Initial setup of settlements According to the rules,

we can place settlements only beside roads leading to it or away from it.
we can place roads beside roads or settlements.

During initial placement, we have the choice of placing two settlements and roads in successive turns. If we follow the above rules, Can we do the following placement?:

There doesn't seem to be any rules in the rule book regarding this, and it is an exceptional case to the above mentioned rules!

From the official game rules:

  The starting player places a settlement on an unoccupied intersection of his choice. He places a road adjacent to this settlement. The other players then follow clockwise. Everyone places 1 settlement and 1 adjoining road.

  Once all players have built their first settlement, the player who went last in the first round begins round two: he builds his second settlement and its adjacent road.

So no, a player may not place their second road adjacent to their previously-placed settlement, or the road leading from it, because the above rule explicitly instructs that the 2nd road is built adjacent to the 2nd settlement.


In Smallworld, do Fortresses pay the +1 VC only on the turn they are placed, or do they each pay for every turn that the race is active? The question is regarding the fortresses. If they each pay +1 VC for each turn that they are on the map and your race is active, then they become quite powerful because the VC will be building exponentially. Is this the case, or do they only each pay one VC on the turn that they are placed and then are only good as a defensive bonus for there on out?

They work at the end of each your turn (not only when they are placed).
Even if it might by ambiguous in the Smallworld rules,

Fortified
Once per turn, as long as your Fortified Race
is active, you may place 1 Fortress in a
Region you occupy. The Fortress is worth 1
bonus Victory coin at turn's end, unless you
are In Decline. The Fortress also augments your Region's
defense by 1 (just as if you had an additional Race token
stationed there), even if you are In Decline.
Remove the Fortress if you abandon the Region
or when an enemy conquers it. There can only
ever be a maximum of 1 Fortress per Region,
and a maximum of 6 Fortresses on the map.

Everywhere else, symbol +1 VC on a land or token (such as Fortress) says that it works each turn.
If it were only about the end of the current turn, then the sentence at turn's end, unless you are In Decline wouldn't make sense (as you cannot place anything when you are in decline, unless you are Stout, but you cannot be Stout and Fortified at the same time).


Common Mahjong wait patterns In endgame, you typically have a hand in tenpai that is waiting for 1 more tile to be complete. Usually, it is better if you are able to wait for multiple tiles so your chance to finish are increased. From the rules, some typical wait patterns are derived. For instance, if you got 3 sets and a pair and an incomplete 23, you're waiting for either 1 or 4 to complete a chii (street).

Experienced players know that certain patterns lead to especially high chances to finish. What are the most common patterns to know and strive for?

I found a basic answer on my question over here:

  Try to go out waiting for multiple
  tiles (not just one). Imagine that you
  have three complete sets and two
  pairs. Imagine that one pair is 2
  Bams, and you draw a 3 Bam from the
  wall -- which tile do you discard now?
  In this situation, many experienced
  players will discard a 2 Bam, keeping
  2-3. A two-way incomplete chow call is
  better than a two-pair call.

  Learn to
  shape the hand into calling patterns
  that give you multiple chances to win,
  such as the following:

Tiles in hand     Call for

2223              134
2224              34
2223344           2345
2223334           2345
2223456           14736
22234 RR          25 R
23456             147**
34567             258**
45678             369**

  Highly skilled players of
  un-American mah-jongg (since American
  style alone does not use "chows") know
  these patterns by heart. More complex
  call shapes are mostly extensions of
  these. Although the American game does
  not use chows, the strategy of having
  a multiple-tile call still applies to
  that game as well.

  Of special interest
  is the complexity of the pure hand. If
  you're working on a pure hand, it can
  often be difficult to tell what all
  the tiles are that can complete the
  hand. For instance:
  1-2-3-4-5-5-5-6-6-6-7-8-9 (5 chances);
  1-2-3-4-5-5-5-5-6-6--7-8-9 (5
  chances); 2-3-4-4-4-5-5-5-6-6-6-7-8 (7
  chances); and of course
  1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 (9 chances).

Edit: Additional links with a lot more waits

http://saki.wikia.com/wiki/Mahjong_waits
http://saki.wikia.com/wiki/Complex_waits
http://www.reachmahjong.com/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=52599

Especially the latter is, from my beginner eyes, insanely exhaustive.


What happens if the target of equipping dies? My opponent plays the living weapon Lashwrithe. Afterwards he spends 4 life to equip it to his Vault Skirge. While doing this, I kill his Vault Skirge with a Galvanic Blast.

What I think will happen:

He loses 4 life
His Germ token under the living weapon dies
His Vault Skirge dies
His Lashwrithe lies around as equipment ready for the next try
I smile

Is this correct? Does equipping use the stack to enable such a maneuver? And does the Germ token really die if equipping goes ill, or does the equipping never take place because it has no valid target and the Germ lives happily ever after?

Edit: Changed the damage spell to Galvanic Blast, because I obviously require an instant and not a sorcery. Thx for pointing that one out.

The Lashwrithe stays equipped to the Germ, but your opponent doesn't get his 4 life back.

Here are the rules for the Equip keyword:

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

When your opponent wants to equip the Lashwrithe to the Skirge, he activates its Equip ability by placing the ability on the stack, choosing its target, and paying its activation cost. He then passes priority to you, hoping that the ability will resolve. However, you respond by casting a Galvanic Blast, which resolves and kills the Skirge.

(You can't use a Red Sun's Zenith here, because Zenith is a Sorcery. You can only cast it during your main phase when the stack is empty, but right now it's your opponent's main phase and the stack isn't empty.)

When the Equip ability starts to resolve, it first checks to see if its targets are still valid:

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that‘s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. However, if any of its targets are illegal, the part of the spell or ability‘s effect for which it is an illegal target can‘t perform any actions on that target or make that target perform any actions. The effect may still determine information about illegal targets, though, and other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them.

Because the Skirge is gone, the Equip ability has lost track of its only target, and is countered by rule 608.2b instead of resolving. Because the ability doesn't resolve, no effect moves the Lashwrithe, so it stays where it was.

So, here's the corrected summary:

He has lost 4 life
His Germ token remains alive
His Vault Skirge is dead
His Lashwrithe remains equipped to the Germ
You smile a little bit

Note that if you wait until after the Lashwrithe is equipped, and then kill the Skirge, the Germ will already be dead. However, since the equipped Lashwrithe will increase the Skirge's toughness, you'll probably need something stronger than a single Galvanic Blast.


Dominion randomizer deck confusion A friend of mine got Dominion for Christmas, and while the game plays wonderfully (I'm hooked), we were both confused by the randomizer deck.

Why are there Curse, Copper, Silver, Gold, and victory point cards in the randomizer deck, when they're needed for every game?  We figured out we would remove those cards from the randomizer deck before dealing out 10 of the Kingdom cards to set up the game, but why bother having the above-named cards in the deck in the first place?  Are we missing something?

Don't use them to randomize.  Use one of the online card pickers:

What is the Best Random Card Setup Tool?

Use them as the last card in their respective stacks.  They are used to indicate that the stack has run out so that it is easier to know how close the game is to ending.  @krisa suggests that if you use sleeves to use a different colored sleeve for the randomizer cards.  This will make it much easier to keep them separate.

Pg. 5 of the rules says:

  Players may also use the Randomizer cards
  as Placeholders to mark the card piles so
  empty piles are easily seen.


Can I use Mirror Strike on Ink-treader Nephilim when it's not attacking? So I am making an EDH deck featuring Ink-Treader Nephilim (yes I know its not legendary but the deck will be like five bucks to make and I'm sure someone will want to play with it). As I am looking up decklists online I see that people keep mentioning Mirror Strike. The idea is to target Inky with Mirror Strike when someone attacks, turning the entire attack against them.

As good as that sounds, I don't think it works.  For a creature to be 'unblocked' it has to be attacking right?

Yup, unfortunately you're right. Unblocked means attacking and unblocked, after blockers are declared.
This is in the comprehensive rules for the declare blockers step:

509.1h An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first.

And there's a friendly summary from the glossary at the end:

Unblocked Creature
An attacking creature once no creature has been declared as a blocker for it, unless an effect has caused it to become blocked. It remains an unblocked creature until it’s removed from combat or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first.

So your opponent could make good use of Mirror Strike, letting your whole team hit in, targeting the Nephilim (and thus the rest of your team), and sending it all back at you, but... I don't think that's quite what you were looking for.


Should I have made a takeout double in the situation? With a part score of 60 to 0 (neither side vulnerable), I dealt and bid a "strong" 1NT with:

(s) QT3 (h) KQJ8 (d) KJ93 (c) K5.

"West," to my left, overcalled 2 clubs. Our respective partners passed to me.

I doubled (for takeout). West rebid 2 diamonds, all passed, and we set them 3 undoubled.

Partner had something like: (s) xxxx (h) xxxx (d) xx (c) Qxx, and might have bid (2 clubs) "garbage Stayman" if West hadn't. My takeout double was meant to produce this effect, and probably a two hearts contract, except that West took me out.

Did West effectively "rescue" me by overcalling, meaning that I should have kept silent? Or
was it right to double to try to force partner to bid in this situation, risking a downed contract, to deprive the opponents of their (likely) 40 point part score?

There's no one correct answer for a situation like this. It's a judgement call. I would have passed, for two reasons. One is that the club overcall means my CK is less likely to be useful. The other is that I was understrength for 1NT to begin with. The hand counts to 15 HCP, but it's worth somewhat less due to the lack of aces and the unprotected SQ. This evaluation method makes it 14.05:

http://www.jeff-goldsmith.org/cgi-bin/knr.cgi?hand=QT3+KQJ8+KJ93+K5

It looks as though no part score will make on this deal, do there doesn't seem to have been a lot at stake in your decision.


When and how do you use suit preference signals in bridge? One example is when you (West) lead a singleton against a trump contract, hopefully to your partner's ace, s/he takes it, and then East leads back a spot card in the suit for you to ruff.

Besides the led suit and the trump suit, there are two side suits, so partner will lead a high spot for a return lead the higher side suit, and a low spot spot for the lower side suit?

In what other situations would people would use a suit preference signal. I once read a Marty Bergen book that said the suit preference signals are used mainly by Easts. Is that true?

There are LOTS of suit preference (abbrev: SP) situations, as well as many agreements as to when SP applies. I'll see if I can cover at least a few of them.

The classic one is as you have described. On opening lead, you lead an obvious stiff in a side suit against a trump contract. (Of course, there is little reason to do this if you have a void in trumps.) Partner, who happens to win the trick, returns a card, expecting you to ruff.

When you do ruff that card, which suit do you return? Look at it like this, if you ruffed, you don't have any more of that suit, and trumps seem like a bad idea. After all, you are hoping to get partner in for a second ruff! So essentially there are other two suits of potential interest as an entry. Ranking them in the standard order from low(clubs) to high(spades), partner can indicate their re-entry suit.

The idea is, partner will give you a low card to ruff with an entry in the low side suit, and a high card for you to ruff with a high side suit entry. If partner has NO entry at all, then they should (if possible) return an intermediate card, suggesting no preference.

By the way, suit preference applies for you too! In fact, both sides of the partnership will often be giving suit preference signals. Let us see how this would all work on an example hand.

Your opponents are in a 4S contract, played by that hapless fellow in the South seat.

Perhaps the bidding went: 1♦ - 1♠ - 2♠ - 4♠, with you never having an opportunity to show your diamond length.

     Declarer
     AKT9
     A73
     T6
     QJ53

You        Partner
73         Q52
KJ8        642
A98432     J
A7         T98642

     Declarer
      J864
      QT95
      KQ75
      K

You have few good good looking leads here, so with a prayer in mind, you pick the diamond ace for your lead, partner playing the jack. (Yes, I know that aces are terrible leads, but that is not the point of this hand, and your other leads are equally bad). Anyway, if declarer has diamond length from the bidding, the chances are very good that your partner is short in that suit.

If partner had a stiff diamond jack, she will be able to ruff the next trick, so what return are you looking for? A club is your quick entry, so at trick two, you lead the deuce of diamonds.

Partner ruffs of course. Your diamond deuce is a clear signal, asking for a club return. At the same time, partner is looking for a third diamond lead. That card gives partner a second ruff, promoting the queen of trumps back into a winner. See that partner had a natural trump trick, but the ruff would allow declarer to draw trumps with the ace and king. So a third round of diamonds will be a trump promotion for partner.

How does partner indicate a suggestion for you to lead a third diamond? When partner returns the indicated club card, she will lead the DEUCE. The low return tells partner to lead the LOW suit when they are in at trick 3, so diamonds!

You have taken the first 3 tricks in a flurry now. At trick 4, when you lead a card for partner to ruff, what diamond do you play? You don't want to see a club return. Instead you would prefer a heart, hoping to set up a heart trick. The way to ask for hearts is to play the 9 of diamonds on that third round of diamonds. The high card asks for the high suit. While declarer gets two pitches on the club winners, there is still a heart to lose, so you set 4S two tricks. This is a top score at match-points of course.

Note that there were several SP plays in the defense of this one hand, made by both opponents.

The classic SP situation discussed so far is not the only case where they can apply. Visualize a hand where we have bid and raised a suit, but the opponents end up as the declarer. As the opening leader, imagine that your hand is

J
K85
Q9762
AQT8

As dealer (West), you open the bidding 1♦, only to see the bidding go:

1♦ - Dbl - 2♦ - 4♠
All pass

So partner has raised your diamonds, but the opponents still found game. It looks like South has bid game on shape, since there are simply not enough points to go around for South to have bid it on power. Your hope is to beat this contract, but when they bid game on shape, all bets may be off.

You lead your 4th best diamond, partner winning the king. Dummy comes down with a decent hand, as it has top tricks, but still a basic minimum for a takeout double.

     Dummy
     AKT9
     AT73
     43
     J52
You
J
K85
Q9762
AQT8

Partner then cashes the diamond ace as declarer followed suit with the 8 and 10. You don't expect to see much more in partner's hand, but you really want a club switch through the probable king in declarer's hand. After all, if partner had the AK in diamonds, plus the club king, they might have found a different bid than simply 2♦. So on the second diamond, what card do you play to ask partner to continue with a club? Your choices were {Q,9,7,2}. You and partner both know that a diamond continuation is not right. Partner sees you play the deuce, so your 4th best lead indicates that declarer had only a doubleton.

There are two side suits here, hearts and clubs. If you play a clearly low diamond (the deuce), then this must be SP for clubs. You get your 4 tricks to defeat the contract. It turns out that the hands were like this:

     Dummy
     AKT9
     AT73
     43
     J52

You        Partner
J          5
K85        9642
Q9762      AKJ5
AQT8       9643

     Declarer
     Q876432
     QJ
     T8
     K7

If you don't get a club switch at trick 3, Declarer can draw trumps, then take the heart finesse to make game.

But, now suppose the hands were slightly different?

     Declarer
     AKT9
     AT73
     432
     J5

You        Partner
J43        52
KJ8        9642
Q9762      AKJ
A7         9643

     Declarer
     Q876
     Q5
     T8
     KQT82

With South still in a 4♠ contract, after East wins the first two tricks, what should he return? A club, diamond or spade return gives declarer the contract, by allowing her to set up clubs for three heart pitches. Only the heart switch through declarer sets up a heart trick in time to set the contract.

Can West ask for a heart switch? Of course. On the second diamond, play the QUEEN. This is a stand up and shout suit preference play, asking for a switch to the higher side suit.

Finally, I might change the hands yet again. (I tried to get the spot cards right on all of these hands.) Again, assume that South is declaring 4♠, although the bidding is surely not the same as it was before.

     Declarer
     AK94
     AT63
     432
     J5

You        Partner
QJT        32
K87        9542
Q976       AK5
T87        K643

     Declarer
     8765
     QJ
     JT8
     AQ92

On a 4th best diamond lead, East wins the king, then the ace of diamonds. Clearly, they must cash the third diamond trick, at which point West will have a natural trump trick. But from East's point of view, should he switch to a club, a heart, or continue diamonds? On the last two hands, with very similar looking hands for East, he had to switch to one of the other suits, and NOT continue diamonds to defeat the contract! Declarer has played the same cards each time, the 8 and ten spot.

On this hand, you led the 4th best 6. By continuing with the 7 at trick 2, partner will expect that you had a 4 card suit, so will hopefully continue diamonds. Any other continuation will allow declarer to take the heart finesse for a diamond pitch, so this was necessary.

Those were the classic suit preference situations, but there are others. One agreement I have with several partners is that when you lead a card and it is absolutely clear that you don't want to continue that suit, then partner will signal with suit preference. For example, in a trump contract you lead a winner, and dummy has a stiff in the suit. Continuing the suit seems not to be useful, so what side suit do you switch to? Partner should signal with suit preference. Or, perhaps, your lead of a stiff ace discloses a solid unbid side suit in dummy that you have just set up. Again, partner should indicate suit preference for your next lead.

There are several suit preference discarding agreements that many pairs use. The most common are Lavinthal discards, and odd/even discards. While I've never been a fan or either agreement, they are commonly employed.

Lavinthal: On your FIRST discard in the hand (and only on your first opportunity to discard) you throw a card in a suit that you are NOT interested in. A high card indicates interest in the higher of the other suits, and a low spot indicates interest in the lower suit.

Odd/even: Again, at your first opportunity to discard, you pick a side suit to play. An odd card indicates that you like the suit. An even card is suit preference, with a low even card suggesting a preference for the lower of the other suits. A high even card is a preference for the higher suit.

A serious problem with both of the above discarding agreements, is that sometimes you have no spot cards that you can safely throw away that show your true holding. Then what happens is a defender tanks, agonizing about which card they should play, which lie to make. Partner can read what is happening of course, so they will discount your signal, since a card played in tempo will not carry any inference. Of course, it is COMPLETELY illegal to use tempo information from your partner, but there has been many a director called, many a committee formed over just such an occurrence.

And finally, there are trump suit preference signals, where the order that you play your spot cards in trumps tells partner about your side suit holdings.

Of course, these are dangerous territories to enter into, as a good declarer can also read your signals, often to disastrous effect. Don't make a signal if it will tell partner nothing useful, but give the hand away to declarer. And don't agree to any such agreements if you cannot play your cards in tempo, as that is simply asking for problems.


Kindle the carnage, repercussion and safe passage Let's say I have Repercussion on the table and I cast Kindle the Carnage. Can an opponent prevent the damage done by repercussion after Kindle the Carnage has resolved? A mate and I are in a debate about this as in my opinion Repercussion goes off instantly and in his opinion Safe Passage or any other damage preventing card has priority.

Repercussion's ability is a triggered abillity, so it goes on the stack just like spells and activated abilities. And just like with those, it can be responded to before it resolves, so the opponent will be able to prevent the damage with Safe Passage.

To be specific, the events occur as follows:

You cast Kindle the Carnage.
Both you and your opponent have a chance to respond to Kindle the Carnage. Either of you could play instants or activate abilities.
Kindle the Carnage resolves and deals damage to every creature (probably). Repercussion's ability triggers once for each creature that was dealt damage. Those abilities go on the stack in any order you choose.
Both you and your opponent have another chance to respond to the triggered abilities on the stack.
One of the triggered abilities resolves, and deals damage to the controller of the corresponding creature.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the stack is empty.

If the opponent casts Safe Passage in step 4, as you describe, they will take no further damage from Repercussion. If, instead, they cast Safe Passage during step 2, then their creatures will take no damage when Kindle the Carnage resolves, and they will take no damage from Repercussion.

So, if as you describe, the oppponent casts Safe Passage in step 4, it plays out like this (assuming nobody else responds with other spells):

You cast Kindle the Carnage.
Kindle the Carnage is the top item on the stack, so it resolves and deals damage to every creature (probably). Repercussion's ability triggers once for each creature that was dealt damage. Those abilities go on the stack in any order you choose.
Your opponent responds by casting Safe Passage.
Safe Passage is now the top item on the stack, so it resolves. Further damage to your opponent and their creatures this turn is prevented.
One of the triggered abilities is on top of the stack, so it resolves. If it would deal damage to your opponent, instead that damage is prevented because of Safe Passage's effect.
Step 5 repeats until the stack is empty.


How many Auras can enchant one Creature? I played Magic: The Gathering with couple of friends.
I was asked a question when we came to a situation where we could put two Auras on one Creature. Can one enchant a create with more than one Aura?

You can have any number of Enchantments attached to a given Creature, unless the cards themselves say otherwise.


Axis & Allies Revised - Strategic Bombing broken? We're playing A&A Revised, and USA and UK both got Heavy Bombers tech. Rules-as-written seem to say that each bomber is able to hit Germany for 10 IPC each turn... so 4 bombers per turn could do 40 per turn.

Considering only AA fire is able to defend... doesn't that seem insanely overpowered? Am I misreading the rules? Has this been errata'd? We're all confused and a little scared.

According to these rules for Revised Axis & Allies I found online, Heavy Bombers do 2 dice of damage, with an expected value of 7, not 10. (If you're getting 10 damage per round per bomber, the dice love you.)

Heavy Bombers are, hands down, the single best technology (with Rockets or Long Range Aircraft being a close second, but only in the right circumstances). Strategic bombing is usually pretty iffy (since each die of damage is fairly pricey): a bomber costs 15 and deals 1d6 IPC damage with strategic bombing, but gets killed by AA 1/6 of the time. The bomber costs 2.5 IPCs per turn (if it lives for 6 turns of bombing), and deals 3.5 IPCs of damage per turn.  But with Heavy Bombers, it still costs 2.5 IPCs per turn, but deals 7 IPCs of damage per turn – and now strategic bombing is overwhelmingly valuable: build enough bombers to keep your opponent's income at 0, hold the line with infantry, and win with attrition (assuming that your opponent doesn't have too large of an advantage of units over you).

This other question, based on the non-revised Axis & Allies rules, handles the same issue, asking for house rules to rein in Heavy Bombers – they originally gave three dice while attacking, as opposed to the current two in the revised rules. (The original rules also didn't let you pick which technology you were developing for – you'd roll dice, and for every 6 you rolled, you rolled again to see which tech you developed. So Heavy Bombers required far more luck to develop.)

To answer your question: yes, Heavy Bombers are still a bit overpowered, but buying technology is expensive and variable, so you risk losing battles elsewhere. Most other technologies give you about a 50% boost to something, but Heavy Bombers gives you a 100% boost.


What is this game, played with chess board and pieces, but with totally different rules? Multiple decades ago, I was introduced to a game as described in the title of this question.  What I can remember of it is:

The two rooks had different functions.  They were distinguished by placing one of them upside down.
One piece was called a "retractor". It captured by moving to a square adjacent to the target piece, then moving away on a subsequent turn, unless the target moved first.
Another piece, called an "immobilizer", prevented any adjacent opposing piece from moving.  Two adjacent opposing immobilizers could create a permanent mess.
Yet another (whose name I forget) captured by moving to a position such that it, the king of its color, & the target formed a right triangle, with the king at the right-angle vertex.  There were both obvious & less obvious configurations that met this condition.  (E.g., the king could be in a "knight's move" direction from each of the other two.)
I believe another piece could capture by jumping its target, checkers-style, though not necessarily diagonally.

I have no recollection of how any of the pieces moved; nor, for that matter, what the object of the game was.  I would be grateful to anyone who can provide any further information, especially the name of the game, or any pointers to a complete set of rules.

Thank you very much.

Doing a quick search for "chess" and "immobilizer" led me to Baroque Chess.


What is this fantasy style card game? A few years ago I was with a group of people. Someone brought a fantasy style card game. I can't remember much, but the main thing I can remember is that you could equip your own armor, weapons and tools. You had to put your cards on the table so that the weapon in your right hand goes to the one side of your armor and the off hand tool/weapon goes on the other side. I think there was other stuff like a helmet that goes above and pants that go under the chest peace and every weapon/armor/tool had his own perks. With all that you had to fight other cards with monsters or something on it.
I've been searching for a long time, but I think it wasn't a popular card game.

This absolutely sounds like Munchkin or one of the many versions of it by Steve Jackson, and if so it definitely IS a popular game. Equipment cards, monsters, curses and some form of class cards are common to all the versions, many equipment have special restrictions or buffs on top of the basic number bonus, and you use them (and potentially help from other players) to fight monsters with the goal of getting to level 10 first.


Does a hero suffer wounds from new minions as Darkness Spreads? In the Defenders of the Realm rulebook, the Suffering Wounds section (p. 7) says

  If a hero ends a turn in a location with enemy minions, the he suffers a wound for each minion at that location.

On first reading, I thought that meant that once a hero's actions were spent, they would suffer a wound for each minion present on their location. But, a player's turn is divided up into three segments (p. 5): Daytime(hero actions), Evening(draw cards), and Night(darkness spreads) and new minions are placed during Night.

Does a hero suffer wounds if minions were placed on their location during the Night as darkness spreads?

This question has been asked before. Luckily, the designer has clarified the answer. You suffer wounds at the end of your heroic actions when minions are in your location, not during the Night when new minions are placed.

Wounds are suffered at the end of your actions - the end of the Daytime Phase of play and prior to drawing Darkness Spreads cards. If Minions appear on your location by a Darkness Spreads card, you do not suffer wounds to them.

You will also note that the rules regarding wounds suffered in this manner are covered within the Daytime section of the rule book, and not near the end of the rule book covering Night.


Can I still capture a territory if I lose all my land units in combat? My friend and I had the following battle: I had 3 fighters and 5 infantry, and he had 3 infantry. At the end of the battle, all of my infantry got destroyed and all I had left was the 3 fighters. He lost all of his infantry. He said I couldn't take the territory because I didn't have any land units. I started the battle with land units but at the end of the battle, I didn't have any. What is the rule on this specific situation?

The rulebook clearly covers this situation. On page 17 under Step 8: Capture Territory

If you win a combat as the attacker in a territory, and you have one or more surviving land units there, you take control of it.
Sea units cannot take control of a territory....
Air units can never capture a territory.


Why is this move considered bad? I'm trying to play against simple online bot cosmi.net. I started playing about two days ago, so I'm a complete beginner, and even the easiest version on 9x9 board is really hard for me to beat. This is in fact the first time I managed to do that.

$$Wcm12
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . 4 3 . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . X . X O . . |
$$ | . . 1 2 . X O . . |
$$ | . . a . . 6 5 . . |
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------

For some reason though, the bot marked black 17 as a bad move, and suggested to play at point "a" instead. Can anyone explain me why was that move marked as bad?

It seems that the AI thinks the move is bad because White can live in the corner.  I don't see a way to do it, though.  I think your move is okay.  It's strange that the bot marks the move as bad, but didn't try to live during the actual game.

Added:

I don't think that works, @jknappen, but it may still explain the computer's advice.  After this sequence, which prevents the ko:

$$Wcm12
$$ ---------------------
$$ | . . . . . . . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . . . X O . . . |
$$ | . . 8 X . O . . . |
$$ | . 6 7 . X O . . . |
$$ | . 4 5 X . X O . . |
$$ | . b O X . X O . . |
$$ | . 3 . 1 2 X O . . |
$$ | . . a . . . . . . |
$$ ---------------------

White can force at E6, and then has a nice endgame sequence starting at E9.  So it's better to play E2 originally.


Can I redraw my hand at the start of the game in Sentinels of the Multiverse? I was playing as Expatriette in a Sentinels of the Multiverse game and my starting four cards were all ammo cards.  As each ammo card says it has to be played next to a gun card, I effectively couldn't do anything with my hand.

Do the official rules allow a hero to trash and redraw their starting hand?  If so, is there a penalty?  I searched the official rulebook and the Rook City expansion book and didn't see anything, but I don't know if one of the later expansions or official rulebook clarifications added a provision about it.

No, the rules do not allow for mulligans and the official site has no provisions in any expansion or clarifications that add this feature.
The official sites downloads page has copies of the official rules and the rules for each expansion. None mention a process for mulligans of your initial 4 card hands. The Changes section also only notes changes to the Villian, Heroes, and Environments cards and no changes to the turn structure.
From the rule book (page 4)

Game Setup
[...] After the heroes, villain, and environment have been chosen, each player draws the top four cards of their hero deck. The game begins with the villains turn, then proceeds clockwise around the table [...]


Is it possible in UNO to run out of cards to draw? The question Uno discard and draw pile empty? deals with what would happen according to the rules if a player has to draw one or more cards but is unable to do so because both the draw pile and the discard pile are empty. The author of the question assumed "I'm guessing this is impossible mathematically or they were missing cards".

But is it actually mathematically impossible for that to happen?

Assuming that:

You are playing with a complete 108 card uno deck.
You have between 2 and 10 players, as the rules say the game was designed for. Whatever number works best for achieving this game state.
Players are playing according to the official rules and refrain from self-destructive behavior (like drawing cards even though they don't have to), but otherwise follow a strategy which provokes this situation.
The cards happen to get shuffled in the ideal order necessary for this to happen.

Yes.  Here's how:

10-player game.  Designate players 5 and 10 "lucky", meaning that these players monopolize the number that initially flops, and also monopolize the wilds, ensuring that they always manage to play, and the other eight "unlucky" players are never able to play.  Assign two of the four colors to players 1-5, and the other two colors to players 6-10, ensuring that the current color is always inconvenient when an unlucky player's turn comes around.

Let's say players 1-5 got the colors blue+green, and the red 1 initially flopped. The "lucky" players proceed to play out the other 7 1's, with the unlucky players drawing (8*4=32) cards in the process, leaving only 5 cards in the discard pile.  Player 10 plays a Wild, calling one of his own colors, and then the endgame begins:

Player 1 draws a junk card
Player 2 draws a Wild Draw 4 and plays it, calling one of player 10's colors
Player 3 draws the last 3 cards from the deck, including a Wild Draw 4, then reshuffles the discard into the draw and also draws a Wild.
Player 4 draws a previously played blue or green 1
Player 5 plays a Wild, calling one of his own colors
Player 6 draws a previously played red or yellow 1
Player 7 draws a previously played red or yellow 1
Player 8 draws a previously played red or yellow 1
Player 9 draws a previously played red or yellow 1
Player 10 plays a Wild Draw 4 that he has held since the start
Player 1 draws draws the last three cards from the deck (all 1s), then reshuffles and draws a Wild
Player 2 draws and plays a Wild Draw 4, calling one of player 10's colors
Player 3 reshuffles that Wild Draw 4 into the draw pile and draws it, -there are no cards left to draw-
Player 4 has nothing to play and no cards to draw

Here's a sample deck order for producing this result:
https://pastebin.com/hzBiFQ0B


Where can I download the latest version of the Yu-Gi-Oh pc game (if available)? It has been many years since the official Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos pc games were released. Did they release an update or a newer version which I am missing? If yes, where can I download (or purchase) it?

According to the Wiki, Yu-Gi-Oh! Power of Chaos consisted on a series of three games, which were (in order of release):

Yugi the Destiny
Kaiba the Revenge
Joey the Passion

Seems that there are no further releases of the Power of Chaos series.

As for where to download or buy there are several options, so the best would be to Google the specific release of POC you seek and chose among the options (I also want to refrain from promoting a specific page or product)

A quick search revealed several sites that offer download, and I am sure that you could find it on places like Amazon or EBay


Can the pirate be placed on the edge of the board? In "The Seafarers of Catan" the pirate can be used to steal resources from another player by putting him on a hex adjacent to one of their ships. Is it also allowed to place the pirate on the water frame around the edge of the board? In certain circumstances this is the only water next to a player's ships.

Yes, I would suggest that it's possible! The frame is just a convenience feature of newer editions and was originally composed of normal water hexes.


Do you still score a Go if you end with a pair or sequence? While playing Cribbage with a new acquaintance, I led the 9H he played 6D for 15-2 I followed with the 10H for 25, Pone called GO. I then played the 2H and 2D for 29, then called Go.   I then counted two for the pair of 2s and one for go.   He argued that after a pair or sequence to end the play you could not count the one for go.  Is there such a rule that I may have missed?

You get one point because he called "Go", not because you played the last card(s).

http://www.bicyclecards.com/card-games/rule/cribbage:

  If a player cannot add another card without exceeding 31, he or she
  says "Go" and the opponent pegs 1. After gaining the Go, the opponent
  must first lay down any additional cards he can without exceeding 31.
  Besides the point for Go, he may then score any additional points that
  can be made through pairs and runs (described later). If a player
  reaches exactly 31, he pegs two instead of one for Go.


Fluxx: Does this person play all cards or does his turn end with new cards in hand? The "Play All" rule is on the table. Someone plays the new rule, "Get on with it" which states that "At any time before your final play, you may discard your entire hand and draw a new hand of 3 cards.  This is a free action but if you take it, your turn ends immediately."  So, if this player decides to discard his remaining hand & draw 3 cards, does he still have to play them, or does his turn end immediately with new cards still in hand?

The most logical way of doing it would be to end the turn with 3 cards in hand. This is because "Get on with it" always requires you to have at least one more play, and it still causes your turn to end. There is no reason for a Play All to effect the card any differently than any other Play X rule.


What to consider when naming decks I'm relatively new to deck building, but I have noticed that sometimes players name their decks. What are the things to consider when I come to name decks?

Here are a few things that I consider (specifically regarding MTG):

It should bear some resemblance to what the deck does. Song of ice and fire would be relevant for a Red/Blue siren deck, but does not make sense for a ramping green deck.
Some decks make reference to a card that the deck has been built around.
You do not want to give too much about your deck away (disagrees with point 1 and 2). A name like Mill-ion cards in your graveyard really gives away that you will try and mill them, and may affect what they choose as an opening hand.

Maybe a good middle-ground is if your opponent can see why you named your deck what you did after you have played.

Clever names are more interesting and everyone loves a good pun, right?

You do not need to give your deck a name. A name for a deck is just an easy way to describe the same set of ~60 cards (accounting for the fact that you won't need a different name for a deck that only changes two cards).

A deckname is just used to communicate about that specific deck easier. If you want to name your monored Goblin-deck "Green Guys" (since goblins have green skin) and the people you talk with know what you're talking about, there's absolutely no problem.

Note about point 3 that there's no way for your opponent to know the name of the deck you play before you start playing, unless you tell him.


King of Tokyo: Healing in Tokyo City/Bay Can players that are in Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay heal themselves on their turn?

They cannot heal using the "heart" dice, but they can still heal in other ways.

From the rules:

  Being in Tokyo (Tokyo City or
  Tokyo Bay) has some advantages
  and disadvantages:

    The Monster in Tokyo
    cannot use the
    [heart] result on
    the dice to heal (but can
    heal using cards)


Where do Auras go when a card is put on top of its owner's library? Say a player casts a card that returns a permanent to the top of owner's library, for example Banishment Decree, and the targeted creature card he chooses has two Auras enchanting it.  Where do the Aura enchantments go, to the players hand, graveyard or library?

It goes to the graveyard.

You seem to be under the misconception that Auras follow the permanent to which they are attached to the graveyard. That's not the case. It's just a coincidence that both end up in the same place.

When an object changes zone (e.g. goes from the battlefield to the graveyard), it becomes a brand new object. The original object ceases to exist, and a new one is created in the new zone.

  400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence. There are seven exceptions to this rule: [...]

No matter whether the enchanted permanent goes to the graveyard or to the player's library, the object the Aura was enchanting has ceased to exist. The game doesn't tolerate that since Auras are suppose to enchant something, so it sends the Aura to the graveyard.

  303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

If it was an Equipment or Fortification instead, it would remain on the battlefield unattached.

  704.5p If an Equipment or Fortification is attached to an illegal permanent, it becomes unattached from that permanent. It remains on the battlefield.


How does trample interact with damage prevention effects and indestructible blockers? Say I have a 4/4 creature with trample. I attack, and my opponent blocks with a...

0/1 creature that is indestructible: Does my 4/4 trampler's extra 3 damage carry over even though the blocking creature wasn't dealt lethal damage? Does the situation change if my 4/4 trampler also has infect?
0/1 Creature that cannot be dealt damage: Can I even deal lethal damage to it?
0/1 Creature with protection from my creature's color: Can I deal damage to it at all?

When does the damage carry over to my opponent? I made all of these hypothetical creatures 0/1 for simplicity's sake. I know the creatures actually linked to are slightly different, but I believe this will simplify the answers.

Damage assignment ignores damage prevention and damage-modifying effects. Just look at toughness, previous damage marked, and deathtouch to figure out how to allocate trample damage (or damage in a group block).

Here's the most relevant bit of comp rules:

  510.1c ... 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.

In other words, you only have to assign damage that would be lethal -- based on the creature's toughness adjusted for any damage already marked on it, or 1 point of deathtouch damage -- without adjusting for other game rules like damage prevention, damage multipliers, or indestructibility. So my 4/4 can trample right over your Fog Bank as if it were any other 0/2; the Wall just won't die in the process.

As a side note, since there seems to be a bit of confusion about this in the question: protection is a damage prevention effect. So don't go blocking any Excruciators with your Kor Firewalker if you want him to live.


Will casting a card from the graveyard with Flashback add a quest counter on Pyromancer Ascension? Assume the following situation:

I have Pyromancer Ascension in play with, let's say 0 counters on it. Faithless Looting is in my graveyard and I cast it for its flashback costs. Will the Ascension get a quest counter?

You only get a quest counter if you have two Faithless Lootings in your graveyard when you use flashback.  See the card specific ruling:

If you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your graveyard (due to an ability such as flashback, for example), Pyromancer Ascension’s first ability won’t trigger unless another card with the same name is in your graveyard.

The reason for this is that when you cast one of them, it stops being in your graveyard and moves to 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.
601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time. If the spell’s controller had priority before casting it, they get priority.

Thus, when Pyromancer's first triggered ability checks its trigger, the copy you cast with flashback will be on the stack, not in the graveyard.


Additional Turns and Emrakul, the Promised End When the round time expires in a sanctioned event, the current turn plus 5 additional turns are completed before a game still in progress is a draw.

Emrakul, the Promised End has the text:

  When you cast Emrakul, you gain control of target opponent during that player's next turn. After that turn, that player takes an extra turn.

If Emrakul, the Promised End was cast in the additional turns, how would the controlled turn and extra turn be counted?

Example for clarity: Player A casts Emrakul, the Promised End targeting Player B on turn 1 in additional turns. Is turn 2 Player B being controlled and turn 3 Player B's extra turn?

It doesn't matter who controls the turns or if there are extra turns, five additional turns are taken in total (assuming nobody wins before that).
So if the Andy casts Emrakul on the first extra turn targeting Nathan the turns will end up being like this:

Andy (casts Emrakul)
Nathan (controlled by Andy)
Nathan (controlled by himself)
Andy
Nathan

From the Magic Tournament Policy:

2.5. End-of-Match Procedure
If the match time limit is reached before a winner is determined, the player whose turn it is finishes his or her turn and five additional turns are played in total. This usually means that one player takes three turns and the other two, but a player taking extra turns may affect this. (...)


Can one hero use multiple Toryn Gauntlets? Toryn Gauntlet allows a hero to wield an additional weapon.  Can another gauntlet be wielded?  How about a third?

Yes, you can equip multiple Toryn Gauntlets to one hero, adding the benefits together. Note also that you do not add together the weights of the various weapons - each weapon's weight is compared to the hero's strength individually, so a hero of strength 2 could equip a gauntlet (weight 2, I believe - assume it's right for the example) and another weapon of weight 4 (2 strength from the hero base and 2 strength from the gauntlet).


Playing the Role of an Arkham Master in Arkham Horror? I am teaching the game to a ton of new people Thursday. I was going to be playing with only 3 others and planned to join in myself, but now that we're up to 8 players including me, I figured the game would be more fun if I keep things moving.

As a result I've decided to play the role of ARKHAM MASTER! Stay out of the game as a player and act as rules guardian, referee for things 1st player normally resolves, reader of cards, and general knowledge base.

My post is two fold: How can I keep the game running smoothly? With only one experienced investigator (has played a single game a month ago) still in the group. We have either 4.5 hours or if we're lucky, 6 hours to play the game in, and I think we all know that even with an experienced group 6 hours can be too short.

I'm playing Vanilla, and they're up against Yig, so as a light sleeper, that should make it easier. I'm incorporating Epic Battle and I'm also playing a house rule where the Ancient one awakens at Current Doom - Seals in Play even on a Seal or a Gate Close Victory to assure an Epic Ending.

Another thing I wanted to ask was on teaching. Arkham has a lot of rules, is there a new player cheat sheet or anything? If not what rules would you say a player MUST know if an Arkham Manager is in the game? My first thoughts are skills, skill checks, phases, derived checks such as combat and horror, movement points, clues, closing, sealing, and otherworlds. Also the win/lose conditions.

The other half of my post would be this: For those that have played games like Descent: Journeys in the Dark. I thought it might be fun (NOT FOR THURSDAY) to play the role of the Herald, actively orchestrating the forces of the Mythos to pave the way for the Ancient One's awakening. Obviously you'd have to be very careful about what rules you alter as the "Herald" to not totally break the game in favor of the Mythos. Has anyone tried this before?

You can find a good bit of info addressing your questions through ones already on the site:

Keep the game running smoothly:
How can we play a shorter but satisfying game of Arkham Horror?

"Quick" reference sheet:
What do you recommend putting in an Arkham Horror quick reference sheet?

On playing a 'Herald':
What can I do to ensure that my friends' first game of Arkham Horror with me is as awesome as possible?

But roughly, keeping people on task helps the game speed greatly. Having people know a general idea of where they'll want to move before their turn starts makes movement phase go much faster. It also isn't necessary all the time to make everyone wait for combat. If the outcome of the fight can't affect them, let them take their turn. Taking control of reading encounter cards for people helps trim down on the back-and-forth that can happen when the players don't know where each other are on the board.

Before playing, the players should know:

A rough detail of the four phases

Upkeep: Wiggle sliders & refresh cards
Movement: Move up to your speed. Stop at monsters & fight if necessary
Encounter: If you're in a spot with a picture, get a card
Mythos: A new gate & monsters show up. Too many gates and you lose

Skill checks: Number on the relevant stat + possible helpful items you have - number in the (). Get one success

Combat: Will check at the blue # penalty. Get one success. Then fight checks at the red # penalty. Weapons help. Need blood drops # of successes for combat

Gate closing: Go to a gate token, have a couple encounters where the token takes you, come back & make a fight/lore check. Repeat to win

Clues: Can spend 1 clue to roll 1 more die. Repeat as desired. Also you need 5 to make sure a gate never comes back

If find they don't need to know specifically how many monsters can be on the board, how many can go in the outskirts, & how many gates before losing. 8 players are going to need to be closing gates from the very beginning regardless.

For 'Herald' play I haven't done much more than drawing a few mythos cards and picking which one takes effect, drawing more monsters than necessary and choosing where they get placed, and not reading players the results of choices/success/failures from encounter cards before the result is decided.


servant of the scale during a board wipe Would you be able to, as Servant of the Scale dies, pass on x amount of counters to Fertilid and then activate his ability multiple times before Fertilid is then killed by the board wipe, or would they both die at the same time?

All creatures die at the same time from a board wipe, and you could not resolve any abilities while the board wipe is resolving.
Servant of the Scale triggers as it dies, but the ability only enters the stack after the board wipe has finished resolving.

603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority.

The active player gets priority (the right to cast spells and activate abilities) after a spell has resolved:

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

By that time, all creatures have already died.
Also, you could not activate Fertilid's ability during the board wipe, for the same reason you don't get the Servant trigger during the board wipe's resolution, because you need priority to do that.


Unexploded Cows placing into another player's herd So the rules state that you can place on another player's herd and that it must be placed on either end of the herd. However it doesn't not state who decides which end it goes on. The person playing the card or the owner of the herd.

We played with a decision of the person playing the card would get to choose, but we didn't find it clear enough to make a ruling.

The rules I found here state:

  On your turn, you may rearrange your field as much as you want.
  However, you can not rearrange someone else’s field, so when you
  play a cow on someone, it must go at either end of the line (your
  choice).

So, whoever plays a cow on someone else's herd, they decide on which end it goes.


What happens when Merfolk Trickster's ability targets Tempest Djinn Is the text on Tempest Djinn: "Tempest Djinn gets +1/+0 for each basic Island you control." considered an "ability"? Does that mean if Merfolk Trickster's triggered ability targets Tempest Djinn it becomes a 0/4 vanilla creature?

Yes, it's a so-called 'static ability':

  604.1. Static abilities do something all the time rather than being activated or triggered. They are written as statements, and they’re simply true.

The ruling under the card in Gatherer confirms that:

  Tempest Djinn’s ability that modifies its power applies only while it’s on the battlefield. In all other zones, it’s a 0/4 creature card.

(emphasis mine)

so it's affected by Merfolk Trickster.


What happens if I kill a creature enchanted with Murder Investigation by casting Flowstone Slide Murder Investigation reads:

  When enchanted creature dies, put X 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is its power.

Flowstone Slide reads:

  All creatures get +X/-X until end of turn.

Suppose I enchant my 1/1 white Soldier creature token with Murder Investigation and then cast Flowstone Slide with X = 3.  The poor token dies for sure, but would I get 4 white Soldier creature tokens because he was a 4/-2 at the time he was destroyed, or would I get 1 white Soldier creature token because that is the power of the enchanted creature as it last existed on the battlefield?

You'll get 4 tokens, because that's the power of the enchanted creature as it last existed on the battlefield.

It doesn't die quite immediately upon having negative toughness; it exists on the battlefield for just a moment until state-based actions are checked. The overly detailed sequence of events is:

Flowstone Slide resolves, making it a 4/-2 creature, still on the battlefield.
As soon as it finishes resolving, state-based actions are checked, and since its toughness is 0 or less, it's put into its owner's graveyard.
The token has now died, so Murder Investigation's ability triggers.
State-based actions keep being checked; Murder Investigation is put into your graveyard and the token ceases to exist.
Murder Investigation's triggered ability resolves. Since the object it refers to ("enchanted creature") is no longer on the battlefield, it uses last known information to check its power - and the last known power of the creature was 4, so X is 4 and you get 4 tokens.


Is there any way to get an instant or sorcery on the field as a permanent? What would happen if this occurred? Is there any process or series of plays/cards that would allow an instant to be put onto the battlefield as a permanent, instead of resolving? Would it resolve anyway, even if not cast? Not including something like manifesting an instant, where it's not technically the card.

There's a clear boundary between the two types of cards (one having a 'lasting' effect, the other a 'momentary' effect), and as far as I can see that's intentional. In the history of Magic: The Gathering, a handful of instant/sorcery cards with transform and/or manifest have been printed, and with some other cards it would be possible to make permanents of them, except for some very specific rules (mentioned by @doppelgreener) preventing this:

304.4. Instants can’t enter the battlefield. If an instant would enter the battlefield, it remains in its previous zone instead.
307.4. Sorceries can’t enter the battlefield. If a sorcery would enter the battlefield, it remains in its previous zone instead.
701.27d If a spell or ability instructs a player to transform a permanent, and the face that permanent would transform into is represented by an instant or sorcery card face, nothing happens.
701.33f If a manifested permanent that’s represented by an instant or sorcery card would turn face up, its controller reveals it and leaves it face down. Abilities that trigger whenever a permanent is turned face up won’t trigger.

Even if those rules didn't exist, the text on an instant or sorcery indicates what happens when the spell resolves. So if you could somehow get a Lightning Bolt on the battlefield as a permanent, it won't do any damage, not even when it enters the battlefield.


Is his nobs/knobs separate from a flush in cribbage? I've been hunting everywhere for this and am leaning toward the answer being yes but can't find it explicitly stated anywhere: is his nobs (or knobs) separate from a flush in cribbage? For example, would a hand of of all hearts (1,2,3,J) and a starter card of a 4 of hearts... would you award 5 points for the flush and a point for knobs? Or just 5 points for the flush since the matching suit of the jack and starter card are already counted in the flush?

I'm new to the game and thus perhaps my lack of playing with more experienced players and having this situation actually come up has not occurred. I still can't find it online. Rule sites will list a flush and knobs but not state what to do when both occur.

Thanks!

Nobs is counted separately. It will always be one extra point if it is in your hand or in the crib. Likewise, nibs (if a jack is cut for the dealer) is always two points, and the dealer still gets to count the jack for a flush if the suit matches.

Rules of Cribbage.


Multiple riders on the same agenda In Twilight Imperium 4th edition, a rider is a category of action card that says:

After an agenda is revealed:
You cannot vote on this agenda.  Predict aloud an outcome of this agenda.  If your prediction is correct, [GAIN SOME BENEFIT].

Examples of this are Politics Rider, Technology Rider, and Warfare Rider.
Can multiple players each play a rider on the same agenda?  Can one player play multiple riders on the same agenda?

Any number of players can play any number of riders on a single agenda, provided each is a different rider.  If multiple players want to play the same rider, the player first in speaker-clockwise order has priority.
The relevant points from the rules reference:

Multiple action cards with the same name cannot be played during a single timing window to affect the same units or game effect. Canceled cards do not count as being played.
During the strategy and agenda phases, if there are multiple abilities
that players wish to resolve at the same time, each player takes a
turn resolving an ability starting with the speaker and proceeding
clockwise.  This process continues until each player has resolved all
the abilities that he wishes to resolve during that timing window.

There is nothing in the rules reference that prohibits a player from playing multiple riders specifically.  There is also nothing besides the above rule preventing several action cards being played in response to a single trigger.


In Splendor can we have more than 3 joker (gold) tokens in our hand without spending them? the situation arrived when a player had one reserved card but already 3 joker tokens and wanted to reserve another card. can he receive a gold token even if he already has 3 in his hand?

Yes, you can have more than 3 joker tokens.

In the list of things you can do on a turn, the rules say:

  Reserve 1 development card and take 1 gold token (joker)

The rules later restrict when you can reserve a card:

  Players may not have more than three reserved cards in hand

There is no mention of a limit on the number of jokers*. There is only a limit on the number of reserved cards in hand.

*Note that jokers do still count towards the normal 10-token limit. If you are at 10 tokens already, you can still reserve a card and take a joker, but you will then have to discard a token to get back down to 10.


Challenging Chain Wild Draw Four's I was playing Uno, and the card was a yellow 4.  As I didn't have a yellow nor a 4 in my hand.  I played the draw 4 card.  Now should I have been challenged, I would have won the challenge.  But my friend behind me in the rotation, jumped in with another draw 4, making it a +8.  Now that he has played a +4, I am no longer challegeable, but would you be able to challenge him?  I don't think you would be able to, since it wasn't his turn so technically he didn't have to play anything, plus it was a jump in.  So can you challenge a jump in draw 4 card played?

SE Disclaimer: The current question regarding what happens to a challenged and improper wild draw 4 is unclear. My answer assumes that the "wild" part of a wild draw four is still in play (including whatever color was called.)

The "jumping in" and "chaining" rules you refer to are house rules/variants. There is no official rule that allows you to take a turn out of rotation (that rotation may change due to skips, reverses, and other card effects, but there's no playing out of order.) There is no rule that allows you to escape the effects of a card by playing another copy of said card, and no rule that then doubles the effect of the card to the next player. The way to deal with this, then, would have to be house ruled as well, and I haven't seen a ruleset that actually does.

So then... what should it be changed to. I'm afraid that is quite difficult to say.

First, the reasoning behind the wild draw 4 (hereby named as the WD4.) The rule "prevents" the play of the WD4 in situations where another card could legally be played. It's the only card that has this restriction. This rule in particular showcases just how much thought went into designing this game. Without this rule, the WD4 is simply a "better and more flexible draw 2." Why would you ever want a draw 2 when there's cards that would be more painful and be playable in more circumstances? This rule adds that little kicker to the situation. A draw 2 can be played (assuming a legal pile to play it on) at any time, allowing for someone to "save" an uno from the next player. A WD4 is somewhat less likely. It provides a weakness to the greatest card in the game, albeit small. It even provides some interesting mindgames (you're on uno and the player before you plays a WD4. Now, if you draw the 4 it's a major setback. But if you challenge successfully, you're still in the game (though unless you got really lucky with the color call you would still be drawing 1.)But if you challenge unsuccessfully you're back to 7 cards and possibly out of the running. So, did I play in desperation or am I trying to trick you?) For a game that's usually a luck fest, that's a really interesting twist. (now if only they did that with the skip cards too...) There's also the other reason of reducing the take that effect, and giving players the out of "look, it's the only card I could play, I didn't mean to!"

So...with that in mind, how is the best way to play this? There's 2 ways.

1) Don't play with chaining and jumping in with WD4's, keeping everything else the same. This keeps the premise of the WD4: the nuclear bomb that you aren't allowed to control.

2) If you really want those +8 moments, then do this: any and all WD4's played can be challenged, with respect to the card played just before the WD4 chain. (Using your example, the player who jumped in or you could be challenged, and if so it's on the basis of "could you play on a yellow 4?") If a WD4 is challenged unsuccessfully, the offender would draw 6 cards (the WD4 that was challenged + the penalty 2) and that WD4 would be considered "dealt with." The current player can attempt to challenge other WD4's if they wanted to.

If a WD4 is successfully challenged, then all WD4s played after the offending WD4 are cancelled, and returned to hand. (reasoning: the "penalty" for an improper WD4 should be known when the card is played. Read on...) The offending player must then draw for the WD4 he played, and any others played before. This puts the onus on the jumping in player, as they "accepted" the raised stakes (where as the first player had no clue what was going to happen.) The offending player is allowed, however, to challenge any WD4 played before their play (i.e. the jumping in player, if caught, could challenge the first player, with the usual +2 card risk. If successful, their play is cancelled per the above rules.)

In any case: if any challenge is successful then, after the cards are drawn, the player who made the successful challenge then plays the next card (with whoever played the most recent not challenged call picking the color.) If no challenge was successful, that player's turn is skipped (per the normal rules) and the next player is up.

I would personally increase the penalty for an improper WD4 by 2 cards if the WD4 was chained, as part of the nature of the WD4 was the fact you can't aim it, and chaining would allow you some aim. But that's just me, and would probably require some testing first.


Attacking with Zero Creatures Two questions about attacking:

1) If I have creatures in play, can I declare an attack and then declare zero of the creatures as attackers?

2) If I have no creatures in play, can I declare an attack?

I'm not sure why you would want to, in either case, but it seems like a weird rules case.

Every turn has a combat phase (unless some card like Fatespinner tells you to skip it). The game proceeds to the combat phase after you're done with the first main phase.

The combat phase consists of five steps:

Beginning of combat — this phase is mostly for abilities that trigger at the beginning of combat; in multiplayer, you also choose which players will be "defending," though you don't have to assign any attackers at this point (then priority passes between players)
Declare attackers — you choose attackers at the beginning of this phase (then priority passes between players)
Declare blockers — you choose blockers at the beginning of this phase (then priority passes between players)
Combat damage — damage is dealt at the beginning of this phase (then priority passes between players)
End of combat — this phase is for resolving "at end of combat" triggers (then priority passes between players, and we move on to the next phase)

You choose your attackers during the "declare attackers" step. If you select zero attackers, the game skips the "declare blockers" and "combat damage" steps.

So, you will always get a combat phase, even if you have creatures but choose not to attack, or have no creatures. Any combat in which you don't attack won't include the "declare blockers" or "combat damage" steps, though.


Where can I find reusable white playing cards for prototyping? The question title says it all : Where can I find reusable white playing cards for prototyping?

I find services online to generate cards but not reusable white cards (that you can write on and erase later).

While it doesn't directly answer your question of where to get reusable playing cards, I have helped friends play-test card games before, and we have always just grabbed a handful of junk Magic common cards (because who doesn't have thousands of those lying around?), put them all into sleeves, and then slipped pieces of paper between the face of the card and the sleeve.  One of my favorites is taking a stack of note cards, cutting them in half, and using each half for a card face.

Now you can just change out the slips of paper when you want to update a card, and you can just recycle the old slips of paper afterwards.  When we've been short of paper, we've even cut up grocery bags, or written on the backs of receipts or used envelopes, its all the same.

Once a card is nice and stable, you can print off a nicer version and slip it into a sleeve and card if that's what you want.


Can the Wrack offer an impossible deal? Can the offer change? In Cosmic Encounter (Eon edition), the Wrack's power is to offer a deal to the other player in an encounter, rather than fighting. If the opponent refuses, the Wrack "tortures" the opponent: for each token the Wrack has committed to the encounter, it may send one of its opponent's tokens or cards to the warp or discard pile, respectively.

It's not clear from the description on the power card itself, but the Wrack must follow through completely: the Super Flare allows the Wrack to stop the proposal/torture and go back to normal encounter resolution.

That lack of clarity makes me question two other things about the power:

1) Can the Wrack offer a deal (intentionally or not) that the opponent is incapable of accepting? A simple example would be "give me the Attack 40 and I'll give you a Compromise" where the opponent does not have the Attack 40. Further, if it's unknown whether the opponent can fulfill the deal, can they dodge the process by (truthfully) stating that they cannot fulfill it?

2) Can the Wrack change the deal? This would seem to be essential for the process, given the iterative way it's described:

  On each torture you put any one of his tokens into the warp, or one of his cards (drawn at random) into the discard pile. If at any time he accepts the deal, stop the torture...

The opponent can clearly do whatever math is necessary before the Wrack starts removing anything (though it's true that which cards will be discarded is an unknown); combined with the fact that the Wrack can't stop without being Super, there's not much point in actually repeating the process as opposed to doing it all at once if the deal can't change on each step. However, the existence of the Super Flare makes me question that interpretation, because based on a straight reading of the power card:

  If he refuses it you may torture him once for every token you have in the challenge.

(emphasis mine), it sounds like the Wrack is choosing at each step to perform the torture, and I would have thought that the ability to stop was built in.

First, let's make sure we are using the actual Eon texts (the ones given in another answer here are not the originals, as evidenced by the references to "ships" and "encounters"). Here are the originals:

You have the power to torture. As the offensive or defensive player, after alliances are formed, you may describe to your opponent a deal (see rules). If he refuses it you may torture him once for every token you have in the challenge. On each torture you put any one of his tokens into the warp, or one of his cards (drawn at random) into the discard pile. If at any time he accepts the deal, stop the torture and conclude the arrangement. If he never accepts, you have lost the challenge and he has won. Follow through with the outcome normally. If initially you elect not to torture, proceed with the challenge normally.
Super: You may stop torturing at any time before your limit is reached and continue with the challenge normally.

To answer your questions:

Nothing here says the deal has to be reasonable, or known to be possible. Wrack is not the Mind, so how could he even know with any certainty which deals are possible and which ones are not? While it might be easy to think that it's "unfair" for Wrack to dictate an impossible deal, this is not actually a problem. It's important to remember that if the opponent does not, or can not, accept the deal, then Wrack loses. He loses the challenge, loses his tokens, and (if he is the offense) loses the rest of his turn. He even loses the chance to get rid of a bad challenge card. A Wrack who constantly offers impossible deals is not using his power optimally.

The torture is iterative, but this doesn't mean Wrack can change the terms. The guys at Future Pastimes did (and still do) enjoy designing aliens and writing game text to be as flavorful as possible. The reason Wrack tortures one token at a time and gives the opponent another chance to accept after each token is for theme, drama, and tension. The logical thing would be for the victim to make the decision immediately and either accept all or none of the torture, but it doesn't always go down that way, as we will see in a moment. The definitive answer to this question was given by designer/editor Jack Kittredge in Encounter magazine, volume 1 number 6, on page 10:

from Dr. Robert Destro, Willingboro, NJ:
I have a question about the Wrack. Can he change his deal between token removal? ...
Ed: ... No, the Wrack can't change his deal because if he could he would propose something horrendous the first few tortures, and then become more reasonable toward the end. It is up to him to come up with something reasonable to start with. Rationally, the victim should consider it and accept or reject it right away and live with the decision. But there is a certain pressure once you actually lose a token or two that is hard to take. You do want the torture to stop. So I've seen a few deals at first rejected but then accepted after a torture or two.

There's probably an element of salesmanship skill here, too. If you are the Wrack, ideally you want to propose a deal that is good for you, torture a token or two, and then have your deal accepted. Some taunting, threats, chiding, pointing out unpleasant realities etc. along the way could theoretically help that happen.


Can I Ghost Quarter to fetch basic land, while tapping my Gemstone Mine for mana using its last counter? My Gemstone Mine has 1 counter left. I tap it, remove 1 counter to produce B. Is the sacrifice effect a triggered ability -- meaning I have time to Ghost Quarter it and fetch a basic land?

You cannot do this.
Gemstone Mine's ability is a mana ability, which means that it does not use the stack. So it cannot be responded to; by the time you could do anything after activating it, Gemstone Mine would already be in the graveyard, and could not be targeted by Ghost Quarter.

605.1. Some activated abilities and some triggered abilities are mana abilities, which are subject to special rules. Only abilities that meet either of the following two sets of criteria are mana abilities, regardless of what other effects they may generate or what timing restrictions (such as “Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant”) they may have.

605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets all of the following criteria: it doesn’t have a target, it could add mana to a player’s mana pool when it resolves, and it’s not a loyalty ability. (See rule 606, “Loyalty Abilities.”)

605.3b An activated mana ability doesn’t go on the stack, so it can’t be targeted, countered, or otherwise responded to. Rather, it resolves immediately after it is activated.

Note that also you cannot accomplish this by switching the order. If you activate Ghost Quarter's ability first, and then respond to it by using Gemstone Mine, then when Ghost Quarter tries to resolve, it will not resolve because all of its targets are now illegal.

608. Resolving Spells and Abilities

608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. If all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal, the spell or ability doesn’t resolve. It’s removed from the stack and, if it’s a spell, put into its owner’s graveyard.

If Gemstone Mine's ability were a normal activated ability, instead of a mana ability, (if it didn't produce mana, or if it targeted something), then you would be able to do this, because you could activate Gemstone Mine's ability, then respond to it with Ghost Quarter while the ability was still on the stack.


Pushing robots and priority Question regarding pushing other robots. Say we have the following scenario:

Robot A and B are facing each other.
A plays "Move 3" with priority 800
B plays "move 2" wity priority 700

Where do the robots end up?

We have played the situation as A wins over B, and B's movement is cancelled out. It seemed to make the most sense. But further reading of the rules says that priority only determines the order moves are carried out.

So which is correct:

A pushes B three squares
A pushes B three squares and then B pushes A two squares.

Option 2 is correct. You say it yourself, priority only controls what order the robots move in. There's nothing in the rules about cancelling a robot's move.
From page 6 of the Wizards edition:

Priority
The priority numbers on each Program card indicate a robot’s
priority for that register phase—how quickly it moves. Whenever
robots are likely to bump into each other, use the priority numbers
to determine which robot moves first. A higher number means
faster movement, so a robot with a 200 card would move before
a robot with a 100 card.

(Emphasis mine)


Do +1/+1 counters go away with -1/-1 counters? with one of the main mechanics of Amonkhet being -1/-1 counters, i am worried about how that will affect my +1/+1 counter deck, specifically Gleam of Authority. if a +1/+1 counter cancels out a -1/-1 counter, will it go away if a creature has both, rendering my creature with Gleam of Authority less powerful?

Yes, +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters will cancel each other other. This is done as as state-based action, any time a player is about to receive priority.

704.1. State-based actions are game actions that happen automatically whenever certain conditions (listed below) are met. State-based actions don’t use the stack.
704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:

704.5r If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter and a -1/-1 counter on it, N +1/+1 and N -1/-1 counters are removed from it, where N is the smaller of the number of +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it.


Standstill, Phyrexian Tyranny and both players wanting to cast instants immediately after standstill is played. Who gets damage? A question regarding Standstill; I have Phyrexian Tyranny on the table and we both have 2 life left. I play Standstill and immediately play an instant so that my fellow opponent would have to draw 3 cards, lose life and die. But, as I play Standstill my opponent also immediately plays an instant. Who draws the cards and loses?

You would have to draw the 3 cards from Standstill and lose the game.

Standstill has a triggered ability. It triggers whenever its trigger condition is met, i.e. whenever a player plays a spell. It can keep triggering as long as it's on the battlefield.

  603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn’t do anything at this point.

After you played Standstill, you automatically received priority, i.e. the right to cast spells and activate abilities. You used that priority to cast your own instant, on which Standstill triggered.

  603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority.

Putting something on the stack is not the same as that thing resolving. It's only in queue to resolve at a later point.

Since you are the active player, you receive priority after you cast your instant. So you first put your instant on the stack, followed by Standstill's ability.

The stack, from top to bottom, is:

Standstill triggered by your instant
Your instant

You receive priority again, but pass to your opponent. Your opponent casts his own instant. Standstill can trigger again because it's still on the battlefield. The opponent puts his instant on the stack, then another Standstill trigger:

Standstill triggered by opponent's instant
Opponent's instant
Standstill triggered by your instant
Your instant

Then you both pass priority in sequence because neither of you take any more actions. The stack starts resolving:

  608.1. Each time all players pass in succession, the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves. (See rule 609, “Effects.”)

The topmost item is the Standstill trigger triggered by your opponent's instant. It resolves, Standstill is sacrificed. You have to draw 3 cards, Phyrexian Tyranny triggers 3 times (the triggers become the topmost items on the stack), and you lose the game.


What does 'play' mean in the context of Courser of Kruphix? Definition of 'play' in mtg for spells indicates it is synonym of cast. On the other hand on Courser of Kruphix it seems to be constant ability. What does 'play' mean in Magic?

Courser of Kruphix uses the word "play" in two different ways. When it says

  Play with the top card of your library revealed.

It means that you play the game with the top card of your library revealed. That ability is a static ability, so it is in effect for as long as the Courser of Kruphix is on the battlefield.

On the other hand, when it says

  You may play the top card of your library if it's a land card.

That simply means that you can play lands on top of your library like your are normally able to do from your hand.


Incomplete canasta and going out If I pick up a large pack in the discard pile and put down an incomplete 7’s canasta are there and rules or restrictions about going out without completing it?

In order to go out, you must have at least one Canasta; a complete set of 7 cards. If you do not yet have a Canasta, then you cannot go out; you must keep at least 1 card left in your hand.

  A player goes out when he gets rid of the last card in his hand by discarding or melding it, provided that his side has melded at least one canasta or he completes a canasta while going out. Failing this requirement, he must keep at least one card in his hand.

https://www.bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/canasta/

And

  You can only go out if your partnership has melded at least one canasta.

https://www.pagat.com/rummy/canasta.html

Note that there isn't such a thing as an "incomplete canasta". A canasta is simply a meld of 7 or more cards; and meld with fewer than 7 cards is just called a meld. A meld can become a canasta if more cards are added to it.


Does Incineroar's ability, Strong Cheer, affect attacks that normally deal no damage? I have a benched Incineroar (Unbroken Bonds 29) with Strong Cheer ability.

  Strong Cheer
  Your Pokémon's attacks do 30 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). You can't apply more than 1 Strong Cheer Ability at a time.

If I have an active Cosmog (Sun & Moon 64) with Dust Gathering attack, does it do 30 damage? I assume Strong Cheer would make it do 30 damage, but I have been unable to find clarification online.

  [C] Dust Gathering
  Draw a card.

Using Dust Gathering with a benched Incineroar with Strong Cheer ability does no damage.

From the official Rulings Compendium BW:

  An attack has to do "some" damage before an effect can add "more" damage to it. (Jan 31, 2008 PUI Rules Team)


Can I look up the text of my foreign cards on my phone in MTG tournaments? Hey guys I have a question. I play commander and most of my cards are in foreign language. I use google drive to have a picture of the actual card in English. If I go to a tournament am I allowed to use my phone to check the actual meaning of my cards or no?

At Regular REL, you might get permission from the Judge, at any higher REL it is forbidden.

2.12 Electronic Devices
At Competitive and Professional Rules Enforcement Level
during drafting, deck construction, and playing of
matches, players may not use electronic devices capable of taking and
storing notes, communicating with other people, or accessing the
internet (except for taking brief personal calls with the opponent's
permission).
At Regular Rules Enforcement Level, electronic devices are permitted, but players may not use them to access information that contains
substantial strategic advice or information about an opponent's deck.
Device use during a match other than brief personal calls must be
visible to all players. Players wishing to view information privately
on electronic devices during matches must request permission from a
judge.

You may however, call a judge to have them provide you with the oracle text (the official version of the text in English) anytime.


What can dead Werewolves players be doing? When you've been lynched by the villagers or ripped apart by the werewolves, I believe the rules say those players are completely out of the game and should not contribute in any way.

In the handful of Werewolves games I've played, some of those dead characters are put out that they aren't playing any more & decide they'll go and do something else, hence splitting up the party.

Do people have any house-rules or innovative ideas for what dead players can be doing within (or around) the game as it continues?

A simple game variant is that dead people can become ghosts.  This means that they still close their eyes, but do not vote.  During the day, they can still talk and participate in discussions.  Obviously, one's status is NOT revealed when one is killed.  It's up to the moderator to say when the game is over.

This changes the game, since it's not possible to eliminate 'leaders', but it can keep everyone engaged.


Hunt re-rolls in the presence of Sauron's servants or Strongholds How should I understand this rule (rulebook p.41, Hunt Re-rolls)? Does it refer to the last known position of the Fellowship, or does the free peoples' player have to tell the shadow player that he now got X re-rolls which would help him to determine the current position?

According to the 2nd Edition rules (although the 1st Edition rules do not differ in this respect, although it clarifies it in a different way), when determining the location of the Fellowship, the Frodo & Sam figurine's location is used. This may be the current location of the Fellowship, if the Fellowship is declared or revealed. Otherwise, it will be the last known position (LKP) of the Fellowship and the Fellowship Progress Counter will indicate how far the Fellowship has traveled from that last know position. Since the LKP of the Fellowship is always used for all rules, including Hunt re-rolls (Hunt Re-rolls use the position of the Ring-bearers figure, not the current position of the Fellowship), no extra information is revealed to the shadow player.

The Ring-bearers figure (Frodo & Sam) indicates the last known position of the Fellowship. It is placed in the Region where the Fellowship was last declared or revealed (see page 38). At the start of the game, it is placed in Rivendell. Whenever rules or Event Cards refer to the current location of the Fellowship, it is determined by the position of this figure, regardless of the position of the Fellowship Progress Counter (see below).
The Fellowship Progress Counter shows how far the Fellowship has traveled from its last known position and indicates whether the Fellowship is Hidden or Revealed. This counter is placed on the the Fellowship Track on the game board and is moved a step forward each time the Fellowship advances.

The 1st Edition just flat out tells you to use the Fellowships last known position.

Hunt Re-rolls - The presence of Sauron’s servants or Strongholds makes movement of
the Fellowship more dangerous. If, during the Hunt, the last known position of the Fellowship is in a Region that contains one or more of the following... (Clip: up to 3 possible re-roll conditions)


King of Tokyo (2016 version): Psychic Probe In the 2nd edition of King of Tokyo (2016 version), the Psychic Probe Power Card states:

Psychic Probe (Keep): You can reroll a die of your choice after the last Roll of each other Monster. If you reroll [heart dice symbol], discard this card.

There are also three Power Cards that let you change your own dice after the Roll Dice step:

Stretchy (Keep): Before resolving your dice, you can spend 2 [energy symbol] to change one of your dice to any result.
Plot Twist (Keep): Before resolving your dice, you may change one die to any result. Discard when used.
Herd Culler (Keep): You can change one of your dice to [1 dice symbol] each turn.

Does this mean that Psychic Probe must be used before Plot Twist, Stretchy, or Herd Culler?
For example, if a player uses Plot Twist, Stretchy, Herd Culler, or any combination thereof before another player with Psychic Probe has called out the reroll, does that then mean that the player with Psychic Probe has forfeited the ability to reroll that turn?

According to Richard Garfield the game's designer, the timing of Psychic Probe interacting with cards such as Plot Twist, Stretchy, or Herd Culler is reactive - one player must commit to the use of their card, then the other must decide to use their card - there is no specific order in which these cards will always resolve and if neither player opts to use their card then the existing roll stands.

The clarification for this can be found here in the comments on one of Richards podcasts.

Obviously based on the date and content of the podcast, this was intended as a clarification for first edition, but unless the rules have changed significantly on any of the cards (which as far as I can see, they haven't) it would still apply for second edition.


Will Neglected Heirloom ever transform back again? Neglected Heirloom says:

  When equipped creature transforms, transform Neglected Heirloom.

However, on the other side of this sword, there is nothing about transforming the equipment back. Does the transform rule exist, and keep transforming the equipment back and forth with the equipped creature, or does it stay on the once transformed version until stated otherwise by another effect or removed from the battleground?

Neglected Heirloom transforms once, into Ashmouth Blade, and stays that way. (Until something exceptional happens, like another effect or removal, like you said.)

The transformation rule on the Neglected Heirloom front face doesn't matter once it's transformed. The currently face-up side is all that matters, which is Ashmouth Blade. It doesn't have an ability that transforms it, so that's that. Neglected Heirloom's transform ability doesn't exist anymore.

There's several other cards that transform only one way, so this isn't entirely unusual, and for all of those the other face no longer matters. Ormendahl, Profane Prince doesn't have the mana-generating abilities of Westvale Abbey either, for example, and doesn't have anything available to transform it back into a building.

(Also, because of the "no flippy-floppy" rules change introduced with Shadows over Innistrad, that original ability on its front face can't transform it back and forth if the equipped creature happens to transform multiple times at once.)


Can an instant spell deal damage to a creature after responding with hexproof? For instance I want to cast Shock on Barkhide Troll during my main phase. Then my opponent can respond to it with Troll activated ability.
If I understand it correctly - he had to use Troll's Active Ability before my instant had targeted the creature. So it means my instant should deal the damage.

It is like when you want to use an ability which says "your creature can't be blocked until the end of the turn" and if you use such an instant after an opponent blocked your creature - an instant won't work because you had to use it when you assigned attackers

No, the Shock will not deal damage if the target gains hexproof in response.

The reason is that target validity is checked both while you are casting the spell and as the spell starts to resolve. If the target becomes invalid, say by gaining hexproof, before the spell resolves, the spell will not do anything to that target, and if all of the targets are invalid, the spell will not do anything at all.


How to begin learning Go? I've been playing a bit with Go and after a few games I do get pretty well the different rules.

The game indeed has a very deep strategy and I've read that to get a grip at that strategy, a player should starts on small boards (5x5, 9x9).

I'm playing with an application on my iPad that lets me choose for handicap to help me improve slowly. The problem is, when playing with a lot of handicap I do win pretty easily but when I get less than 6 stones at the start of the game I quickly feel like I'm losing territory at each one of the IA moves.

Is there tutorial on basic strategy? What to avoid? What to look for? I've also practiced with some Go problems and I do understand them quite well... I have the feeling that I'm improving. In a game context, I'm really overwhelmed with possibilities when I need to put my stones on the board and I really don't have the feeling that I'm improving...

There are lots of tutorials. Playing games making mistakes, and learning from them is the way to improve. However, when you're just starting, you make so many mistakes that it can be overwhelming. This is where having a human teacher or a book can help, because they can give you specific things to work on.
Keep your app, but playing just against a computer is not a good way to get strong at Go.
Books for beginners:
Janice Kim has a series of books for beginners that I found very helpful when starting out.
Find local players:
Advanced players are usually happy to play a teaching game or give a short lesson. You will, of course, find that some are better teachers than others. I'd recommend searching for " go baduk" (baduk is the Korean name for Go, and is a much more helpful term for search engines).
Play against people online:
KGS is a popular Go server, and in the Beginners Room and such you can find people willing to play teaching games. Sometimes the best teacher is someone who is only a little better than you, because they have a similar perspective as you do. (There's lots of other Go servers if you don't like KGS, see here.)
Online resources:
Sensei's Library is a popular Go wiki, and they have a nice set of pages for beginners.