether the Corp can look at face-down cards in their Archives.

  Some cards enter Archives faceup, and some cards enter
  Archives facedown. Facedown cards in Archives should be
  oriented horizontally so that the Runner can easily see them.
  Both the Corporation and Runner may look through the
  faceup cards stored in Archives at any time, and do not need to
  maintain the order of its cards while doing so. The Corporation
  can also look at the facedown cards in Archives at any time; the
  Runner cannot.

On page 13:

  When installing a card in a server, the Corporation can first
  trash any cards already installed in that server. Trashed cards go
  to Archives faceup if they are rezzed, and facedown if they are
  unrezzed.

User Mat Nowak concludes

  [A]s you can see from all this, cards trashed by Noise's ability enter the Archives face down in a horizontally oriented pile. (This is because the card in question enters the Archives from an unrezzed state).

Other users in that BGG thread tend to agree with him. This is also discussed at the Fantasy Flight Games forum here, and users tend to agree that although there's no actual rule for this, it is the logical way to handle the Noise virus.

The way it looks like it should be handled in all situations based on the page 13 rule: If the runner knows what the card is when it goes to the Archives, it goes in face up; otherwise it is face down. Also remember that cards that are face down in the Archives are turned horizontal so the Runners knows if there are cards they haven't seen in there.


Elder Sign charater traits Some of the characters' special abilities allow them to have an additional card, such as a spell card, at the beginning of their setup. What does this mean?

These cards are starting equipment.  At the beginning of the game draw those cards and place them in front of yourself.  They are no different than cards that you squire through out play.

These abilities grant no ongoing benefit once the game starts


Agricola: What cards allow for animals be the main source of food for my family? In 3 player games (only played 4 player a couple times), as I see occupations and minor improvements get dealt out (draft mode), I never see any cards that make me think, "Hey, that would make animals a viable strategy to feed my family the whole game."

I end up only using animals for the first harvest or two to cook sheep because nothing makes them seem viable for the whole game. Is that just how it is? Are there more cards in 4 player that help this?

Well, breeding animals should be enough to feed your family if you have a cooking hearth.  Breeding Sheep gives you 2f per harvest, Boar give you 3f, and Cows give you 4f.  That's 9f per harvest once you have them all going. The problem is having space for all of the animal types, then getting your hands on them.

One card that helps with both those aspects in 4-player is Animal Breeder.  He allows you to buy animal pairs whenever you fence unused spaces.  He is one of the best cards in the game, and I almost always pick him first in draft.  If you fence early and fence often, you can get all animal types breeding very quickly.

There are generally more animal-based Occupations for 4+ players.  For example, Cowherd and Swineherd (similar to 3+ player Sheep Farmer and Animal Dealer) let you take an additional animal when you use the appropriate action space. If you are using expansions there are even more.  Dove Hunter from France Deck lets you turn 1 sheep into 4 food (or 1 cow into 6 food) every harvest.

These are just a few of my favorites for animal-based feeding.  There are plenty of others, though.


Generator Servent with Nemesis of Mortals Nemesis of Mortals says:

  Nemesis of Mortals costs 1 less to cast for each creature card in your graveyard.

and Generator Servant says:

  Tap, Sacrifice Generator Servant: Add 2 to your mana pool. If that mana is spent on a creature spell, it gains haste until end of turn.

Say I have 3 creature cards in my graveyard and a Generator Servant on the field without summoning sickness. I wish to use the mana from the Generator Servant to summon the Nemesis of Mortals so that it will have haste. However when I sacrifice the Generator Servant I will have 4 creatures in the graveyard and Nemesis of Mortals no longer needs generic mana to summon.

Do I determine the cost of the spell before or after I generate the mana?

Do I determine the cost of the spell before or after I generate the mana?

Either! You can generate mana at any time during your main step, before starting to cast a spell. However, you can also generate it during the spell-casting process:

601.2e The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b), plus all additional costs and cost increases, and minus all cost reductions. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be {0}. It can't be reduced to less than {0}. Once the total cost is determined, any effects that directly affect the total cost are applied. Then the resulting total cost becomes "locked in." If effects would change the total cost after this time, they have no effect.
601.2f If the total cost includes a mana payment, the player then has a chance to activate mana abilities (see rule 605, "Mana Abilities"). Mana abilities must be activated before costs are paid.

So in this case, you could determine the total cost (which would include 1 generic mana), then activate Generator Servant in order to produce mana, thus spending 1 of those 2 mana on the Nemesis of Mortals
And to show that Generator Servant's ability is indeed a mana ability:

406.1. A mana ability is either (a) an activated ability without a target that could put mana into a player’s mana pool when it resolves or (b) a triggered ability without a target that triggers from a mana ability and could produce additional mana. A mana ability can generate other effects at the same time it produces mana.


Under what conditions can I cast Panglacial Wurm from my Library when my opponent controls an Aven Mindcensor? My opponent controls an Aven Mindcensor.

  If an opponent would search a library, that player searches the top four cards of that library instead.

I have a Panglacial Wurm in my deck.

  While you're searching your library, you may cast Panglacial Wurm from your library.

I cast a Rampant Growth (or any other card that allows me to search my library).

What is the ruling on my ability to cast the Panglacial Wurm?

I can see one of three possible answers.

You cannot cast Panglacial Wurm.  You aren't searching your library, you're searching the top four cards of your library.
You can cast Panglacial Wurm, but only if it's in the top 4 cards of your library.  Aven Mindcensor prevents you from looking any further into your library, and if you can't find Panglacial Wurm then you can't cast it.
You can cast Panglacial Wurm, regardless of where it is in your library.  It's in your library, and you're searching your library.

I have a feeling it's either 1 or 3, but I'm unsure.  What is the correct ruling?

It is option 2, you can cast Panglacial Wurm if it is in the top 4 cards.

  701.18f If searching a zone is replaced with searching a portion of that zone, any other instructions that refer to searching the zone still apply. [...]

Because Aven Mindcensor uses the word "search" in the replacement, it is still searching. It is just now searching a sub-set of your library.

The regular event of searching your library never happens in this case, so a Wurm somewhere else in your library won't do anything:

  614.6 If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn trigger abilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can’t be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.

The reason number 3 doesn't work is that you don't have the Wurm available to cast. If you aren't seeing it while searching, you have no way of "knowing" that it is even in your library. You wouldn't be allowed to rely on having your deck list memorized to know that. And even if you do know for sure that it's in there, you aren't allowed to search the rest of your library to find it in order to cast it.

This was addressed and confirmed by a judge here.


Which Seven Wonders Leaders Should I Be Hoping To Recruit? I got to play with the Seven Wonders Leaders expansion for the first time last night, and it certainly adds an extra dimension to the game.  I was able to assemble a lethal combo of Xenophon (2 extra coins every time I built a commercial structure), Hatshepsut (1 coin back for each neighbour I bought resources from each turn) and Midas (+1 victory point per 3 coins at end of game) to finish with 38 coins in my coffers, and a narrow 73-72 point win over the guy who'd amassed 52 points of science alone (gulp)!

If this was Agricola or Race for the Galaxy there would be acres of statistics out there on which leaders are likely to give the biggest boost in the hands of a skilled player.  So I was wondering, if anyone else has drafted the Leaders, which cards should one be looking out for as likely to put your game into overdrive?  Are there any leader combos that are potentially broken or unfair?

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any hard data of the sort that RftG or Dominion players collect.

That said, Bilkis (once per turn, pay 1 to the bank for 1 of any resource) is my pick for best all-around leader. She lets you get away with playing fewer resource cards and avoids enriching your neighbors.

Other choices are more situational:

Imhotep (resource discount for Wonder stages) is great for Giza B or Wonders that have an inconvenient cost.

Hammurabi (resource discount for blue cards) is good unless you're committed to a maximum-science strategy.

The vanilla VP leaders are pretty good for their cost, and since in general you will be happy to pay 1 coin for 1 VP, the largest ones, Cleopatra and Nefertiti, are strongest.

If you can get two leaders that support either science or military, that can be strong. It does sort of commit you to that path, so if you draft 2 military leaders and your neighbor decides to pursue a military strategy, you might find yourself frustrated. Either one, although science moreso, is high-risk/high-reward.

Of the military leaders, Caesar and Hannibal grant shields, which give you a leg up and signal to your neighbors that you're not worth fighting. Alexander and Nero give you bonuses for winning. Pericles is expensive, but can be worth 8 or 10 points if you're going military. Leonidas provides a discount for military, although if you often get a fair number of brown buildings anyway you might not need the discount.

Of the science leaders, Archimedes provides the discount, which (in contrast to military) can be important especially in Age 1 since the science costs require advanced resources. Hypatia and Aristotle make your green cards and sets worth more. Euclid, Ptolemy, and Pythagoras provide science symbols; they're expensive but can be worth lots of points if they fill up a set or give you the 5th card of a kind.


Am I missing a limitation on double strike (for star wars lcg)? Example scenario (which I'm going to call "The Sam" since my 7 year son just beat me using a large subset of this):

Dark side has no defenders available, 3 undamaged 5 point objectives.  Light side's turn, light side of force is winning.

Light side objectives: Hit and Run, One of the 2 resource objectives, and the objective that gives you a -1 for first enhancement played.

Light side hand has yoda, light sabre, r2d2, binds all things, double strike, and target of opportunity as their 6 cards in their hand.

Light side does one point of damage during force struggle.

Deployment:
   Light side plays R2D2 (increases resources available to 6)
   Light side plays yoda (resource left: 3)
   Light side plays light sabre enhancment (rez left: 3)

Attack:
   Yoda attacks undamaged objective, plays TOO during unopposed edge battle, thereby doing 5 damage (TOO + light sabre + enhancement bonus + own strike + unopposed bonus)
   When focused to strike, light side plays double strike (rez left: 2)
   Light side then plays it binds all things (rez left: 1), picking up TOO + double strike
  Yoda repeats attack on 2nd undamaged objective and again uses double strike (rez left: 0), playing TOO again
  Yoda attacks 3rd objective, doing only 4 points of damage (no TOO), and actually could do an extra point of damage from hit and run.

Light side has just defeated 3 objectives and therefore wins.

Sub-questions:
  Is there a rule limiting a single unit to only being able to attack 1 objective per turn that I'm not seeing?
  Is there some other limitation/rule exception that would prevent this?  (Beyond the whole dark side really should have at least one defender and this does require a non-trivial amount of luck to get this exact combination of cards)

The engagement isn't over until all ready units have been focused to strike.  Double Strike must be played "after a Character unit is focused to strike," which means it can only be played, and therefore can only remove a focus token, DURING the engagement, allowing multiple strikes at the same objective. If you can destroy an undefended objective in one strike, playing Double Strike does nothing for you- your second strike has nothing to hit.
See "Resolving a strike" on p 20 of the rules, and "Engagment resolution" (p 31).   CArdgamedb.com is the best place for Star Wars rules and discussion. Some real experts post over there.  Check it out!


first player had to pass- points for second player? First player had to pass in opening the game due to drawing all consonants and had no options after searching helps on google. Would the next player get double points instead?

Yes (assuming they don't pass as well). The center square is a double word square.
From the rules:

The First Word Score
The star is a double square and will offer a double word score.


Loki's Trickery card rss Suppose that players A, B, and C are in battle.
Players A and B each play the Loki's Trickery card (If you lose, steal 1 rage from the winning player ).
Player C wins the battle, but he has only 1 rage
What happens now ?
Which player will steal the 1 rage from Player C?

It depends on who started the pillage.

Starting with the pillaging player, go in turn order. The first player executes their Loki's Trickery effect and steals a rage. The second player now cannot do so.

Source.


Does the effect of an instant supersede first strike damage from a creature? My opponent had no available blockers and I attacked my opponent with a 2/2 creature with first strike. They played an instant that would wipe out the attacking creature. Does my creature still deal 2 damage before it goes to the graveyard or does the instant destroy it before it is able to deal first strike damage?

Your opponent is able to destroy your creature before it deals damage. I wouldn't say the effects of the instant "supersede" the first strike damage, though; it's merely that your opponent can cast the instant (and it will resolve) before damage has a chance to be dealt.

The steps of the combat phase, when a creature with first strike (or double strike) is present are:

beginning of combat step
declare attackers step
declare blockers step
first combat damage step
second combat damage step (Skipped if no attacking or blocking creature had first strike or double strike at the start of the first CDS.)
end of combat step

In each of these steps, each player gets priority, i.e. gets a chance to cast spells and activate abilities.

In order to stop a creature from dealing damage, all your opponent has to do is destroy it before you reach the combat damage step.

They could choose to cast their instant in any of those first three steps: in the beginning of combat step before you even attack (though they won't know what's going to attack yet, and you can then decide with the knowledge that your creature is gone), during the declare attackers step after you've attacked but before blockers are declared, or during the declare blockers step after blockers are declared (or lack thereof - this step happens whether or not there are actually any blockers to declare). Note that this works whether or not first strike (or double strike) is involved. These steps are before combat damage of any sort.


Do creature effects trigger every time they move base? Do creature effects trigger every time they move base, or just the first time they enter play?

For example, if I play Invader, gain 1 VP, then play Invasion and move it to a second base, do I gain another VP?

No, Invader grants a victory point when it's played, not when it's moved.

  Play: You play a card
  when it’s one of the
  free cards you get in
  step 2, or any time an
  ability specifically says
  that you’re playing it. A
  card’s ability happens
  when you play it. When
  cards are moved, placed,
  or returned, they’re not
  being played, and their
  abilities don’t happen.

  Move: This lets you
  move a card from one
  location to another.
  Moving a card does
  not count as playing it.
  Minion abilities do not
  happen when you
  move a card.


Can I use an ability granted to a land by an aura immediately? This is fairly simple question, but I'm unsure. Suppose I use enchant my basic land with an aura like Caustic Tar. The enchantment's ability says to tap the land. Can I tap it immediately to use the ability, or do I have to wait till my next turn? I thought you could tap it, but my opponent didn't think it was valid.

Yes, you can immediately activate the new ability by tapping the land. The enchantment gives the land a new ability, and that ability can be activated just like any of the land's other abilities. Of course, you can only do this if the land is untapped, like any other ability with a tap symbol in the cost.

The one exception is if the land is a creature and it just entered play that turn (for example, if it's a Dryad Arbor or it was animated by Nissa, Worldwaker). In that case, like any creature, it has summoning sickness and can't activate abilities with a tap symbol in the cost until your next turn.


Can I counter Rite of Replication by destroying the copied creature? Let's say my friend casts Rite of Replication on one of his creatures. Right after that, I play an instant--Flesh to Dust--and destroy his creature. Would that counter the sorcery?

If not, would I have to cast the instant right when he casts Rite of Replication?

Or say something like "before you cast that spell I'm destroying your creature..."

Yes, the Rite of Replication would fail if you destroy the creature it's targeting. It plays out like this:

Your opponent casts Rite of Replication targeting their creature.

You cast Flesh to Dust in response to Rite of Replication.

Your Flesh to Dust resolves, and their creature dies.

Your opponent's Rite of Replication tries to resolve, but since the creature it targeted is no longer on the battlefield, it is countered by rule 608.2b, which says

If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that's no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal [...] The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word "target," are now illegal.


Can a Cyclone's "Dual Covering Fire" Special Action be used if the Cyclone is engaged in melee? This question came up last night while we were playing a game of Warmachine.  A friend was running a Cyclone, and he noticed that the Dual Covering Fire special action is an *Action, not an *Attack.

Does this mean that it can be used even if the Cyclone is engaged?  The Action is attached to the ranged weapon however, so does this make it the equivalent of an *Attack?

So, found this little tidbit here:

http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?12489-Covering-Fire-while-engaged&highlight=dual+covering+fire+melee

It seems that, yes, they can, for the reasons I stated above - because it is a special action, not a special attack.


How does vertical movement work in 40k eighth edition How does vertical movement work in 8th edition? In previous editions moving up a floor in a building was 3", but I can't seem to find any rules in the new edition describing if you just measure the vertical distance.

In 8th you just measure the actual distance you move. It likely will be worth discussing with your opponent before the game how you want to treat different pieces of terrain. Things like if you're going to have to use ladders/stairs or if you both want to just assume any unit can move the 2-4" vertically. Also whether you want to measure diagonal or "L" that is... measure to below where you go up, then directly up. Depending on the terrain you have, it might be easiest to just say going up/down a floor is 3" of movement and not worry about it too much, the main thing is to get on the same page at the start of the game.


Cribbage pone strategy for hands involving a run and a pair In two-player cribbage, when the pone is dealt a hand that includes a run and a 5+pair (e.g. 3,4,5,6,Q,Q) is it better to keep the run (3,4,5,6) or the 5+pair (_,5,Q,Q)?

It seems like there should be a statistically optimal play here.

In the specific example above, either choice leaves the pone 6 points, but the run has a chance of improving to a double run (12 out of the remaining 46 cards) and is improved by 24 other cards (2s, 7s, Ts, Js, Qs, Ks). The main downside of that play is it concedes a pair to the dealer. On the other hand, the 5+pair can improve through any 5, Q, or ten-value card. If the connecting 6 is kept, it can also improve through a 4 or 7. Overall, there are 24 cards that improve that hand. It also concedes a 3,4 to the dealer - which seems less likely to give the dealer points.

My intuition is to keep the run, but a mathematically sound analysis of expected value would be nice.

P.S. For the purposes of this question, we can ignore the exact position of the players, and assume it's somewhere mid game (as opposed to really close to the end where pegging considerations become more important).

I'm pretty sure the 'optimal' play is neither of the ones you mentioned!  Keeping 4,5,6,Q counts 7, gives you essentially equal opportunity for another 2 points off of any face card (you lose out on four extra points if one of the other two Qs comes, but that's only a 1 in 7 chance), still earns you all but two of the points you'd have had from 3,4,5,6 if you hit a double-run (though it slightly lessens the odds of it by cutting out the 3 as a double-run card), and gives your opponent just about the worst of the possible combinations for their crib (3Q).

To match Basicpract's analysis: you score two extra points off of any Ace (4), one point off of any trey (3), seven points off of a four or six (6), 9 points off of a five (3), one point off of a seven (4), two points off of a 9 (4) four points off of a Q (2), and two points off of any other face card (12).  This is 8 + 3 + 42 + 27 + 4 + 8 + 8 + 24 = 124 points off of the remaining 46 cards, for an average of more than two and a half points improvement and an average overall hand value of 9.7 points, compared to the 8 points from keeping 45QQ and the 9.61 points from keeping 3456 (but with a much worse crib to your opponent).


Etrata, the Silencer and token creatures My opponent attacks me with Etrata, the Silencer. I have only token creatures in my battlefield. Does one of the tokens go into exile? Does my opponent have to shuffle Etrata into his library again?

Yes, but it doesn't count towards losing the game because it's not a card.

If Etrata’s ability exiles a token creature, it won’t count to determine whether three cards are exiled with hit counters.

Creature tokens on the battlefield are creatures, so they are valid targets for Etrata's ability.
When Etrata's ability resolves, the following happens:

The targeted token is exiled.

A hit counter is put on the now-exiled token.

Token aren't cards,[CR 108.2] so you don't lose the game.

Etrata is shuffled into its owner's library.

Immediately after Etrata's ability resolves, the following happens:

Tokens outside of the battelfield cease to exist as a State-Based Action.[CR 704.5d]

108.2. When a rule or text on a card refers to a “card,” it means only a Magic card or an object represented by a Magic card.
108.2b Tokens aren’t considered cards—even a card-sized game supplement that represents a token isn’t considered a card for rules purposes.
704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 117, “Timing and Priority”), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. [...]
704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:
704.5d If a token is in a zone other than the battlefield, it ceases to exist.


What is the name of this game involving racing to the other side of the board and putting down barriers? Does anyone recognize this game, where players take turns in a square board, each turn a player can move his pawn or place a wall and the objective is to reach the other side of the board before the other player.

Here is a picture of a near end game.

Not sure about the board, which looks like a homemade knockoff to me, but the game itself and its mechanics appear to be Quoridor.

— Image taken from http://boardgamegeek.com/image/110043/quoridor —


Harnessed Lightning combat This happened on MTGO.

Opponent has Skyswirl Harrier.

I have Salivating Gremlins.

Its my turn.  I cast Renegade Freighter.  Salivating gremlins gains +2/+0.

Battle: I attack with Salivating gremlins.  Opponent blocks with Skyswirl Harrier.

I activate Harnessed Lightning from hand targeting Skyswirl Harrier, spending 3 energy.  Opponenet does not respond.  Harnessed Lightning resolves and both creatures die.  I'm confused.  Can you tell me why my Salivating Gremlins did not survive?

Skyswirl Harrier has 3 power and 4 toughness.
After Renegade Freighter enters the battlefield, Salivating Gremlines has 4 power and 3 toughness.

Short other effects, creatures cause combat damage equal to their power, and can survive combat damage less than their toughness.

Attacker, Salivating Gremlins is Declared. Blocker, Skyswirl Harrier is declared.
Once you're able to cast a spell during the Declare Blockers step, you cast Harnessed Lightning, presumably spending 3 energy to do 3 damage to the Skyswirl Harrier. This is one short of lethal (4).

Combat damage happens. Salivating Gremlins does 1 damage to Skyswirl Harrier, and 3 damage to the opponent because of trample. Skyswirl Harrier does 3 damage to Salivating Gremlins.

Already having 3 damage marked on it for the turn, adding the 1 damage marks 4 for the turn, matching Skyswirl Harrier's toughness of 4. State Based Effects, Skyswirl Harrier dies.

Salivating Gremlin has 3 damage marked on it for the turn, matching its 3 toughness. State based effects, Salivating Gremlins dies.

An important rule here is 702.19b:

  The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. 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. The attacking creature’s controller need not assign lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can’t assign any damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking.


Are "Diagonal" Attacks More Deadly in Diplomacy? As France, for instance, it's fairly easy to defend against an extended "frontal" attack in the north by England and Germany, by covering the connected zones, Burgundy, Picardy, and Brest. Fortunately I've never had to do this, but it seems harder to defend against a simultaneous attack by England, aimed at Brest, and Italy, aimed at Marseilles, on a northwest to southeast axis.

As Russia, it's relatively easy to defend against a two power attack from the west or southwest, say by Austria-Hungary, allied with either Germany or Turkey. That's because Sevastopol, the Ukraine, and Warsaw form a natural defense line. The one to fear seems to be England and Turkey to both the north and south. Then Russia is split in two directions, and easy game if one of the Germanic countries becomes a third attacker.

Has anyone had the experience of being victimized by "divergent" attacks at both ends of the Empire? Or more to the point, gone out of their way to create these kinds of problems for their opponents?

It's definitely the case that fighting a two-front war is more than twice as hard as fighting on one front.  Besides the obvious reason, that you need twice as many units, there's the support-cut effect too.  Most empires, especially early, aren't 3 provinces wide, so even an unsupported attack on one side can strip a unit on the other side of the support it needed to hold.

One place this is borne out is in the aggregate results of Russia.  Russia has the highest solo rate of any power, and the second highest elimination rate.  If Russia can't turn their initial two-front (North and South) exposure into a one-front war, they're done for in a blink.


How to make a game of Yu-Gi-Oh! quicker? I currently play Yu-Gi-Oh! at school, and sometimes, we want to fit in a game in less than 5 - 10 minutes, before lessons.
Of course, in a normal game with 8k LP each, this is almost impossible for a well thought out fully fun game.
What are house rules that could make the game a lot more quicker, without spoiling the "skeleton" of the game? Just saying this is not exactly necessary, but would be nice.
I would like the ways you state to have comments saying the cons of the rule (if any)
Ways I have thought of already:

Making starting LP 4k. Kind of removes the length of the game significantly, making it less fun (which is why we play)

Giving a Time Limit to 5 minutes / game each. Removes main concepts, hence making us susceptible to mistakes.

Please add to this list, but what I am looking for is a combination of house rules that makes it a lot quicker to play.

What are house rules that could make the game a lot more quicker, without spoiling the "skeleton" of the game?

To be honest, Yu-Gi-Oh is actually quite fast-paced, even more now with all the changes that have been to the format (and I am not the only one that thinks this is a thing). In some cases, if you or your opponent pull out a OTK or FTK the game could well last less than 5 minutes.
In official tournaments, the rulings indicate that rounds have a 40 minutes duration. Each round is played in a best-of-three Duels, meaning that you have about 13 minutes per game. We can see that Duels are already fast enough, and that the official rules consider time limits according to this average duration.
With this being said, we can see that one Duel should at most last 13 minutes, so it is reasonable that a single duel can well last 10 minutes or less. Perhaps a duel can take longer if there is debate or argument while playing it, as to the correct ruling of a card, or on legal aspect of some move.
In this case, to effectively speed your games it would help to reduce the time spent debating or arguing so you have more time to actually play. This can only be achieved if both parties understand and know the rules on a decent or high degree, so there is no room for misinterpretation. Also, the more you play with someone the better you know each other's decks and possible moves, thus you will be able to play your games more swiftly.

Now, if you and your friend(s) are still taking longer than that to play a single game there could be other options (besides being swifter on the debating of rules) you may consider:

As you already suggested, reducing Life Points to 4000 can effectively speed some duels. You even say that "Kind of removes the length of the game significantly", but isn't this what you are asking for?
A slight variant of this idea is to reduce LP to 2000 points, as it was done in the anime/manga on Duel Monsters. This way you games will be really swift on the current format, while not deviating much from the real game (actually, it would be even more like the anime).

Other option I once tried with some friends was to penalize a player that takes much time deciding their moves. The penalty was represented by a fixed deduction of LP (say 500?) each time that player stalls or takes much time to decide. Of course, this is better when done with a third person that can oversee the game as judge and call the penalties. This encouraged fast-play while actually capping each game if a player stalls too much.

Yet another option you got is to perhaps try playing those swift duels on an app or similar, like the well-known YGO Pro. This way you spare yourself from interpreting the rules and timings, so you "just" play and let the game automatically carry out the legal actions for you. Of course that YGO Pro and similar may have some bugs, bit if they do they are minimal.
Then, when you got more free time, you can play with your physical decks and take all the time you need to debate if a move or strategy is valid or not. As a final suggestion, sometimes it is better to postpone a game and play it when you have time to play it properly, without rushing and being able to enjoy it more.


Overcall of 3S over 1C opening, what does it show? (assuming bidding system SAYC) I assumed it was 10+pts, and 7 Spade suit -- am I correct?

A jump overcall is pre-emptive and generally shows the same values as a pre-emptive opening bid.

So in this case 3S could show as little as 6 HCP with 7 spades.


Do you have to draw an omen/event/item card as soon as you enter the room? In Betrayal at House on the Hill, when you enter a new room and it has a symbol on it indicating to draw a card, do you have to draw that card as the first thing you do? Or can I play an item, or do another action before drawing the card?

You are able to use items and other actions mid-move, but as soon as you discover a room, your movement immediately ends and you must draw an Event/Item/Omen card before you are able to take any other action.

From the rules (which can be downloaded here) on page 6:

  You can perform actions (such as using an item or attacking) in the middle of your movement. However, whenever a game effect makes you draw a card for any reason, you must stop moving for the rest of your turn.

and

  When your explorer enters a doorway, and there isn’t a room on the other side, look at the top tile on the room stack. .... Then move into that room. You have discovered it.

and then on page 10

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


Does adding a deck change the odds? We are playing a version of Canasta.

Tonight we had 6 players and 4 decks. Everyone playing individually. The goal is to get the most points which is most easily achieved by getting a “canasta” - i.e. 7 of the same number including wild cards (2s and jokers). As you play, you lay down your sets (3 or more cards). So you typically know which card number someone is targeting for his/her canasta.

The question is whether adding a 5th deck speeds up the likelihood that someone will get a canasta faster.

Two competing hypotheses (which may both be wrong):

it does not change anything because the odds for which cards you pull should not change when you add another deck that has the same odds. It will be more likely someone gets a canasta with more decks but it won’t change how fast it happens.
it does change because there are more of each card (going from 4 decks to 5 decks means going from 16 to 20 of each number). Having more of each number means that more than one person can successfully get a canasta for the same number.

Does anyone have a model for how to think about this?

Adding an extra deck definitely increases the chance that someone will get a Canasta because cards are drawn without replacement.

The point is easiest to see via a drastic oversimplification.  Take a number of decks, take out six cards that are the same from those decks, shuffle the remaining cards together, and then try to draw a seventh card to match the six.  Each deck you add contributes 54 cards in general (because of Jokers), 10 of which match (because 2s and Jokers are wild), but you have to subtract 6 from both the card total and number of matching cards for the six cards you have taken out to start.  The probability that the next card you draw matches the six you have of that with various deck sizes is as follows:

1 Deck: (10 - 6) / (54 - 6) = 8%

2 Decks: (10*2 - 6) / (54*2 - 6) = 14%

3 Decks: (10*3 - 6) / (54*3 - 6) = 15%

4 Decks: (10*4 - 6) / (54*4 - 6) = 16%

5 Decks: (10*5 - 6) / (54*5 - 6) = 17%


Can a creature with summoning sickness be targeted? Can I target a creature as soon as it is played, even with summoning sickness?

Example: If my card, Beguiler of Wills, reads "Gain control of target creature," or Dungeon Geist's "tap target creature opponent controls," can I gain control or tap a creature my opponent just played? I have a friend arguing I can't, because they're in summoning sickness, but I thought that just stopped their tap-ability and attacking for the first turn.

Yes you can target a creature with Summoning Sickness. Summoning Sickness only prevents creatures that you haven't controlled since the start of your turn from attacking or using activated abilities with {T} (Tap) or {Q} (Untap) in their activation cost.

  *Summoning Sickness Rule *

  Informal term for a player’s inability to attack with a creature or to activate its abilities that include the tap symbol or the untap symbol unless the creature has been under that player’s control since the beginning of that player’s most recent turn. See rule 302.6. See also Haste.

  302.6. A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule.

  107.6. The untap symbol is {Q}. The untap symbol in an activation cost means “Untap this permanent.” A permanent that’s already untapped can’t be untapped again to pay the cost. A creature’s activated ability with the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since his or her most recent turn began. See rule 302.6.


Can you be sent to Reading Railroad without passing Go? In Monopoly, there is a Chance card that reads :

Take a ride on the Reading. Advance token and if you pass Go, collect
$200

Given that there is no legal way that you could reach Reading Railroad from a Chance square without passing Go, why is it specified on the card?
Is there a historic rule that may have changed ?

Yes, it can happen...
There are 2 cases that explain the wording of this card. These cases reveal that it is possible to be sent to Reading Railroad by a Chance card from a square other than a Chance square.
Case 1 Original USA game
According to World of Monopoly, these (first?) four versions of Monopoly contained this Community Chest card : «Pay $10 fine or take a Chance»

Darrow White Box, Darrow Black Box, Parker Bros 1935 Plain, Parker
Bros 1935-36 Plain

This means that you could be sent to Reading Railroad by a Chance card from the Community Chest square between Mediterranean Avenue and Baltic Avenue, and NOT pass Go.
According to EnAcademic.com, this Community Chest card has been omitted from the US editions since 1936.
Case 2 Blame Canada
Again, according to World Of Monopoly,

Edition:  “Mini box”, with separate board - Atlantic City Publisher:
Parker Bros. Inc/The Copp Clark Co.Ltd. - ±1946 ... Reg. U.S. Patent
Office Canadian Registration M.S. 19-5674 U.S.  Patents 1.509.312
---2.026.082  Patented Canada.1936 ---- 362.124 ...
«Curiously, the rules of this game (in English and French) contain a
provision that a player rolling a 3 may take a Chance or Community
Chest card instead of making his move.»

I remember playing with this rule in the 1950s, but I always remembered it as a house rule. It appears that it was official, in Canada.
Therefore, if you rolled a 3 while on Mediterranean Avenue, Community Chest(1), Baltic Avenue or Income Tax, you could elect to not play it, take a Chance card, and be sent to Reading Railroad by that card, without passing Go.
Conclusion
In either case, it would be possible to be sent to Reading Railroad, by a Chance card, from a square other than Chance, and not pass Go. And that is why the phrase «... if you pass GO, collect $200» was required on the Chance card in those days. The phrase just was not dropped when no longer required.


Charging a unit with no space? If my unit is in the frontal charging cone of an enemy unit and I already have a friendly unit in front of that unit and taking up all the front base space, can I charge the enemy unit?

What if I was 75% in frontal cone and 25% in flanking cone? Could I charge the flank instead?

What are my options?

If the two units are charging at the same time, then the two units must attempt to charge in such a way that an equal number (or as close as possible) of models from each unit engage the enemy unit (8th Ed Rulebook, pg 23).

If the first unit is already engaged (an ongoing combat from a pervious turn) to the front and completely blocks it, and your charging unit is in the front arc, then the rules are not 100% clear.

The rules for Flank and Rear Charges (8th ED Rulebook pg 21) state that "a charging units position when the charge is declared determines whether it charges into the front, flank, or rear of an enemy unit". Based on this, you must charge the side you are on, not the side you can reach.

The rule for Multiple Charges On A Unit say that if "more units can complete the charge than can fit in base contact with the target" then the charging player choosing which units get moved first, and any "units that cannot complete the charge against the target are counted as having made a failed charge". (8th ED Rulebook pg 23).

Since they must charge the front, which they cannot reach due to other units, I would say they will fail the charge.


How do Solemnity and Delaying Shield interact? Delaying Shield turns damage into counters.  Solemnity prevents it from gaining counters.  What happens when you take damage?

You don't take damage.  Counters would be added to Delaying Shield, but are not because of Solemnity.
You take damage as normal.  Delaying Shield's inability to gain counters prevents its ability from working.

It's 1.; you don't take damage and this is a nice combo. The Gatherer rulings under Solemnity say:

  If a replacement effect allows a player to modify or replace an event by putting counters on an artifact, creature, enchantment, or land, that player may apply that replacement effect. Counters won’t be put on the object, but if the original event is entirely replaced (such as by applying Soul-Scar Mage’s replacement effect), the original event won’t happen.

Delaying Shield's effect is a replacement effect, see the Gatherer ruling below it:

  Note that the damage is replaced and is not “prevented”. This means it can replace damage that “can’t be prevented”.

so it's covered by this Solemnity rule.


Can I kill Lurrus directly after it enters the battlefield, before it's controller gets priority to cast a permanent from their graveyard? The two following rulings for Lurrus of the Dream-Den apply:

You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions of the spell you cast from your graveyard.

Once you begin to cast the spell, losing control of Lurrus won’t affect the spell. You can finish casting it as normal.

By the second quoted rule, I see if I don't respond to Lurrus being cast and entering, and my opponent chooses to cast a permanent from their graveyard, even if I then kill Lurrus, the chosen permanent will still be cast.
So my question is if my opponent casts Lurrus and it enters the battlefield, can I immediately kill it before my opponent gets priority to cast a permanent from their graveyard.

Not normally. When ever a spell resolves, per the rules of magic, the active player gets priority.

117.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.

This means that your opponent who cast Lurrus will almost always have the opportunity to cast a spell before you get priority to try and remove Lurrus, in the same way players pretty much always have the ability to use a planeswalker ability before their opponents can kill the planeswalker.
There are three edge cases I can think of that would make this untrue:

Lurrus entering the battlefield caused some ability to trigger, say Soul Warden. This means that something goes on the stack before Lurrus' caster has priority, and since the spells Lurrus allows to be cast are generally not instant speed, the caster will need to pass and try to resolve that effect first. You can respond to that triggered ability when you get priority with an instant meant to kill or exile Lurrus.
Lurrus was cast with flash and someone other than the caster is the active player. In this case Lurrus' caster still needs to wait for their turn to cast anything using Lurrus' ability and he can be dealt with. This might work  if it was cast with flash on a non-empty stack during the caster's turn, but not likely as the permanents meant to make use of Lurrus would probably also be under the same effect.
Lurrus' caster is prevented from casting additional spells - there are about a half dozen spells that would prevent additional spells being cast with Lurrus, Rule of Law is the most recent one, Curse of Exhaustion would only affect one player, and Ethersworn Canonist would prevent casting anything other than an artifact after Lurrus, etc.