What should happen if a player requests the floorman after an opponent deliberately exposes their hand? There are 5 players in a poker game, 3 players fold before the flop, and the remaining two are heads up after the flop. The first player bets 25, the second player calls.

The first player checks the turn, the second player bets 55, and the first player calls again.

The first player checks the river. The second player bets 100, the first player goes all in and shows their cards inside the line. Now the second player wants to speak with the floorman. What should happen?

I think there is a misunderstanding that 'the line' is a fold line.  I've played in many casinos where there is no line. Just because cards have crossed that line face up doesn't automatically make them dead.

The most important bit here is was there a verbal statement 'all in'.   If we look at Robert's Rules, which has been on display in most poker rooms I've played in, then

  A verbal statement denotes your action and is binding. If in turn you
  verbally declare a fold, check, bet, call, or raise, you are forced to
  take that action

If the player announced all in then the bet stands and other player can call or fold.

Two other rules worth mentioning here regarding 'dead hands'  Note the section on Dead Hands make no reference to 'the line'

You throw your hand away in a forward motion causing another player to act behind you (even if not facing a bet).

You say the player tabled his cards inside the line.  This to me is very different to throwing them away in a forward motion.  The rules on dead hands also say....

  Cards thrown into the muck may be ruled dead. However, a hand that is
  clearly identifiable may be retrieved at management’s discretion if
  doing so is in the best interest of the game. We will make an extra
  effort to rule a hand retrievable if it was folded as a result of
  false information given to the player.

In the situation you describe the cards never went into the muck.  They are also clearly identifiable. So it stands that the hand is live and they have not folded.  Of course by making this mistake they have disadvantaged themselves as the other player knows if they are winning of not thus denying the all in player extra value or loses a bluff.  This is punishment enough for the mistake and the rules don't punish them further by declaring the hand dead.

I did once witness this situation live once where a player went all in and tabled cards, admittedly pre flop.  It was ruled the players was all in and other other player was able to decide if they wanted to call or not based with the information of other players cards.


Where can I watch recorded Go games from Masters? I think I can learn more if I see what people some kyu above me do.

I'm aware of a related question, but I think, this one is more specific and might diverge.

The best place I find to watch amateur games and learn to play go is KGS. It's a fairly friendly Go server with an emphasis on teaching. You can watch and kibbitz on games in progress, or you can look through many game records. It's also good for finding stronger players to play in teaching games, in which they review how you played afterwards.

IGS/PandaNet tends to broadcast more professional games, so if you want to watch and learn from pro games, rather than higher level amateurs, that might be a good place to look. There are other Go servers as well; there's a list on Sensei's Library.

If you're interested in reviewing older games, not watching live games, there are many professional games available for purchase or sometimes even free download, such as the "Games of Go on Disk" collection. Or if you prefer paper, you can find collections of games by master players, such as Honinbo Shusaku or Go Seigen.


When taking damage to an outfit, does damaging an arming space also apply a -1 to the outfit's die? The Xia rules are just slightly vague about damage to outfits. It has two separate sections for "putting damage on an outfit" and "putting damage on a use space":

Use Space: If the (damage marker) is placed on a Use Space of an Outfit, any Markers are immediately moved to a Disarmed Space, and the Use Space is no longer usable until repaired.
Outfits: Damage Markers can be placed on any Section of an Outfit. Each
Section of the Outfit can hold one (damage marker). Damage Markers on an Outfit cause that
Outfit to become less effective. Each (damage marker) placed on an Outfit reduces rolls by 1.

Do these two descriptions stack, so that putting a damage marker on a use space of an outfit causes both -1 to rolls with that outfit and the arming spot cannot be used? Or are they separate, so that if you decide to damage an outfit, you have to choose between losing a use space or having the outfit be less effective?

They stack.

Damage Markers can be placed on any Section of an Outfit

An outfit is made up of sections of two types; use spaces and empty spaces for storing cargo i.e. A use space is considered to be a section of an outfit. Therefore this rule

Damage Markers on an Outfit cause that Outfit to become less effective. Each (damage  marker) placed on an Outfit reduces rolls by 1

means that damage anywhere on an outfit will cause it to be less effective.


Fluxx "Once during your turn" New Rule cards If I play a "New Rule" that allows an action "once during your turn" (Recycling, Goal Mill, etc.) - do I get to take those action immediately, or is my turn now over because I've completed my "played one".

I understand that new rules go into effect immediately, what I'm not clear on is exactly when my turn is over for the "once during your turn" clause.

New Rules take effect immediately. Your turn is over after you have completed all the required rules and you have chosen not to perform any optional actions.

The Online FAQ and the rules both tell you that new rules take effect immediately (I didn't quote the rules pdf, but look under New Rule:, and also gives blue example boxes)

  Q: Suppose the rule is Play 2 and for my second play I change the rules to Play 3. Do I play one more card or am I done because I played 2?

  A: All rules take effect immediately, so you would need to play 1 more card because the rules at that point had become Play 3.

The turn order is described in the rules

  On Your Turn:

  1) Draw the number of cards currently required.

  2) Play the number of cards currently required.

  3) Discard down to the current Hand Limit (if any).

  4) Comply with the current Keeper limit (if any).

  Optional actions allowed by New Rules, Keepers, etc may be performed at any point during this sequence.

So for example, Recycling is an optional rule that says,

  Once per turn, you may discard a Keeper you have on the table and Draw 3 extra cards.

You can choose to use its ability anytime during your turn sequence.


Would the +1/+1 counter from Curse of Stalked Prey save my creature? My question pertains to a situation that happened last night when my friends and I were playing Magic: the Gathering.

There was a game of Two-Headed Giant going on and I had Werewolves on the battlefield with Trample. My partner had previously enchanted an opposing team member with Curse of Stalked Prey. I had a Reckless Waif with a 3/2 power and toughness (via Mayor of Avabruck and Full Moon's Rise) attacking said opponent. Their only blocker was a 2/2, so they blocked.

Curse of Stalked Prey reads "Whenever an opponent is deal combat damage..." and goes on to say the creature that dealt damage gets a +1/+1 counter. Is the counter immediately added, thus saving it from the 2/2 blocker?

No, the blocker would be destroyed.  From the comprehensive rules dealing with the Combat Damage Step

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt. This is a change from previous rules.
510.3. Third, any abilities that triggered on damage being assigned or dealt go on the stack. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)
510.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities

The state based action that destroys is 704.5g.  So although the ability triggers it is placed on the stack.  State based actions are dealt with before the stack is, and thus, the blocker dies.


How would the Imperial Player use the scouted card? (Imperial Assault: Jabba's Realm) In the Jabba's Realm expansion to Imperial Assault, the Imperial player can get the Scouted upgrade:

  Exhaust this card while a hero with a Bounty token is attacking to reroll 1 defense dice. If you do convert all [complete miss] results to [cancel surge] results.

Card image at BGG.

I don't see how this would be a benefit to substitute the best defense dice roll with an OK one. How can the Imperial Player use this card to their advantage?

It lets the Imperial player re-roll a defense die. As a cost/balance for this benefit (in addition to the exhaust), if a Dodge is rolled, the player can't keep it. (It is changed into a weaker, but still okay, evade.)

So it let's you have a re-roll, but a little weaker one than usual—if it's a white die. If it's a black die the Imperial defensive player is re-rolling, this additional cost wouldn't come into play. (Just the exhaust cost in this second case.)

I think the confusion might be coming in if you think you have a choice on whether or not to apply the Dodge to Evade after the re-roll, which is incorrect. If you re-roll, you must apply the conversion to the result (when applicable).


What is the name of this Yahtzee variant with 10 dice? I took a class once where we had to design a handheld game system for a variant of Yahtzee, which I seem to recall being called "Back Yahtzee", however I am unable to confirm this online.

There were two sets of dice and I remember the "Yahtzee" was obtained by getting 10 of the same number and it was called a "big big."
I recall that you could score two things at a time, for example a full house on 5 dice and straight on the other 5.

Does anybody know the name of this game and where I could find the rules?

Is it Double Cameroon. It sees to match.


Does Play X go into effect immediately? In Fluxx, the Draw X cards state that the current player may draw more cards so as to have drawn that number of cards on their turn.  Does the same thing apply to Play X?  For example, if the current Play rule is for 1 card, and the player plays a Play 2 rule, does that very play get a second play on that turn?

Yes.
This is answered in the online Fluxx FAQ:

Q: Suppose the rule is Play 2 and for my second play I change the rules to Play 3. Do I play one more card or am I done because I played 2?
A: All rules take effect immediately, so you would need to play 1 more card because the rules at that point had become Play 3.


Interpreting bidding by partners RHO: 1C --> LHO: 1S --> RHO: 2D

Does this mean 4-4 in clubs/diamonds, or 5-4 in clubs diamonds. Is it a reverse? (e.g.18+ pts?).

Assuming opponents play SAYC.

Definitely a reverse, say 15-16+ HCP + distributional values.
Promises 5+ clubs.
Can be a "waiting reverse" with only 3 diamonds to elicit more information from partner, with either 3 hearts or 6+ clubs.

The point to a "waiting reverse" is when opener has multiple options for a non-ideal bid, and wishes to set the denomination after responder rebids. It should be done only in a suit below 2 of responder's suit, unless opener is stronger than a minimum reverse. As noted it is often done with 3 of responder's suit to see if responder can rebid it. It often implies slam interest, as the extra information communicated may be of more use to the defence in merely a game contract.

With a minimum reverse, opener must be able to retreat to either 3 of responder's suit or 3NT if the reverse suit is raised.


Can doors be closed in Imperial Assault? Say that a figure opens a door. Can it later be closed by either the Rebels or the Imperials (perhaps with the intention of blocking line of sight or hindering movement)?

Players cannot close doors after they are opened, only game effects can close an open doorway.

From the Rules Reference Guide (page 11 under Doors)

  If an effect closes a door, place a door token on the map as
  shown on the mission’s map. Figures cannot voluntarily close
  doors.


Mobilization of units allowed on a territory with an industrial complex controlled by a power on same side? My friends an I were playing a&a 1941 and soviet union wanted to mobilize units in India. Is that ever allowed? If yes, when? I read through the whole book and I did not find anything about when you can do that.

You may only mobilize units in a territory you (not your ally) have owned since the start of the turn.  Additionally, you liberate allied territories when you capture them, immediately returning ownership to the original owner*. Thus the USSR cannot mobilize in India, since it is owned by the UK, not the USSR.

* - Details, it is technically possible to create a situation where the USSR could mobilize in India. It would require that the Axis captures both the UK capital, and India, then the USSR recapture India (a territory is not liberated if the owner's capital is in enemy hands), then on the following turn (after a full turn of ownership) the USSR may mobilize in India.


How would a "blocking" strategy play differently in Ticket to Ride than other strategies? Most of what I've read about Ticket to Ride focuses on "constructive" strategies of getting long destination routes and building them out for their large bonuses, including the longest route bonus. This allows one or more players to get over 200 points, but presumes a minimum of "blocking" from one player to another.

On the other hand, if players are inclined to block each other, then long destination routes might be a liability (because they can't be completed, and earn a negative bonus). In such a game, it seems like the trick is to take the two shortest destinations, build them "fast," and then spend the rest of the game blocking other people's routes. In such a game, scores might be closer to 100 than 200.

If only one player is playing "blocking," this strategy might not work, but it seems that if four or five (out of five) are playing this way, the game would play very differently than as discussed in the first paragraph. Just how would it play differently? Have I gotten at least some of the changes right in the previous paragraph>

I think you have it mostly right already, and certainly it will vary based on the people involved, but in my experience the jump from players focusing on their own agenda to being more interested in disrupting their opponents means shorter tickets are better, there is likely to be a lot of hoarding up cards until someone has enough to actually pursue a route, the longest train will be shorter than in the first scenario, etcetera. In my experience if one player pursues a blocking strategy while the other tries to do their own thing, the "do my own thing" player will win more often than not. That may change when you get into higher numbers of players.


Is there a best character in Button Men? Is there a worst character? Button Men is a free Print&Play game for 2 players. Each player chooses a character card, and the polyhedral dice associated with that character, and takes turns trying to capture their opponent's dice. There are over 200 characters created for it. Dice with more sides can capture opponent's dice more easily, but they are worth more to your opponents when they are captured.  Some analysis has been done with regard to strategy, but have the clearly best and worst character cards emerged?

(disclaimer: i haven't played button men seriously in ages, but i'll share my impressions from back in the day)

My feeling is that Lab Rats is the best button, as its 2-dice will allow skill-attacks on far better dice than it has to give away. Bunnies, with its 1-dice is also strong, but can too-often get trapped into not being able to make any attacks.

The worst by far has to be the dragon with d30s all down the line. Yes, it can take anyone's dice, but odds are you're going to roll one of them low, and give up 30 points at once. Do that twice and there's no way to win against most buttons.

Some are banned from tournaments for power. i think lab rats and bunnies were both banned at some point. Some are banned due to non-playability (how would you roll a pi-sided die for the James Earnest button?), and some are banned for their swingy nature (the xxxenophile buttons, with their 3 x-dice, were considered too "swingy"; you could completely change the nature of your button between rounds, though it looks like they're back on the permitted list)
http://www.beatpeopleup.com/tourname.html


If an attempt to equip fails, does the equipment fall off? Let's say I have two Grizzly Bears, one of which is equipped with Short Sword. If I attempt to equip the other Bear and opponent responds with a kill spell, does the Short Sword cease to be equipped to the first bear?
I looked through the rules for equip and don't see why it would, but it's conceivable (certainly if opponent lets me equip before using the kill spell it would fall off), so I would like to check.

702.6a Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. “Equip [cost]” means “[Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”

The now-dead bear is no longer a valid target so the equip ability doesn't resolve, and the sword remains equipped on the original creature.


How can I handicap in Suburbia? I have Suburbia, and I quite like it. However, some of the people I play with, don't quite have the cutthroat edge to win. It makes not so fun to play if I win every game.

What's an effective way to handicap it?

I was thinking I could simply start with less money, in which case, what would be idea starting amount be?

Generally, score handicaps are the way to go. You don't have to worry about playing games and experimenting in order to find a balance, you can just use the knowledge you already have of how much you tend to win by.

Money handicap could possibly work, but I think it'd be pretty tough - you only have so much room to adjust before it basically becomes a "you have waste one early turn to build a lake right away" handicap.

That said, you can also just not make the handicap formal: try to do the best you can every game, and accept the fact that you're striving for a larger margin of victory instead of worrying about winning.


Does the Zombie collect compensation even though zero ships are sent to the warp? If one player plays a Negotiate card and the other main player plays an Attack card the player playing a negotiate card gets to collect compensation for each ship lost to the warp. If the player playing the Negotiate card is the Zombie, their ships will normally not go to the warp. Does this mean that the Zombie can't normally collect compensation? (unless their power is zapped) Or are the Zombie's ships sent to the warp which causes compensation to be collected, but then the Zombie's power saves those ships before they get there?

My understanding is that the Zombie's power is a replacement effect, meaning their ships never go to the warp. Given this, the official rules state that compensation is taken for each ship that the player loses to the warp when playing a negotiate card:

  If One Player Plays a Negotiate Card and the Other Plays
  an Attack Card: if you played a Negotiate card, your side loses.
  Automatically. Your ships and your allies’ ships go to the Warp.
  However, you now claim Compensation from your belligerent
  opponent. You must take at random, from your opponent’s hand, one
  card for each ship you lost to the Warp (not counting your allies‘ they
  get Warped without Compensation). If your opponent doesn’t have
  enough cards to provide you full Compensation, you take only the
  cards he or she has.

(Sorry - I couldn't find the newer rules in PDF form on the web.)

Since the Zombie's ships never make it to the warp because of the word "instead" in their rules text, they would not collect compensation for the loss. This is verified here at the Cosmic Encounter wiki.


Cylon loyalty card abilities and the New Caprica detention location If the Cylon loyalty card ability says "If not in the brig...", can the player then activate it when he reveals himself as a Cylon while in detention in New Caprica?

No. Abilities that are affected by the brig are affected by the detention area. The FAQ covers this under Pegasus Expansion (page 2), Brig, Sickbay, Detention Area, Medical Center

If you don't like that answer, the Pegasus Rulebook (page 14) states:

  As is the case with the Brig, players cannot use the reveal actions on loyalty cards while in Detention.


If cards exiled by Karn, Scion of Urza enter the graveyard/battlefield, do they still have the silver counter? Let's say I have a Karn, Scion of Urza. I tick up, and one card gets exiled with a silver counter. Later, that card is processed by Wasteland Strangler, reanimated by Reanimate, and then re-exiled by Swords to Plowshares.

Can I now tick down Karn to add that card to my hand? That is, after all these interactions, does that card still have a silver counter? If not, at what point does the card lose the silver counter?

What if the card that's exiled is Eternal Scourge, and I choose to cast it from exile - does the Eternal Scourge enter the battlefield with a silver counter?

No, the counter does not stay on the card in situations like those. Rule 122.2 says

  Counters on an object are not retained if that object moves from one zone to another. The counters are not “removed”; they simply cease to exist. See rule 400.7.


What is this stacking game with rotating coloured sides? If anyone could help I would love to find the name of this game.

As you stack the block the blocked the sides on the block below rotate and they change color (see the stickers) and there are four "bases" or the bottoms in total.  Have been searching the internet for hours now to no avail, hoping someone has seen this before!

This is from Chameleon

  Its the 3-D building game with a colorful twist! As players race to
  build towers using their Chameleon' blocks, there's a surprise with
  every move - the Chameleon blocks magically change their colors!

  Place one red block on a tower and the block below turns green. Choose
  another red block, add it to the tower, and the block below changes to
  red. You'll need skill and luck to correctly "predict" what colors
  will appear. Matching colors earns you another turn. If block colors
  don't match, dismantle the tower, block by block, and start from the
  ground up!


How many IPCs does the USA receive in Axis & Allies Global? In the combined global game for Axis & Allies: Europe 1940 and Axis & Allies: Pacific 1940, how much money does the USA receive before and after it is engaged in a war? Many references I've seen list the USA economy at 52 IPCs, but is this the starting economy?

I've also read that the USA is supposed to receive a boost of 30 IPCs when they are at war. Are these 30 IPCs in addition to money potentially gained from fulfilling national objectives, or does it simply mean the player is now eligible to receive up to 30 from national objectives?

I believe that in the 1940 version of this game the USA starts with around 27 IPC's on the Pacific map and 35 on the Europe side, so a total of roughly 62(?, perhaps my numbers are wrong) as a STARTING income. Then they will have the 30 IPC's per turn added on once at war, which is their only national objective, so when they are at war, they will have an economy of exactly thirty IPC's more than what they gain from territories(convoy losses and extraneous circumstances aside), no more, no less from NO's. I do not own this version, so this is only my take on it.


Cribbage score for pair of cards not in a row If player A play a 6 and then player B play a 7 and finally player A play another 6, considering that each player put their cards in their own stack, would the two 6 will be considering as a pair?

No.  The two sixes would not be counted as a pair.  The pair needs to be with the last two cards played.

  Pair: For adding a card of the same rank as the card just played Peg 2

https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/cribbage/


Are there standards for Bridge robots I'm thinking of building a bridge robot that bids and plays a hand.  Are there any standards for robots to play against each other?

Under the conditions of contest for ACBL/WBF sponsored World Computer Bridge Championships Section VI. Method of Play the use of a Table Manager is mandated, of which two examples are mentioned by name:

  Table Manager

  One copy of each robot will be played on a computer.  Exception can be made to allow two copies of each program (a pair) to be played on one computer.

  Matches will be controlled by a Table Manager program.  One that may be used Bridge Monitor, developed by Gerard Joyez, or a Table Manager developed by Ian Trackman of Blue Chip Bridge Ltd.  The latter program is the property of Blue Chip Bridge Ltd which has full copyright and other intellectual property rights to it.  If it is used it will be supplied to acceptable potential contestants solely for the purpose of preparing for the Montreal competition.  To receive a copy an entrant must agree to the above restrictions, abide by the copyright, agree not distribute the program, and sign a release statement provided by Blue Chip Bridge, Ltd.

  Transmission of information as to deals, bids and play of cards and otherwise, will be consistent with the protocol defined on http://www.bluechipbridge.co.uk/protocol.htm.

  Programs must not communicate with their “partner” program or any other program nor search for any information.  Any attempt to do so will be deemed to be a violation of the rules.  The penalty is disqualification.  The ACBL reserves the right to implement whatever network monitoring and/or other measures that it thinks fit without disclosure to the participants.

Under these conditions of contest, the protocol defined at http://www.bluechipbridge.co.uk/protocol.htm has been a de facto standard since 2005:

  Introductory

  2. The basic concept is that there are five programs, ideally running on five separate computers.  One program plays for each hand. The fifth program acts as the "Table Manager". The Table Manager’s function is to deal the cards, transmit and receive all communications among the playing programs, keep the score and (to a limited extent) enforce the rules of the game.

  3. All communications are in plain-text ASCII format (characters #10, #13 and #32 to #127 only), using TCP/IP. It has been suggested that all 8-bit ASCII characters should be allowed for e.g. accented characters, but this might cause display problems for receiving computers (opinions please).

  ....

  10. Most messages are in plain English, so that the transmissions will be intelligible to operators and observers without decoding.

  Connecting

  1. To connect with the Table Manager, a player opens a client socket to the Table Manager’s computer.  The player sends "Connecting ["team name"] as [Hand] using protocol version [x]".  The team-name should be enclosed in double-quotation marks (ASCII #34) to avoid any conflict with reserved words used in this protocol.  So that the team-name can be used as part of a file-name for hand records etc., it should consist only of characters which would be valid as part of a file-name. ....


Is there such a thing a 3 possible in Spades? We were playing Spades.  My new girlfriend said she had 2 and 3 possible.  I laughed and asked what she meant by the 3 possible.  We stopped the game to figure this out.

Spades: 4,6
Hearts: K,2,3,5
Clubs: K,7
Diamonds: K,9,8

How she should have bid?
In the end she only took 2. After knowing that, how she should have bid?
is a 3 a legit bid with this hand?

The possible trick winners of this hand are the three Kings and the short ♣'s which allows a 3rd trick ruff/cut.
Having only two spades is a weakness. It means that there is a higher probability an opponent has a long ♠ suit.
The game of Spades encourage conservative bids since an overtrick (bag) results in a smaller loss compared to an undertrick.
I would bid 2 with this hand almost always.  If I am at the 4th sit and the sum of bidding is 7 before my bid, I would bid 3. (probably when someone bids nil)
To answer the question of the headline, in the bidding phase each player must say a single number between 0 and 13, nothing more.  She can't say: "2 and maybe 3". Of course that in a game among friends she can say whatever.


Does Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi trigger the ability of Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner? Does Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi

  Put nine +1/+1 counters on target land you control. It becomes a legendary 0/0 Elemental creature with haste named Vitu-Ghazi. It's still a land.

trigger the ability of Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner?

  Whenever a creature with power 4 or greater enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.

It doesn't trigger.

It's not simply a question of checking if the state of the game went from not having a creature of power 4 or greater on the battlefield to having one.

An object only enters the battlefield when it moves from a zone other than the battlefield (e.g. hand, graveyard, exile) to the battlefield or when it's otherwise created on the battlefield.

  Enters the Battlefield
  A nontoken permanent “enters the battlefield” when it’s moved onto the battlefield from another zone. A token “enters the battlefield” when it’s created. See rules 403.3, 603.6a, 603.6d, and 614.12.

Since the land in question already existed, and since the land in question was already on the battlefield, no object entered the battlefield (much less one that was a creature with power 4 or greater). As such, the ability isn't triggered.

A ruling on Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner reminds you of this:

  However, you can’t have a creature with power 3 or less enter the battlefield, raise its power with a spell, an activated ability, or a triggered ability, and have Kiora’s ability trigger.


Scheming Symmetry with revealed top of deck I have a Lantern of Insight in play, and I cast Scheming Symmetry. My question is, when the card resolves, how do players put the card on top? Is it simultaneous, or APNAP?

If APNAP, my fear is that this gives the NAP a chance to choose a different card once they see what I reveal.

It is done in APNAP order, but the other player won't be able to change their choice.

  101.4. 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.

  Example: A card
  reads “Each player sacrifices a creature.” First, the active player
  chooses a creature they control. Then each of the nonactive players,
  in turn order, chooses a creature they control. Then all creatures
  chosen this way are sacrificed simultaneously.

  101.4a If an effect has each player choose a card in a hidden zone, such as their hand or library, those cards may remain face down as
  they’re chosen. However, each player must clearly indicate which
  face-down card they are choosing.

  101.4b A player knows the choices made by the previous players when making their choice, except as specified in 101.4a.

So in this case, both players would choose a card from their decks in APNAP order and keep those face down.  Then you would put those cards on the top of your decks simultaneously, then they would get revealed by Lantern of Insight.


Dominion - bold and regular type: which action comes first? So, my son, my wife, and I play regularly. I've read the instructions thoroughly, and we have been playing for a while both ways, but I would like to see if someone can help figure this out once and for all.

The rules state that when you play an action card you go from top to bottom. We've done that, and still come across cards which bring up the issue of which order to do things in. Do you always do the bold before the regular print, or do you do the regular print, and then the bold? I get that you accumulate a pool of actions, and can use those whenever, and most of the time it makes sense to do the bold first regardless, but certain cards still cause issues.

For instance: Intrigue card - Shanty Town has +2 actions, in regular type is: reveal your hand. If you have no action cards in hand, +2 cards.

I have 1 action card in hand after playing the Shanty Town. Do I reveal my hand before or after playing the other action card in hand?

You do exactly what the card says in order, how bold the type is doesn't matter. The +2 Actions isn't an instruction to play (up to) 2 action cards at that time, it means that later in the Action Phase you can play 2 additional actions. So the revealing cards would happen before you could play any other cards from your hand.

From the Dominion Rules:

  Furthermore, the player must
  fully resolve an Action card before playing another one (if he is
  able to play another Action card).

and

  "+X Action(s)" – the player may play X number of additional Actions this
  turn. +X Action(s) adds to the number of Actions that can be played in the
  Action phase. It does not mean play another Action immediately. The
  instructions on the current Action card must be completed before playing
  any additional Actions.


Can I place a row of letters that makes multiple new words in combination with tiles already on the board? player A makes LACE as a horizontal line play.
player B adds Y to make LACEY then puts E A vertically to make YEA down in the same play
I claimed that was not legal as it is two  turns in one. The other 3 players all disagreed and allowed the play

From the official rules on the Hasbro website:

3: [...] All letters played on a turn must be placed in one row across or down the board, to form at least one complete word. If, at the same time, they touch others letters in adjacent rows, those must also form complete words, crossword fashion, with all such letters. The player gets full credit for all words formed or modified on his or her turn.
4: New words may be formed by:

Adding one or more letters to a word or letters already on the board.

Placing a word at right angles to a word already on the board. The new word must use one of the letters already on the board or must add a letter to it. (See Turns 2, 3 and 4 below.)

Placing a complete word parallel to a word already played so that adjacent letters also form complete words. (See Turn 5 in the Scoring Examples section below.)

So player B was following the rules by playing the word YEA in a single row, and at the same time it adds the Y to the LACE already on the board, as per the second dot point above.
Player B will score points for both LACEY and YEA in this case.


What does it mean to "interrupt movement" In Sid Meier's Civilization, the Communism technology allows another players' movement to be interrupted to prevent figures from leaving a specific square.

What exactly does this mean, does this mean that if my opponent says I'm moving from here to there to attack you, and I spend the Spy resource to interrupt movement, I make him stay in his original square?

Or does it mean that my opponent must always move his figures 1 square at a time, and I play the Spy resource to stop him in his tracks as he moves?

Is there an official answer to this somewhere?

You may interrupt the figures movement in any place between the starting point and ending point. Including the starting and ending points.

This can be argued By the official FAQ (v.2.0)

  Q:
  If a player has the
  Navigation
  tech and is moving a figure
  across water but cannot end in water, and his opponent
  stops that figure’s movement in a water square using the
  resource ability on the
  Communism
  tech, what happens?

  A:
  The figure stops in the water square. In this case, the
  resource ability on the
  Communism
  tech overrides the rule
  that figures cannot end their movement in water

In this case, the moving player was intented to move from the other side of the lake/river to the other side. The movement was interrupted with the spy between the starting and the ending point.

In practice, if for example my friend is attacking me in his turn, coming from 5 tiles away and says "draw your cards, I'll attack you", I would respond "hold on a second, mate. I'll got a spy in you camp.. ;).Now just say that which route you used to come over here..?". He now shows the route and I use my spy and say "This is the place where my spy came in and interrupted your movement".

The Itchis huge summary of Official and Unofficial rules and clarifications in BGG has more notes on the Communism tech.


Core Set ways of dealing with Magnum Opus So, admittedly, I'm brand new to Android: Netrunner. I only own the core set, I've only played five or six times, and I've only played as the Corp. I have moderately strong gaming experience, and while a bit rusty, know my way around building a deck. My wife, so far my only opponent, plays Shaper and every time has managed to get Magnum Opus up and running pretty quickly. The economy it provides, up to 8 credits a turn, is significant, especially with Kate lowering install costs.

I've only beaten her once (not counting a rule-naïve technical win our second match). I attribute this to her skill, of course, but also to that damn MO. The ice I install is almost always easily dealt with, since credits are often no object. Given the newness of the game and my opponent, my play style has been more exploratory than outright ruthless, but still:

Besides flatlining, or fast-advancing, or just being lucky, what are good strategies (again, I just have the core set) for dealing with the advantage of MO?

When playing a Runner who can reliably and easily out econ you the best way to win is to have a game plan that can ignore their econ.

Flatlining

This is probably best done out of Weyland in core. Splash some yellow tagging cards and Snare! and wait to blow their house up.
You can also try to do this with a Jinteki deck, but it will be much harder as core Jinteki does not have the econ to support this play style.

Fast Advance

With just core this is a little harder to do, as you do not have enough 3/2 agendas. Probably best done out of HP using Biotic Labor with some San Sans splashed in.

Play Faster

This should be your go to strategy for most games with core only. The Runner has inevitability, you need to win before they get there. With just the core set the Runner will have a hard time finding the cards they need. Shaper has no in-faction tutor in core, so will have to either just draw a ton or spend influence on special order (and still draw a ton to find MO). Take advantage of this, win before she has set up. Try to take a few more risks early game, scoring behind a single piece of ice when she does not have the correct breaker to go through it.

Use Traps

This strategy can be hard to pull off. It involves knowing your opponent and being able to bluff. However, it can be devastating. Pretending a Junebug is an agenda can win you the game. Or landing an Aggressive Secretary can blow up their rig, buying you time to score out before they can reassemble it.

Play Sideways

This is harder to do in core, but worth a try if you are feeling adventurous. The general idea here is to play mostly economy assets and upgrades. Spam them out, making many remote servers. The runner will have to waste valuable time and money to check and trash each of your servers. Mix in a few traps and after hitting one she may be more hesitant to check your remotes in the future, allowing you to "sneak" an agenda out with no protection. With core only, this is probably best done out of HB with some traps and San Sans splashed in.

Use Defensive Upgrades/Buy Some Data Packs

You can use upgrades to protect your Agendas. In core you are limited to Red Herrings, which adds a nice tax but is not great if the runner has tons of money. If you want to play this way it may be best to invest a little more into the game and pick up some data packs. Specifically Double Time for Caprice Nisei and RP or What Lies Ahead for Ash.
These are defensive upgrades that help you ignore a rich runner. Caprice brings server access down to a weighted coin flip in your favor. Ash relies on  a trace to force the Runner to try again. It is not the perfect solution to your problem but can help you get agendas out early before the runner is fully set up. Replicating Perfection (RP) is a Jinteki identity that helps you tax the runners clicks as well as money.

I also highly recommend you switch sides a few times. Playing as the Runner will give you a huge insight into how they play the game. What they are worried about, what they are looking for, when they feel safe. It will help you learn to exploit those weakness when you play Corp.


Why are there double paths? Just started playing, and I noticed there are the double (Any color) paths, I thought that meant two different paths could be taken, but then I noticed it was blocked when one person put their train down.

If you can only put one path down, and it's any color- why is there two paths if you can only ever use one?

It depends on the number of players. The second path is available when you have four or more players.

  Important Note: In 2 or 3 player games, only one of the Double-Routes
  can be used. A player can claim either of the two routes between cities, but
  the other route is then closed to other players.

Note that no single player may take both routes of a Double-Route.

  Some cities are connected by Double-Routes. One player cannot claim
  both routes to the same cities.


Is an Awakened land an OK target for Ruins of Oran-Rief? I have an Awaken deck and I want to use Ruins of Oran-Rief. If I awaken a land that I placed on the battlefield earlier on the same turn, does it count as a legal target?

Yes, you can use Ruins of Oran-Rief on that Awakened land - as long as, like you're describing, you played that land in the same turn.

The ability in question is this one, I presume:

  {T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on target colorless creature that entered the battlefield this turn.

After your land's awakened, it's a colorless creature (as well as a land). That colorless creature did also enter the battlefield this turn. So, yes, at this point it meets all the prerequisites for targeting with this ability: it's a colorless creature that entered the battlefield this turn.

This is confirmed in a ruling on Ruins of Oran-Rief's gatherer page:

  1/22/2016 - The target of the last ability didn’t necessarily have to be a colorless creature as it entered the battlefield, provided it entered the battlefield during that turn. However, it does have to be a colorless creature to be a legal target of the ability.


What kind of action is selling cargo and contraband to a solid contact? Solid
When you are Solid, Contacts will buy
Cargo and Contraband from you. The
prices offered appear on the Contact
side of the Job Cards.

What kind of action is selling cargo and contraband to a solid contact?
(We've ruled that it's part of a Deal action, in the same way that you can buy fuel in addition to going through the Supply in a Buy action.)

Turns out we ruled correctly.

  Deal Actions

  If your Firefly is in a Contact’s Sector,
  you may Deal with that Contact. You
  may look at 3 and accept up to 2 Jobs
  from their Contact Deck.

  If you are Solid with that Contact, you
  may also sell Cargo and Contraband
  to them as part of your Deal Action.
  (see rules for Reputation on pg 15 for
  details on getting Solid with Contacts).


How does Spellheart Chimera count Fuse or Split cards? I have a Spellheart Chimera. The creature gains +1/+0 for each sorcery or instant in the owners graveyard.

How does this work with such cards as Far // Away?

I've seen a few opinions on this matter, but cannot find an official ruling from WotC (or whoever hands down official rulings).

Can someone provide references to the official rulings, or the location of these rulings so I can look it up?

If "Far // Away" was the only card in your graveyard, Spellheart Chimera would be 1/3

Split cards always count as a single card:

  708.4. Although split cards have two castable halves, each split card is only one card. For example, a player who has drawn or discarded a split card has drawn or discarded one card, not two.

Note that the Chimera asks for instant or sorcery cards, an important difference to just instant/sorcery. The latter only exists on the stack.

It would also count as a single card if the two halves had different types, for example if one half was instant and the other a sorcery.


Sundial of the Infinite and end of turn effects If I use Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker first ability, and before the end of my turn use Sundial of the Infinite. Does he stay a 4/4 indestructible dragon until my next turn? And if yes does that mean he cannot lose loyalty as he is a creature and is indestructible?

No.  Sarkhan stops being a dragon when your turn ends.  It doesn't matter that you have ended your turn "early" using the Sundial - the turn still ends.

The reminder text on Sundial of the Infinite makes this clear:

  {1}, {T}: End the turn. Activate this ability only during your turn. (Exile all spells and abilities on the stack. Discard down to your maximum hand size. Damage wears off, and "this turn" and "until end of turn" effects end.)


Accessible (and educational) deck building game for second grade primary school child? What deck building / card games would be most accessible to a 7-9 year old? As a bonus, are there any that could encourage his/her learning, in line with his/her abilities at that age?

As guidance, Wikipedia states that for second graders:

  ... students are taught place value to tens, hundreds or
  thousands, and renaming with addition and subtraction... Another skill students practice is counting money and making change. Positive and negative numbers are introduced, but not added and subtracted.

Also

  In reading, students read to perform a task using fictional and
  non-fictional texts, and learn about story elements, text features,
  character traits, sequencing, and main idea/details.

As an example, my 7 year old is ready to move on from 'Top Trumps'. He has a solid grasp of the relative values of numbers and in my opinion is ready to add a strategic element. We've tried and enjoyed 'King of Tokyo', although I have noticed he mostly goes for the higher value cards'.

I'm sure there are many 'advanced/adult' games that 7-9 year olds are capable of getting their heads around, but I'd really like something that is immediately accessible to that age group.

If you're looking for simplicity, probably one of the easiest to learn would be Star Realms. It's the simplest deck builder I've played, at least for the base game, but still provides some depth.

One other game I've seen lots of kids enjoy is Quarriors. Your "deck" is composed of dice in a bag, but the same concept applies--you accumulate money to buy creature dice, and those creature dice deal damage to other creature dice. A lot of symbols to deal with, especially if you buy the expansions, but still very accessible.

Getting to math concepts of tens/hundreds and negatives might be difficult since deck builders tend to deal largely with single digit numbers and don't usually have "debt" systems or the like, but the money counting/addition/subtraction element should be present in almost any deck builder.


Are home-made cardstock cards durable? I'm planning to print out the localized version of Cards Against Humanity to play with some friends, and I'm researching the best cost-wise way to do it.

The original PDF suggests using 80lb cardstock and that's it. That's couché 360g, a gramature I've yet to find here in Brazil - the heaviest I've seen in printshops is 300g. I'm researching some places to make thin PVC cards, but that seems hard to find, probably expensive, and I'm considering it as a last resort.

Questions:

how durable would a plain cardstock deck be, considering it's not even going to be shuffled? I'm thinking about they getting destroyed by handing them around, dirty / sweating hands, occasional dirty on the game table (as this is a party game)
what kind of finishings I could use in plain cardstock to give them a longer life? I've seem laminating and plastifying services in printshops, but they're also quite expensive (adds at least 3.5x the cardstock print price). I'm also not looking for pure home-made solutions, as some I've seen in Instructables or BGG, as there's heaps of cards and that's going to take a lot of time to finish - but if that would be the only way to go, suggest away.
how important is to have round corners in this case? Do square corners play a big role in card durability?
how bigger would the deck get if I use light sleeves on it? Consider the original deck has 560 cards, and I would add more expansions to it later.

It is pretty common in other CCGs to play proxy cards. This is typically made up of a common card from the game being played, in a sleeve with a printed copy of the desired card, cut from plain paper and the same size as the other cards, placed in front of the proxy card.

You are correct to point out that the sleeves do make the cards, and subsequently the deck, thicker. I wouldn't bother with liner sleeves (the really thin ones). These are intended to protect cards placed into hard shells. I'd try to make it work with deck protector sleeves.


Should "standard errata" be applied to silver-bordered cards? Should players play cards from the Un-Sets as they stand, or should errata be applied to remain consistent with rules and Oracle updates? In the case that the general question is too broad, opinion-based, or otherwise not a suitable question for Stack, I provide the following, much more specific, question.

Example

Desert Twister, Northern Paladin, Red Elemental Blast, and many other tournament legal cards received similar errata that changed the phrase "card in play" to "permanent". The Cheese Stands Alone did not receive this errata, and so still contains the phrase "If you control no cards in play". How should the card play?

Play the card as if the Oracle text were "If you control no permanents ..."
Play the card as it stands. The state-based triggered ability of Cheese contains the word "card", so rule 108.2a applies. It reads, "In the text of spells or abilities, the term "card" is used only to refer to a card that's not on the battlefield or on the stack". This means that an Elvish Mystic on the battlefield is not a card.
Play the card as it stands, but ignore rule 108.2a and instead interpret "card" to mean something totally different, perhaps because of

old rules text, an unofficial ruling from a judge, an article by Wizards staff, etc., or
because "card in play" means something different than "card"

Which situation is correct? Feel free to wander outside of my three proposed situations. I am by no means claiming that any of them are correct. The rules appear to point to the second option, but the result - The Cheese Stands Alone can win without standing alone - seems odd.

One of the wonderful things about silver-bordered cards is that we can do stuff that maybe doesn't technically work but that players would have lots of fun trying to make work.

  —Mark Rosewater

In other words, the Un-sets were never designed to perfectly follow the rules of Magic. That's probably a big part of why they don't bother giving them rulings and errata in Gatherer.

So, what should you do? It sorta depends on what your goals are.

Serious casual play: play 'em like any old cards

How do people play old cards without looking up Oracle rulings all the time?

Well, if you get familiar enough with the comp rules and the general shape of Oracle errata, you don't really need to most of the time. Sure, I might need to look up the rules for Chains of Mephistopheles every time, but I can just look at most cards in Legends and know what they're trying to do, even if the words are all backwards and the text is terrible inconsistent about "sacrifice" vs. "destroy" vs. "bury."

You can apply the same approach to your Unglued/Unhinged cards. What does "cards in play" mean? It's clearly old-Magic language for either "permanents" or maybe "non-token permanents." When someone proposes a crazy nonsense reading instead, give them an angry look and tell them they're just wasting time. (Or laugh at their joke, haha — and then tell them that they're wasting time.)

Note that some of the Un-cards are too crazy to really stand up to this kind of rigor. You will have to just do your best to make sense of a weird situation at times, but honestly this isn't nearly as big of a muddle as trying to play Magic with old-school rules.

Easygoing casual play: use "common sense" and don't sweat it

The Un-sets aren't really designed for attention to detail and exacting technical play anyway. Arguably part of the "joy" of them is experiencing Magic with a newbie's sense of wonder and discovery (though this is rather personal and your mileage may totally vary).

So, just play like you're still figuring out the game. Try to do what the cards say as best as you can. Don't stress about what the "real" rules are. Don't get technical or demand precision from players at the table. If the game state gets too complicated due to some interaction of the cards, have the group make up something that sounds halfway fair and just move on.

If it helps, imagine you're twelve. (No offense to twelve-year-old "Spikes" who play tournaments and love the comp rules. In fact, mad props to twelve-year-old "Spikes" who play tournaments and love the comp rules!)

I recommend this approach if there's a significant skill gap within the group, or if you intend to play Magic while intoxicated.

Zany nonsense: make stuff up

  "If Floral Spuzzem attacks an opponent and is not blocked, then Floral Spuzzem may choose to destroy a target artifact under that opponent's control and deal no damage."

  "But... how does it decide?"

Some people look at Unglued/Unhinged as an opportunity to joke about playing Magic rather than play Magic per se.

If that's what your group is doing with their silver-bordered cards, then all sense of consistency goes out the window (with the exception of appeal to precedent, maybe).

At this point nothing an outside authority says about the rules is meaningful at all. So just make up your own interpretation and accept that you're playing Mornington Crescent.


Does D/D/D oracle King d'arc's effect work on all card effects that take life Points? What I want to know is, will D/D/D Oracle King d'Arc's effect work on cards like Exchange of Spirit and The Winged Dragon of Ra's second effect as they state you must "pay" life points not "take damage".

The answer is no. Paying lifepoints and taking damage are two different things, just like an effect that sends a monster to the graveyard is different from an effect that destroys a monster. The wording is important. Because the word that the card text uses usually matters, paying lifepoints for any reason will not equate to taking damage for cards like D'Arc. You can read more about taking damage vs. paying lifepoints here.

Any cards that specifically inflicts damage to yourself will work, however. Blazing Mirror Force and Ring of Destruction both fit the bill, while also offering useful destruction effects. If you want a full list of cards that do this, you can find it here.


Treasure from monsters killed by reactive damage such as Fire Shield Do you gain treasure by killing a monster through reactive damage on another player's turn?

The rulebook only says that you may draw a maximum of one treasure per turn when killing a monster, but is not decisive about whether that limit is per player or for the whole group.

During another player's turn a monster was killed and thus he drew a treasure card. Then during his villain phase a monster attacked and hit me, so I chose to use Fire Shield to deal 1 damage in return, which killed the monster.

Would I draw a treasure card because it is the first time I have killed a monster this turn, or would I not gain a treasure because one treasure card has already been drawn this turn?

Since this has been open for too long, I'll throw in my interpretation of the rules.

I think the first step is to be clear about the turns. It seems you would be drawing a treasure on someone else's turn.

The rules talk about a Player Turn (sometimes Hero's turn) on page 6. It even singles out how each player's turn is defined by the Hero-Exploration-Villain phases (page 4, under "Taking turns").

This is important because the other player's turn is totally independent from your turn, so we don't have to take into account your previous actions.

On to the the ToA rulebook (emphasis mine):

  When your Hero defeats a Monster, draw a Treasure card (see
  page 13). You can only draw one Treasure card per turn, no
  matter how many Monsters you defeat during that turn.

First, I'd rule that your hero has indeed defeated a monster. So we're clear on the first sentence.

As for the second sentence, I'd rule that you haven't yet drawn a treasure on that other player's turn.

So... use that treasure wisely! ;)


Why was Monster Reborn brought back? Monster Reborn has been placed back on the limited list:

  Target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon it.

Why has such a powerful card been placed back on the limited list? I'm not complaining because it is nice to be able to play it once again. But at the same time it is very easy to abuse. Especially since it's effect let's you snatch a monster from either player's graveyard for free. I mean imagine if someone used a card like Borreload Dragon and lost it. You could use Monster Reborn to take it from their graveyard.

So basically, like I said, I'm not complaining, but why would they limit such a powerful card?

Why has such a powerful card been placed back on the limited list?

The ways of Konami are not always crystal clear, but consider the following scenario:

Bringing Monster Reborn back will bring balance to the current format. How could that be?

Well, this card would empower those decks that were starting to get outdated (many of them, actually), due to the notable power difference new cards, like Links and Pendulum, are having in the current format.

Monster Reborn was a Staple Card back then in all decks, as it greatly supports basically any card archetype. Monster reborn could be "just" what some older decks needed to lift their game.

With it, those decks can now take an opponent's powerful Link monster like Borreload to even the match up, giving them better competitive level and encouraging players of those decks to become more active players. Also, as older decks had "slower" dynamics (usually taking more time to summon a big monster) this will bring them up to speed so they perform better on today's games.

Now, one may say "but modern decks could also use Monster Reborn, thus giving them further advantage, so how come there is balance?".

It is true that more recent decks could also include Monster Reborn into their build, but realistically speaking it may not be worth it. Many, if not all, modern Archetypes have their own cards that can easily bring back monsters from the GY. Many of them also have "searcher" cards, that can quickly help to build combos and fetch those other cards that bring back monsters.

This means that including a copy of Monster Reborn "just because" may not help those decks, and could even impair them; it could be a dead draw in cases where a card of their own Archetype was needed. In terms of probability this also means that you now have fewer chances of pulling your Ace card (1/41, when before it was 1/40), and even fewer considering dead draws not giving you your "searcher" cards.

In other words, modern decks already have several alternatives for Monster Reborn, whereas older ones have not. This could benefit the game in general, bringing more variety and balance to the format.


What happens when creature has two mutually exclusive restrictions on what can block them? What happens if I equip my Juggernaut

  Juggernaut can't be blocked by Walls.

with a Prowler's Helm

  Equipped creature can't be blocked except by Walls.

or if I enchant my Charging Rhino

  Charging Rhino can't be blocked by more than one creature.

with a Purphoros's Emissary?

  Enchanted creature gets +3/+3 and has menace.

From this very detailed answer, I'd say they're both unblockable, but I'm wondering if the word "except" allows the blocker to block if he or she satisfies the "except" condition.

In both cases, the end result is that they cannot be blocked. When Juggernaut says "can't be blocked by Walls", it means "can't be blocked by creatures that are Walls" and when Prowler's Helm says "can't be blocked except by Walls", it means "If a blocker is declared for this creature, that blocker has to be a Wall". So the end result is that the opponent can't legally declare anything to block that Juggernaut.
The second instance has the same conclusion. Charging Rhino's ability means "no more than one blocker can be declared for this creature" and Purphoros's Emissary's ability means "if blockers are declared for this creature, there have to be 2". The result is that the only legal number of blockers for that creature is 0.
The relevant rule is 509.1b, which is part of the procedure for declaring blockers (emphasis added):

The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it's affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can't block, or that it can't block unless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of blockers is illegal.
A restriction may be created by an evasion ability (a static ability an attacking creature has that restricts what can block it). If an attacking creature gains or loses an evasion ability after a legal block has been declared, it doesn't affect that block. Different evasion abilities are cumulative.

Basically, since a block is illegal if any restriction is disobeyed, if two restrictions put together restrict all creatures from blocking, then no creature can block.


How is retreating through obstacles handled in Memoir '44? My opponent makes an attack roll and gets two flags, causing my infantry unit to retreat two hexes. The only viable path for retreat is through barbed wire directly behind the unit.

Do I:

lose one soldier from that unit, because they can't retreat for the second hex (per the "infantry units must stop" barbed wire rules)?
simply stop the unit on the barbed wire after a one-hex retreat?
some other thing that I'm too much of a M'44 noob to have encountered?

As long as the terrain isn't Impassable, you can retreat through terrain without penalty.

From the Retreat rules, page 10 (emphasis mine):

The player controlling the unit decides which hex his unit retreats onto using the following rules:
A unit must always retreat toward its controlling player’s side of the board.
Terrain has no effect on retreat moves, therefore a retreating unit may move through a forest or village without stopping. However, impassable terrain may not be moved through during a retreat move.
A unit may not retreat onto, or through, a hex already containing another unit (regardless if friend or foe).
If a unit cannot retreat; is forced to retreat off the limits of the battlefield; or would be pushed back onto a sea hex, one figure must be removed from the unit for each retreat move that cannot be completed.
Some obstacles will allow certain units to ignore the first flag rolled against them.

Since the Barbed Wire terrain type isn't impassable, you can retreat through the Barbed Wire without stopping.

In your case the answer would be 3: some other thing.  Specifically, you would retreat twice from the two flags and keep all of your units, assuming you can satisfy all other retreat conditions.


What are good strategies involving Remodel? A basic strategy of using Remodel to upgrade Estates to Remodels, Remodels to Gold, and using Gold to buy or upgrade to Provinces is a powerful but slow strategy, so I haven't been able to win with it.

Are there circumstances in which you would use a Remodel-heavy strategy?  Assume there are no Curses.  How would it work?

Be Ruthless!

This is basically an extension of the strategy of trashing all your lame cards presented here. Don't limit yourself to only remodeling Coppers and Remodels. Be ruthless about it: if you get a Remodel in your hand, play it, even if it means passing up other actions, and even if it means you won't get to buy anything. This will keep your deck small and powerful. And, as Powerlord pointed out, this applies to Expand as well, and I'd throw Upgrade into the same box. If Workshop happens to be around, it can speed up the process.


How can one reach 20 points in At The Gates of Loyang? In all of the Loyang I've played, about a dozen games, nobody has reached 20 points. Have you or someone you've played with reached 20 points? If so, what kind of strategy was used?

I've noticed the following traits among game-winning strategies in the 17-19 point range:

Always pay 1 Cash to score 1 point at the end of each turn.
Selling to high-end casual customers (payouts of 10 or 11) is the easiest way to get 20+ Cash in one turn. You can simply pick them up and hang onto them until you have enough regular customers to get the +2 Cash bonus.
Get regular customers in the middle of the game. Regular customers must be acquired on or before Turn 6 to reach their max payout by game end (Turn 9.)
Plant all empty private fields each turn to ensure an adequate supply of vegetables.
In general, plant the most expensive vegetable each field allows.
Buy a cheap two-pack (0 or 1 cash) every turn or have lots of market stalls for exchanging vegetables.
In general, only take followers you intend to use immediately with the exception of game-changers like Squire. Stockpiling helpers for possible later use can end up being dead weight that makes those card picks a waste.

Which of these are also applicable to a 20-point strategy? What should be added to or removed from the above?

My first game, I got almost to 19 and the winner got 20; my second game, I scored 20 points (no loans, 15 coins left). It caused a big of a stir on boardgamegeek, since Uwe said nobody beat 19 in testing.

It's been a couple of years, so I can't remember the details, but I see this game as an exercise in efficiency. Use your veggies right so you never have to discard them, always go up two steps early on when it's cheap (although the turn I went 3 steps was 8-9-10), never take loans, keep the 2-packs cheap..

I found this bit I wrote about the game back then, discussing the game on BGG.

  I usually had 2-3 regular customers and one fewer casual customer; I
  skipped delivering to each regular customer 1 time to plant. I believe
  I bought 2 extra fields. I never sold to the shop (although I
  considered it once) and I actually used the helper who refills the
  shop so I could buy more grain. I used two-packs to manage the number
  of customers so that I always had more regular than casual without
  letting any regular customer go unsatisfied more than once. Like last
  game, I started with radishes, although next time I think I want to try
  starting with grain if possible. The first time I played I concentrated
  on keeping max{shops, helpers} to 1 for cheap 2-packs; this time I used
  the helper who makes your 2-packs free regardless (I think I got him
  twice, once when I had several helpers covering customers I was saving)

  It could be my group just isn't that nasty - we didn't really use any
  of the interaction cards to mess each other up.

  Edit: yes, I realize I used the word shop to refer to two different
  things, but I don't have the rules handy and I think it's fairly
  obvious what I mean


Can you attempt to counter an "can't-be-countered" spell? Can you cast a counterspell on a spell that can't be countered, or is it not a legal target...

Just wondering if you can Frightful Delusion something that can't be countered but still have the player discard.

Yes you can, since the targeting requirement for counter spells is just 'target spell' not 'target spell that can be countered'.

When the counterspell goes to resolve it will do as much as possible, so it won't counter the spell but any other effects it would have (like Frightful Delusion's discard) will still happen.


Does a sacrificed creature count as a creature that died? If a creature is sacrificed, does it count as dying? For example, when something is sacrificed via lets say Devouring Swarm, would it trigger Diregraf Captains effect?

Yes. Assuming the sacrificed creature is a Zombie, Diregraf Captain's ability will cause target opponent to lose 1 life. This is because "dies" simply means "goes to the graveyard from the battlefield".

  700.6. The term dies means "is put into a graveyard from the battlefield." It is used only when referring to creatures.

A card that talks about something that "dies" does not care if the creature is going to the graveyard because of combat damage, a destruction spell such as Doom Blade, because it was sacrificed, or because its toughness was reduced to 0.


Are you allowed to bake bread in two different ovens? If I build both the clay oven and the stone oven, and I play a bake bread action, am I allowed to cook two grain in my clay oven, and one clay in my stone oven, for a total of thirteen food?

Yes, you can use as many ovens as you want each time you take the bake bread action.

Unfortunately the rulebook itself is not completely clear on this point. But multiple answers on bgg agree.


Can you cast an instant damage spell between first strike and normal damage? We had a situation occur in a game where my opponent had a creature with first strike, and I had one that didn't.

They attacked and I blocked, first strike creature did it's damage which didn't kill my creature, then before I was to apply damage my opponent tried to cast an instant which would have killed my creature.

Is this legal?

If the instant hadn't resolved I'd have killed my opponent's creature, but because we ruled that it did resolve before my creature did combat damage my creature died and her creature lived to fight another round.

It seems that you can cast instants and trigger abilities that run at instant speed between first strike and normal damage.

510.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.
510.5. If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4) as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike. After that step, instead of proceeding to the end of combat step, the phase gets a second combat damage step. The only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are the remaining attackers and blockers that had neither first strike nor double strike as the first combat damage step began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike. After that step, the phase proceeds to the end of combat step.

The 510.4 and the highlighted portion of 510.5 shows that the combat damage step begins anew, and just before this, the active player gets priority. So therefore instants can be cast.


Strategies for Bob Jenkins I'm playing Arkham Horror for the first time and I randomly drew Bob Jenkins as my investigator. With some of the other players' characters, their "purpose" is pretty clear. There's the guy with high fight who starts with a sweet weapon, the guy with high lore and tons of spells, etc. With Bob, I'm not seeing a clear path to how I can best contribute. What type of strategies or tactics should I be employing to make the best use of my turn?

Bob Jenkins is:

Rich!  $9 -> Go shopping for Unique Items
Has stuff: 2 common and 2 uniques, hopefully he starts with some good stuff
Well rounded: 4 Sanity and 6 Stamina is a great split.  Enough Sanity to allow missing a horror check or two, and enough stamina to get down and dirty.
Reasonably fast - speeds 4 and 5 are not out of the question.  Bob can get from place to place quickly.
Has a strong will, minimum 3
Can hopefully compensate for his somewhat poor fight skill with some good items

When playing Bob, you should be aggressive.  Bob has the stats and should have the items to allow him to survive most bad things.  If you get lucky and start with an Elder Sign, go off world as quick as you can.  If not, see if you can buy an Elder Sign, or start grabbing clue tokens.  Favor the locations where common items are found to take advantage of the Shrewd Dealer ability.  Bob may not be the best investigator at any particular thing, but odds are, he is the second best at most things in a normal group.  Use him to fill in for whatever your team is lacking.

According to the Arkham Horror Statistics Report, Bob has the 7th highest winning percentage (out of 48 characters) in October 2010.  For November, he has moved to 6th.


1953 version of Scrabble includes 4 wooden dice - why? I have acquired a 1953 version of Scrabble.  Included with the usual 100 wooden tiles are 4 wooden dice.  Each face of the dice  has the dots imprinted using one of these 3 colors; red, green or black.  I am not familiar with Scrabble using dice.  How do the dice get incorporated into the game both in use & scoring?

Sounds like 4 stowaways from a game of Kismet, which was Yahtzee with green, red and black spots on dice.


A reference of practical tsumego? There are insanely many tsumego in existence, but many of them are very artificial and would never occur in real games. While any tsumego helps to improve, specifically learning shapes likely to be encountered in actual games would be of great benefit. I'm especially thinking of fast games with little time to actually read.

Are there any collections of problems that are likely to occur in real games, or at least close to it?

Life and Death by James Davies is part of the Elementary Go series, and has a systematic treatment of common shapes.  It has saved me more reading time than I can count.


Does an increase in monster Toughness also mean an increase in monster trophy value? There are several things that change a monster's Toughness. For instance:

Azathoth gives +1 Toughness to all Maniacs for the duration of the game
Heat Wave gives +1 Toughness to all Fire Vampires while the environment is active
Shub-Niggurath gives all monsters +1 Toughness for the duration of the game

When effects like these are in play, the monster's Toughness in combat is higher than printed on the monster token. Does this also increase the monster's trophy value?

If yes, what happens in the event of temporary changes to the monster's Toughness? For instance, if a Fire Vampire was killed before a Heat Wave, is the trophy worth one extra point if a Heat Wave strikes later? And if a Fire Vampire is killed during a Heat Wave and then the environment is replaced with something else, is the trophy back to the original value?

You always apply whatever toughness modifiers are in effect when you exchange the trophy, the trophy's worth when you gained it is irrelevant.

To refer to your examples, a Fire Vampire killed before a Heat Wave, and exchanged during a Heat Wave is worth +1 toughness, while a Fire Vampire killed during a Heat Wave and exchanged after the Heat Wave has ended is worth only the monster's base toughness.

From the Arkham Horror FAQ (page 3):

  Q: When spending monster trophies, do you count any
  modifiers to toughness currently in effect?

  A: Yes, use the modified toughness. This bonus applies to
  the use of any monster trophies spent at any location.


What are the rules differences in Empires in Arms? The only version of Empires in Arms that I have ever seen is from 1986 by Avalon Hill.  The game was originally released by the Australian Design Group in 1983.

I've often seen comments that Avalon Hill extensively rewrote at least a few sections as well as added most of sections 10-12.

Does anyone know exactly what rules were changed?

I don't own the Australian Design Group version of the game, and I have yet to find a copy of the rules online in any form.
The Avalon Hill version of the rules can be found in several locations. BGG, eia.xnetz (or with Errata integrated)
This person claims that the following were changed.

Inf went from $2 to $3, ships from $7 to $10, guard and artillary from $6 to $7...
In the ADG version, all corps were uniform, ie, all French corps were 20i3c: In the AH version The french 1st corps is 25i3c, 2-6 are 20i3c, 7-9 are 15i2c and 10-12 are 12i1c. The 4 cav corps in ADG were 7cav each, in AH they are 7 cav for 2, 5 cav for the other 2. Similar corps composition changes were made to most of the countries.
Guard was added to Spain and GB, though not guard commitment.
New political combinations was greatly expanded.

Without access to the ADG rules, I cannot confirm or deny these changes exist though.


Dropping from a sanctioned event mid-draft The tournament rules say:

  Players who drop during limited events own the cards that they
  correctly have in their possession at that time. This includes any
  unopened or partially drafted boosters.

Does this mean that if, in a sanctioned draft, I open a booster pack with two mythic rares (one in the foil slot), I can immediately drop and keep both (in addition to any cards I have already drafted)?

If the answer depends on the Rules Enforcement Level, please explain how it differs at each level.

Players who drop during limited events own the cards that they correctly have in their possession at that time. This includes any unopened or partially drafted boosters.

Like the rule says, if you drop, you keep any unopened or partially drafted boosters. Even if you pack two mythic rares.

If the rule is not convincing enough, here is a Level 2 judge's interpretation of it:

  At any time, you can take the pack in your hand, any cards you have drafted, and any unopened packs you have yet to open and drop from the draft. There will be no repercussions from Wizards for doing this. We don't try to replace any of those cards, the table will just continue drafting with one less player.

Another L2 judge by the name of Nathan Long wrote an in depth article on the subject. It agrees with everything stated above. On this Reddit thread, Toby Elliot chimes in on the subject. Toby is in charge of tournament policy, and he is also a L5 judge.

While it is totally within the rules to grab your pack and drop, the tournament organizer is not obligated to accept your money in the future. My local tournament organizer warns players that they may be banned from participating in future tournaments for dropping repeatedly. The threat is not empty; they actually follow through on some occasions. Talk to the tournament organizer before dropping.


Bile Blight on Chronozoa If I Bile Blight a Chronozoa which had no counters on it, thus sending it to the graveyard, triggering the second ability and creating two tokens that are copies of it, do the copies which come into play also get -3/-3 because they're copies and Bile Blight says "until end of turn"?

A friend and I were discussing this and he seemed to think that it wouldn't since the token copies which came into play wouldn't haven been there when Bile Blight resolved, But I'm almost certain they would die since the card says "until end of turn", Bile Blight doesn't specify the creature as having been in control, and the ruling that "The name of a creature token is the same as its creature types, unless the token is a copy of another creature or the effect that created the token specifically gives it a different name."

But you never know, I could be wrong. Anyone have a certain answer?

Your friend is right, the new copies aren't affected by Bile Blight.
The set of affected permanents / entities is determined at the resolution of the spell.
Of course it would have been a different story if this had been an enchantment along the lines of Engineered Plague

@tengfred already guided you towards an answer that has the exact ruling in his comment, but I've pasted it here for convenience as well.

  611.2c If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of
  any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that
  continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won’t change.
  (Note that this works differently than a continuous effect from a
  static ability.) A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a
  spell or ability that doesn’t modify the characteristics or change the
  controller of any objects modifies the rules of the game, so it can
  affect objects that weren’t affected when that continuous effect
  began.


Does the Favor of the Pope begin in play in Condottiere? In Condottiere, does the Favor of the Pope (white token) begin in play or does it not come into play until the first Bishop card is played?

It begins off of the board. The initial setup is illustrated on p. 4 of the rulebook. It is also worth mentioning that when a player plays a Bishop card, that player can choose to remove the Favor of the Pope token from the board (or leave it off) rather than place it in any region.


What is Majestic Myriarch's power and toughness if I "eternalize" it with God-Pharaoh's Gift? I have a God-Pharaoh's Gift in play and a Majestic Myriarch in my graveyard with no other creatures on the battlefield. At the start of my combat, I use the ability of God-Pharaoh's gift to "eternalize" the Myriarch. When it enters the battlefield, what is its power and toughness?
Based on the rulings for eternalize, I assume the Myriarch will be a 4/4 with no additional power and toughness (from gatherer, emphasis mine):

The token copies exactly what was printed on the original card and nothing else, except the characteristics it specifically modifies. It doesn’t copy any information about the object the card was before it was put into your graveyard.
The token is a Zombie instead of its other types (unlike Zombies created by an eternalize ability) and is black instead of its other colors. Its power and toughness are 4/4. These are copiable values of the token that other effects may copy.

Is this correct? Does eternalize override the variable power and toughness ability of Myriarch?

It will be a 4/4.

As the rulings indicate, God Pharaoh's Gift's effect is a copy effect with modifications; in particular, it modifies the type, color, power, and toughness of the copy. this means that rule 706.9d applies:

  When applying a copy effect that doesn’t copy a certain characteristic, retains an original value for a certain characteristic, or modifies the final value of a certain characteristic, any characteristic-defining ability (see rule 604.3) of the object being copied that defines that characteristic is not copied. If that characteristic is color, any color indicator (see rule 204) of that object is also not copied.

This means that Majestic Myriarch's first ability is not copied, so it is just a 4/4.


Draw a card when my deck and my discard piles are empty There are some times in Ascension when I managed to empty my deck by drawing all the cards in it and also all the cards in the discard piles. It happened once or twice that I played a card that makes me draw another card. Are there special rules to cover this case, or do I simply ignore the drawing effect of the card?

You simply skip the draw part of the instruction.

According to Justin Gary, one of the designers of the game:

  If you have to draw a card and none are available in your deck or discard pile, you simply skip the draw.


Bridge Responding to 1NT with 0 HCP? What is the best response to a 1NT opening bid when responder has 0 HCP and 5 clubs and you have agreed with partner to use Staymans?

Pass. 1NT undoubled when opponents likely have the values for game is unlikely to be bad. If your left hand opponent doubles and it passes around to you you can bid 2C.


Can Demons "eat" ghosts? I'm reasonably sure the answer is no, but at Monster Payday I (or when hiring) can you sacrifice a ghost to the demon? Or not, since it's not a monster, and the icon is a monster icon and ghosts aren't monsters?

No, you can't sacrifice a ghost to a demon. From the final page (24) of the rules, under the description of ghosts:

  Ghosts can not be used to pay the cost
  for a demon.

And then later, under the description of demons:

  Heh, heh. That's me. I'm always happy
  to help you reduce your overhead. But
  don't think you can get away with
  feeding me ghosts. They just go right
  through me.


Sylvan primordial destroying detention sphere that previously exiled primeval bounty, I put a Sylvan Primordial into play and target a Detention Sphere  that previously exiled my Primeval bounty. As part of Sylvan Primordial's triggered ability, I get to search for a forest card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Do I gain 3 life as part of Primeval Bounty's triggered ability or is it not returned to the battlefield yet?

Let's look at the stack:

We play Sylvan Primordial.
Sylvan Primordial resolves, and is removed from the stack.
Sylvan Primordial's 'Enters the battlefield' ability is placed on the stack. You choose Detention Sphere as the target.
Sylvan Primordial's triggered ability resolves. Detention Sphere is destroyed, and you may search your library for 1 Forest and put it into play tapped.
Because the Detention Sphere was destroyed, its 'Leaves the battlefield' ability is now placed on the stack.
Detention Sphere's triggered ability resolves. 'Return previously exiled Primeval Bounty to play' - The forest is already in play, so it doesn't trigger Primeval Bounty's ability.

Because you might assume that there's a timing difference between the destroying of permanents and the counting of those permanents for the forest-retrieval effect, it's logical to think that the consequences of said destruction will have already resolved. This is not the case however, as is shown by Sylvan Primordial's specific Ruling on the Gatherer:

  If Sylvan Primordial’s enters-the-battlefield ability resolves but one of the target noncreature permanents isn’t destroyed (perhaps because it has indestructible or it regenerated), it won’t count toward the number of Forest cards you can put onto the battlefield.

Its ETB trigger resolves in one motion, and the additional ruling compensates for the difference in targets chosen vs targets saved by opponents.


What is the best strategy for Coppersmith in Dominion? I tend to think of the Coppersmith card in Dominion: Intrigue as pretty much a dud of a card. Anybody have any useful tips as to how to play this card properly?

You are correct in your assessment that in most Kingdoms, Coppersmith is a poor card and you would be better off with something else or just Silver. It has a couple of problems, as you have seen. It's terminal, so it doesn't play well with basic drawing cards that could give you a hand full of Copper, like say Smithy. It doesn't provide a +Buy, so if you do manage to pull off some combo that lets you play it with a hand full of Copper, you'll need to add yet another piece to actually use your money. And assembling a powerful combo is difficult since you need to not trash your Copper or even discard it to, say, Warehouse.

That said, Coppersmith's best friend is probably Tactician. Tactician provides big hands with plenty of Copper, another Action to play with, and that critical +Buy that lets you actually do something with all of your money.

As Paul Marshall's answer hints at, a T1/T2 Coppersmith is fairly likely to connect with three Coppers and provide a T3/T4 Gold. That can help you get off to a good start, but then you have this increasingly-useless card in your deck. The presence of trash-for-benefit cards like Remodel, Apprentice, or Upgrade can make this kind of Coppersmith opening more attractive.

The Dominion Strategy Wiki has some more discussion. It also suggests that Coppersmith can be a boon to a very powerful draw engine that doesn't need to trash. Some combination of Wharf or Council Room (draw and +Buy) and King's Court or Throne Room (to magnify the power of the drawing) might make you take notice.


Is there any strategic reason to skip a turn to untap Time Vault? A bunch of recent Channel Fireball videos (LSV, Cheon, LSV again) show players exploiting Time Vault combos, where you untap the Vault with Voltaic Key or some similar effect to take infinite turns. That got me thinking that Time Vault seems like a pretty useless card from a competitive perspective if you're not using it in a combo.

Has there ever been a competitive deck that used Time Vault's manual untap ability, where you skip your turn to untap it? Or can anyone even think of a situation which could plausibly occur in competitive play where skipping your turn to untap Time Vault is a good (or at least defensible) strategic choice?

One consideration is if there is some symmetrical negative effect in play, such as Smokestack or Bottomless Pit. Skipping your turn skips a trigger on such cards that would effect you.

Another possibility would be if you're able to essentially take your turn during your opponent's turn. Prophet of Kruphix is pretty good for that, as is Seedborn Muse. Of course you're not getting combat steps, but there are plenty of decks which don't need combat in order to win.


Can you identify this "memory" card game with 3 secret cards, lowest score wins Last summer, my nephew taught our family a card game.  I think he learned it in Singapore.  We would like to find out what the game is called.

THE RULES - as best as I can remember them:

Each player is dealt three cards, face down.  He can look at them once, but has to remember the values from then on.

The rest of the cards are put in a drawing pile.  One card is flipped and put in a discard pile.

The players take turns, drawing either the top discard or the top from the drawing pile.  He can swap the card with one of his three face-down cards if he wants to.  Then he discards the extra card in the discard pile, face up.  This swap will allow the player (and others) to refresh their memory of which cards are in which positions.

Face cards are special:

If you pick up a Jack (from the drawing pile or from the discard pile), you can peek at any face-down card.
If you pick up a Queen, you can swap any two face-down cards belonging to another player.
If you pick up a King, you can swap one of your own face-down cards with one of someone else's.

The goal is to minimize the sum of your three face-down cards.  When the draw pile is depleted, everyone flips their face-down cards and adds up the values (A=1, J-11, Q=12, K=13).

You can play many rounds.  Just keep adding the scores from each round.  The lowest score wins.

--

I might have some of the rules wrong.

Please help us identify this game.

The rules are very close to Cabo. Differences:

number of cards

4 cards face down instead of 3, and the player may look at only two of them at the start of play

card powers

Q or J: blind swap
9 or 10: peek at another player's card
7 or 8: peek at your own card

scoring

all cards according to rank (A=1, K=13)


To what extent is a Runner forced to take actions to pay for a Tollbooth? Playing against a Shaper (Kit) deck, I had a situation where the Runner encountered my Tollbooth with zero credit in their pool. They did have 2 credits on a Ghost Runner and also had a Cloak (with its recuring credit unused this turn), a Refractor and a Net Mercur (with no credits on it) installed:

My question is, when this Runner encounters Tollbooth in this situation, to what extent are they forced to take actions which make credits available in order to pay the 3 credits required by the Tollbooth?

Must the Runner spend credits from a Ghost Runner if they are available? I believe the answer to this is yes, but some confirmation with reference to the appropriate rule(s) would be helpful.

More interestingly, is the Runner in this situation obliged to use their Cloak to take some action (i.e. using the Cloak credit to invoke one of the abilities on the Refractor, say the +3 strength) which will result in the Net Mercur gaining a credit, which in turn can be used to pay for the Tollbooth's encounter action?

Or does the Tollbooth only force the Runner to spend credits which are directly available without any other actions taking place first (and must they only come from the credit pool)?

From the official FAQ, regarding Tollbooth:

  The Runner must pay 3 [credits] if he or she is able to do so, even by spending temporary credits (such as bad publicity credits).

Also from the FAQ, on encountering ice:

  When the Runner encounters a piece of ice, he or she must resolve any abilities triggered by the encounter before he or she can trigger paid abilities or break subroutines.

If there are at least 3 credits on Ghost Runner and/or Net Mercur when Tollbooth is encountered, then they must be spent upon encounter. If the Runner doesn't have 3 credits available to spend at that moment, without triggering other abilities such as Cloak's, then the run ends.


What happens in the case of multiple land animation effects? Suppose I have Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper, and I cast an instant and use the trigger to put 3 counters on a Celestial Colonnade, turning it into a 3/3 colorless Elemental with haste.

Now suppose I activate Celestial Colonnade. What happens? My assumption is that it becomes a 7/7 white and blue Elemental with haste, vigilance and flying until end of turn, and then it goes back to being a colorless 3/3 with haste. Is this correct?

Yes, the land will be 7/7 until end of this turn, and a 3/3 otherwise.

Noyan Dar's and Celestial Colonnade's abilities do the same thing: Turn the Colonnade into a creature that's still a land and set its power and toughness to a specific value. When both effects are active, the latest effect "wins".

Therefore, the order in which you activate them matters. If you first activate and resolve Celestial Colonnade's ability, then trigger Noyan Dar, the Colonnade will be 3/3, because the Colonnade's power/toughness-setting ability will be overwritten by Noyan Dar. If you trigger and resolve Noyan Dar first and then activate the Colonnade, it will be a 7/7.

Noyan Dar's ability has no end condition, and counters always remain on permanents, so the land will be a 0/0 with 3 +1/+1 counters on it when the Colonnade's ability has ended.


Oregon Trail Card Game: What happens when you run out of supply cards? So I was playing with my friends the other night and we ran into an issue: We ran out of supply cards in our hands and then came to a river. By the rules of the card, we had to roll an even number to cross or discard a supply card, but we had no supply cards to discard. After scouring the manual we couldn't find an answer to this scenario. Clearly something bad should be happening to us here, but because we couldn't find a ruling we just decided to call it good and forded the river with no consequences. We assume we probably should have died there, but is there a proper ruling to this that we missed somewhere?

After reaching out to Pressman Toy regarding the ruling I received the following:

  In the Oregon Trail narrative, players throw supplies overboard to help cross the river. But, even though the wagon may become empty and technically it would be easier to float, they are stuck. Players must continue to follow the instructions until someone finally does roll an even number!

So unless you are dealing with a river where players die when rolling a one, nothing bad happens, but you do have to spend a little time rolling.


Which is authoritative: Ban List or Gatherer? I built me a comannder deck for Athreos, God of Passage.  I did some searching for ways to get  card draw (because I was running out of cards) and one of the card I looked at was Yawgmoth's Bargain.

I am always careful to check to make sure that the card I want to play is legal.  So I loaded the "Sets and Legality" tab for Yawgmoth's Bargain.  Since it is listed as legal for comannder, I bought the card and have been happily playing it in my commander games.

Well, tonight I was browsing around and got to the Commander banned list (MtgCommander and Wizards).  To my surprise I saw Yawgmoth's Bargain on the banned list.

Frustrated that I had missed this I went back to the "Sets and Legality" page on Gatherer to double check.  As you can guess, the card is listed as "Legal" for Commander.

So, which one wins?  A ban list on a web page, or the Gatherer card database?

NOTE: I am happy to get opinions on this.  But what I really want is a rule to says which one is the authoritative source of legality.  (Without a rule, we are all just giving opinions right?)

MTGCommander.net is the authoritative reference for all things commander.

Says who?

First, a little history.

According to this article, Adam Staley created the format. He shared it with Sheldon Menery, a retired Level 5 Judge, who popularized the format by inviting judges at tournaments to play. Over the next few years, the format spread from judges to the common player.

Gavin Duggan, who is a member of the Commander Rules committee along with Sheldon Menery, is also the creator of MTGCommander.net. When the rules committee bans a card, it shows up there first.

Wizards of the Coast catches on

But they wanted to avoid using the trademarked "Highlander" in the name (which could lead to a lawsuit), and so Wizards changed the name to "Commander". Wizards maintains the Gatherer and their own banned list for MTGO. Their list links to MTGCommander in the opening paragraph!

We like rules

If that wasn't convincing enough, there is actually a rule that acknowledges MTGCommander as the source of "additional resources" (emphasis mine):

  903.1. In the Commander variant, each deck is led by a legendary creature designated as that deck’s commander. The Commander variant was created and popularized by fans; an independent rules committee maintains additional resources at MTGCommander.net. The Commander variant uses all the normal rules for a Magic game, with the following additions.