Defeating Final Evolution Pokemon I'm a very new player to the Pokemon TCG, and have picked up two themed decks to play with (Ultra Prism).

So far in my experience however it seems that if one player gets their active Pokemon to its final evolution (for example Empoleon) before the other player, then that player has a massive advantage, and is able to one shot all of the opponent's Pokemon before they can do enough damage to knock out the evolved Pokemon.

Is there a strategy for countering this? It can turn a game very one sided very quickly.

Which is one of the main concepts to win a game, prepare your pokemon so that they can do massive damage and dominate the scenario (either by evolving it or get it ready with necessary energy cards).

Since we are talking about theme decks here, cards and scenarios are limited which is really beginner-friendly. Each expansion (in your case, Ultra Prism) comes with 2 theme decks normally (which they balance out the odds of winning between them so they both will sell), each has it's strenghts and ways to take over the game.

There are a few ways to "comeback" in the game playing any mode, unfortunately (and fortunately at the same time) in Theme mode ways to win is limited to setting up your Over Powered evolutions and swiping your oponents actives. One way to comeback in themes which I have noticed is sacraficing some prizes and Pokemon until you prepare a Pokemon that could take out your oponents active.

Basically, while your opponent got their active evolved and ready with energies and is swiping your actives and taking prizes (he is 1-hit KOing your active Pokemon), he/she is probably "over comitting" on his active Pokemon, which they have spent a few turns only attaching enery cards to that pokemon and probably do not have other Pokemon prepared on their bench.
You can take the opportunity to stall by giving him the turns to KO your some of your Pokemon while preparing 1 Pokemon to fight against his "OP" Empoleon. E.g. have your garchomp set with a Cynthia in hand so you can KO his Empoloeon with 200 dmg.

Try to get the cards you need to set up powerful attackers while your oponent is putting all his eggs in one basket, by optimizing usage of trainers and supportes you have in hand.

You need to calculate your sacrafices and chances, and give your best shot. There have been many times where games were turned from 6-1 prizes to 0-1.

I'm no pro player but hope that helps : )


Hand Order In Agricola (and Bohnanza) We played with Agricola: The Goodies for the first time last night, and while it was very silly, it didn't have the negative impact on gameplay that I'd feared.  However, the Occupation cards from the L-deck created all sorts of rules questions for us that we weren't quite equipped to answer.  But that's where this site comes in!

The Bean Farmer occupation reads:

  Once you have player the Bean Farmer,
  no opponent can change the order of
  the cards in their hand; they may only
  play the card that is at the front.
  (If the first card is an Occupation, for example, they cannot play a Minor
  Improvement.)

My question is, is there a canonical interpretation of the "front" of your hand?  If you are holding your cards in a fan, where the rightmost card is the only one with its full face showing, is that the front?

Obviously the intent of this card is to force the opponents to play Bohnanza-style, but this just adds complexity to the issue: when I play Bohnanza, I consider my "first bean" to be the card at the far left of my fan!

In the event we ruled that each player could decide what constituted the "front" of their hand, but this may be open to abuse.  Is there a definitive "front" and "back" of your hand in Agricola?  And incidentally, have I been playing Bohnanza wrong all these years?

The Bohnanza rulebook on page 3 states that the "first card" in each player's hand is the one that is fully visible when fanned. Rulebook here.


Increasing Vengeance and new targets Increasing Vengeance states "Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. If Increasing Vengeance was cast from a graveyard, copy that spell twice instead. You may choose new targets for the copies."

Does "You may choose new targets for the copies" apply only if Increasing Vengeance was cast from the graveyard?

No.

You may (but are not required to) choose new copies for any or all copies created by Increasing Vengeance. "Copies" in the last sentence refers to any copies the spell produces, even if it's just one.

Note that these types of questions can be easily referenced by looking up the rulings for Increasing Vengeance on Gatherer.


New idea in Sicilian for white? I was wondering if someone could explain why this may be bad for white. Engines say white is a 0.5 of a pawn down after this line, but other than stunted development, I do not see a clear way in which black is better. The line is

e4 c5
Nf3 Nc6
e5? Qc7
Qe2

On e4 the White pawn is strong, controlling the important central square d5 (which Black has given up some control over by playing c5). You might think that it is just as good to control d6, but d6 is less central.

The loss of time is also significant. You spend a move to put the pawn on e5, and then another move to defend it with the queen. You will have to move the queen again, or your g-pawn, to develop your king's bishop. That makes three moves you could have been spending developing minor pieces or central pawns or castling! Half a pawn seems a fair evaluation of that loss of time.

Finally, the pawn may be vulnerable on e5. Black has a pleasant choice whether to play g6 and Bg7, or e6, Ne7 and g6, or f6 exchanging the pawn but getting fast development. White will have trouble bringing more pieces to the defence of e5: in particular it won't be easy to support it with a pawn as Black controls d4 and White's knight blocks the f-pawn.


Can Mewto and Mew Tag Team GX's Perfection ability be prevented from using by using Golduck's amnesia attack? In Pokemon tcg, I got a card named "Mewto and Mew GX", and the "Perfection" ability looks cool. But when I put it into combat, I encountered a problem. For example, golduck's attack amnesia does 20 damage and chooses an attack from the defending pokemon, and that pokemon cannot use that attack during the next turn. So, what if golduck faced Mewto and Mew GX? Can golduck prevent Mewto and Mex from using the ability, or is it that because it's an ability, "Perfection" cannot be prevented from using during the next turn? I'm quite confused so someone pls help me!

Perfection is an ability. Abiliteas are different and distinct from attacks.
So Golducks Amnesia Attack cannot prevent the use of the perfection ability since it instructs to choose an attack to prevent.

From the game rules:

  ABILITY: An Ability is an effect on a Pokémon that is not an attack. Some will be active all of the time, while some you will need to choose to use. Read each Ability to make sure you understand exactly how and when it works.

The Amnesia attack also says to choose one of the defending pokemons attacks, the only choice here is Miracuolous Duo GX, since the attacks that MewTwo & Mew GX gets from perfection are not it's attacks but the attacks of the other benched pokemon.


In UNO, do you have to choose a color before setting a rule when using a customizable wild card? If you use one of the new custom rule wild cards, do you have to choose the color before setting the rule?

It is unclear what you mean by “setting your rule”, but you don’t choose a rule when you play the card. You are supposed to write rules on the cards before you play a game. Then, when you play the card, the rule is followed. In general, the rule wouldn’t be something that matters whether you choose your new color before or after it happens (like it is with the normal wild card draw 4 card). If it is something where it actually matters, that could be specified as part of the rule itself. From the rules:

Wild Customizable card – Use a #2 pencil to write any house rule you wish on a card. The only limit is your imagination (and the consent of the other players). Before the game begins, decide how many of these cards to include. You may use only 1 or all 3, it’s up to you. This is a wild card so you may play it on your turn even if you have another playable card in your hand. Also, you choose the color that resumes play. If this card is turned up at the beginning of play, the person to the left of the dealer chooses the color that begins play. NOTE: the cards are erasable, so you may write a new rule each time you play!


Are there any other card packs for Agricola other than the E, I, and K? I know that the iOS version has the "G" pack, but I'm wondering if that G Pack exists for the actual board game or if there are any other expansion packs.  Has anyone used those other expansion packs?  Are they pretty fun to use?  What are some of the cards like?

Yes, the "G" pack exists, as well as the "WM" (World Championship Deck"), France deck, and a few others. The most solid, "balanced" decks IMO are the WM and G decks respectively. They can be purchased online from re-sellers like amazon and such.

They are, however, not in print anymore as far as I know as the Anniversary Collectors edition is due to come out late 2017 with 1000 or so cards that are a combination of all of the current decks in existence, as well as some that are being made to plug in the gaps. That version is going to be for the dedicated type of crowd. There is also a version that just came out with 96 cards that is more of a casual type of crowd.

More info can be found here


Precise rules for MTG We recently picked up MTG to try out. It is fun but the rules are quite vague. It is not clear whether a player can attack more than once (with different cards) in a turn. It isn't clear how tap abilities of cards related to attacking (if one attacks does one also get the tap ability - if so can it be used without attacking, and can it be used if not ones own turn). It isn't clear when a card says "for each creature under your control" whether that count includes creature tokens (which are "creatures" but are often treated separately in the text of cards). Does life link only count damage to the other player or all damage to any creature? The list goes on.

Is there a more precise version of the general rules for MTG?

It is fun but the rules are quite vague.

What have you been reading?

MTG has the most precise rules of any complex game. These are found in the Comprehensive Rules.

The Comprehensive Rules are far more detailed than what you need, though. You should start with the Basic Rules. These are still far from vague.

  It is not clear whether a player can attack more than once (with different cards) in a turn.

You only have one combat phase per turn, but you can declare any number of attackers.

Declare attackers step: You decide which, if any, of your untapped creatures will attack
and which player or planeswalker they will attack. Then they do
so. This taps the attacking creatures. Players can then cast instants
and activate abilities.

  It isn't clear how tap abilities of cards related to attacking (if one attacks does one also get the tap ability - if so can it be used without attacking, and can it be used if not ones own turn).

Attacking taps the creature.

Activating some abilities requires tapping the creature.

Unless there's an ability that says "Whenever [something] is tapped", tapping doesn't cause anything to happen.

An applicable metaphor is: You can't pay for two things using the same dollar.

  It isn't clear when a card says "for each creature under your control" whether that count includes creature tokens (which are "creatures" but are often treated separately in the text of cards).

Creature tokens are creatures.

"Creature" not followed by "spell" or "card" means "creature permanent". A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield. So a creature is a creature card or token on the battlefield.

An applicable metaphor is: A square building is square. A square building is a building.

  Does life link only count damage to the other player or all damage to any creature?

It doesn't matter to what the damage is dealt.

Lifelink: A keyword ability seen on permanents. Damage dealt by a
permanent with lifelink causes that permanent’s controller to
gain that much life, in addition to behaving like normal damage.


Shuffle destination cards in Ticket to Ride I'm considering a house rule where discarded Destination cards are always shuffled into the deck instead of returned to the bottom. The pros and cons seem balanced to me:

Pros :-
We may need the cards that someone else discards. By shuffling them in, we have a higher chance of getting them.

Cons :-
Cards that we discard come back to us.

Thoughts and comments?

I would stick with the original rules. The actual effect your house rule has on game balance is probably negligible. Most of the time you won't end up drawing anyone's discard anyway, and even when you do it's only slightly better on average than a random card (unless you were the one who discarded it, in which case it's a lot worse). Thus even if balance is fractionally improved (and I'm not convinced it is), I'd focus instead on a few other effects:

Shuffling a lot is annoying and makes the game take longer. (thanks @Othya for pointing this out in the comments)
For me at least, drawing my own discard would feel like the game giving me the middle finger - sure there are other useless cards I could have drawn, but I'd feel particularly screwed over by getting the same worthless card twice.

As a side note, I don't quite use the original rules myself - I make a separate discard pile and then shuffle it when the deck runs out.


Can the Beast attack from a distance? The rules state

  the Beast can move 5 spaces on a turn, but can attack the Agent only
  if it shares the same space that turn

I believe this means that the beast can only attack the Agent it shares a space with if it moved 5 spaces that particular turn. However...

If the Beast moves less than 5 spaces, does it attack from a distance like normal?

In a boardgamegeek thread, the designer clarified that if the Beast moves LESS than 5 spaces, he can still attack from a distance.


When Turn to Frog changes a creature's base power/toughness to 1/1 do any affects that change creature's power and toughness still apply? Turn to Frog changes a creature's base power and toughness to 1/1. Does that mean if target creature has a +1/+1 counter when Turn to Frog is cast, it becomes 2/2? If it has -1/-1 counter on it, would Turn to Frog effectively destroy it?

Does the same apply to enchantments or equipment that affect the creature's power/toughness?

Yes, power/toughness modifications, including counters, apply on top of the base power/toughness exactly as you described in the question. Turn to Frog originally just said "becomes a 1/1", but along with many other cards, got the "base power and toughness" wording to help clarify this.
There's actually a specific order for applying those modifications as part of the layer system, but generally you don't need to know any details, just start with the base and add the rest. In case it does come up, here are the rules:

613.3. Within layer 7, apply effects in a series of sublayers in the order described below. Within each sublayer, apply effects in timestamp order. (See rule 613.6.) Note that dependency may alter the order in which effects are applied within a sublayer. (See rule 613.7.)
613.3a Layer 7a: Effects from characteristic-defining abilities that define power and/or toughness are applied. See rule 604.3.
613.3b Layer 7b: Effects that set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value are applied. Effects that refer to the base power and/or toughness of a creature apply in this layer.
613.3c Layer 7c: Effects that modify power and/or toughness (but don’t set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value) are applied.
613.3d Layer 7d: Power and/or toughness changes from counters are applied. See rule 121, “Counters.”
613.3e Layer 7e: Effects that switch a creature’s power and toughness are applied. Such effects take the value of power and apply it to the creature’s toughness, and take the value of toughness and apply it to the creature’s power.


Jhessian Thief and Aqueous Form If I have a Jhessian Thief enchanted with an Aqueous Form, and it deals damage to my opponent, do I get to Scry 1 before or after I draw a card from Jhessian Thief's ability?

Aqueous Form's scry ability triggers when the creature attacks. Jhessian Thief's draw ability triggers when it deals combat damage to a player. Thus Aqueous Form's ability will trigger and resolve in the declare attackers step. Jhessian Thief's ability won't trigger until later, in the combat damage step.


Can Ass Whuppin' be used to target a permanent in your own game? Ass Whuppin' is a silver-bordered card from the set Unhinged whose card text reads "Destroy target silver-bordered permanent in any game you can see from your seat."  Technically, if me or my opponent have silver-bordered cards in play, I can probably see them from my seat, so can I target them for removal with this spell?  Or does it have to be a silver-bordered permanent from a different game?  I've checked the Unhinged FAQ and Google, and can't find any answers to this scenario.  The FAQ does mention that the target has to be in a silver-bordered game, i.e., a game where at least one player is using a deck that uses at least one silver-bordered card.  But that's about it.  Technically, if I'm using Ass Whuppin', then I'm in a silver-bordered game myself.
Edit:  It's occurred to me I should probably provide the FAQ:  Unhinged FAQTIWDAWCC

Yes, you can see your own game, and Ass Whuppin' makes no limitation on which game its target has to be in, so you can target cards in your own game. This is necessary to be able to use the card at all in a silver-bordered game when nobody around you is playing another silver-bordered game.
That being said, the whole point of Ass Whuppin', and indeed all Un-sets, is to mess with the rules of the game and have a good laugh about it. If you can mess with other games through Ass Whuppin', but you are looking to powerplay in your own game, you're probably doing it wrong.


Do Monster Surges Count as a Prevented Gate Opening for the Purpose of Increasing the Deep One Rising Track? Does a token get added to the Deep One Rising Track for a Monster Surge?

Rule in question:
"There are two primary ways for the Deep Ones rising track to advance.  Each time a Gate is prevented from opening, such as by an elder sign token, or an investigator ability, add one uprising token to the Deep One Rising track"

Apparently the official ruling is that a monster surge is not a gate opening, it is an effect that occurs instead; and it does not cause a Deep One token to be added.

This page on the Arkham Horror wiki also suggests that adding a Deep One token is an event that occurs at a different time than a monster surge, and offers some additional explanation of the difference!


Seven wonders building a stage Can you build a stage of your wonder with resources from yellow cards?

Or only with brown and gray cards

You can use any resources, including those from yellow cards.

Paying for a Wonder stage is pretty much the same as paying for a structure on a card. The only difference between resources produced by yellow cards vs those produced by brown and gray cards are that yellow card resources cannot be bought by neighboring players.

From the rules:

  The resources of a city are produced by its Wonder board, its brown cards,
  its gray cards, and some yellow cards.
  To build a structure, a player’s city must produce the resources indicated
  on its card.


Sundial of the Infinite and "Sacrifice at the end of turn" The card Sundial of the Infinite allows you to abruptly end your turn.

What effect does Sundial of the Infinite have on cards like Incandescent Soulstroke which the card states

  "Sacrifice it at end of turn"

but gatherer.wizards.com states

  "Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step"

Would this creature still have to be sacrificed? And why the discrepancy between what the card actually says and what the rules text is on gatherer?

Why is the card text different from the rules text on the Gatherer?
The Gatherer text (typically referred to as Oracle text) has precedence over the card text. For all intents and purposes, you can ignore the text on Incandescent Soulstroke, and pretend that it actually says:

[...] Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.

You might think, "Well if I can't trust what the card says, how can I play the game without looking up every single card?". Over time you will develop a feel for what common errata are. For example, "remove from the game" typically means "exile". At sanctioned tournaments, you are allowed to ask the judges for Oracle text. They will provide it to you.
Does the creature have to be sacrificed even though I ended the turn?
Incandescent Soulstroke sets up a delayed triggered ability. Delayed triggered abilities are basically abilities that will trigger at a later point, when their condition is met. For Soulstroke, that condition is "at the beginning of the next end step".
Sundial of the Infinite ends the turn. When you end the turn, the rules say that you skip straight to the Cleanup step.

715.1d The current phase and/or step ends. The game skips straight to the cleanup step; skip any phases or steps between this phase or step and the cleanup step. If an effect ends the turn during the cleanup step, a new cleanup step begins.

Pulling this all together, if you skipped the end step by ending the turn, then the creature won't be sacrificed (yet). However, it will still be sacrificed during the next end step, whenever that comes. As a couple of commenters pointed out, a clever solution to this problem is to activate Sundial while Soulstroke's triggered ability is on the stack. The trigger will be removed from the stack as part of ending the turn, and it will never trigger again.


Smallworld: Can the sorcerer's ability be used on a lost tribe token? From the rulebook: "Sorcerers can conquer a Region by substituting one of your opponent's Active tokens with one of your own taken from the storage tray".

In this case, is the lost tribe token consider an opponent?

Lost tribe tokens are neither an active race nor under the control of an opponent, so they clearly can't be the target of the sorcerors' ability.


What bet to make in this Texas Holdem Tournament? I was playing in a tournament. About 115 players started each getting 5000 chips. There was about 45 players left and I had just been moved to a different table, I had 17000 in chips. The blinds were now 1000/2000. The second hand after I sat down I was the big blind and was dealt pocket Aces. One player bet 2000, all others including the small blind folded.

What bet should I make?

The player who bet 2000 had more chips than me but I'm not sure how much as I had just been moved to the table.

In the actual game, I raised to 5000 (an additional 3000).
The other player called.
The flop was K, J, 7 all different suits.
I bet 2000, the other player called.
The turn was a 5, I bet another 2000. The other player raised another 3000.
This left me with 5000 so I went in all. The other player called.
He showed K, 3 not suited.

My bad luck, the river card was a 3 and I was knocked out.

Should I have bet differently?
Should I have gone all in before the flop?

You had 8 big blinds. That is a spot to push pre flop (go all-in) out of position (OOP). You should be playing a wide range in that spot and could get called with a wide range. You win the bet that was placed and the small blind if the villain folds. Losing to K3 is unlucky but you need to gamble with a small stack and AA is a good hand to gamble with.


What Programs Work Duing a Jak Sinclair Run Jak Sinclair has the following ability:

  When your turn begins, you may make a run. You cannot use programs during this run.

This pretty clearly prevents the use of paid abilities such as icebreaker abilities.  But what about other programs like Snitch or Au Revoir?

Some programs will still work during a Jak Sinclair run.  The key is the FAQ clarification on "Using":

  Any time an ability is optional, the player resolving the ability is “using” the ability. This includes all paid abilities and all optional conditional abilities (triggered abilities that use the word “may” or “allows”).

So any unconditional triggers on programs will still work.  Here are some examples:

Pawn and Au Revoir work completely (their triggers are unconditional).
Snitch doesn't work (it's ability says "may).
Datasucker and Medium half-work: they will give you virus counters if the run succeeds but their virus counters don't do anything during the run (Datasucker's is a paid ability and Medium's ability says "allows")


Where can I find Help Your Neighbor? I played a card and dice game called “Help Your Neighbor” several years ago. When the player rolled the dice, he/she could discard the number that matched the sum of the dice.
Is a complete set of rules available? I saw rules posted here but can no longer find them.

I dont know that game, but a quick look into a search engine gave this link:

https://creatingmaryshome.com/help-your-neighbor-a-game/

the article includes the rules, not sure if they what you are searching for, feel free to update this answer to include the details yourself


What is the very last step that Juragedo can be special summoned and tributed My opponent declares and attack with a Nekroz holding Nekroz of Decisive Armor in hand. Can I wait until the damage step to special summon and then tribute Juragedo?

Juragedo

  During either player's Battle Step: You can Special Summon this card
  from your hand, and if you do, gain 1000 LP. You can only use this
  effect of "Juragedo" once per turn. During either player's turn: You
  can Tribute this card, then target 1 face-up monster you control; it
  gains 1000 ATK until the end of the next turn.

Nekroz of Decisive Armor

  During either player's turn: You can discard this card, then target 1
  "Nekroz" monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK and DEF until the end
  of this turn.

To make this as valuable a resource as possible please try and provide detailed reasoning behind your answer.

Thanks.

No. Damage step means leaving the battle step, so you could not special summon juragedo in the damage step. You can special summon him during battle step and then tribute during damage step.


Can I use expansions with the second edition without owning the first edition? I'm looking to pick of Mansions of Madness now that the second edition has been released. I know that the first edition had a several expansions released, and I know that the MoM second edition website says that owners of the first edition Forbidden Alchemy and Call of the Wild expansions are able to use pieces to expand the second edition. But the wording is unclear whether or not owners of only those expansions can make use of pieces from them to expand, or if the first edition is also required.

Is there any benefit to buying the second edition and those expansions? Is there anything from the expansions that I'd miss out on without the first edition?

Even if you don't have the first edition core game, you will still be able to use "Call of the Wild" and "Forbidden Alchemy" to expand your second edition.

(However, the "Suppressed Memories" expansion for second edition will probably be a better choice in financial terms.
It contains all the components from "Call of the Wild" and "Forbidden Alchemy" that are used by second edition)


Is the player being bribed allowed to see how much cash is offered? In Power Struggle, to bribe a player, you put money secretly in a folder and pass it to the player you want to bribe.

Can the player who is being bribed see how much is offered?

If not, what is the point of offering more than 50,000?
If yes, what is the point of secrecy?

The player who is being bribed can see the offer (in page 11 of the manual, the example shows that the player sees the offer). However, other players cannot see it and then it is secret from them.


If my walker is in base with a vehicle can it shoot AND attack? My opponent rams my walker with his tank. No significant damage is incurred on either side, but my walker is immobilized and my walker fails to scratch the tank. What are my options on my turn:

Can't shoot since technically I'm in combat, but can attack during my combat phase.
Can shoot at the tank, and can attack in my combat phase.
Can shoot at anything (in LOS) and can attack the tank in my combat phase.
Can shoot at anything, but if I don't shoot the tank, I can't attack it in my combat phase.
Something else?

If my walker isn't immobilized, what changes?

6th edition

An immobilized walker cannot pivot (p.74)--so while overwatch is still allowed (p.84)--you are limited precisely moving targets within the 45 degree horizontal and vertical arc present at the time of immobilization.

Despite the base contact, the tank is not locked-in combat (p.76). This means the tank is a valid target during the shooting phase on your turn (from both the walker and other shooters), also provided that your immobilized walker can target the tank by being in it's current, unchangable 45 degree shooting arc.

The walker can engage in the assault phase with the tank right after being rammed (p.84). However, because it is immobilized, it would have one less attack to a minimum of one attack (p.84). This reduction will apply to the subsequent assault if you remain btb.

7th edition

7th edition seems to keep almost identical text regarding walkers, ramming, and overwatch.

  If my walker isn't immobilized, what changes?

Lots would change if your enemy wasn't a tank, but since it is a tank, the differences are fewer: if you were not immobilized, you could 1) walk away, 2) overwatch in all directions, 3) have all available assault attacks and 4) pivot and shoot at anybody within range.


Why was Maxx "C" banned from play? Now I have absolutely NO idea why this card has been banned from play. Sure it's effect that lets you draw a card every time your opponent special summons is powerful to the point where it should be limited, but why banned?

First off there are multiple ways to stop it, Tri-Gate Wizard, Debunk, Solemn Strike, Banisher of the Radiance, etc.

Second, it can help people turn a duel around, but as I said a SPYRAL player I once beat with it, "You chose to special your monsters, even at the cost of letting me draw cards. The fact that you lost is your own fault. If you hadn't chosen to special summon, you would've been able to win."

So in other words, it doesn't force your opponent to special summon, it forces them to RECONSIDER special summoning. Now obviously it can stop mass summonings, but THAT'S THE POINT. It's the best way to keep OP decks like Pendulum Magicians in check. It's supposed to help give each player a chance to win.

So with that being the case, why on earth does Maxx "C" need to be banned rather than limited?

Well, surely Konami had their own reasons for doing so (my impression is that this was done to favor newer decks that special summon more, or perhaps many decks were abusing it) but I think you already found one of the main reasons why:

  it can help people turn a duel around

Indeed Maxx-c can turn a duel around, specially when used on early/mid game when it is most disruptive.

Like you said, when you see your opponent activate a Maxx-c you are faced with a difficult choice: (1) either keep summoning to ensure building your game and strategy, but give your opponent a huge hand advantage, or (2) stop summoning to prevent giving your opponent hand advantage, but basically delay your strategy a whole turn by refraining from finishing your combo.

As you can see this is a dire choice, as in both scenarios you have few or nothing to win, hence why this card could have been banned.

Now, as you experienced, Maxx-c is less effective on late game. This is because on that moment it doesn't matter anymore if you give your opponent hand advantage, as chances are that if you successfully carry out your combo you will win right there. In these situations it is usually better to ignore Maxx-c, summon and ensure your victory that turn.

So, there probably are other reasons for Konami to ban this card, but in my experience Maxx-c has always been a powerful card since it came up; with the current format it has become even more powerful.

You say that this card could "easily" be countered (although to be honest there aren't that much cards to do so, and the ones that do are really specific, like Debunk), but that would force players to include such counters on their main or side decks, possibly affecting their game strategy. So restricting or banning it sounds reasonable to me.


Magic the Gathering - if a madness card gets discarded and you dont want to use madness does it still get exiled If a madness card gets discarded and you dont want to use madness does it still get exiled?

It will get exiled, but then also go to the graveyard after that.

  702.34. Madness

    702.34a Madness is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the card with madness is in a player’s hand. The second is a triggered ability that functions when the first ability is applied. “Madness [cost]” means “If a player would discard this card, that player discards it, but exiles it instead of putting it into their graveyard” and “When this card is exiled this way, its owner may cast it by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost. If that player doesn’t, they put this card into their graveyard.”

The first ability creates a replacement effect that causes the card to be exiled, and this is not optional. The card will get exiled, which will trigger the second ability. But the second ability states that if the player does not cast the card, it goes to the graveyard.


When to play a Knight card When can I play a Knight Card.

For example, when it's my turn, and I already have a knight card I have not played, can I use it if I do not have the robber on one of my hexes?

Or, if it's another players turn, and they place a robber one of my hexes, can I immediately counter them with one of my Knight cards, or do I have to wait until it's my turn to use it to remove the robber?

According to the rules, you can play a Knight card in your turn if you want. But only in your turn.

  b) Playing Development Cards

  At any time during your turn, you may
  play 1 Development Card (on the table).

  That card, however, may not be a card
  you bought during the same turn!


When I search for a card, do I have to reveal it to my opponent? Consider a card like Sangan, which involves searching for a monster of a specific criteria and putting it in your hand (emphasis mine).

  If this card is sent from the field to the GY: Add 1 monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to your hand, but you cannot activate cards, or the effects of cards, with that name for the rest of this turn. You can only use this effect of "Sangan" once per turn.

Similarly The Shallow Grave involves searching for a monster and placing it face down.

  Each player selects 1 monster in their Graveyard and Special Summons it in face-down Defense Position.

In both cases, the card I chose is now in a location where my opponent cannot verify that I picked a valid card (in Sangan's case, they can't look at my hand to confirm that I have chosen a Monster card with 1500 or less ATK). This makes me wonder: do I have to reveal the card I have searched for? Or are my opponents just supposed to trust that I picked a valid card?

This makes me wonder: do I have to reveal the card I have searched for?

Yes you do

A card that one searches from deck has to be shown to your opponent. In the case of Sangan, you have to show it so it is known that it was a 1500 or less monster.

The case for Shallow Grave is different, as cards in the graveyard are public knowledge always.

At any time you may ask your Opponent to look at his GY, thus in this case both players see the cards picked from the GY and set.

Here we have a more official statement from the Wikia (quite recommended reading BTW), emphasis mine:

  When an effect causes a player to search for a card of a specific type in their Deck, that player must reveal the card to their opponent before adding it to their hand, Setting it on the field or placing it on the top of the Deck with that effect. For example, when a player adds a Monster Card to their hand using the effect of "Sangan", their opponent may read all of the information on the Monster Card added.

They even give the example with Sangan :o)

On that link they also explain some other funny rulings, like revealing all your deck if there is no valid target for Sangan, or not revealing your hand if all the copies of the card being questioned are public knowledge, but that escapes the scope of this post.


What happens to the president's quorum card hand when he loses the title? Do they get handed over to the new president or do they get shuffled back into the quorum card deck?

Good question. I don't think the rules or FAQ explicitly address this. The cards certainly don't get shuffled back into the deck; I don't think there's anything to suggest that would happen. The question is whether they are discarded or if the hand passes to the new President. The base game rule book really only has one statement that addresses this question:

  Whichever player has the President title has control over this hand of Quorum Cards.

This implies the hand of Quorum cards doesn't really belong to the President, rather the current President simply has control over the hand. So if the title transfers to another character, nothing happens to the hand, but control of the hand belongs to the new President.

The Pegasus rule book offers some confirmation of this. Regarding execution, it says:

  The player whose character was executed discards his hand of Skill Cards. (Quorum Cards in his
  hand are unaffected.) He also discards any Quorum Cards played on his character (for example the “Assign Mission Specialist” Quorum card).

And this about revealing:

  The player discards down to three Skill Cards (or to zero if he has been revealed as a result of execution). He also discards any Quorum Cards played on his character. (If the player was President, the hand of Quorum Cards is not discarded. It is given to the new President instead.)

Since the Quorum hand is not discard as a result of the President being executed or revealed, then it is not discarded as a result of the President title being transferred to another character (since transfer also happens with execution or reveal of the President).


Card Games for Three Players? We have a great time playing Hearts, Spades, and Euchre with 4 players.  Oftentimes though we have three people available to play but not a fourth.

How can I find card games that are interesting for 3 players?

I think one of the best card games for three players is Skat (not to be confused with the Scat mentioned in another answer). This is a pretty heavy game on the level of Bridge, so you can decide whether it's a good fit for your group.

I personally prefer Ninety-Nine which is like Oh Hell! with a really funky bidding technique.

You might also find this list on pagat.com helpful. It seems like the numbers outside square brackets are the recommended numbers of players.


Do we still track damage on indestructible creatures? So if lethal damage can't kill an indestructible creature, what do we do about the damage itself? Is it acknowledged? Say you have an effect that doesnt let a creature block if it has taken damage this turn, can that creature with indestructible block?

Creatures with indestructible can take damage like normal, and will still be counted as having that damage for anything that cares about that.

The full definition of Indestructible is:

  702.12. Indestructible

    702.12a Indestructible is a static ability.

    702.12b A permanent with indestructible can't be destroyed. Such permanents aren't destroyed by lethal damage, and they ignore the state-based action that checks for lethal damage (see rule 704.5g).

It does not prevent damage, so it takes damage like normal.


Ixalan's Binding and Ashiok, Nightmare Muse I cast Ixalan's Binding, and its etb targets and exiles my opponent's Rampaging Baloths. Later in the game I use the -7 on Ashiok, Nightmare Muse, choosing to cast my opponent's exiled Rampaging Baloths.

Can my opponent now cast another copy of Rampaging Baloths, since the previously exiled copy is no longer under Binding, or can they still not cast cards named Rampaging Baloths?

From a ruling on Gatherer:

  If there is no exiled card (perhaps because the exiled permanent was a
  token or was a commander that moved to the command zone in the
  Commander variant), Ixalan’s Binding won’t stop players from casting
  spells.

If you cast the card from exile using Ashiok then there is no more exiled card.  Therefore, your opponent can cast whatever they want, including Rampaging Baloths.


Omega vs Mind Control Using mind control, my opponent takes control of Omega and uses it's effect to banish itself and a card from my hand. Does Omega return to the field,if yes then when and on whose side of the field?

PSY-Framelord Omega

  Once per turn, during either player's Main Phase: You can banish this
  card from the field and 1 random card from your opponent's hand,
  face-up, until your next Standby Phase.

Mind Control

  Target 1 monster your opponent controls; until the End Phase, take
  control of that target, but it cannot declare an attack or be
  Tributed.

When Omega is banished it is banished to the owner's side of the field (not the controllers) so when Omega does return to the field, it returns at the owner's Standby Phase and to the owner's field.

According to Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Rulebook Ver 9.1 page 49 and the wiki, when the Omega and a card from your opponent's hand is banished, they're sent to your opponent's (the owner's) Banished Zone. So when it's your opponent's Standby Phase, the effect kicks-off under his/her control.


What is the best way to shuffle a large deck without damaging the cards? I'm quite familiar with a few methods of cards, primarily Riffling and Mongean* shuffling. The issue I have with those is that the Riffling shuffle tends to bend cards and wear them out, as well as not working well with a large deck. The Mongean method isn't particularly good at shuffling large decks either.
Unlike this thread I'm not dealing with a well organised deck, but I am dealing with a large deck (80 cards plus).
I've considered cutting the deck in two first, but that then takes twice as long.
What is the best method for shuffling in this case?
*Instead of moving one card at a time, I move a random number.

With the implied restriction on time combined with the explicit restriction to keep the cards pristine, I'd suggest using extra space to shuffle.  Here's what I do with large decks of cards:

Divide the large deck into several smaller piles.  For 80 cards, I'd make about 8 piles of 7-15 cards
Select two piles at random and combine them using a hindu shuffle (unlike in the video, when I do it, I do it by grasping the wider-side rather than the narrower side of the cards for better control of larger decks.
After a few shuffles, grab another random pile and add it to the deck
Continue until all decks have been added.
Continue with several more Hindu shuffles until you're satisfied.

If you cannot keep all cards in your hand, recombine/shuffle half the cards, then recombine/shuffle the other half, put the two halves together (just stacking them) into 1 full deck again.  Finally, repeat the entire process two or three times (this is only necessary if you had to do a simple stacking).


Remove bestow target, does it become a creature? If my opponent was to cast bestow onto a creature, and i then remove the creature, does the bestow get countered and go to the graveyard, or does it become a creature?

It becomes a creature, because the rules make a special exception for bestow. Even though you've cast your creature with bestow as an aura spell, when it resolves, it can end up as an aura or a creature. From the bestow section of The Mechanics of Theros:

  If the target creature leaves the battlefield after you cast a card with bestow as an Aura but before the spell resolves, the Aura spell will resolve as an enchantment creature rather than being countered like a normal Aura spell. If the target creature is still on the battlefield when the Aura spell resolves, it resolves as an Aura enchanting that creature.

And the specific rules for this case:

  702.102a ... These effects [turning it into an Aura spell] last until one of two things happens: this spell has an illegal target as it
  resolves or the permanent this spell becomes, becomes unattached. ...

  702.102d As an Aura spell with bestow begins resolving, if its target is illegal, the effect making it an Aura spell ends. It continues resolving as a creature spell and will be put onto the battlefield under the control of the spell’s controller. This is an exception to rule 608.3a.

(Rule 608.3a is the rule about how aura spells normally resolve, which would cause a normal aura spell to go to your graveyard at this point.


Forcing the combat in Warhammer: Invasion I've been playing several games of Warhammer: Invasion Core Set with my friend and a couple of times we've encountered a situation where he had pretty good attack force set up in his battlefield and I has good one as well. But I already had one district burning and he had bunch of damage tokens on two of his districts.

So what I wanted to do in this situation is to attack his forces so his chances for gathering enough strength to finish me off would be smaller. I've attacked his battlefield and what he usually did is he didn't set any defenders and allowed the whole damage to be dealt to his district (even if it meant burning it down). Then in his turn he launch his full force agains one of my other districts and burn it down thus winning the game.

I was wondering are there any cards or rules in this game or it's expansions that would force him to fight me instead of letting all the damage to be dealt to his capital? This would allow for more tactical approach in my opinion because right now his best tactics is to ignore all my attacks and hope to get stronger force to destroy a district in one round then me.

You are not defending you quest and kingdom zones enough.  There is no reason for him to attack your battlefield if your defenses are weak in the other two zones.  It's better for him to attack those and win than fight your battlefield.


When a pushing enemy moves toward a character, does it stop moving on the first push? If an enemy that pushes characters moves into his node but still has moves remaining, does it push the character away and then stop moving altogether, or does it continue to move forward?  Page 24 of the rules says:

  When an enemy model is moving towards another model, it will stop moving when it is on the same node as its target.

so, I gather that being on the same node triggers all moving to stop, or does the fact he pushes him away make him continue to move.  I would expect it to be the former as the target node is chosen at the beginning of movement, not updated each step.

Update: on page 25 it says

  is attack targets all characters on each node the enemy moves into. (Note that it does not target characters on the node on which the enemy started.) If an enemy moves 2 or more nodes, this can even result in the same character being attacked multiple times as the enemy tramples and smashes its way through its hapless victim.

So, does this mean if the enemy is 1 node away from its target but can move 2, it will aim to move only 1 space to the target's destination and then stop after it pushes the target away?

Are the hapless victims that get attacked multiple times only in extreme corner cases where the player cannot choose to have his character pushed to any node other than the one the enemy is trampling toward?  Otherwise I would expect they would simply choose a safe node since it is the player's choice where they get pushed to.

Further update:

On Page 30, a demonstration of boss movement clearly has the boss moving not to the initial position of the target (seems to pick the location after pushing, too). It moves toward and keep moving again after the character has been pushed back.  Unfortunately the player chooses to move the character directly away so we don't know if the boss would continue in that direction or turn and keep going toward the target if he had veered in the push.

and this faq implies the boss picks the target character and for the entirety of its movement heads toward him, no matter how he gets pushed.  See the ENEMY MOVEMENT section under moving toward nearest or aggro and the looped section within.

Looking at page 30, it looks like the movement resolves in the following order:

If the movement contains a push, push everything in the current node
Check direction towards movement objective
Move to the corresponding node and push everything in that node
Repeat

Granted, the rules don't really make that explicit, but they never contradict it either.

If you follow these steps, it is easy for a character to be trampled multiple times, since an enemy will never be in the same node as its target, since it will always be pushed away.

edit: after rereading page 21, I noticed it states:

  If the Push icon appears on an enemy’s movement, immediately
  move each character on that enemy’s node onto an adjacent node
  chosen by the players

Which indeed confirms the example on page 30.


Single Combat vs Shroud If Player A had a creature with shroud on the battlefield, and Player B cast Single Combat, would Player A be able to choose the shrouded creature as the creature they keep?

Yes, you can choose a shrouded permanent. And if a shrouded permanent isn't chosen, it must be sacrificed.

  702.18a Shroud is a static ability. “Shroud” means “This permanent or player can’t be the target of spells or abilities.”

When a rule or ability uses a word with a rule meaning, it only refers to that specific meaning. Target is such a word.

Only the following target:

Spells and abilities on the stack that use the word "target".
Aura spells (since the rule text for these uses the word "target").

Keep in mind that certain keyword abilities represent abilities that use the word target (e.g. Equip).

Single Combat doesn't target, so it's unaffected by Shroud.


Is a countered flashback spell exiled? If I flashback Past in Flames and it is countered by Cancel, is it exiled or put back into my graveyard?

If you counter a spell cast for its Flashback cost from the graveyard, it gets exiled. The rule that covers flashback is 702.33a, and it says

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

Countering a spell normally sends it to the graveyard (or, in some cases, exile, its owner's hand, or their library), but the flashback ability makes it go to exile instead.

It's worth noting that if a counterspell says to exile the spell it's countering (like Spelljack, for example), and then does something with it after it's exiled, that still happens. That's because if the spell is getting exiled anyway, the flashback ability doesn't change anything.


Player forgot to play a card In bridge-contract player 1 wins hand with dummy and claims the trick before playing her card. This was discovered at the end of the hand. What is the proper way to handle this?

I presume from your description that this incident is from a Rubber Bridge game (as opposed to a Duplicate or Tournament game). In this case the Laws of Rubber Bridge - 2017 apply; specifically Law 67 B:

  Law 67 – Trick Either Appropriated in Error or Defective

  ...

  A trick containing more or fewer than four cards is defective. When one player is found, during play, to have fewer or more cards than all of the other players, the previous tricks should be forthwith examined, face down; if
  a defective trick is discovered, the player with a correspondingly incorrect number of cards is held responsible.
  The defective trick is inspected face up and

  ...

  B. after the responsible player has played to a subsequent trick,

  the ownership of the defective trick cannot be changed and

    if the offender has failed to play a card to the defective trick, he forthwith faces and adds a card to that trick, if possible one he could legally have
    played to it.
    if the offender has played more than one card
    to the defective trick, [not applicable].

Note the three key points:

The offending player must add a card to the defective trick when it is discovered.
The card added must be one that could legally have been played to the trick.
The card added does not change the ownership of the trick.

This is different from the Laws of Contract Bridge - 1981 (personal copy), where the text reads:

  (b) After all four hands have played to a subsequent trick,

  (penalty) the defective trick, if won by the offending side, is transferred to the non-offending side;

  and [the trick is corrected similarly to above]

I do not know in which year the change occurred in this rule.

If however you had been playing in a Tournament game then the Director should have been called immediately upon discovering the irregularity, with the stricter Law 67 B of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge - 2017 applying. Both because Duplicate players are expected to play in a more conscientious manner, and because irregularities affect the results of more than just the players at the table, penalties are often (and are in this case) stricter than in Rubber Bridge. The Revoke penalty applies in this case, with the offending player deemed to have revoked to the defective trick.


If the longest road is interrupted and therefore reduced, does the player have to surrender the longest road card? I am going to split this into players A and B to simplify my question;(placement rules applied)

Player A has a road which is 7 in length and has the Longest Road tile,

Player B has a road which is 5 in length (second longest road),

Player B builds a settlement mid-way along Player A's road resulting in Player A now having two roads - a length of 4 and a length of 3.

Does Player A surrender the Longest Road card as his previous longest road no longer exists? (and as a result Player B obtains this honour)

Also, if (in the above example) Players B and C had a road less than 5, would the Longest Road card return to the bank?

Yes and Yes. In the rules it states that if the longest road is split, then you re-evaluate who has the longest road. If no-one qualifies (or it is now a tie) it is returned to the bank.

Building a settlement to split someone's longest road is a key tactic in Settlers, which can be prevented by the player building extra roads and/or settlements to protect the vulnerable spots, but that obviously slows down their road building.


Can an opponent put a property up for auction at a higher price than I have in cash? I only have $5.  My opponent lands on an un-owned property and put it up for auction.  Can my opponent make a starting bid of $10 on this auction even though that is more money than I have?

This is definitely allowed, and a good tactic to leverage a cash advantage.
There is no minimum or maximum price for an auction.  The rules state:

Bidding may start at any price.

There is no "the bidding will start at $10".  There is just "bidding is open".  Once the auction begins, a bid by any player sets the minimum price for the auction at that bid.  Your opponent could easily bid $10 on the property, forcing you to either let them have it for $10 or bid more than you have in cash.  You could bid first, say starting the bid at $5, but that doesn't meaningfully change the situation, as they can just respond by out-bidding you at $10.
You may bid more money than you have in cash, but you are still obligated to pay it if you win the auction.  This may be a reasonable play if you can afford it by mortgaging property and/or selling houses, especially to drive up the price for your opponent.  But be careful not to bid  more than you can pay after mortgages and sales, as if you win the auction you go bankrupt.  In particular, if you bid more than you can afford, you opponents can all just let you win the bid, at which point you go bankrupt and the property you just bought would go up for auction again (in addition to all your other properties).


Can you counter a Loyalty Ability? I am confused by this rule:

  606.1. Some activated abilities are loyalty abilities, which are subject to special rules.

Now that seems to imply that a Loyalty ability is an activated ability which means it can be stopped by something like Stifle or Squelch.

Is this correct?

Yes, it's correct. The rule you quoted implies that loyalty abilities are activated abilities. And since there is no rule that makes an exception for loyalty abilities, they can be countered like any other activated ability.

Remember that countering an activated ability only stops it from resolving. The costs paid are not returned. So the loyalty counters added or removed are not restored.


Tokens and how blocking works I have a heavily token based deck. The tokens can usually become something between 5/5 and 15/15 in a few turns, but don't have trample. Is it possible for my opponent to be able to block all of my tokens attacking at the same time and they wouldn't take any damage? And no they don't have cards that specifically say that their creatures can assign additional blocking.  I ask because if what I think is true, then if I have more tokens than they have creatures that can block, then I should be able to outswing them. Please I need clarification on this issue and any help would be extremely helpful.

Normally, each creature can block only one attacking creature. Some abilities can change this. For example, Brave the Sands has an ability that allows each of your creatures to block an additional creature, and Hundred-Handed One can block a hundred creatures when it is Monstrous.

Without any of those abilities, if you attack with more creatures than your opponent has, then if you attack with everything, some of your creatures will be unblocked and will deal damage to your opponent. For example, if your opponent has 5 untapped creatures and you attack with 7 creatures, they can block any 5 of your attacking creatures, and the other 2 will deal damage.


Is the medallion being used in Haunt N21? Zombie Haunt (21) was revealed and then 2 of the players started exchanging the medallion because only the holder could make damage to the Zombie Lord.
What I was wondering was is that possible? The trade is done for items that are not in any way used in the last turn. So if a player attacks me and he has the medallion does that count as using the medallion in any way?

The thing is that with all them gathering on the same square as the Zombie lord and each trading the item and then attempting attack they would kill the Zombie lord pretty easily if he fails 1 or 2 rolls.

As a roleplayer I always had the understanding that all happens simultaneously and that doesn't really connects with me, if everyone trade the item and everyone do the damage normally on the Zombie lord. Can anyone clarify this for me?

The errata added restrictions on this use of items:

If there are five heroes and a monster in a room, could each of them use, say, the Spear to attack that monster, then pass it on to the next person?
No. Add this rule: "For each item, during a turn an explorer or monster that can carry items may only perform one of the following actions: use the item, give the item to another explorer, drop the item, steal the item, or pick up the item. Using the item means making any attack or roll or other action in which the item is involved in any way."

So the heroes cannot do this, due specifically to the last sentence: "Using the item means making any attack or roll or other action in which the item is involved in any way." Even though you are not attacking with the medallion, as you would with the spear, the medallion is involved in the attack as it is a requirement for the attack to have any effect.


Latest Collins Scrabble Words list in text file Where can I find the latest Collins Scrabble Words list in a text file? Googling this seems surprisingly difficult to find. I can only find some sites where I can check if the word is in the list.

In official use from 1 July 2019:

Collins Scrabble Words (2019).txt (279,496 words, 3MB).
Collins Scrabble Words (2019) with definitions.txt (279,496 words, 17MB).

Old:

Collins Scrabble Words (2015).txt (276,643 words, 3MB).
Collins Scrabble Words (2015) with definitions.txt (276,643 words, 17MB).

If you find any errors, please leave a comment here.


Is this true : «In a 2-player game of Monopoly, there is a 12% chance that the game will go on indefinitely.» This supposedly «fun fact» was posted on a Facebook game page.

One commentator declared a 2-player game of Monopoly a zero-sum game;

I stated that the bank acts as a 3rd player, injecting and withdrawing cash.

Is there any mathematical validity to the statement that a 2-player game of Monopoly could go on indefinitely?

Edit: Concerning «indefinitely». Since the OP was making a distinct case of a 2-player game, and 3- or more -player games always end, for this question, I think we can assume that s/he meant that the 2-player game would never end.

The short answer is "Yes, but...".

The longer answer is, as per the paper in question, that a team of researchers did some calculations on what would happen in a 2-player game of Monopoly where both players follow very simple strategies (and a couple of things that aren't 100% by the rules), notably:

Always try to keep a small reserve of cash on hand to pay rent or other costs.
Always buy properties you land on where possible.
Never bid on properties that are up for auction.
Build houses according to a simple pattern.
Never pay to get out of jail (even on the third roll).
Always sell your Get out of Jail card to the bank for $50 (which I'm pretty sure isn't a thing).
Never trade properties.

At the very least, #2, #3 and #4 are generally considered poor strategy - careful use of auctions can get you key properties on the cheap, and clever building of houses can deprive your opponent of their opportunity to build. Obviously the key here was removing most of the major decision points to keep their model manageable.

With those simplifications to the game, they then created a big state model of the game - all the possible things you could potentially see if you took a snapshot of the game at different points in terms of who owned what properties, how much money they have, what spaces they're on, etc. And then they modeled all the different paths the game could take between those states, to find the probability of going from one state to the next (e.g. if the current state includes "I have rolled doubles twice in a row", there's a 1 in 6 chance the next state will transition my position to "I am in Jail").

Then, with that bit transition model, they do some fancy maths to show how often the game winds to a close. You're right in saying that the game is not zero-sum, but the "banker" role can both add and remove money so it can be as much to blame for making the game go on forever as it can be the reason it finally ends.

They actually do this modelling in a few different ways, but all of their different methods all agree that if you run the game for an arbitrarily long time then there's about an 88% chance that one player or the other will win, meaning that there's a 12% chance that you'll never actually see the game end because both players wind up having enough money on hand to handle the ups and downs of the dice.

So, in a 2-player game of Monopoly, with a few rule changes, and where neither player makes any real decisions, there is a 12% chance that it will never end.


Alternative major improvements for Agricola Are there any (official/unofficial) alternatives to the major improvements in Agricola?

Z-Man Games has Farmers of the Moor as an expansion.


How do I play 4D Tic-Tac-Toe? Quite simple, how do I play 4D TicTacToe? Anybody can imagine a dot. Anybody can imagine a line. Anybody can imagine a plane. Most people can imagine a solid. What about a four dimensional object? No one can picture that - or smart people can.

I would like a full guide of how to play with examples!

P.S. I know that people would class this as 'too broad', but it is not, since unlike things like scrabble or monopoly, there is only on way! Thanks in advance!

You could draw a 2D array of 2D boards, like this:

▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢b▢
aaa ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢

▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢b▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢

c▢▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢▢
▢▢▢ ▢c▢ ▢▢▢
▢b▢ ▢▢▢ ▢▢c

You'd probably want a 4x4 array of 4x4 boards, though I used 3s everywhere instead to make the example smaller. The example shows a few of the many winning lines (a-c). If it's not clear what counts as a winning line, let's go back to 2D tic-tac-toe and think in terms of coordinates. You could label the normal 2D board like this:

(0,0) (1,0) (2,0)
(0,1) (1,1) (2,1)
(0,2) (1,2) (2,2)

You win by getting a straight line of 3. A straight line will always be one where each coordinate either increases by 1, decreases by 1, or stays the same. So you can win with (2,0), (1,1), and (0,2) because the first coordinate is decreasing by 1 and the second increases by 1.

Higher-dimensional tic-tac-toe works the same way! So in 4D tic-tac-toe we'd use 4 coordinates - in the visualization above, 2 for which board and 2 for where on that board. Then a winning line follows the same rule, e.g. line b above is (2,0,1,0), (1,1,1,1), and (0,2,1,2): the first coordinate (which column of boards you are on) continually decreases by 1, the second coordinate (which row of boards) increases by 1, the third (which column of a given board) stays the same, and the fourth (which row of a given board) increases by 1.


What happens with cards hosted on Builder after moving it to another server? Consider Builder with installment(s). A Patch for example. What happens with it after the Builder being moved to another server? Nothing, I suppose? Seems like all the installments move with the Builder.

From FAQ:

Hosting
The following replaces the rules on hosting that appear in the
core set rulebook:
“Hosting” is the result of placing a card, counter,
or token on top of a card, creating a relationship between the host
card and what is hosted. If a card allows other cards to be hosted on
it, those cards must be hosted on the card when they are installed,
unless a card says otherwise.
Hosted counters or tokens can be spent
without affecting their host. If a trigger cost requires one or more
hosted counters or tokens, those counters or tokens are “spent” by
being returned to the token bank from the card the ability appears on.
If a host is trashed or uninstalled, all cards, counters, and tokens
hosted on it are also trashed. This cannot be prevented. If a host
Corp card is derezzed, all cards, counters, and tokens hosted on it
remain hosted.
The state of hosting is distinct (but not exclusive
from) the state of installing. Most cards are hosted on another card
when they are installed.

So, conditions under which hosting ends are "trashed or uninstalled", moving doesn't affect hosting. Anything hosted on Builder will remain hosted on Builder after it moves.


Can attacking players use activated abilities after blockers have been declared? Yesterday I was playing a game of Commander with a friend and we ended up in this situation. He attacks with his commander, Yasova Dragonclaw which has an equipment that doubles her power/toughness to 8/4 and gives her trample. I declare blockers with my commander, Anafenza, the Foremost, which is a 4/4. After moving her to the command zone, he then activates Bow of Nylea and states Yasova is a 9/5 and tells me to take another damage point.

So my question is this, if I have already declared blockers and it has resolved, can he activate an ability to pump up his attacking creature? Or would that have to be done as he declares attackers?

Combat Phase

506.1. The combat phase has five steps, which proceed in order: beginning of combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, and end of combat. The declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped if no creatures are declared as attackers or put onto the battlefield attacking (see rule 508.8). There are two combat damage steps if any attacking or blocking creature has first strike (see rule 702.7) or double strike (see rule 702.4).

Declare Blockers Step

509.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority. (See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.”)

So there is room (for either player) to cast spells or activate abilities after blockers have been declared and before combat damage is being assigned.
But what you describe, "moving her to the command zone" looks like combat damage has already been assigned and dealt. Your opponent can still pump up their creature (in the general case; it looks like it should've already died, as @Arthur noted in the comments), but it won't affect the combat damage already dealt.


Bidding a high point Bridge hand I'm south. I have:

♠ A 10 5
♥ A
♦ A K Q J 8
♣ A Q 10 8

East opened the bidding with 3♥.
What should I bid?

Typically, with any strong hand (something like 17+) you should begin with a takeout double (if it's available — see below). In this case, your hand is even stronger than that, so you should probably cue bid hearts after almost any bid by partner:

after 3S, 4C, or 4D, you have enough to insist on game with very little from partner, so cue bid 4H to force to game.
after a jump to a suit game (4S, 5C, or 5D), partner is showing something like 10+, so you almost certainly have slam and may have a grand. After 4S, you can bid 4NT to start asking about partner's kings. After 5C or 5D, you can cue bid 5H to force a slam and start exploring for grand.
after 3NT, you might just bid 7NT, as it's likely that you have 13 top tricks and it's difficult to imagine having a good constructive auction without strong agreements with partner.

Update:
TimLymington points out in the comments that you may have agreed that double here is for penalty. I had not considered this, as I play in the U.S., where the overwhelming majority of pairs play doubles as takeout at least through 4D and often higher.

If double would be for penalty, I recommend doubling and continuing as above except at unfavorable vulnerability. Game for your side is almost certain and slam is a possibility, but it seems difficult to explore for slam when X is not takeout. I expect to beat the opponents by 3 tricks (they'll likely get 6 trump tricks and nothing else), so I'm happy defending when at favorable or equal vulnerability, but the 500 we'll get at unfavorable doesn't compensate us for the 600+ we expect from making our own contract.

In that case, I recommend bidding 3NT, which is a small gamble, but requires very little from partner (the club K guarantees the contract, as does the diamond ten with the spade K, for example).


How is the "Moral High Ground" Mission Card intended to work? The text of "Moral High Ground" goes something like "For each Free Agent revealed in your hand", and is worth 1 IP per reveal.  This brought up some debate on exactly what and WHEN the reveal was qualified.  The first player to use it played his Free Agents, then tried to claim the points. I argued that because he had played them, when the mission was evaluated at his turn's end, he no longer hand the Agent "in hand."  Also, with a name like "Moral High Ground" actually playing the Agent seemed against the spirit of the card.

Later on, another player got this Mission and tried the tactic of revealing a Free Agent, then playing it.  His argument was that when evaluating the Mission, he had revealed the Agent during his turn, so it should apply.  That seems like splitting hairs to me though.

So what is the correct interpretation of this Mission Card?

Missions score at the end of your turn, after taking actions such as playing agents.
Although reveal isn't defined in the rule book, they do use it in the context of revealing cards from your hand. You cannot reveal an agent unless it is in your hand.

Moral High Ground: {1} for each killing or turning agent you reveal from your hand.

The Turn Sequence section states:

Turn Sequence - On each player’s turn, they have to perform 2 actions. Players can select from any combination of the following (including performing the same action twice);

Playing an Agent [...]

Re-activating a Command [...]

Buying an Agent or Mission: [...]

Trade in a Mission [...]

At the end of their turn, the player whose turn it is collects their intel points from their Factions and Missions. Players collect intel points from their Factions and Missions each turn as long as the data-tokens remain complete on their Factions and the conditions of the Missions remain fulfilled.

Although the conditions of the mission don't say when they must be fulfilled, I would argue that all the other mission conditions require checking at the end of the turn, so should this one. (You might also argue that to fulfill the conditions, you must continue to reveal the killing/turning agents until the end of turn, or you stop fulfilling the conditions. I.e. You are no longer revealing them.) Scoring of Missions also repeats the conditions must be fulfilled at the end of turn:

Scoring Intel Points - Intel points are awarded:

to players who have completed arrows facing them in their Factions at the end of their turn,

when the condition of a Mission is fulfilled at the end of their turn,

to players towards whom the points are directed when a Free Agent is played.


Which circumstances make one favour track better than another in Caylus? When the King awards you a favour in Caylus, which track should you choose?

When is one track more beneficial than another?

What circumstances make a particular favour track more or less useful?

The real (and boring) answer is: it's going to vary, depending on the specific circumstances of the game you're playing.

My answer: the victory point track is very strong, and a good default option.  The build track is also extremely strong, as can be guessed from the fact that you don't even get a bonus the first time you move on it!  The money track is not so great, but sometimes it's exactly what you need if you're finding it hard to get funds any other way.  In my personal experience, the goods track is the weakest.  It's usually possible to get goods through normal actions, and the gold at the top end of the track is less good than just getting 5 victory points... unless you've set up a bunch of exciting things to spend your gold on.  But that seems like a lot of extra hoops to jump through.

Other people's mileage may vary, naturally!


Timing of Babylon's (B) and Halicarnassus' special abilities? Alice has Babylon (B), Bob has Halicarnassus (B).

Alice has built the 2nd wonder stage, so she is able to play her 7th card.

In the 6th turn:

Bob builds a stage of his wonder, so he is able to build one card from the discard pile at the end of the turn.
Alice builds her 6th card and wants to discard her 7th for 3 coins.

Does Alice's card gets added to the discard pile before or after Bob is allowed to see through it?

In other words: Does Alice get a "real" 7th turn?

We already discussed (here and here) that Alice doesn't have to buy resources for her 6th and 7th card from the same set (so she can buy the same resources again for her 7th card that she bought for her 6th card).

Discussion elsewhere

boardgamegeek.com: Halikarnassos and Babylon Interaction

Babylon has a clarification in the rules that says:

  Clariﬁcation :
  - during the sixth turn, the player can therefore play both cards they have in hand. If the second stage of the Wonder is not built, the
  Babylon player can then build it on their sixth turn and then play the
  seventh card instead of discarding it.

Halicarnassus has the following clarification:

  Clariﬁcation : this special action is taken at the end of the turn in
  which the stage is built. If players discard cards on that turn (for
  example, during the 6th turn of an age), the player can also choose
  from among those cards.

I'd say from that that Babylon's power basically all happens "during the sixth turn", and so Halicarnassus can take advantage of any of Babylon's discards.  There isn't really a ghostly extra seventh turn getting created by Babylon's Wonder.


Psychic Corrosion and Day's Undoing Can someone explain to me how the triggered ability of Psychic Corrosion would interact with Day's Undoing?

From what I understand of the stack, the triggered abilities go on the stack after each card draw due to Day's Undoing is triggered, so opponents discard two cards at each draw immediately before further effects of Day's Undoing happen, then the Day's Undoing "exile all effects on the stack" comes into play afterwards. However, I admit that it could be interpreted in a different way. Do I grossly misunderstand?

Day's Undoing will prevent Psychic Corrosion from doing anything.  (Your opponents will not have to mill 14 cards.)

Although Day's Undoing has multiple effects, the card represents a single Spell when played111.1, and all of its effects must be resolved before anything else on the Stack is evaluated608.2c.  Psychic Corrosion's ability will be triggered 7 times, but the abilities would not go onto the stack until after Day's Undoing has finished resolving603.3.  However, because Day's Undoing ends the turn immediately upon resolution, those triggers never make it onto the stack.

Gatherer has a ruling for Day's Undoing that clarifies this explicitly:

  If any abilities trigger while players are shuffling cards into their library or drawing seven cards, those abilities cease to exist when the turn ends. They won’t be put on the stack.


At what level should one try to teach go? I am now at a level where I don't consider myself to be a complete beginner, and I can now recognise at least some of the mistakes made by lower level kyu players.

I would like to help other people but I'm sometimes to afraid I'll give them wrong advice and push them in the wrong direction. Having someone stronger than me in the same room do a review of my review can eliminate that problem, but that's rarely the case.

How can one know when he's ready to teach weaker players?

You can start to teach beginners as soon as you develop a basic grasp of Go, which I'd say is typically around 15-20kyu. Do not be surprised if your students surpass you quickly if you start teaching at that level, though.

Generally, people feel comfortable teaching players whom they can beat comfortably and consistently. But this is not necessarily the case. Some of the older players serve as teachers to younger players who are actually stronger than they are--this is fine as long as the difference is due to readings skills, which cannot really be taught.

Remember, players of any rank can give students the wrong advice. After all, nobody knows the solution to Go, and even the strongest professional players frequently disagree with each other on the appropriateness of moves.


Are encounters naturally weighted against players and how do we 'fix' it? I've been having a great deal of trouble when it comes to playing campaign mode with our current group.  Initially, we were doing well, and I think most of it had to do with a learning curve for the game on both sides of the table (players and overlord).  We won two games, lost one, then won our Interlude.

Then the game became impossible.  I think it was a combination of the game getting exponentially tougher and our Overlord actively trying to screw us.  Granted, the game is modeled with an Overlord vs Players dynamic, but this was an unbalancing amount of difficulty.

To explain: We were trying the Act II quest to search for the Dawnblade.  We had to get up to an altar and stand on it and wait for the sunlight to hit it.  The Overlord chose spiders as our open group (because moving past them costs fatigue) and then chose Merriods (since they can immobilize you) and zombies (to help clog up holes on the battlefield).

Without getting into too much party composition, our first turn went fine with us removing most of the spiders.  But the next turn had him spawning the master spider again, a zombie, and then a Merriod behind us.  Two of us go immobilized, and the other two were scrambling to get to the altar before he stopped us.  But, as you can imagine, the dice were not nice to us at all, the immobilized people went down, and we lost the encounter.

In hindsight, it wasn't a fair fight at all, since there was no good way of us getting to the altar with the abilities we had or the gear we'd managed to get.  He had us beat on every front, and even if we got lucky, he could plug up holes faster than we could kill monsters.  Suffice it to say, he was able to win the next encounter in three turns, because he used the same tactic and rolled to finish the encounter on the first turn he got to the objective.

So, in summary, I've found that the game is very heavily weighted against the players in almost every encounter, unless the Overlord is playing to have fun and not playing to win.  If the Overlord plays to win, the players really don't stand much of a chance.  And some encounters seem to require certain skills and tactics to even make them viable.  So, am I missing something that the players should get above monsters?  Or is this just how the game is designed and I need to work with it?

Yes, Descent (both First and Second Editions) is weighted against the Heroes.

Descent is a board game designed to play like a Role-Playing Game (RPG), so it includes the classic thematic elements of heroic player-characters striving against an unknown evil entity seeking to do Evil Things with the aid of his endless ranks of minions.

In most RPGs, the monsters will frequently have abilities or stats that the players can only achieve at much later levels, or sometimes never obtain. This is designed to force the players to adapt to overcome the situation, to use teamwork, tactics, and preparation to collectively achieve what no individual could otherwise.

It sounds like what happened to your party was that the Overlord caught you in a standard RPG pitfall: The party became too narrowly focused. Maybe there were no ranged attackers, in favor of heavy-hitting melee? Maybe there was nobody with high Might because everyone focused on Awareness? There's all kinds of ways to leave 'gaps' in your group's abilities, but the important part for you as a heroic player is to learn to overcome them, either by conquering them when they arise or protecting against them ever becoming an issue.

One of the typical ploys in Role Playing is to present the players with a 'teaser' of something evil coming up, just enough so that they can possibly plan and prepare to survive it: a corpse found at the entrance to a dark cave covered in massive spiderwebs (indicating serious spiders inside), or a hallway covered in scorch marks ending in a door burned down to the hinges (indicating a fiery foe awaiting invaders). The problem is, if the players do not respond to this teaser or are unable to adapt to the situation, The Bad Guy is going to beat them. Badly. Defeat happens.

The important thing to take away from a defeat like that (either as a character who somehow survives or at least as a player preparing for their next character) is to look at what happened, look at your available options (skills/feats/abilities, equipment, etc) and try to work out a way to defeat the tactic the next time you see it happening. Perhaps some form of ranged/reach attack so you can still remove threats while immobilized; perhaps a plan to focus-fire on anything that appears behind your team to make sure it can't harass you; or perhaps just changing your plans for who-moves-where to better provide protection for the whole team.

Yes, Descent is weighted against the Heroes. That's the whole difficulty of balancing any RPG or Role-Play-like game: finding the point where the Heroes *can* win, but so can the Overlord, and the difference is teamwork, tactics, and creativity.


Unique Item Cards in Bang? Can you play an item card (like a Barrel) if you don't already have one, but someone else does?

Certainly you can.  Per the rules:

  no player can ever have two identical
  cards face up in front of him.

There is no restriction on an identical card being face up in front of another person!


How many cards can I buy in a turn? How many cards can a player purchase during a turn? If it is three, is there a way to discard one of your cards to purchase another?

You can do as much purchasing as you like; each time a card is purchased, you draw a new one from the deck, which is available to purchase immediately. If you have somehow saved up 50 energy, you could buy many, many cards. There is no limit to how many cards you are allowed to own, but if you're collecting that much energy, somebody else has probably won already.

If you hate the cards that are available, you may spend 2 Energy to sweep all three available cards away into the discard pile, and replace them with new cards from the deck. You may do this repeatedly, at 2 Energy per time you sweep the cards, and you can do this both before and after buying a card. (You don't actually need to buy a card, either; if you only have 2 Energy, and your opponent is staring at a card you don't want him to have, you can sweep the cards without buying anything.)

(The above bits were paraphrased from the rules, under step three of your turn, "Buying Cards".)


Ogre Enforcer and Pyrohemia How do the cards Ogre Enforcer and Pyrohemia interact if you activate Pyrohemia four times in one turn? My understanding is that the damage from multiple activations is considered to be a single source because it is the same permanent each time and hence would kill the ogre, but I am not sure.

Yes, the ability specifically states that Pyrohemia deals the damage. So it's a single source dealing 4 damage and the Ogre dies.


Designing a 8x8 grid game, looking for example rules I am designing a very simple board game, the intention is that it will be played by providing an AI script, rather than played directly (though you could play it.)

Basic idea:

8x8 board
each player has a single board piece
pieces face in a direction (N / S / E / W)

At each turn players:

optionally rotate their piece 90 degrees either direction
take an action, one of

move one tile in the direction faced
shoot in the direction faced

When a player is 'shot', the other player wins.

The rules of this game are so simple I feel there must be a lot of other examples. Can someone point me to other similar example rulesets like this?

Roborally does this on a far more complex scale.

Here you program the pieces 5 steps ahead and the board has obstacles, moving elements and traps. The board is also bigger and you have to complete a route in order to win.
Next you have some hitpoints so you won't die with one shot.


Ninjutsu ability and the stack There are some cards that have a ninjutsu ability, which means that you can target an unblocked creature and replace it with your creature (this can be done only after the declare blockers step).
Lets say that my opponents has an unblocked creature, and after I decide not to block it, he places a ninjutsu creature on the stack after paying its cost. Then, in response to that, I cast a lightning bolt to that creature (the one that is about to be replaced). When the lightning bolt resolves, the creature that dies and the ninjutsu creature has an illegal target.
My question is, should the ninjutsu creature go to the graveyard, or should it return to its owner hands?
Ninjutsu is defined as follows (as noted in this Wiki article):

702.48. Ninjutsu
702.48a Ninjutsu is an activated ability that functions only while the card with ninjutsu is in a player’s hand. “Ninjutsu [cost]” means “[Cost], Reveal this card from your hand, Return an unblocked attacking creature you control to its owner’s hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.”
702.48b The card with ninjutsu remains revealed from the time the ability is announced until the ability leaves the stack.
702.48c A ninjutsu ability may be activated only while a creature on the battlefield is unblocked (see rule 509.1h). The creature with ninjutsu is put onto the battlefield unblocked. It will be attacking the same player or planeswalker as the creature that was returned to its owner’s hand.

An example of a ninjutsu creature: Ninja of the Deep Hours

The scenario you describe cannot happen. Once you have finished activating the Ninjutsu ability, the chosen creature has already returned to your hand without other players being able to interfere with that.
The reason for that is that returning the attacking creature is a cost of the ability. By the time anyone can react to the Ninjutsu going on the stack , the creature is already in your hand.
Furthermore, Ninjutsu does not target the creature you return to your hand, so it can't become illegal. Targets are reserved for effects, not for costs.
For clarity: the wording for activated abilities is always "cost : effect"

602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. [..]
602.2b The remainder of the process for activating an ability is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2b–i. Those rules apply to activating an ability just as they apply to casting a spell. An activated ability’s analog to a spell’s mana cost (as referenced in rule 601.2f) is its activation cost.
601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires.[..]
601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell.
601.2h The player pays the total cost in any order. [..]
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, he or she gets priority.

Note especially the last sentence of 601.2i. Only after a spell or ability is finished casting/activating (in particular after all costs have been paid) does any player get priority, i.e. the ability to cast other spells/abilites.


Flickerform - are returning auras being attached once they enter the battlefield? I activate Flickerform and the ability resolves. Once the game moves to the next end step, the removed creature comes back, and then all auras which where attached to it (as per ruling in the Gatherer).
My question is: Does returning the auras qualify as "attaching" them, or is this more like "the whole stack comes back as it was"?
Asking for a friend.

Yes, an aura that has been Flickerform'ed triggers Siona and all other abilities that trigger on an aura attaching.
As the rule for auras state, all auras that enter the battlefield in any way become attached to a legal target (or go to their owner's graveyard) and thus trigger e.g. Siona, Captain of the Pyleas.

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

As you can see, the rule has a wording equivalent to Flickerform's ("enters the battlefield attached to" vs. "to the battlefield [..] attached to"), so there is no difference between an aura entering the battlefield the usual way, i.e. casting, and any other way, such as Flickerform.


Power Grid: Auction in following rounds This question is a followup of this question.

Let's say, we have A, B C and D again:

First round:
If A chooses Power plant, but D wins, then A will initiate another auction.
Again when A chooses Power plant, but C wins, then A will initiate yet another auction.
Looks like A has a slight adavantage here - it can potentially force others to bid higher for a power plant, or trick them into buying plants which it does not intend.

If A passes during an auction which it started, does it still get the option to initiate the next auction?

Subsequent rounds:
If A chooses Power plant, D wins, who initiates the auction again? A or B?
If A initiates, then how is a subsequent round is any different from the first round?
If B initiates, does this mean A never gets the chance to initiate an auction again in this round?

In all of your cases A chooses the next power plant. The rules are quite clear:

  When a player other than the player who started
   the auction wins the auction, the auctioning player may choose a new plant to auction from the actual market or pass

A will keep putting power plants up for bid until either

A wins a power plant auction
A passes (and is out for the entire phase, they will not get a power plant this turn)

Remember, that when choosing a power plant A must make the first bid for at least the minimum printed on the power plant card.


Player draws a card before the previous player discarded A player drew a card before the previous player placed down their discard card.

Does that card get forcefully removed from the player and shuffled back into the draw deck? Do they keep it if they decide it works with them? Do they get another chance to decide on the discard card vs the random card?

This isn't going to be covered by the rules of any game.

In all games players make mistakes, this is not the same as cheating, its simple human error and everyone does it at some point.

In all games it's up to the players to decide how to resolve this in as fair a way as possible without the need for 'forceably' making players do things which sounds like the enjoyment comes from being a rules lawyer and not actually playing the game!

In my regular gaming group we agree player can more or less undo anything provided that it doesn't affect anything another player would have done, and it hasn't involve drawing cards or rolling dice.  As soon as a 'random` event happens you can't really say, 'oh I didn't mean to do that' when they don't like the result.

In your situation a player who drew a card before seeing a new card put themselves at a disadvantage as they denied themselves an option.

You can't really make a player put a card back and shuffle the deck as they now have information about a card that other players are not holding.  Personally I would just let them keep that card but not let them take the discard as they played too early which is 'punishment' enough for a simple human error.


Do rules revert to 4 player rules midgame if someone gets eliminated? When playing a 5 or more player game of Twilight Imperium and someone is completely removed from the game, do you revert to picking two strategy cards each as per a 4 player game?

No, nothing changes. The TI3 FAQ puts it fairly straightforwardly on the left hand side of page 2:

  Elimination

  A player who controls no planets and has no units on the board
  is eliminated from the game. He cannot play Action Cards or
  choose Strategy Cards. After a player has been eliminated, the
  other players continue the game normally, with no changes
  to the number of Strategy Cards taken, etc. When a player is
  eliminated, all his Action Cards are discarded and all of his
  race's Trade Agreements are removed from the game.

Once a player's eliminated, everyone plays by the same rules as they have been the whole game. You don't revert to rules for the current lower number of players.


Zombicide: Why do zombies split? In the various Zombicide games, my understanding is that if zombies can take two or more valid paths, they split. E.g. if there are 8 walkers in one square, and they can go one of 2 ways, you get 8 walkers go one way and another 8, previously non-existent walkers go the other way(!)

So:

What is the justification in terms of the background story for the splitting rule?
What is the justification from a game playing point of view? I.e. how is it better than randomly determining which way they go?

Actually, if you have 8 walkers in one zone and there are 2 valid paths to get to the most noisy zone, you literally split them : you get 2 groups of 4 walkers.

There can only be one zombie added when splitting: in the case you have an even number of zombies. Eg: If you have 9 zombies in one zone, 5 go one way (A), 4 go the other way (B) + an additional one (B)

You apply that rule for each type of zombies (except Abominations that never split).

The idea is for the zombie turn to be as simple as possible to get it over with as quickly as possible. It is not the interesting part of the game, the players' turn are. Deciding randomly where each zombie goes would slow down the game without adding much. Adding the extra zombie when splitting even groups, makes things straight forward. I think it is a purely mechanical (opposed to themed) driven rule.