It That Betrays in a multiplayer game How does It That Betrays' triggered ability work in a multiplayer game, if two of us controls a It That Betrays, and a third player sacrifices a card?

The ability is a triggered ability, so they both trigger when the third player sacrifices a creature. Whichever one is on top of the stack resolves first, and puts the creature into play under that player's control. Then the other one resolves, but can't find the creature card in the graveyard, so it does nothing.
It That Betrays' ability is a leaves-the-battlefield triggered ability. The rule regarding those abilities, 603.6c says

Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the game. These are written as, but aren't limited to, "When [this object] leaves the battlefield, ..." or "Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, ..." An ability that attempts to do something to the card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone that it went to. An ability that triggers when a card is put into a certain zone "from anywhere" is never treated as a leaves-the-battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that zone from the battlefield.

Once the first ability that resolves moves the creature out of the graveyard onto the battlefield, the second ability that resolves can't find the creature in the graveyard, so it doesn't do anything.
The order in which the abilities go on the stack depends on APNAP order. This is what the Comprehensive Rules have to say

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

In other words, which player gets the creature depends on whose turn it is. If we call the players with It That Betrays A and B, and the other player C, and say that A, B, C is the turn order, then

If it's Player A's turn, A's ability goes on the stack, followed by B's. This means that B's ability resolves first, so B gets the creature.
If it's Player B's turn, B's ability goes on the stack, followed by A's. This means that A's ability resolves first, so A gets the creature.
If it's Player C's turn, A's ability goes on the stack, followed by B's. This means that B's ability resolves first, so B gets the creature.


Dominant strategy in chess Is there any proof ensuring there can be no dominant strategy for chess? By dominant strategy, I mean a way of playing that always works regardless what the opponent do.

One of the following is true:

There is a dominant strategy for White.
There is a dominant strategy for Black.
There are strategies for both players that guarantee they don't lose, i.e. perfect play results in a draw (e.g. as in Tic-Tac-Toe).

No one knows which is true. Most experts guess that perfect play leads to a draw, and a few believe White can always win. It is unlikely Black has a dominant strategy, but no one has been able to rule it out either. Theoretically, a computer working for long enough could just try everything and tell us the answer, but with today's best technology and algorithms that would take prohibitively long.

Here are some important features of chess that together guarantee that one of the 3 cases above is true:

Chess is a game of complete information, i.e. both players always know everything that is going on.
Players take turns (as opposed to playing simultaneously, e.g. as in Rock Paper Scissors)
The game always ends eventually (at least under tournament rules as of 2014, after enough moves are made that aren't irreversibly advancing the game, it's a draw).
There is no randomness.
There are only 2 players.

Intuitively, these facts let you completely reason out the consequences of everything that could possibly happen (if I do A, my opponent could do B or C, in which case I could do D or E...). For a more formal explanation of why this implies there are either dominant or drawing strategies, see Zermelo's Theorem.

[Parts of this answer are synthesized from earlier answers/comments.]


Memory Plunder/Flashback interaction My opponent has a Think Twice in their graveyard and then pays its Flashback cost to cast it.

Could I respond to the Flashback by casting Memory Plunder and casting my opponent's Think Twice before he gets to flash it back?

No, you can only cast Memory Plunder while you have priority.

116.1. Unless a spell or ability is instructing a player to take an action, which player can take actions at any given time is determined by a system of priority. The player with priority may cast spells, activate abilities, and take special actions.

If your opponent is paying the cost to cast Think Twice from their graveyard, then they must have priority.
You will only get priority to cast a spell after Think Twice has been fully cast and is on the stack, and your opponent passes priority after casting it.*

116.3c If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
116.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player’s mana pool, they announce what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.

And note that after the spell is cast, it is no longer in the graveyard to be targeted by Memory Plunder, it is now on the stack:

601.2. To cast a spell is to take it from where it is (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

*Passing priority after casting a spell is considered to be implicit unless you state that you wish to retain priority as you cast the spell.


Rule 506.4a vs 509.3a (removing attackers/blockers during combat) I'm returning to Magic after a long hiatus, so my apologies if this question is obvious. I'm trying to understand why both of these rules exist:

506.4a: Once a creature has been declared as an attacking or blocking creature, spells or abilities that would have kept that creature from attacking or blocking don't remove the creature from combat.

And:

509.3a: During the declare blockers step, if an attacking creature is removed from combat or a spell or ability causes it to stop being blocked by a blocking creature, the attacking creature is removed from all relevant damage assignment orders. The relative order among the remaining attacking creatures is unchanged.

Given what 506.4a says, when would 509.3a ever apply? Browsing other related questions suggests that when a card specifically uses the phrase "remove from combat", 506.4a doesn't apply (because cards overrule the rules), is that the only time you would fall back to 509.3a, or are there other examples too?
Edit for anyone reading this later who is still confused:
The accepted answer does give examples of cases when a creature is removed from combat, however murgatroid99 helpfully points out that 506.4a is much more precise than I initially thought - it only applies to cards that say something like "prevent this creature from attacking/blocking this turn", not literally any effect that could prevent a creature from attacking/blocking.

Yes, there are cards that remove creatures from combat like:

But there is also regeneration ability, which removes the regenerated creature from combat.
Rule 701.12a

If the effect of a resolving spell or ability regenerates a permanent, it creates a replacement effect that protects the permanent the next time it would be destroyed this turn. In this case, “Regenerate [permanent]” means “The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.”

From question:
Is a Regenerated Creature Removed from Combat?
There may be other examples as well, but this one comes to mind.

The rule 506.4a is written that way, because for example if a card prevents something from attacking, it doesn't have an effect on a creature that is already attacking. The rule 509.3a applies in all these situations where a creature is removed from combat.
The rule 506.4 also states other situations where a creature can or cannot be removed from combat:

506.4 A permanent is removed from combat if it leaves the battlefield, if its controller changes, if it phases out, if an effect specifically removes it from combat, if it’s a planeswalker that’s being attacked and stops being a planeswalker, or if it’s an attacking or blocking creature that regenerates (see rule 701.13) or stops being a creature. A creature that’s removed from combat stops being an attacking, blocking, blocked, and/or unblocked creature. A planeswalker that’s removed from combat stops being attacked.
506.4a Once a creature has been declared as an attacking or blocking creature, spells or abilities that would have kept that creature from attacking or blocking don’t remove the creature from combat.
506.4b Tapping or untapping a creature that’s already been declared as an attacker or blocker doesn’t remove it from combat and doesn’t prevent  its combat damage.
506.4c If a creature is attacking a planeswalker, removing that planeswalker from combat doesn’t remove that creature from combat. It continues to be an attacking creature, although it is attacking neither a player nor a planeswalker. It may be blocked. If it is unblocked, it will deal no combat damage.
506.4d A permanent that’s both a blocking creature and a planeswalker that’s being attacked is removed from combat if it stops being both a creature and a planeswalker. If it stops being one of those card types but continues to be the other, it continues to be either a blocking creature or a planeswalker that’s being attacked, whichever is appropriate.


Is drawing resources required? Players draw resources, commodities (Cities and Knights), and fish tokens (Fishermen of Catan) during the course of various Catan games. It is almost always advantageous to draw your earned "goods" whenever possible, but is it required?

Forgetfulness

Players sometimes forget to draw the goods they are entitled to. If play passes to the next player before they remember, we often forbid the forgetful player from drawing what they forget. They should learn to pay attention, although I am very lenient with new players.

Strategy

I was recently in a situation where purposely not drawing all my goods would have been to my advantage had a certain number been rolled. A player may do this to avoid having more than 7 resources in hand when a win is otherwise clenched, or to avoid drawing the Old Boot in Fisherman of Catan (which requires the owner to have one additional victory point to win). Had someone reminded me to draw all my goods, I might have suspiciously declined.

What do the rules say (or imply) about this? Are players required to draw all their goods? Are forgetful players allowed to gather previously forgotten goods?

You must draw all of your goods.
From the FAQ:

Resource Cards - Can I voluntarily take less resources or none at all after the production roll?
Answer
No.

I don't believe there is any official guidance on what to do if draws are forgotten about.  If it is noticed fairly quickly, the draws should be made up.  But if you've gotten to a new round of trading, or a 7 has been thrown, it is probably too late.
You can consult this past question that gives general advice on Take Back Privileges that might be helpful in resolving the situation.
The answer stays the same for Cities and Knights


Does a herbivore gain 1 star if he attacks but the damage is ignored due to armor plating? This scenario came up in a game played tonight:

The King is in Tokyo City and has an Armor Plating card ("Ignore
damage when that damage would only make you lose 1").
Alienoid is not in Tokyo and has a Herbivore card ("Gain 1 star on your turn if
you don't damage anyone").
Alienoid, after his second and final reroll, has rolled a single Attack (along with a few hearts).  We all agreed that The King should not take any damage because of his Armor Plating.

Our question:  Should Alienoid gain 1 star since he didn't damage anyone?

Yes, Alieniod with Herbivore should gain 1 Star for not damaging anyone.

Herbivore specifically tells you to gain a Star if you don't damage anyone, so assuming Alienoid doesn't buy a card that damages anyone, they will gain 1 Star from Herbivore. The rules specifically call out the matter:

  If an attack somehow ends up doing no damage (due to Camouflage for example), then it is no longer considered an attack for the purposes of cards like Poison Spit or Herbivore.


Poker hand probabilities in Doomtown:Reloaded The short version of my question is as follows:

What is the best way to compute the probability of different hand ranks after redraw in poker? Can this easily generalise to a stacked (non-standard) deck?

Doomtown Reloaded is a trading card game in which combat is resolved by hands of poker. Each card has an associated suit and value. Deck construction requires a 52 card deck with up to 4 cards of each suit and value. The ability of your 'dudes' alters the way you construct your poker hand. Some 'dudes' are stud shooters they allow you to draw more cards. Some dudes are 'draw' shooters, they allow you to discard and redraw. You are also allowed to include an additional 2 jokers (which can be used as any suit and value for the purposes of forming poker hands)

Computing how adding stud shooters affects your draw hand probability is relatively easy, however I haven't been able to find a description of how to compute the probability of different hands after redraw.

I want to know how to compute the likelihood of the 10 poker hand ranks (high card -> 5 of a kind) given the deck construction, number of cards you initially draw and number of cards you discard and redraw.

On the suggestion of mergatroid99 I've also asked this question at math.stackexchange.com here

Creating a computer simulation is probably actually the easiest way to do this.

User 'Big Easier' created such a program and used it to create probabilities for the starter decks, which can be found here:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1258645/draw-hand-simulator-preconstructed-decks

He mentioned putting the code on github, but I cannot find it.  Perhaps you could send him a message and get a copy of it.


Eclipse - Influence action to remove enemy discs? Here's the scenario: I have a ship currently in an opponent's sector, he has no ships.  Do the rules allow for me to remove his influence disc and place one of my own?  The rules (2nd ed) around influence action are as follows:

You may move an influence disk to one of the following (forgive the paraphrasing):

Sector where there is not currently an influence disk there and you have an adjacent sector under your influence
Sector where only you have a ship
Back to your track

I am wondering if anyone has any actual evidence one way or the other on this, because it seems that under the second condition, you may use the influence action to remove an influence tile and place one of your own.

I've seen a couple forum posts on this, most answers I have seen have been something to the effect of "you can never remove an opponent's influence disc except during combat phase" with next to no justification in the actual rules for that statement, though it seems this is still the general consensus.

Planets also complicate the question, as it is explicitly stated that you may not send population cubes to occupied planets (rather, it says you may only colonize unoccupied planets), and there is no mechanism for destroying population cubes other than at the end of combat phase, neutron bombs or not.

My group and I are looking to make an official ruling going forward, and to us evidence is paramount.  What we are leaning towards is the following:

Under the second condition of influence action, it is possible to place an influence disc on an opponent's sector, returning that influence disc to their track.  However, you may not colonize occupied planets.  Therefore, using the influence action in this way is possible yet not necessarily wise (you are giving your opponent an extra disc to take action, without them losing their population cubes until the end of the next combat phase -- and only if you still have a ship there at the end of that combat phase).

By the best evidence I can find, no, you cannot remove an enemy influence disc with the Influence action.

You are correct that by a literal reading of the second edition rules, this would be allowed. It appears that this is an oversight that was made when they updated the wording for the second edition. The best evidence would be that the first edition rules do NOT allow this. I believe that ruling the other way would require a statement about this rule being errata'd between editions. But nothing like this is listed in any of the 1st edition errata. It seems that the intent is that the influence space must always be empty.

It's also a good argument that the rules make no mention of removing an opponent's influence disc as an allowed part of the influence action. So if you were to follow the rules completely literally, you would have to move your influence disc to the spot where the opponent's influence disc already is, without moving his. So you would have both influence discs there together.

See discussion on this question here.


Can you use a base's ability twice by returning it to your hand with Mega Mech? I'm playing the card version (not online) of Star Realms. So here is how I believe you could play things out. Is this legal or not?

Play a base from your hand such as "Fighter Base"
Use the base ability and force an opponent to discard a card
Play "Mega Mech" from your hand
Use it's first ability and return "Fighter Base" to your own hand
Play "Fighter Base" again
Use "Fighter Base"'s first ability to force your opponent to discard another card.

Would this be ok? I can't seem to find a rule either allowing or denying this.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there would be another Star Empire base or ship in play so that you could activate the ability on "Fighter Base"

Yes, that would be a valid move as far as I can see (as long as you had another Star Empire card in play to trigger the ability of the Fighter Base).

While there are no rules anywhere that I have found to support or reject this exact scenario, the official Crisis expansion announcement indicates that it is possible:

  Here we see Mega Mech, one of the few cards in the game with the awesome ability to return bases to hand. Sometimes you’ll want to bounce your opponent’s Outpost to let your fleet slam in for big damage, but even cooler is returning one of your own powerful bases to hand so you can play it again!


What game uses dice with compass point arrows, forbidden signs, explosions, arrows and targeting reticles? A while ago I bought a few bags of factory 2nd dice. Out of those bags, there are a handful of dice that I have not been able to immediately identify. Some I have later been able to identify through image searching, such as the Warhammer Blood Angels, Adeptus Mechanicus and Tyranids logo dice, as well as the green and pink nebular swirl dice.

However, I am still unsure as to what some of the dice are. I’ve tried looking at dice websites, searching on Google and even using reverse image searches, all to no avail. For some, I am not even sure how to concisely describe them to accurately search for them.

What I want to know is what game are these dice from? Or, if they are not from a specific game, what they are called. Below are images of the dice:

I also have green and purple dice similar to the ones in the above image.

This question has also been asked over at  RPG.SE

These are survivor dice from the cooperative world-of-survival-horror board game Dark, Darker, Darkest.

(The picture is labeled as "an expansion", but it's just a set of dice in each of the player colors. The base game uses these dice but shares a set among players.)


Is there a conventional way of searching for lands in a mono-red deck? I'm constructing a mono-red deck and I was wondering whether there are any options for land search / ramp for this kind of deck? I don't want to combine my deck with green for land searching.

I was thinking about cards like this:

Any ideas?

Edit:
As a second thought: I'm looking for more mana in fact not land.
I'm constructing a Standard (Type II) deck.

Solemn Simulacrum is good colorless fetch (and draw).

Traveler's Amulet and Horizon Spellbomb can get lands into your hand.

Caged Sun will get you lots of mana (but no lands) as will Koth of the Hammer.

Iron Myr is a good mana producing creature

Infernal Plunge and Geosurge can also have their uses.

Fiery Fall is the only mono-red card that could be considered land fetch but it's not Standard.

Other non-Standard methods for increased mana in red can be:

Extraplanar Lens

Gauntlet of Power

Gauntlet of Might

Mana Flare


Hive Mind and Counterspell Let say I have Hive Mind in game:

The opponent casts Counterspell on my creature spell. Can I counter the Counterspell with the clone of Counterspell I get from Hive Mind?

Yes, you can. By the time Hive Mind's ability copies your opponent's Counterspell, that Counterspell is already on the stack. So you can choose it as a target for your own copy of Counterspell.

In more detail, what happens is this:

You cast your creature spell, which let's say is a Weirded Vampire. (Why would you be playing Weirded Vampire against Hive Mind? Weird, huh.) The stack is

Weirded Vampire

Your opponent casts Counterspell, and Hive Mind's ability triggers. The stack is

Hive Mind's ability
Counterspell (opponent's)
Weirded Vampire

The ability resolves, giving you a copy of Counterspell, which you can choose to have target the original Counterspell. The stack is

Counterspell (yours)
Counterspell (opponent's)
Weirded Vampire

Your Counterspell resolves, countering your opponent's Counterspell. The stack is

Weirded Vampire

The Weirded Vampire now resolves.

This does mean that (in a 2-player game) Hive Mind basically nullifies any counterspell which can target a copy of itself.


Can my opponent chain an on-summon trigger effect to my on-summon trigger effect? I'm confused about on-summon trigger effects. Consider this scenario:

Opponent has a card on the field, with the effect When your opponent Summons a monster: ... (e.g. Trap Hole or Evolzar Solda. Note the when in the effect.)
I Summon a monster that has the effect If this card is Summoned: ... (e.g. Infinitrack Anchor Drill).
Because I am the turn player I get to activate effects first. I activate my monster's effect.
(The part I'm asking about) My opponent want to activate their effect, but, if I understand correctly, they CAN NOT since my effect started a chain, and the last thing that happened in that chain was that I activated my effect, not that I Summoned a monster.

This is how I understand it. I've gathered this from looking around the internet. One relevant quote from the wiki is this (emphasis mine):

  During the Summon response window, due to Fast Effect Timing, first the turn player must activate any compulsory effects that they triggered, such as "Summoning Curse" and "Summoner Monk", then their opponent must do the same. Then, the turn player has the opportunity to activate optional effects like "Torrential Tribute" and "Armageddon Knight"; if the turn player passes, then the opponent also has the opportunity to activate these effects. If at any point either player starts a Chain, standard Chain rules are followed.

Since a Chain is started when I activate my effect, my opponent cannot activate their effect in response to my Summon since it misses timing.

One relevant image is this:

I imagine that the order is this:

The game state is open (my Main Phase 1).
Turn player takes an action that does NOT start a Chain (my Summon).
Does this activate a triggered effect? (Yes, my monster's effect).
Chain rules (opponent can't activate effect, since they would be chaining it to my effect activation, not my Summon).

A good answer needs sources to relevant rulings (if any). Preferably directly from Konami, but links to a wiki/trusted source is "good enough" if no Konami quote can be found. If I'm wrong and my opponent can chain to my Summon the answer should explain how and why. Edge cases should be included too, if there are any (e.g. a Summon that starts a chain vs one that does not).

You are allowed to activate cards like torrential tribute, as you mention in your own quote:

  During the Summon response window, due to Fast Effect Timing, first
  the turn player must activate any compulsory effects that they
  triggered, such as "Summoning Curse" and "Summoner Monk", then their
  opponent must do the same. Then, the turn player has the opportunity
  to activate optional effects like "Torrential Tribute" and "Armageddon
  Knight"; if the turn player passes, then the opponent also has the
  opportunity to activate these effects. If at any point either player
  starts a Chain, standard Chain rules are followed.

The reason is that, even if another card is activated in response to the summon, that whole chain is treated as reacting to that summon.

Torrential tribute can however miss the timing, as DarkCygnus mentioned. However, this has to do with how the summon happened, and not with the cards that were activated in reaction to the summon afterwards.
Ultimate offering is indeed a good example of this, here chain link 1 resolving would be the last thing to happen.

Another example as given by Konami:

  Starlight Road: If you Chain “Starlight Road” to “Heavy Storm” while
  you control 2 or more Spell or Trap Cards and Special Summon “Stardust
  Dragon” you cannot activate “Torrential Tribute” afterwards. Even
  though the effect of “Heavy Storm” is negated, the activation was not,
  so the card will still resolve without effect and you will miss the
  timing to activate “Torrential Tribute.”

An example of Torrential tribute being chained to another effect after a summon. (it is listed under the older rulings from the UDE era, but those remain valid until overridden):

  "Torrential Tribute" can be activated after a Flip Summon, but it does
  not negate the Flip Effect (it is chained to the Flip Effect).


Why was the banding ability 'removed' from MTG? What was so complicated about it? While the banding ability was never actually removed from the game, no cards have been printed that use the ability in any set following sixth edition and it has never appeared on any rules summary I've seen from the past several years. Why is this? I've heard it's because the ability was 'too complicated'. What exactly was so complicated about it that might have encouraged its extinction? What is a good situation/example that demonstrates why it was probably exiled from the game?

List of cards that reference the banding ability

Take it from the horse's mouth:

The short explanation of banding is that if your creatures attack or block in a band, the controller of any creatures that deal combat damage to them doesn’t get to assign that damage -- you do. Pretty cool. Everything else about banding, though, elicits a “huh?” It works differently when attacking and defending. (In an attacking band of X creatures, at least [X-1] of them must have banding. In a defending band, only one creature must have banding.) A lone blocker could block multiple creatures if they were banded together. If an attacker with evasion (flying, swampwalk, whatever) is banded to a creature without evasion, the whole band can be blocked. Then it gets really complex: What if the only defensive creature with banding is destroyed before damage is dealt? What if my band of three attacking creatures, one of which has trample, is blocked by your band of three defending creatures, one of which has first strike?
The only answer I can give you is, “I dunno.”

Banding was an ability that was flavorful and simple enough in the simple cases. But when you left the simple cases and got into more unusual situations, the rules suddenly became very complex, unintuitive, and opaque. You wind up with a mechanic that cannot be understood or accurately applied simply by reading the text on the card and applying your general rules knowledge. Instead, you have to know a whole bunch of banding-specific rulings, and hope you have a copy of the comp rules handy if it ever comes up.
And all of this complexity is maintained for a mechanic that rarely actually mattered. I could be wrong, but I don't believe there is any card with banding that has ever been a tournament staple. Under these conditions, the best choice is the one that Wizards made, which is to let banding lay fallow and pretend the whole thing never happened.


Can you sacrifice a creature to pay the cost of its ability? Whisper, Blood Liturgist has the ability to sacrifice 2 creatures, and then return something from the graveyard. Since abilities stay on the stack even if the permanent is removed, can you sacrifice this card and another to activate the ability?

Yes.
The only implicit limit to Sacrifice is that the object being sacrificed must be permanent you control.
Since you control the Whisper, Blood Liturgist with the ability you are activating, and since it's a creature, it can be sacrificed. A ruling confirms this:

Whisper can be one of the creatures sacrificed to activate its ability.

The ability will continue to exist on the stack after Whisper's demise, and will go on to resolve. If anything needs information about the source of the ability (e.g. if the target of the ability gains Protection), last known information will be used.

Note that the creature you sacrifice will be sacrificed as part of paying the cost. This happens after the target is chosen, so they won't be in the graveyard when the target is chosen. Therefore, they can't be selected as the target.

Neither sacrificed creature can be the target of Whisper’s ability.

701.16a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent they don’t control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect this action.
112.7a Once activated or triggered, an ability exists on the stack independently of its source. Destruction or removal of the source after that time won’t affect the ability. Note that some abilities cause a source to do something (for example, “Prodigal Pyromancer deals 1 damage to target creature or player”) rather than the ability doing anything directly. In these cases, any activated or triggered ability that references information about the source because the effect needs to be divided checks that information when the ability is put onto the stack. Otherwise, it will check that information when it resolves. In both instances, if the source is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at that time, its last known information is used. The source can still perform the action even though it no longer exists.


Does Goblin Electromancer reduce both sides of a fused split card? Does Goblin Electromancer reduce the cost of a fuse spell on both sides of the card? Would Turn // Burn be {1}{U}{R} to cast both sides?

No. Only one spell is cast, so only {1} is deducted for a total cost of {2}{U}{R}.

Fuse is an alternative cost, as evidenced by "you have the additional option to cast both halves as a single spell by paying their combined cost". This refers to their mana cost (as will be stated explicitly in the rules). The combined mana cost of Turn and Burn is {3}{U}{R}.

The Goblin Electromancer provides a cost reduction of {1}.

total cost to cast a fused Turn and Burn
= mana cost or alternative cost + additional cost and cost increases - cost reductions
= {3}{U}{R} - {1}
= {2}{U}{R}.

UPDATE

The rules have been released. It's not an alternative cost. Here's the relevant rule:

  702.101a Fuse is a static ability found on some split cards (see rule 708, "Split Cards" that applies while the card with fuse is in a player’s hand. If a player casts a split card with fuse from his or her hand, the player may choose to cast both halves of that split card. This choice is made before putting the split card with fuse onto the stack. The resulting spell is a fused split spell.

  702.101b A fused split spell has two sets of characteristics and one converted mana cost. The converted mana cost of the spell is a number equal to the total amount of mana in its two mana costs, regardless of color.

  702.101c The total cost of a fused split spell includes the mana cost of each half. (See rule 601.2e.)

  702.101d As a fused split spell resolves, the controller of the spell follows instructions of the left half and then follows the instructions of the right half.

That's very poorly worded, but it's clear there's only one spell being cast. I'm going to get confirmation of my answer anyway.

UPDATE

Confirmed


Moving Rooms in Boss Monster If a card tells you to swap the placement of two rooms in any dungeon  and you have multiple rooms on top of each other do you swap the placement of just the room on top of the stack or do you move the whole stack of rooms?

For the purposes of moving rooms, a room is made up of every card in the stack at each of the five positions in your dungeon.

So when a card tells you to move a room, you move every card in that stack.

From the FAQs & Advanced Rules section of the rulebook (page 19):

  When an effect allows you to swap the placement of
  Rooms in a dungeon, how do you deal with Rooms
  built on top of other Rooms?

  You can rearrange any stacks of Rooms, but you
  cannot change the order of Rooms within each stack.
  The visible Rooms do not change.


How did Andrea Mengucci receive a game loss for incorrectly registering his card on arena? I just received a Game Loss because I registered a wrong card from my Draft. It kinda stings because I acknowledged it in the checking process after decklists were handed. But as the Latin says: ‘Dura Lex, Sed Lex’. #MTGWorlds 0-0-1.

Source

For those not in the know, the current Worlds Tournament in Hawaii is drafted in paper and then imported to MTG Arena, the most recent MTG computer client.

How is it possible that the deck was allowed to be registered incorrectly when imported, was it not checked ahead of time? Is this unique to the unusual format (paper draft → computer games), or could this happen if the games were also paper?

The player (Andrea Mengucci) wrote a wrong card to his decklist after the draft. This constitutes as a decklist problem. The fact that the tournament is partly played on MTG Arena, doesn't matter here. Appropriate penalty in this is case is a game loss.

Magic IPG (Infraction Procedure Guide) states (https://blogs.magicjudges.org/rules/ipg3-4/):

  3.4 Tournament Error – Decklist Problem

  Definition

  The decklist is illegal, doesn’t match what the player intended to play, or needs to be modified due to card loss over the course of the tournament.

  Penalty

  Game loss

The player is fully responsible to mark the correct cards to his deck registration sheet. They aren't checked ahead of time.

One could argue that penalty isn't fair, but it's a correct call in this case, according to the rules. Maybe this motivates discussion about should the rules be changed.


Does an attacking creature have to deal lethal damage to the blocking creatures before dealing damage to the other blocking creatures? This rule:

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

Who chooses the assignment order?

If I attack with a 5/5 and he has a 2/4 and a 2/2 would he have to deal 4 damage to the 2/4 first before dealing any damage to the 2/2? Could he instead give the 2/2 lethal damage instead if it was a better card to kill?

Does an attacking creature have to deal lethal damage to the blocking creatures before dealing damage to the other blocking creatures?

Yes.
If A is blocked by B, C and D (in that order), then

A must assign lethal damage to B before it can assign any damage to C.
A must assign lethal damage to C before it can assign any damage to D.
A must assign lethal damage to D before it can assign any damage to the defending player or planeswalker (if A has trample).

510.1c [...] However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that’s blocking it unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocking creature in its order is assigned lethal damage. [...]
510.1d [...] However, it can’t assign combat damage to a creature that it’s blocking unless, when combat damage assignments are complete, each creature that precedes that blocked creature is assigned lethal damage. [...]

Banding overrides these rules.

Who chooses the assignment order?

The controller of the creature dealing damage. Three turn-based actions occur in the Declare Blockers Step before players get priority:

509.1. First, the defending player declares blockers. [...]
509.2. Second, for each attacking creature that’s become blocked, the active player announces that creature’s damage assignment order, which consists of the creatures blocking it in an order of that player’s choice. [...]
509.3. Third, for each blocking creature, the defending player announces that creature’s damage assignment order, which consists of the creatures it’s blocking in an order of that player’s choice. [...]

you giant growth the 2/3 making it a 5/6 how does that change the damage?

Players gain Priority after declaring attacking and blocking damage orders[CR 509.5], but before assigning damage[CR 510.1].
We have an attacking 5/5 blocked by a 5/6 and a 2/2. The attacking creature chose to damage the (now) 5/6 first.
The attacking creature must assign at least 6 damage to the 5/6 before it can assign any to the 2/2. It can only assign 5 damage, so

The 5/5 deals 5 damage to the 5/6.
The 5/6 deals 5 damage to the 5/5.
The 2/2 deals 2 damage to the 5/5.

so

The 5/5 takes 7 damage
The 5/6 takes 5 damage
The 2/2 takes no damage


Pandemic and Forbidden Island - How similar are they? We have Pandemic at home. When browsing for some new games I stumbled over Forbidden Island made by the same designer. I thought it could be interesting to have another cooperative game but when I read about the gameplay I got the sneaking suspicion that it would feel too much like Pandemic.

From what I read the selection of flooding tiles works exactly like the infection deck in Pandemic and obtaining the treasures exactly like finding the cures. So my question is: Do these two games feel different enough to warrant buying both?

While I have both and definitely notice the similarities, I don't regret the purchase.  Here's why:

1)  Forbidden Island is easier to teach.  Not that I think Pandemic is very complicated, but I've been able to teach Forbidden Island to my 8 year old where Pandemic was a bit too much.   Also, the fewer number of bits (cubes and such) has made the game less intimidating to spouses.

2)  Forbidden island is easier to vary.  Beyond raising the "damage coefficient" (number of infections in Pandemic, beginning water level in Forbidden Island), you can alter the tile layout to form a new challenge.

3)  Forbidden Island plays quicker.  Faster setup, faster game play, faster tear down.

Having said that, my usual gaming group prefers Pandemic with expansions to Forbidden Island because they feel it is a deeper experience.

So to sum up:  I would only get Forbidden Island if difficulty, approachability, or time is keeping Pandemic from hitting the table more.  Otherwise, I'd go for another coop game such as Ghost Stories or Castle RavenCroft.


How much damage do I take when I Trample a Stuffy Doll that has Pariah attached? Last game I played I faced the following combo:

Stuffy Doll played by an opponent, opponent chose me
Pariah attached to Stuffy Doll

This resulted in an invincible opponent, as long as Pariah is attached to that player.

How exactly will rules be applied when e.g. a 8/8 creature with trampling attacks and is blocked by the Stuffy Doll (enchanted as stated above) that has 0/1 this turn? Do I (as the attacking player) get

1 damage
2 damage
8 damage
some other value?

… when my opponent blocks the 8/8 creature with trampling with his Stuffy Doll?
All mentioned values of damage have been discussed during play.

You will take 8 damage from the Stuffy Doll's triggered ability.
In the combat damage step, every creature deals combat damage equal to its power, no matter how much toughness the defending creatures have:

510.1a Each attacking creature and each blocking creature assigns combat damage equal to its power. [..]
510.1c A blocked creature assigns its combat damage to the creatures blocking it. If no creatures are currently blocking it (if, for example, they were destroyed or removed from combat), it assigns no combat damage. If exactly one creature is blocking it, it assigns all its combat damage to that creature. If two or more creatures are blocking it, it assigns its combat damage to those creatures according to the damage assignment order announced for it. [..]

When a creature with Trample deals combat damage, you don't not have to assign all its damage to the blocking creatures; as long as all blocking creatures have been assigned lethal damage, you can assign the rest to the defending player:

702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. [..]

From sources without Deathtouch, lethal damage is equal to the creature's toughness:

119.6. Damage marked on a creature remains until the cleanup step, even if that permanent stops being a creature. If the total damage marked on a creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed as a state-based action (see rule 704). All damage marked on a permanent is removed when it regenerates (see rule 701.12, “Regenerate”) and during the cleanup step (see rule 514.2).

From sources with Deathtouch, any damage >= 1 is lethal damage:

702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature’s toughness. See rules 510.1c–d.
702.2c A creature with toughness greater than 0 that’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action. See rule 704.

You have to assign 1 damage (lethal) to the stuffy doll; you then have to distribute the remaining 7 damage between the Doll and the defending player as you like.
Whenever damage is dealt to an object, prevention and replacement effects are applied first:

119.4. Damage is processed in a three-part sequence.
119.4a First, damage is dealt, as modified by replacement and prevention effects that interact with damage. (See rule 614, “Replacement Effects,” and rule 615, “Prevention Effects.”) Abilities that trigger when damage is dealt trigger now and wait to be put on the stack.

Therefore, no matter how much damage you assign to the defending player, Pariah will redirect all damage to the Stuffy Doll; this is a replacement effect:

614.9. Some effects replace damage dealt to one creature, planeswalker, or player with the same damage dealt to another creature, planeswalker, or player; such effects are called redirection effects. [..]

The 8 damage are dealt to the Doll and its triggered ability goes on the stack.

510.3. Third, any abilities that triggered on damage being assigned or dealt go on the stack. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)

Finally, the active player gets priority and the combat damage step ends.


If a "The Phantom Knights" trap monster's effects are negated, is it turned back into a trap or no? "The Phantom Knights" is an archetype that contains a number of Trap cards. They all have an effect that turns them into a Monster with an added effect that says they are not treated as Traps. For instance, The Phantom Knights of Dark Gauntlets.

  Send 1 "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to the Graveyard. When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack while you control no cards and this card is in your Graveyard: Special Summon this card in Defense Position as an Effect Monster (Warrior-Type/DARK/Level 4/ATK 300/DEF 600), but banish it when it leaves the field. (This card is NOT treated as a Trap Card.) If Summoned this way, this card gains 300 DEF for each "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap Card in your Graveyard.

If their effects are negated, do they count as a Monster with negated effects or a Trap card?

Depend on the exact Text but most Phantom Knight Monster has the condition: "(This card is NOT treated as a Trap Card.)"

If the trap has this text, it will not return to be trap if the effect is negate, since it is not an effect but a condition. It is also uneffect by every card that is applied to Trap Cards (MST, Royal Decree, etc) and keeps being a Monster if it change to face-down position.

Without the condition, the answer from simples_mathematics appeal

For Ruling look at the wikia:
http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Rulings:The_Phantom_Knights_of_Shadow_Veil

Also note, that OCG-Ruling don't official apply in tcg tournaments, where the judge has the last word, but still should be used as navigation points


Can you have same Legendary Creature on the battlefield twice utilizing the Mutate ability? If you have mutated on top of a legendary creature, are you then legally able to cast onto the battlefield another of the same legendary creature card?

702.139e A mutated permanent has all abilities of each card and token that represents it. Its other characteristics are derived from the topmost card or token.

Being legendary is not an ability; rather, it's a supertype:

109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. Objects can have some or all of these characteristics. Any other information about an object isn’t a characteristic. For example, characteristics don’t include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell’s target, an object’s owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.

205.4a A card can also have one or more supertypes. These are printed directly before its card types. The supertypes are basic, legendary, ongoing, snow, and world.

That means that if you mutate on top of a legendary creature, you can cast it again (if you have another copy in your hand) without it being affected by the legend rule. If you mutate under a legendary creature, it's still legal to cast another copy, but it's usually not such a good idea.


How can I quickly calculate the shanten number in Mahjong? I am able to calculate the shanten number myself, but it often takes me more than a minute. I'm looking for ideas how to become more efficient.

Background: I'm currently writing a paper about determining the shanten number with a computer algorithm. This works very well so far, but there are likely some ideas for improvements that I missed. I am a really poor Mahjong player myself, so input by experienced players would be most welcome.

This is a rough description of my (manual) strategy right now:

First, detect any tiles of which the usage is certain. This means tiles that are alone (no adjacent tile within a radius of 2) and sets that are completed (chi, pon).

I keep count of how many single tiles there are. Next, I look for incomplete sets (in a shape similar to any of 11x, 12x, 1x3, x23). I insert one of the singles into any of them and increment the shanten number in my head. During this step, I attempt to keep up to 2 pairs for later though.

There will be some singles or incomplete sets be left over, I split them up and multiply their number with 2/3 (because any 3 tiles can be made into a set by exchanging 2 of them). I also check if there are one or two pairs, if not, I create one (increasing shanten by 1). So far no problem at all, this only takes me a few seconds.

The trouble starts when there are multiple options how to combine tiles. Should I split this set up, or should I keep it? Should I add this tile here or there? Especially pure (only one suit) hands are annoyingly complex, and I could not figure out a fast way to solve them.

My algorithm of course just laughs at the hands I have trouble with, as it is able to solve even the most complicated hands in fractions of a second. It explores all reasonable ways how to combine the tiles in a tree (with heuristics) and yields the best option.

If you're eyeballing it, then you go with counting three things:

the standard count from 8. (worst case scenario: 147m147p147s1234z or 13-sided kokushi)
the terminal count from 13. (worst case scenario: all simples is 13-shanten)
the seven pairs count from 6. (worst case scenario: anything without a pair)

Standard count from 8 is to identify up to 5 groupings. Groups of 3 (subtracting 2) are always better than 2 groups of 2 (subtracting 1 each), as there is always an extra tile to pick up a spare from overlapping groups. If #groupings >= 5, then verify if one of the groups is a pair. Otherwise, you only have 4 "legitimate" groups. Protogroups of 2 are called taatsu (t), pairs are counted separately (p). Generally, shanten = 8 - 2*g - t - p. My code extracts pairs before protogroups when counting. With no complete groups, the best you can achieve with the standard count is 3-shanten.

Terminal count is easy. How many terminals, and how many different terminals. For live play, just look for a pair and ignore counting them all. shanten = 13 - diffTerminals() - if(numTerminals() > diffTerminals;1;0).

Pair count is also easy. shanten = 6 - p. Whichever of the 3 is smallest is your shanten count.

Now what the code does is that it can take a hand with size 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11,13 or 14 and just break it down. When feeding less than 13 tiles, g can be pre-loaded with the number of melds formed. AFAIK, it won't count for self-walled protogroups if you feed it 45p55777z with 2 melds, and they happen to be two kans of 3333p and 6666p, it won't register that the hand is 1-shanten instead of tenpai... and same with 4578p if the 3 melds are 3333p6666p9999p, then the hand is 2-shanten, not 1 or 0. This is the edgiest of edge cases though.

What it does do though, is if it ends up tenpai, it will test adding every tile to get a complete hand (-1). However, it cannot add a tile already there. So even if one of the intermediate checks says it's fine, when a full hand is present, it will not validate. A hand with 4 of the same and 3 unrelated groups is by definition, not tenpai, as the only way it could "complete" is with a 5th copy of the same tile, which is not possible.

As for what elements to take, it cycles through everything. Could a group like 34555p be better as 345 + 55 or 34 + 555, especially if you need a pair amoing the non-grouped items? Maybe, but it will still cycle through all possibilities. The line detecting three of a kind will just shift eveerything forward by two tiles as there's no point in detecting if in tiles ABCDEFGHIJKLM: DGH, EGH and FGH make runs if you know DEF are the same. Just do DEF at that point, jump, check FGH and move on.

When I run this formula on cycles of random tile distributions, I get in the area of 220 tenhou hands per 100M, which is in line with Tenhou's monthly running stat pages.

  // INPUT: hand is a sorted array of tile values from 0-135 without repeating
  // INPUT: g is the number of groups. The function works recursively by extracting a group and calling itself with stc(smallerHand, g+1)
function stc(hand, g) {
  // INIT
  var retVal = 8; var t = 0; var p = 0;
  // KOKUSHI
  if (hand.length >= 13) retVal = Math.min(retVal, 13 - diffTerminals(hand) - Math.max(Math.min(terminalPairs(hand), 1),0));
  // SUBHAND RECURSION: Sorted hands have relevant tiles spaced 4 apart or less. Order: O{4*4*(n-5)} instead of O{(n^3 / 6}
  if (hand.length > 3) {
      for (i=0; i<hand.length-2; i++) {
      for (j=i+1; j<hand.length-1 && (j-i<5); j++) {
      for (k=j+1; k<hand.length && (k-j<5); k++) {
          // Max subhands:: 14 tiles: 6635520; 13 tiles: 1351680.
          if (isGroup(hand[i], hand[j], hand[k])) {
              var subHand = [];
              for (var m in hand) {subHand[m] = hand[m];}
              subHand.splice(k,1); subHand.splice(j,1); subHand.splice(i,1);
              retVal = Math.min(retVal, this.stc(subHand, g+1));
          }
          if (isPair(hand[i],hand[j]) && isPair(hand[i],hand[k])) i++; j=999; k=999;
      }}}
  }
  // PROTOGROUP COUNT
  if (hand.length > 1) {
      // Priority: AB pair, AC pair, AB taatsu
      for (i = 0; i<hand.length-1; i++) {
          if(isPair(hand[i], hand[i+1])) {p++;i++;}
          else if(i<hand.length-2 && isPair(hand[i], hand[i+2])) {p++;i=i+2;}
          else if(isTaatsu(hand[i], hand[i+1])) {t++;i++;}
      }
  }
  // 5 to 7 pairs, immeditate return on 7
  if (p==7) return -1; if (p>4&&hand.length>=13) retVal = Math.min(retVal, 6-p);
  // Standard count: 8 - 2*g - max(4-g,p+t) - min(1,max(0,p+t-(4-g)))
  if(p+t>Math.floor(hand.length/3)) {
      if (p>0) retVal = Math.min(retVal, 8 - 2*g - Math.floor(hand.length/3) - 1);
      else retVal = Math.min(retVal, 8 - 2*g - Math.floor(hand.length/3) - 0);
  } else retVal = Math.min(retVal, 8 - 2*g - p - t, 6 - p);
  // Tenpai check for shanten == 0.
  if(retVal==0 && hand.length==13) {
      for(var i=0;i<136;i++){
        var checkHand = [];
        var checkRes = 0;
        for (var m in hand) {checkHand[m] = hand[m];}
        checkHand.push(i);
        for (var n = 0; n<13;n++) {
            if (checkHand[n] == i) {n=999;}
            if (n == 12) {
              checkHand = checkHand.sort(doCompare);
              checkRes = stc(checkHand,0);
            }
        }
        retVal = Math.min(retVal, checkRes + 1); // checkRes would be -1 if legit tenpai, 0 if not. **EDIT2016: I think the +1 should be out of the parentheses**
      }
  }
  return retVal;
}


Can I activate a tap ability multiple times, though on different turns? I have a card named Alloy Myr. It's an artifact creature with the ability

  {T}: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

Can this ability be used multiple times, but in different turns of course?

Yes, you can use that ability once a turn (usually), but not the turn it entered the battlefield. The ability you describe is an activated ability, where the cost is tapping the creature and the effect is adding one mana to your mana pool. You can only pay the cost (by tapping) when a creature is untapped, so you can't use the ability multiple times in a row.

To tap a permanent, you turn it sideways. At the beginning of each of your turns, you untap all of your permanents, so generally you can use abilities that require you to tap the permanent once per turn. There are also effects that can untap permanents (e.g. Twiddle), so if you use one of those you can activate the ability again.

Creatures have summoning sickness. This means that you cannot tap the creature to pay an activated ability's cost or attack with it unless you controlled it since the beginning of your turn. So you can't use this particular creature's ability until the turn after you play it.

To summarize:

You can use a 'tap' ability on a permanent as long as:

The permanent is on the battlefield and currently untapped, AND
The permanent is not being prevented from tapping, either by summoning sickness or by another ability (e.g. 'cannot use activated abilities')

All permanents untap automatically during your untap step (at the start of your turn) unless something has prevented them from doing so
If a permanent has Haste, it ignores summoning sickness, and therefore can be tapped on the turn it enters the battlefield (unless otherwise prevented from doing so as per above)


What's a good counter for Immortal Iron Dwarves? In Small World: Underground, in our first game, one player managed to pick up the Immortal Iron Dwarves.  I understand that the race/power combinations are not supposed to be balanced, but even once the other 3 of us realized how awesome Immortal Iron Dwarves were, we just could not figure out a damn thing we could do about it.

He was able to spread out and leave only 1 token in every region, but our taking those regions didn't hurt him at all since he got the tokens back (Immortal).

Then, with his hammers, he could take any region he wanted no matter what the defense.  He was able to just do whatever he wanted.

We realized that Vampire could actually take tokens away from Immortal, but Vampire wasn't immediately available.  Is there anything we're missing about how to counter Immortal Iron Dwarves?

I think it's important to realise that it's not just your group: a lot of people have been grumbling about the Immortal Iron Dwarves combination.  I've seen plenty of suggestions that it should just straight up be banned.  You're not "missing something" about how to deal with it - it's just very, very good, definitely to the point of being too good.

Having said that, if like me you prefer to play games as printed, even if that means occasional sessions where the odds are seriously unbalanced... presumably a player will have to pay top dollar to grab the combo if it turns up, since everyone knows how good it is.  All the other players will (or should) team up to impede the Immortal Iron Dwarves' progress.  Keeping them out of Mines so that the Silver Hammers don't rapidly accumulate seems like a top priority, and I think "he could take any region he wanted no matter what the defence" is a little bit of exaggeration: stacking piles of defenders up on the Dwarves' borders is going to slow them down, at least before they've been able to secure their full complement of Silver Hammers.

Yes, it's tough when a player has a combo that's just streets ahead of everybody else's, and  what should have been a fun, balanced 4-player game turns into a three-against-one.  But this is a known hazard of playing Small World, and the options are really limited to either banning known broken combos as a house rule; or accepting that every so often an annoyingly unbalanced game scenario will arise.  But even so, think of the glory if the other three of you manage to destroy the Iron Dwarf tyrant against overwhelming odds!  It'll be the best story since some puny hobbits managed to make it to Mount Doom and take down Sauron!


Adding dice to checks in Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelord In the FAQ, a point says

  Choices Matter. Your choices have consequences. (...) If you roll too low on a Combat check, it’s too late to play a Strength spell to improve your result.

Does that mean I have to play all the 'discard this card to add a die to a check' cards before attempting the check? E.g, I'm doing some combat check, I need 8 to beat it. I roll my hand-to-hand combat strength check, and get a 6. Can I now discard a BotG to add another die to the result, and try to beat the test?

Or would I have to specify before the check that I would discard the BotG to get an extra die?

You must play all cards that will modify the check before making the check.

According to the rules (starting on page 11), each check is broken into a number of steps. In order (emphasis mine):

  Determine Which Die You're Using.
  Determine the Difficulty.
  Play Cards and Use Powers That Affect the Check (Optional).
  Assemble Your Dice.
  Attempt the Roll.
  Take Damage, If Necessary.

Step three is where you would discard your Blessing of the Gods in order to add the die. If you make it to step five, where you make the roll, it is now too late to play any cards or powers to modify have the check is made.


Building Limit in Lords or Waterdeep Why is there a limit to how many buildings can built by each player? I was the builder lady lord, using the Undermountain Expansion, and would have been about to build 12+ buildings, but game rules limit each player to 9. What is the reason for this limit?

There are no building limits in Lords of Waterdeep as defined in the Appendix 3: Clarifications section in the rulebook of Scoundrels of Skullport:

  Number of Buildings in Play: You are not limited to the ten empty
  spaces on the game board for Building tiles when putting Buildings into
  play. Simply place any additional Buildings in a convenient place on or
  near the board.

Also on the official FAQ for Lords of Waterdeep:

Can more than 10 Buildings be in play?

  Yes. The number of empty Building spaces on the board is no limit to
  the number of Buildings that can be in play during the game.

EDIT:

As for personal building limits, you are in fact limited to the number of building tokens you have, as defined in the official FAQ:

Can you control more Buildings than you have control markers?

  No. The number of control markers you have is the maximum number of
  Buildings you can have in a single game.

This limit is also enforced on the iOS game.


Can Wishing Ring be applied on side-effects? Yesterday I was playing Munchkin (the fantasy version) with some friends, and I ended up having my sex changed (I could use some female-only stuff, thou, but that's another story).

Back in topic, when I get sex-changed, I suffer a -5 penality to my next fight, which I assume lasts until I kill a monster or I suffer his Bad Stuff; either way, I have to actually fight him, not just encounter him and run away.

Assuming my interpretation is correct, it might be the case where all my buddies try to keep my penality standing as long as possible, by removing monsters in some way (with potions or charming spells), thus preventing me from an actual fight.

My question then is: can I use Wishing Ring (which I have obtained after being cursed) to remove the -5 penality? Because I don't think I can remove the whole Change Sex curse after I suffered it in the first place...

I think this is one of those situations that is pretty much up to the table to resolve.  See the interpretation in this thread:

  A Wishing Ring can remove a curse and its effects at anytime.

  So things like Big Feet, Tiny Hands and Chicken on your Head can be
  removed by a wishing ring even though after they have hit and are
  persistent.

  There is only one exception to this that I know of. Sex Change. The
  effects of the Sex Change curse can be canceled only at the time that
  the Curse is played. After it has taken effect the change is
  permanent. Playing a Wishing Ring afterwards can remove the -5 if you
  haven't been in combat but it can't revert you back to your original
  sex.

But contrast with this opinion:

  Wishing Rings have one function straight off the card, and that's to
  get rid of a curse. Whether it's to negate one that's incoming or one
  that's been lingering for a while, the Wishing Ring will undo any
  hated curse that would put your character in a detrimental situation.
  (Whether or not this applies to a curse that causes a sex change is up
  to the table in general, so long as it's after the fact.)

Munchkin isn't the kind of game where the interaction between different cards is always cut-and-dried.  I personally think it would be a bit mean to rule against a Wishing Ring being able to negate a Sex Change's -5 penalty, but it really does depend what kind of vindictive maniacs you have in your group!


Looking for the name of a 2d6 game I remember a simple but interesting dice game, I remember the rules but I don't know its name. I would like to know its name to be able to look up stuff about it.

It is played with two 6-sided dice. The score of a throw is the two-digit number built from the two results, the higher number first, except when the two dice roll the same, these are worth more. For example, 32 is beaten by 51 which in turn is beaten by 22 (double-two).

The players (usually 3, 4 or slightly more) take turns throwing both dice but hiding the result, and announcing it loudly. The next player has to say a bigger score than the previous one (except for a double-six, which, if I remember correctly, can be played on a previous double-six), regardless of his own result. A player, before throwing his own dice, has the possibility to claim that the previous player lied. This, and only this, ends the game. If the previous player told the truth, he wins, if not, the one who exposed him wins.

I hope this is enough to accurately identify the game :)

Mexicali
It's a variant of Liar's Dice.
The variant in question is, according to Wikipedia, called Mexican or Mexicali, and is typically a drinking game. My preference is for Mexicali.
Other liars dice variants are typically 5 dice, not two, but the play's much the same.


Trading item cards to another player that already has 5 On a player's turn can they give an item card to another player that already has 5 cards? Would that player just have to discard a card or is it not allowed?

You may only have 5 cards at any given moment. If you share a treasure card (or cards) with a player that already has 5, that player must immediately discard down to 5.


What's the best Power Grid expansion for a beginner? What is the best Power Grid expansion for a beginner to buy?

For a beginner, I would say no expansion is necessary at all.  Vanilla Power Grid is an incredibly deep game.  I have found that it can be a bit overwhelming and introducing additional complexity will only make it harder.

Personally, some of my favorite games (Agricola and Dominion being two examples) I grew bored with the base game quickly and vastly prefer playing with the expansions.  Power Grid is not one of those games.  I have played it for years, and often still play just the base game even though I do own one of the expansions (Robots).

Disclaimer: I take a very analytic approach to board games.  More casual players might not find it as overwhelming as I do.


Conditions about returning Chandra's Phoenix in one's hand My opponent and I encountered a problem.

I had a Volcanic Geyser, which let me choose to deal damage to an opponent Creature, or the opponent Player.

I also had a Chandra's Phoenix in my Graveyard, when I cast the Geyser on my opponent's Creature.

Now I am asking about the Phoenix's text. It says:

  Whenever an opponent is dealt damage by a red instant or sorcery spell you control or by a red planeswalker you control, return Chandra's Phoenix from your graveyard to your hand.

Does it mattere if I deal the damage to a opponent player or an opponent creature? Can I choose which one I deal damage to, and still fulfill the conditions to return the Phoenix in my hand?

Opponent only refers to players, not creatures. Chandra's Phoenix will not trigger if you target a creature.
Comprehensive Rules reference:

102.2. In a two-player game, a player’s opponent is the other player.
102.3. In a multiplayer game between teams, a player’s teammates are the other players on his or her team, and the player’s opponents are all players not on his or her team.


"Helicopter lift" card Just a small clarification regarding the use of the aformentioned card. I know that you can use it during others players' round. What confuses me is its use.

Let's say I'm the one holding this card. Can I use it to move another player's pawn and not mine, even if he's not on the same tile as my pawn?

This thread on BoardGameGeek asks the same question.  According to this post, the game developer provided this ruling:

  The user of the card does not need to be on the same tile as the pawns being moved.


What is the converted mana cost of land cards? What is the converted mana cost (CMC) of land cards? Is it zero?

For example, if I have lands in the graveyard, would Sun Titan be able to bring them to the battlefield?

It's 0†, so Sun Titan can bring them back.
This is also noted in the rulings below the card in Gatherer:

If a card in your graveyard has no mana symbols in its upper right corner (because it’s a land card, for example), its converted mana cost is 0.

†: with the exception of transformed lands, as noted in @NeilMeyer's answer. This situation doesn't happen in the graveyard, though.


What army are these Warhammer 40K Robots from? I found a picture of an old advertisement for Warhammer 40,000.
It shows "ROBOTS", which resemble Terminators or Space Marines somewhat.

Here's a copy of the image:

Which army are these robots from?  Can they still be fielded in modern 40K?

These are from the bygone days of Rouge Trader, when you could field Imperial Robots.  GW's fluff and art direction where less mature at this point and you got lots of random stuff like this.

Fluff wise the technology has been lost and/or declared heresy by the Imperium for millennium. But Forge World brought them back.


Which cards should I sleeve for The 7th Continent? I backed The 7th Continent on Kickstarter and received 200 card sleeves with my order. There are far more than 200 cards in the game. Which cards are worth sleeving?

The cards in your action and hand deck are used the most, and these are the ones the for which the sleeves were provided ("to protect all ACTION and STATE cards"). These include the following:

11 character cards
35 character-specific skill cards
35 skill cards
49 advanced skill cards, or 50 if you have the Path of Repentance expansion
11 curse cards (including the four "Death is Lurking" cards)
45 state cards. These are found at these numbers:

   100 to 108, inclusive (5 of each)

For a total of 186 cards, or 187 with the Path of Repentance expansion.

The following are other possible candidates:

10 saving-related cards
Satchel & Journal
7 clue cards
Card 777 ("Easy mode") and card 650 ("Hardcode mode")

For a total of 20 cards.

The counts are for the base Kickstarter reward. Cards from the add-ons are mentioned separately.


How do I set language in GoKGS? I am forced to use czech language, but I would like to use English. How can I switch languages in GoKGS?

This is what I see when I click File (1st in the menu) and Set preferences (3rd in the submenu):

I don't see anything to switch languages. My preferences should probably look like in the help page (https://www.gokgs.com/help/setPrefsWin.html) but unfortunatelly they don't!

The problem was that I ran it directly from the page: https://www.gokgs.com/applet.jsp - this doesn't allow to change the language (options are reduced).

Once I downloaded and installed CGoban3 at my computer (https://www.gokgs.com/download.jsp), it works as expected and I can change the language.


Hand and Foot Rules on playing all cards without going out In hand and Foot can a player lay down all cards in their foot, discard the final card and NOT have the required books to go out but continue to draw two cards each turn and discard one until they finally complete their books or someone else goes out?

I've never played this game but have read the at rules here. they say

To 'Go Out', the player must get a Clean and Dirty, and get completely
rid of the cards. Players must discard the final card, and not 'simply
run out of cards'.

So to me this reads if you have 'simply run out of cards' then you have not 'gone out'.   It also suggests that having a Clean and Dirty book is a requirement for going out so even if you have no cards but not the required books you have not 'gone out'
You would continue to play as normal until you had the required Clean and Dirty books or another player 'goes out'


Why is chasing the low considered a trap in Omaha Hi/Lo? In the Omaha Hi/Lo Poker variant you hear advice like do not chase the low. But what is the difference between chasing a low draw and a high draw? Many people are satisfied with their low draw only when they already have a pair, or a draw to win also the highest hand.
I don't see a reason for not chasing the low:

The pot is divided 50/50 between the high- and the low-hand winner
Low draw can be close/open-ended like a high draw, too

This makes the same pot odds and equity for trying to win the high and the low hand, so why the "bad practice"?

The reason that "chasing the low" is discouraged is because too often, you have a shot at only the low side of the pot.

Let's say you have a low hand draw, and a "high" draw to a straight or flush. Very often, you will make the latter, only to be beaten by a higher straight or flush. At the same time, you may fail to make your low because the card that made the straight or flush is "high."

Ideally, you will have a hand that can go "both ways." Something like K-K-2-3 can make both a high and a low hand, especially of the kings are "double suited" with the 2 and 3. But the best starting hand is A-A-2-3, especially if "double suited." That's because the aces can help make the best possible high hand and the best possible low hand.

If YOU don't have these advantages, someone else may, and you don't want to be playing against that "someone else."


Can I use Bind Monster in addition to the combat check? The spell says:

  Cast and Discard this spell to pass one Combat check. You must roll successes equal to the monster's toughness to cast this spell. This spell doesn't work on Ancient Ones.

If I fail to cast this spell, do I still get to make the normal combat check with my fight skill level as a second attempt to pass the combat check, or is this done in place of the fight skill level check?

If you fail to cast a spell, none of its effects happen. So you're left exactly where you started: you have a combat check to make. Of course, Bind Monster is two-handed, so... you won't have any weapons and may not fare too well in the check.

(Side note: combat checks are a special kind of fight check; this is a combat check, not just a fight check.)


How can I teach other people game rules? I am a game enthusiast. I mostly enjoy board games, card games and things like party games that require no preparations. My friends know that about me, and they seem to treat me as an official Rules Explainer; if there are some new people willing to play with us, or some players that need to refresh their memory and hear the rules one more time, I'm going to be the person asked to explain the rules. Even if someone else suggested playing that particular game.

So, I often have to teach other players game rules. Each time I do it, I try to do it better and learn from previous experiences. I'm constantly trying to improve my skills.

What are the best practices in teaching other people game rules?

Off the top of my head some of the many things to talk about include:

When should I mention the goal of the game?
How much of the rules should I expect my fellow players to understand before playing a complex game for the first time?
How can I avoid introducing new rules in the middle of the game (it's frustrating for other players, they can feel tricked, and accuse you of not mentioning it before to your advantage, and so on...)?

What about answering questions? Usually my answer would be "I'm going to talk about that in a moment", but I don't want to discourage players from asking questions if they don't quite get something. And I don't want to seem rude, saying "not now" again and again. On the other hand, answering such questions might be confusing for other players. What if most of the players understood the rules, but not the whole group? How should I deal with the short attention span?

Here are some things you can do. Keep in mind for the first game I'm usually more interested in teaching people how to play than winning, especially if I know the game well. This method might not work as well with a mixture of old hats and newbies.

Play with an open hand (maybe even have the other players do the same). This of course only works in games with secret information (card games especially). Make bad choices and explain why they are bad choices while you make them... especially if you can use those choices to illustrate points. So something like "Now I'm going to play Card X ... in a real game I wouldn't know (though I might guess) that you've got Card Y in your hand which is a perfect counter to my play."
On your turn explain why you are doing things, what benefit you might expect to get and how it would ruin everyone else's day. On their turns point out things they could do to make your life more difficult.
Take backs! Let them have them all they want where possible. Where chance is involved you might do a thing a practice time or two first so people can see how it works, especially if it's complicated.
If the game is complicated explain up front that you're going to parcel the rules out in digestible chunks. In Small world, I usually don't bother explaining going into decline until the second round. It's largely irrelevant to your strategy before then ... largely.

If despite all this you still win, that's okay, hopefully you've done a good job of explaining how you got there, and they'll trash you on the next game ...


In Pokemon, is the 'Attack' action the last action that is performed on your turn? Is the 'Attack' action the last action you take during your turn or can you take other actions after this is done?

Typically yes, attacking is the last action you take prior to ending your turn. See the TCG Rulebook, page 9.

Attack. Then, end your turn.

Some turns you may take other actions to end your turn and not attack. But there is no second main phase like in Magic. Once you declare an attack there is no more playing cards unless the attack requires it.


The Oregon Trail Card Game: can I talk about my supply cards? Players are dealt supply cards in the game to help get rid of "calamities".

The rules state this about Supply Cards:

  7: Players should look at their own Supply Cards, then place them face down on the table. Players may look at their own Supply Cards at any time.

This does not specify whether or not players may tell other players what they have. I could see where some player may ask the table if someone has for example, a Medicine, and another player may have it but choose to not to tell you. Is the "card's not displayed to other players" rule an effort to stop players from coercing other players into playing specific cards?

Or does this rule hint that players may not talk about what Supply Cards they have at all?

In the SAMPLE PLAY section it says:

  Bob says, "I have a Clothes Card I can spare for you."

This hints that you can share information about what cards you have before you play them. Frankly I don't see how it is winnable without some supply card teamwork.


VP value of space 0 & 1 on the reputation track in Above and Below In Above and Below, the area next to the starting space and the 1-reputation space on the reputation track have a 2/3 and a 5 vp symbol next to them:

My group has become mixed on whether those symbols are meant to indicate that you get 2 points for the 0-reputation space and 5 points for the 1-reputation space. I was on board until I realized that those matched up to the 1st/2nd place bonuses, and that it might indicate that instead.

As far as I could find, there doesn't seem to be anything in the rules in favor of either case, nor could I find anything online to help. Does anyone know if there's a ruling on this somewhere?

There are no reputation points at these positions.

The 2/3/5 is a reminder for the rank-based scoring of reputation. The smaller numbers are for position-based scoring. There are no bonuses or penalties for being within -1 and +2 reputation.

In the end-of-game scoring, reputation is used for two different point awards. One of these is rank-based, where you get points for having the first or second most reputation. The other is position-based, where you gain (or lose) points based on your individual reputation. In a game where nobody gains or loses much reputation, the ranked points are still relevant. In a game where everyone has high reputation, you'll still get the points from your position regardless of your rank.

From the rules (emphasis mine):

  Reputation

  At the end of the game, the player with the most reputation gains 5 extra village points. The player with the second-most reputation gains 3 extra village
  points. The player with the third-most reputation gains 2 extra village points. If playing with two players, only the player with the most reputation gets the bonus: he gains 3 points (this is why there is a person symbol with the number “2” in this village point symbol).

  Players also gain or lose village points indicated by a smaller village point symbol next to their position on the track. For example, if a player ended the game with his cube on the highest space on the track, near the surface, he would lose 2 village points.

The 2/3/5 are the larger symbols.


Submarines and "Defenseless" Transports in Axis and Allies So I've got a question about Axis and Allies Spring 1942 edition.

I had a German fleet off the coast of England (cruiser, battleship, two subs, and two loaded transports), and the US attacked with two fighters and a bomber.

The subs can't defend against aircraft, but I believe are not considered "submerged".  The cruiser and battleship were destroyed after two rounds of combat, leaving a bomber on the american side and two subs and transports on the German side.

In this case, are the transports "defenseless" and automatically destroyed? by the aircraft?  They are "defended" by submarines, but those subs can't "do" anything in this instance.  If it were ships attacking, presumably conflict would continue until it was resolved, but with air units I'm not sure.  We played that the transports were destroyed (to my irritation).  What's the technical ruling here?

Thanks,
Nate

You played the right way.

Basically, the turn continues until 1) all the defending forces are destroyed, or 2) all the attacking forces are destroyed or 3) the attacker elects to retreat.

The defender cannot retreat. The exception is submarines, which can submerge (and retreat) if they get the right rolls.

Earlier on, you might have taken at least one transport as a casualty (8 for the transport, 6 for e.g. two infantry units, 14 in total) to save your battleship (15), the unit that has the best chance (going forward) to fight back. Instead, when you sacrificed your battleship, you doomed your transports because they can't fight back.


Can units support a battle if they came from the same march order that started it in Game of Thrones? I'm wondering about quite an unusual resolution of March and Support orders. Let's say I have one footman on land A and one knight and one footman on land B. I assign a support order to the footman on land A and a march order on the knight and footman on land B. I decide to split my forces, and I order the footman from B to move to A (so I got two footmen on A now), and the knight from B to move to some land C that lies next to both A and B. There are enemy forces on C, so a battle ensues. My question is: can the footman I moved to A (on which there is a support order) still support the battle on C even though it came from the march order that started this attack? The total strength of my force will be:

one supporting footman from A + knight from B = 3 or
two supporting footmen from A + knight from B = 4?

Option two would happen here, two supporting footmen from A + knight from B = 4.

From the rulebook:

  Before resolving combat, all other non-combat movement from the area assign the March Order must be completed.
  - Rulebook pg 15

This means that the footman unit that is moving has to have completed it's march before combat is initiated. Then:

  Supporting Combat Strength means the combined Combat Strength of all units in the supporting area.
  - Rulebook pg 17

From this, you cannot count certain units strength to add to combat, it must be all the units in the supporting area.

The order of marching/combat/supporting makes your second option the case.


What is this game with 16 pegs and 36 spools to fit on them? This board has 36 spools that fit on 16 pegs or sticks.
It looks like it might be 3D checkers or something like that.
Interested in the name and how to play.

Someone took a lot of time making this really nice board game and I would like to use it properly.

This looks a version of a game I used to own called Score Four. It is essentially the classic Connect 4 game, but in three dimensions instead of two.

It plays exactly as you would imagine

players take turns adding pieces of their color onto pegs
the first player to create a line of 4 in any direction (vertical, horizontal, diagonal) wins

It is considerably more interesting than Connect 4

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3656/score-four


Will a developer fix a (small) broken mechanic, or should I fix it before the submission process begins? I am (co)designing a pickup-and-deliver strategy game.

Extensive playtesting has revealed what I believe to be a slightly broken aspect of the endgame (basically, there comes a point when everyone can visualize the rest of the game, and there's nothing to be done to change the outcome/winner). The first 45 minutes of the game play smoothly and are quite enjoyable; it's only the last couple minutes that get stale when the end is in sight.

Knowing that "KC" will likely be submitted to an established publisher - and expecting their developers to take over -  we have only taken the theme, artwork, and rulebook so far.

  Will a publisher accept games that have slightly broken aspects to them, or is the designer responsible for having a mechanically polished game at the start of the submission process?

Edit:

Consider Settlers, but without development cards (and also without longest road, as those points are temporary). This hypothetical game would be "broken" in the same way that mine is - not to mention missing out on what is a great aspect of the game.

There would be no hidden information. A king would rise, and at some point everyone would be able to see the same writing on the wall: if something extremely unlucky doesn't happen, the final victory position of each player will remain unchanged.

So in terms of this hypothetical Setllers game, my original question might be reworded:

  Have any games been submitted to publishers with noticeable problems that were subsequently fixed by the developer's addition of a new mechanic? (If so, what are they, and who are the publishers?!)

Edit 2: I believe the solution to lie in an alternative scoring mechanism that introduces hidden information and (more) variance/randomness. Rather than advancing a certain number on the VP track for completing certain tasks, basically players will take a tile corresponding to the task they completed. The tiles will have various VP's on them with a certain distribution (think Jaipur bonus tiles).

A simple example: Ticket to Ride. In TtR, you immediately score 15/10/7 etc. for claiming routes of length 6/5/4. If, instead of scoring this immediately, players took tiles from the 6/5/4 "stack" upon completion of corresponding routes, this would be like my game. The tiles for a "6" route would probably range from 14-17 VP each, "5"s would range from 9-11, etc.

The larger issue remains (for future games of mine and of others): how much should the designer do before submitting to a publisher?

You should fix it before submitting the game.

The developer will have plenty of work to do anyway, from working on issues you're not even aware of, to tweaking factors to bring the game closer into line with the publisher's target audience. The better your game is before you submit it, the more likely that first play will be fun enough to make the publisher take interest.


Multiple War Raptors on a Base If there are three War Raptor minions on a base, how do you count them? Would it be 15 or 9? Each has a base power of 2, and the following ability:

  Ongoing: Gains +1 power for each War Raptor on this base (including this one).

I assume you mean the "War Raptor" (The original text was "Rapture").

The War Raptor text:

  Ongoing: Gains +1 power for each War Raptor on this base (including this one).

This means, that each War Raptor gives a +1 bonus to power on each other War Raptor on the same base. The power of each War Raptor is 2 + the total number of War Raptors on the base.

One War Raptor give 2+1 = 3 power
Two War Raptors give 2 times (2+2) = 8 power
Three War Raptors give 3 times (2+3) = 15 power
Four War Raptors give 4 times (2+4) = 24 power

This is a hint that a single raptor is weak, but they become deadly while fighting in packs.


What is the origin of the term "Alpha Strike" in board gaming? I've head the term Alpha Strike used frequently, usually to refer to a single massive attack or a single round of heavy attacks, and I'm wondering where the term originated in board gaming and its history in gaming.

I'm looking for its origin or history in actual gaming rule books or gaming reference material, not just shared verbiage among players, nor am I looking for information outside of gaming.

The earliest reference that I'm personally aware of is in the old FASA BattleTech rules, but are there earlier references than this?

It seems very likely to have originated in the US Navy, and referred to the practice of committing all of a carrier's air resources to a single mission rather than rotating them as per usual.

See the wikipedia entry here.


Can I interact with a creature exiled with Eldrazi Displacer? So I've been playing an Abzan displacer deck for some time now and the following interaction only just occurred to me:

I have an Eldrazi Displacer and a Wasteland Strangler in play and my opponant has two creatures.

Can I target one of his creatures, and then in response to it entering the battlefield being on top of the stack (whilst it's still in exile) flicker my wasteland strangler and put that creature into the graveyard from exile instead of back on the battlefield and obviously give another creature -3/-3?

I think the crux of the question is: is the creature targeted by eldrazi displacer intractable whilst in exile?

Specifically for Eldrazi Displacer, no. Its ability's effects all resolve at once, so the creature will be exiled and be put back onto the battlefield immediately. Unlike say, Flickerwisp, there is no delay in returning the creature, so there is no chance for you to target it in exile.


Arkham horror expansion compatability diagram I once came across a nifty little diagram that had all the Arkham Horror expansions on it with lines drawn between them showing which ones worked well together.

For the life of me, I cannot find this diagram (even though I am certain I had it printed out before). I've trawled google for the past couple of days but cannot find it. I'm starting to think that I might be going mad and just imagined the whole thing!

Help appreciated! =)

I know of this one from boardgamegeek which was tallied up from a community vote:


Metamorphic Alteration: Copying a creature that dies If you play Metamorphic Alteration copying a creature and the original creature dies, does they copy created by MA remain?

For example, if I play MA on a 1/1 copying a 4/4, and the original 4/4 dies, does the copy made with MA remain?

Yes. Metamorphic Alteration's copy effect only looks at the the creature once, as MA enters the battlefield. Nothing that happens to the creature being copied has any effect on the enchanted creature.

This is confirmed by a ruling on Metamorphic Alteration:

  The characteristics that will be copied are determined as Metamorphic Alteration’s effect first begins to apply. If the copiable values of the chosen creature change later, or if that creature leaves the battlefield, the enchanted creature’s characteristics are unaffected.


Meld points in a double deck pinochle game In a double deck game of pinochle jacks around is worth 4 points. Queens around is worth 6 points. A pinochle ( jack of diamond, queen of spade) is worth 4 point. Therefore when you have queens and jacks around your total point score is 14. However, when another jack of diamond and a queen of spade is added to the mix, creating a double pinochle worth 30 points, what would be the total points awarded for a double pinochle with queens and jacks around?

You would have 6 points for the Queens, 4 points for the Jacks, and 30 points for the double pinochle, for a total of 40 points.

This is really no different than the single pinochle case that you list; you just have 30 points instead of 4 for the pinochle points, so 26 more points than your first example.


What are the correct official abbreviations for Commander's Anthology & Arsenal? In Magic: the Gathering both Commander's Anthlogy and Commander's Arsenal are listed as having CMA as three letter abbreviation:

COMMANDER'S ARSENAL,

Commander Anthology.

In the Wikipedia article List of Magic: The Gathering sets they are listed as CM1 and CMA. The same goes for MTG Wiki.
Shall I consider CM1 (Arsenal) and CMA (Anthology) as the correct official ones?

The comment to your question is exactly right in that you're not going to get a more official set name than the official set name. I'd say it's not intentional that those sets have the same name, but that's hard to say for certain.

However, in order to differentiate between sets, even WotC will have to choose different set abbreviations internally, and looking through the Gatherer source code, specifically the set icon URL, you can find within the parameters that WotC has indeed chosen CM1 as the abbreviation.

In the interest of completeness, here's a table of all Commander-related sets to date, and their codes:

SET NAME                   ABBREVIATION     GATHERER ABBREVIATION (if different)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commander                  CMD
Commander's Arsenal        CMA              CM1
Commander 2013 Edition     C13
Commander 2014             C14
Commander 2015             C15
Commander 2016             C16
Commander Anthology        CMA

In other words, CM1 seems to be used by WotC at least internally, and either way it seems less ambiguous to rely on that as the abbreviation for Commander's Arsenal than CMA

The Gamepedia MTG Wiki, which list CM1 as the official abbreviation, also link to that URL as proof.

My guess is that they have always used CM1 as the abbreviation for Commander's Arsenal, and that it's simply a mistake in the blog post you linked. With little relevance to MTG in general (containing only reprints, and being relatively rare), I can see why it never got addressed or changed again.


How many poison counters warrant an EDH loss? I tried Googling the answer, but it seems like different sources say different things, and I can't find anything about it in the Commander rules (on the official Commander website). My main takeaway is that it's arbitrary based on your playgroup, but it seems like a rather unsatisfying answer.

Does anyone know definitively how many poison counters it takes to kill someone in EDH?

It is 10 just like in a normal game. The only format that changes the number of poison counters needed to cause a player to lose a game is Two-Headed Giant.

704.5c If a player has ten or more poison counters, he or she loses the game. Ignore this rule in Two-Headed Giant games; see rule 704.5u instead.
704.5u In a Two-Headed Giant game, if a team has fifteen or more poison counters, that team loses the game. See rule 810, “Two-Headed Giant Variant.”