Can I use critical hits under the effect of "Greenskins Invade"? There is the Old World card "Greenskins Invade". It states

  While this Old World card remains in play, each player battling in a region containing an Event token may roll only one battle die, in total, per battle phase.

It's clear that no matter how many dice I could use in the battle phase, I can only use one of them in this region. But what if I roll a critical (6)? Can I reroll the die because I'm using the same die (so the count of the total dice used doesn't change), or does it count as using a different die?

When one rolls a 6, the die isn't technically re-rolled. According to the rulebook, the rolling a 6 causes an additional die to be rolled.

  In addition, every result of 6 EXPLODES, which means that the attacker rolls one additional battle die immediately (which causes an additional hit on a 4, 5, or 6, and which explodes again on a 6).

Which makes it clear that if the Old World card limits my dice to one, then I wouldn't be able to roll an additional die even if it would explode.


When should I buy copper in Dominion? Almost every strategy I have ever read on Dominion, although disparate in many ways, unanimously agree that not only is buying copper a bad thing, but that you should do whatever is in your power to utterly destroy any that you already have in your deck.

One would think that, being both the cheapest and the most plentiful stack in the game, it would be more useful.  Or useful at all, really.

With the exception of a Gardens deck, wherein stuffing your deck with as many cards as it can physically hold is considered advantageous, are there any situations where buying copper is more help than hindrance?

Never. (Note: Many expansions have been released since I first wrote this answer, there are more exceptions than I list here, but the general principles apply.)

Well, almost never. If you have to ask, the answer is "never". Don't buy copper unless you've got a specific strategy that will make it worthwhile. Some new players have a strong urge to use all their buys, or at least to buy something every turn, but buying nothing is better than buying Copper almost always.

OP mentions the Gardens exception in the question; other cards that can be used effectively with Copper include Goons and Forager. If your target buys aren't too expensive (say $5 or less), then Coppers can help you hit $5 consistently; this applies to Duke/Duchy, Gardens, Ill-Gotten Gains, etc. If, however, you are hoping to buy cards costing $6 or more, Coppers hurt.

New players sometimes make the mistake of thinking more money is better, so they'll buy a Copper with a leftover buy. This is bad. The money in your typical hand is what matters, not the money in your deck. With 5 cards in your hand, adding more Coppers
reduces your buying power unless your deck is really bloated (maybe with Curses/Ruins). New players quickly learn to hate a hand full of Coppers when they want to buy a Province or a Gold and stop making this mistake.

When you draw a card, are you thinking please, please, let this be a Copper? If so, then maybe you should buy Copper. If you'd prefer a Copper to what you typically do draw, go ahead and buy Copper. More often, you are disappointed when you draw a Copper - this is your cue to not buy Copper.

Selected Examples

There are cards that make Coppers better, but players with some experience often overestimate their power. Examples include Moneylender, Coppersmith, Bishop, Mine.

Moneylender can be a great card. New players may think it's a great card because of the $3, but the real value of Moneylender is the trashing of Copper. It shines in the absence of more efficient trashers because it cleans your deck of Copper. Since Moneylender is a terminal action, buying several Moneylenders and then buying Coppers to feed them is not a viable strategy by itself. It requires 2 cards and an action to generate $3; a hand with two Silvers instead of Money Lender + Copper has an extra $1 and an extra action. Even Silver + Money Lender without a Copper can be better than Copper + Money Lender if you've got a different action card worth playing. Spice Merchant and Miser are similar.
Coppersmith - there are decks in which Coppersmith can work very well (@BlairHippo brings up Apothecary/Coppersmith), but it takes more than just Coppersmith. You need a lot of card draw to make an engine out of Coppersmith, but card draw helps almost everything so there are usually better strategies on the board.
Bishop can convert Copper to VP, which is great. But anything costing $2 or more gets you more VP. With extra buys, you'd be better off buying Estates than buying Coppers to feed to a Bishop.
Mine is like Money Lender in that what makes it a good card is that it gets rid of bad treasure, replacing it with better treasure. If you buy more bad treasure to feed to a Mine, you're missing the point.

The themes above are that some cards let you trash Copper for some bonus. The main value in using them is trashing Copper. If you buy more Copper, you are undoing this work.

Counting House/Travelling Fair is an effective strategy that is Copper-centric.

Of course, if you have a bunch of activated Cities (lots of actions and cards) and a few Goons (lots of buys, rewards for buying), go ahead and buy some Coppers, and throw in some Moneylenders/Coppersmiths/Spice Merchants too! But if you've got a good Goon engine going, you don't need me to tell you that you shouldn't normally buy Copper.


How to tell from which expansion a card is? I ordered a few sets of Descent after I watched a friend play and after opening a few boxes I mixed up the cards. Now is there a way to unmix them? I don't remember which cards went to which expansion... I'm not sure if it matters that they are mixed up, but it seems like it does.

I've not handled Descent cards myself, but in my experience most games with card-based expansions — Fantasy Flight games in particular — tend to have small icons on their cards which indicate which expansion they come from; I usually find this in the lower right corner of the card itself (no icon typically means it comes from the base set).

From my quick skim of the instructions, that does appear to be the case here (see, for example, page 3 of the Lair of the Wyrm expansion rulebook, as well as page 3 of the Trollfens rulebook).


Do the rules 720.3 and 720.5 contradict each other? Considering the problems in answering this question, I feel like there is a contradiction between rules 720.3 and 720.5:

720.3. Sometimes a loop can be fragmented, meaning that each player involved in the loop performs an independent action that results in the same game state being reached multiple times. If that happens, the active player (or, if the active player is not involved in the loop, the first player in turn order who is involved) must then make a different game choice so the loop does not continue.
720.5. No player can be forced to perform an action that would end a loop other than actions called for by objects involved in the loop.

Assume the same scenario as in the original question, Lethal Vapors and Solemnity are on the battlefield, and an undying or persist creature enters the battlefield. Assume further that the active player has only 2 possible game choices, those choices being "passing priority" and "activate Lethal Vapor's active ability".
Note that "passing priority" is a game choice:

720.1. When playing a game, players typically make use of mutually understood shortcuts rather than explicitly identifying each game choice (either taking an action or passing priority) a player makes.

Now, if all players keep passing when they receive priority between Lethal Vapor triggers, the game enters a loop and a draw. However, 720.3 clearly says that in this case, the active player must make a different choice, i.e. other than passing priority. The only remaining choice is activating Lethal Vapor's ability. That, however, might violate 720.5, because the game rules force the active player to end the loop.
So my question is, is there a possible contradiction between 720.3 and 720.5?
Related question, in case Lethal Vapor counts as an object involved in the loop: Assume there is a Pithing Needle naming Lethal Vapors, and the active player also controls Seal of Cleansing. The only legal game choice remaining would be to activate Seal of Cleansing. Does the player have to do that, and if not, is the game a draw?

There's no contradiction.

720.5 is an explanation of how to follow 720.3 in some cases. For example, if Lethal Vapors said "destroy it or sacrifice another permanent", then the creature's owner would have to sacrifice something else to end the loop. That's the kind of choice that is called for by 720.5.

In your example, neither player can be forced to activate Lethal Vapors. This is according to 720.5. The activated ability on Lethal Vapors is not called for by any object involved in the loop.

Either player however, would be able to choose to activate Lethal Vapors to end the sequence. Thus you have a situation which is legally allowed to end in a draw if both players agree, but either player could skip their next turn to keep the game going.

The key here is that 720.5 doesn't try to include "abilities of anything involved in the loop" in the scope. It just means when the mechanism of the loop inherently includes a way out - a player can't endlessly choose the other option to force a draw.


Is the Axe as powerful as it seems? Having an item that can potentially defeat all locks seems to be counter to the natural flow of the game where the Investigators go from room to room following clues.

Once the Axe is found, the Investigators can go whereever they want, short-circuiting the whole adventure?

Is there errata for the Axe, or am I misunderstanding it?

It doesn't auto defeat ALL locks. Only those described as Lock Puzzles on the Lock card but not wiring or rune puzzles for example.


Train Station doesn't work correctly in Ticket to Ride Europe [PC Version] I played the PC version of Ticket to Ride Europe recently.
I got the ticket / route for Paris to Athina.
I built a route from Paris --> Zurich --> Marseille --> Roma --> Palermo --> Smyrna
Other played put a route from Smyrna to Athina
I put a station on Smyrna, which should give me access to the route from Smyrna to Athina

According to this post, my expectations of how the stations should work is correct.
Can someone explain what is happening? Is this just a bug?

Yes, you have it right: You should be able to use that station to complete the Paris-Athina route.
I'm guessing a reason the PC version fails here could be the fact that the end point of the borrowed line is at the end of your route and not connected to any of your trains. This might happen if the check-routes routine in the program saved time by only looking for gaps in your routes at stations and somehow a gap at the end (which isn't a "gap" under certain definitions).
But regardless of the reason, it is a bug. The gap can be at the end of the route. (This is confirmed in a different question on BGG.)


Can Laquatus's Creativity cause an opponent to discard their hand if you have Narset, Parter of Veils on the battlefield? Can Laquatus's Creativity cause an opponent to discard their hand if you have Narset, Parter of Veils on the battlefield?

Yes, but not quite. That's because Narset, Parter of Veils only stops cards drawn beyond the first, and Laquatus's Creativity is a sorcery. That means that if you cast it during your turn, opponent gets to draw at least one card (they don't have a draw step during your turn), and they will end up with one card left afterwards.

If opponent currently has no cards in hand, then Laquatus's Creativity does nothing.
If opponent has one card in hand, then they draw one and discard one.
If opponent has two cards in hand, they draw one and discard two.
If opponent has three cards in hand, they draw one and discard three.

Et cetera.

If you manage to cast Laquatus's Creativity at instant speed, then if you cast it during your opponent's turn (after their draw step when they have already drawn a card), they will indeed have to discard everything.


Can Let's Kill Krampus still be purchased? I pledged the first Let's Kill Krampus Kickstarter, which was unfortunately unsuccessful.  I didn't find out about the second Kickstarter until it had already ended, but it was successful, at least.  Recently, someone talking about the upcoming Krampus movie reminded me that LKK exists, so I went looking for it, assuming that it would have entered production after its successful Kickstarter, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Is Let's Kill Krampus available for purchase?

It is possible, but you need to contact the developers for information.

Based on the last social media post I can find from the company.

  Hi folks, sorry if you couldn't reach us by email, we closed our
  website and it was linked to our Gmail, so we're figuring out some
  kinks there. We are not planning new releases or production runs at
  this time, but we do have some stock of LKK still available; we'll
  post more details soon for anyone interested!

this post was made on facebook December 20, 2014, so they may have already sold out.

https://www.facebook.com/ThreeFatesGames/


When is Ferocious checked? When is Ferocious checked?

  A. When casting begins
  B. When the spell resolves
  C. Both of the above
  D. It depends

I think the answer is D. If I understand correctly, Ferocious is a meaningless mechanic with zero rules baggage. I'm tempted to say that the word "Ferocious" could be removed from every card it is printed on, and the card would still function exactly the same. Mechanics like Scry, for example, do have an actual rules meaning.

Here are two example cards, and my guess on when the condition is checked:

I think Crater's Claw would check on resolution, because damage is dealt on resolution.
I think Dragon Grip would check on cast, because it can only be cast as though it had Flash if a certain restriction is met.

As you said, Ferocious doesn't do anything on its own; it just signals that a certain mechanic is present in the ability. It is an ability word:

  207.2c An ability word appears in italics at the beginning of some abilities on cards. Ability words are similar to keywords in that they tie together cards that have similar functionality, but they have no special rules meaning and no individual entries in the Comprehensive Rules. The ability words are battalion, bloodrush, channel, chroma, constellation, domain, fateful hour, ferocious, grandeur, hellbent, heroic, imprint, inspired, join forces, kinship, landfall, metalcraft, morbid, parley, radiance, raid, strive, sweep, tempting offer, threshold, and will of the council.

As a rule of thumb, you can always safely ignore any text in italics in a card's text box. This includes flavor text, reminder text, and ability words.

So if you want to figure out how a card works, you just read it as though the word Ferocious were absent. Crater's Claw's ability modifies what the spell does when it resolves, so you check it when the spell resolves. Dragon Grip's ability modifies when the spell can be cast, so you check it when you are casting the spell. If the ability modified when an ability triggered (such as Heir of the Wilds' ability) it would check when the ability triggers and when it resolves, like any other condition on a triggered ability.

Because you mentioned it, I'll point out that scry is different. It is a keyword action, not an ability word, and as such it has actual rules attached to it.


Can non-rule-specified items be used to mark information that is shared but closed? There are several questions on BCG Stack Exchange that ask about information which was previously common but "vanishes", even though it can be deduced from other common information.

For example,

Correct opponent's assumption about my morph? has an answer that yes, a player must clarify the identity of a facedown card where that identity was previously public.
Shuffle facedown cards to hide revealed card? has an emphatically negative answer, the opponent can't be forced to play three-card-monty.
Prove a creature has morph? - the answers indicate that yes, eventually, it must be, and you can't deliberately obfuscate this fact after the game.

The answers generally indicate that the opponent must be able to deduce the card identity from what they knew before combined with what they know now ("derived information") and one of the questions involves a situation with coloured markers that happen to coincide with the card's colour identity.

Is there anything that disallows or allows or even requires markers to be used to indicate which of a group of facedown cards previously had a particular identity? Even further, is the player allowed to place markers on cards under the opponent's control to assist in tracking these previously known identities? An answer for any rules enforcement level is acceptable. This is most likely to be an argument at Regular, but would also have importance at Competitive and Professional.

For example, another question asked about whether the fact that a particular card was the commander remained public even if the card is facedown. Such a card could be marked with a C token to remind players of that fact. Other situations involve revealing a card that the opponent would want to ensure they can track in case they obtain a means of removing it later, and want to place a target-shaped marker on it.

Is there anything that disallows or allows or even requires markers to be used to indicate which of a group of facedown cards previously had a particular identity?

A player must ensure at all times that their face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated from each other, but a physical marker is not necessarily required to do so. If just one card needs to be tracked, its controller could say "I'm going to keep the one you've seen on the side by itself."

707.6. If you control multiple face-down spells or face-down permanents, you must ensure at all times that your face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated from each other. This includes, but is not limited to, knowing what ability or rules caused the permanents to be face down, the order spells were cast, the order that face-down permanents entered the battlefield, which creature(s) attacked last turn, and any other differences between face-down spells or permanents. Common methods for distinguishing between face-down objects include using counters or dice to mark the different objects, or clearly placing those objects in order on the table.

(Emphasis mine.)

Even further, is the player allowed to place markers on cards under the opponent's control to assist in tracking these previously known identities?

I can't find anything that would allow this serious breach of gaming etiquette in the rules (Comprehensive or Tournament). People can be very picky about their physical area of control, and that should be respected.
If the identification is truly unclear, you may request that the identification be made clearer (bringing in a judge if necessary), but you can't mandate the use of a specific scheme.
If you are having problems keeping track of everything, keep in mind that you may take notes.

2.11 Taking Notes
Players are allowed to take written notes during a match and may refer to those notes while that match is in progress.


Can i cast a spell after collecting rewards for an adventure? Page 13 says a player can only use his items, clues, spells, and allies during his own turn. Does this mean I can use a spell immediately after collecting adventure rewards, such as opening an other world gate?

The rules as written do not clarify one way or the other - it is up to a house ruling.  However, many cards have specific timing for them listed (such as "At the start of your turn" or "At the end of your turn").  With this in mind, for any card that does not have a timing listed, you could make a case for justifying its usage at any time during your turn, including immediately before it ends.


MTG Cards that interact with each other by name So I know that Bogbrew Witch, Festering Newt and Bubbling Cauldron all name each other in their rules text and I was wondering if there are any other cards that do this as well. How can I find more cards like that? (A list would certainly be useful, but how to find them would be even more useful.)

Creating a search query that returns all cards that reference other cards, without having false positives or false negatives is difficult, but I will show the kinds of things to search for to find some of them. All of these queries are using MagicCards.info

  o:named

This is the most basic one, it searches for all cards with "named" in their card text. This generates a lot of false positives, mostly cards that refer to themselves like Accumulated Knowledge, cards that have someone name a card like Booby Trap, or ones that create tokens with names like Boris Devilboon.

This part is always required, and will be left out of future queries for brevity.

  -o:~

This removes any cards that have their own name in the text box. This creates some false negatives from things like Diligent Farmhand, but also removes a large number of false positives (It removes about 100 cards from the results).

  -o:"name a card"

This removes any cards that have the text "name a card" in the text box. I don't think this creates any false negatives, but doesn't remove that many cards from the result (less than 20).

  -o:"token named"

This removes any cards that have the text "token named" in their text box. Note that this only removes things with vanilla tokens (ie ones with no abilities), ones that have abilities like Wirefly Hive will still show up. It also removes the Helm of Kaldra since it produces a Kaldra token.

Combining all of these into (with -is:silver-bordered to remove Un-cards)

  o:named  -o:~ -o:"name a card" -o:"names a card" -o:"token named" -is:silver-bordered

We get a list of 18 cards, 3 are false positives, and several cards like the Helm of Kaldra that don't show up, but it gives you a starting place to work from.

The Unspeakable

Sift Through Sands
Peer Through Depths
Reach Through Mists
The Unspeakable

Kaldra

Helm of Kaldra
Shield of Kaldra
Sword of Kaldra

Nissa

Nissa Revane
Nissa's Chosen

Empire Artifacts

Crown of Empires
Scepter of Empires
Throne of Empires

Spiders

Arachnus Spinner
Arachnus Web

Scion of Darkness

Dark Supplicant
Scion of Darkness

Spirit of Night

Urborg Panther
Feral Shadow
Breathstealer
Spirit of the Night

Viashivan Dragon

Kyscu Drake
Spitting Drake
Viashivan Dragon

Alternate Timeline Weapon-makers

Renowned Weaponsmith
Heart-Piercer Bow
Vial of Dragonfire

Bant Angel

Angels' Herald
Empyrial Archangel

Esper Sphinx

Sphinx's Herald
Sphinx Sovereign

Grixis Demon

Demon's Herald
Prince of Thralls

Jund Dragon

Dragon's Herald
Hellkite Overlord

Naya Beast

Behemoth's Herald
Godsire

Bursts

Muscle Burst
Diligent Farmhand
Flame Burst
Pardic Firecat


Is it valid to start a game without an open gate? Played a game yesterday where, during setup, the first gate was supposed to open on the Science Building.

However, Kate also starts there and her special ability is that gates do not open on her location.

We decided that the game started without any open gates instead of drawing another mythos card for setup. Was this the correct ruling?

Yes, that's correct.

The only reason you would draw another Mythos card would be if it was a Rumor. Otherwise the first Mythos works just like every subsequent Mythos.


Can a J-T combination be counted as a single honor under a "two honor" rule? There are times in bridge (e.g. when opening a "weak two") when a bidder needs a strong suit headed by at least two out of the three "top" honors, that is A-K, A-Q or K-Q. The weakest of these, K-Q, has one guaranteed "top" trick.
The rule is designed to prevent bidding (under these circumstances) with suits headed by two card combinations like Q-J, K-J, Q-T, K-T, and worst, J-T, where you are not guaranteed at least one top trick.
So in these situations, a Q is acceptable as "one" honor, with the K as the second honor. But if you had J-T behind the Q, and counted the combination as a second honor, the Q-J-T combination would guarantee one top trick.
So are there systems or experts who would allow a bidder to open a "weak two" with a suit headed by Q-J-T, K-J-T, A-J-T etc., counting the J-T combination as "one" rather than two honors?  (With a Q-J-T headed suit, I would want a side honor for a 5-10 point "weak two..")

Broadly yes. A common take on this is ‘Two of the top three, or three of the top five.’  That means QJT counts (or KJT or what have you).  See for example this article on Fifth Chair.
Also note that this only really applies first or second seat, and some would even do it first seat Not Vulnerable. Preempts are getting somewhat more aggressive over time as their value is shown - some even do five card weak twos now, though I find that more risky than I can tolerate.


In Takenoko does the player have to choose both their actions before performing either In the rules it states:

To finalize their choices, the player puts two chips on the appropriate spaces of their individual Board.
The order in which the actions are resolved is chosen by the player.

Does the player have to choose their two actions at the start of the 2nd step and then action them.  Or can they perform one action, see the consequences and then decide what action to take as their second action?
We've been playing the latter, but I'm not sure if the former is intended by a strict reading of the rules.
I.e. are the tokens just to keep track of what you've done so you don't accidentally perform the same action twice, or are they intended to lock your actions in before you perform any of them.

The actions are chosen and resolved sequentially as you have been playing, so you can see the result of your first action before choosing and resolving your second action.

While the original rules do seem to indicate that your two actions must be chosen before you resolve anything, it was clarified in the official FAQ:

  The two actions are chosen sequentially. This means that if a player choses to draw a new objective card, he can look at it before deciding what his second action will be.

Note that most of the official links to the FAQ now seem to be dead, so I assume that since the FAQ was released in 2012 these changes may be included in newer editions of the game.


Does Curse of Opulence give its controller tokens when someone else attacks? Let's say player A casts Curse of Opulence on player B. Then, player C attacks player B. I claimed that player A and C each create Gold tokens, but my friends agreed that only player C creates a Gold token. Was I wrong? I think that greatly decreases the value of the Curse.

You are correct, players A and C each create a Gold token.

The ability "Whenever enchanted player is attacked, create a colorless artifact token named Gold" applies to the player that controls Curse of Opulence, which is player A in this case.

The other part of the ability, "Each opponent attacking that player does the same" makes it so that player C also gets a token.

  303.4e An Aura’s controller is separate from the enchanted object’s controller or the enchanted player; the two need not be the same.

The player who controls Curse of Opulence is also the controller of the triggered ability:

  112.8. The controller of an activated ability on the stack is the player who activated it. The controller of a triggered ability on the stack (other than a delayed triggered ability) is the player who controlled the ability’s source when it triggered [...]

And the controller of the ability is the one that carries out the instructions, including to create the token:

  608.2c The controller of the spell or ability follows its instructions in the order written.


40k - Kustom Force Field and Vehicle Explosions I've asked this numerous places and no one can seem to agree or provide a completely sound explanation on it...

When a transport containing a unit that includes a KFF explodes, do the models inside benefit from the cover save? What about the models outside?

One explanation I've heard is that no one benefits from the save because as the process goes, the vehicle is wrecked, the models take hits/wounds, then are placed on the board. During the hit/wound process they are essentially "in limbo" (not on the board) so it's impossible to measure distance for the KFF and therefore it does not apply. While this is the only explanation I've heard that cites rules, it sounds like a cop-out technicality and therefore I don't completely agree with it.

The other argument I've seen is that since the explosion isn't a shooting attack, models don't benefit from a cover save. I can agree with this more than the previous explanation, however the Ork FAQ details a situation where models can receive a cover save against a Deff Rolla (sp?) from a Battlewagon, which doesn't even happen in the shooting phase, therefore I think this argument isn't quite valid either.

6th Edition

Your units within the transport should get their cover saves. Under Effect of Damage on Passengers (p. 80), it states the damage is treated as shooting hits:

Explodes! The unit suffers a number of Strength 4, AP- hits
equal to the number of models embarked. Resolve these as
for shooting hits, except that the controlling player allocates
any wounds caused.

When accompanied with KFF rules (p.34 w/ FAQ p. 2):

Kustom Force Field: Meks will build or scavenge powerful force
field projectors with which to protect their warty hides.
A kustom force field gives all units within 6" of the Mek a cover save of 5+.
Friendly vehicles within 6" are counted as being obscured and have a 5+ cover save.
Vehicles within 6" are treated as being obscured targets. The force field has
no effect in an assault.

If we accept all units inside a transport are within 6" of eachother, we can conclude:

The passengers take a Str 4, AP- hit (p. 80)
All non-passenger units and vehicles within 6" receive a Str 3, AP- hit (p. 74)
All friendly and hostile units receive a 5+ cover save (p. 34 + FAQ p. 2)
Friendly vehicles are obscured with 5+ cover save (p. 34 + FAQ p. 2)
Non-friendly vehicles are obscured with no cover save.

To address the first explanation you provided directly:

Wrecked is different than exploded. Thus, the vehicle being wrecked at all is inco-wrecked.

Wrecked vehicles are left on the table and effectively become
a piece of terrain (p. 74)

Explodes!  The vehicle is then removed and replaced with
scattered wreckage(area terrain) or a crater roughly the
same size as the vehicle (if you have one). (p. 74)

Therefore, you can resolve all damage and placement like this:

Resolve Str 4, AP- hits to passenger unit
Resolve Str 3, AP- hits to nearby models (incl. vehicles); measure 6" from transport
Remove Transport model/add area terrain or crater
"Surviving passengers are placed where the vehicle used to be"
Passenger unit takes a pinning test

The rule about Deff Rollas and cover saves you cite appear to be about units being attacked by the Deff Rollas and appear irrelevant for the sake of this scenario.

7th Edition

7th ed. makes it about as unambiguous as possible:

  The bearer, and all models within 6", receive a 5+ invulnerable save
  against any shooting attacks. If the bearer is embarked in a vehicle,
  then the vehicle receives a 5+ invulnerable save against any shooting
  attacks instead.


Is there a naming convention for the various standard-formats as they existed throughout history? It's very typical to say "current standard". Right now that means Innistrad (with Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, and M13) and Return to Ravnica (with Gatecrash, Dragon's Maze, and soon to come M14). Years from now, when these long past rotated out of standard, how might I reference the name of this set "standard" play (or any other "previous current standard"? Is there a convention for it?

You can:

Refer to the blocks: "Scars-Innistrad Standard," or just "Scars Standard" (using the name of the full block, which tends to define the format more) is very common. People are likely to place it into context at a glance, but it lacks some specificity, though that's mostly relevant for flash-in-the-pan decks that vanish when the next set tweaks the card pool.
Refer to the most recent set released: "NPH Standard." This is the most specific. The one downside is that some players don't remember all the small sets too well. This approach is concise and the card pool is totally unambiguous, with the rare exceptions of mid-season bans. Also it's pretty clunky when the last set is a core set.
Refer to a year: "In 2005, the best deck was..." People can look up the sets or figure them out from context.
Refer to a deck: Honestly, most often when people discuss old Standard they are just talking about a famous top deck — Caw-Blade, Faeries, Affinity, Academy, &c. — or a deck with some rare and special oddball name (Owling Mine). Not that great if you're trying to discuss the difference between red decks in 2003 and 2005, of course.

Oftentimes articles will do a bit of scene-setting, telling you the year and what blocks were in Standard in prose form. If you're writing out other information in an expansive way anyway (like a mention of the top cards or top decks of the time period, to provide context about how this deck works), you might as well save a bit of jargon and use a full sentence to describe the format.


When exactly do I get to check the next card when casting a spell from the top of my library with Experimental Frenzy? For example: After seeing Banefire and choosing to cast it, would the new top of my library be available for viewing before I choose an X value? If not, when is the soonest I can check the next card?

You cannot look at the top of your library while casting a spell like Banefire from the top of your library. You can look at the top of your library as soon as you have finished casting the spell. This is specified in rule 401.5:

  Some effects tell a player to play with the top card of their library revealed, or say that a player may look at the top card of their library. If the top card of the player’s library changes while a spell is being cast, the new top card won’t be revealed and can’t be looked at until the spell becomes cast (see rule 601.2i). The same is true with relation to an ability being activated.

Since the first step of casting a spell, listed as rule 601.2a, is

  To propose the casting of a spell, a player first moves that card (or that copy of a card) from where it is to the stack. [...]

Casting a spell from the top of your library counts as the top card of the library changing while the spell is being cast.

The final step of casting a spell, rule 601.2i in the same section, says in part

  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.

Once you complete the entire process of casting a spell, then the spell becomes cast and you can look at the card on top of your library.


Guiding Ariadne's counter trap effect issue Do I need to have three or more counter trap cards in my deck to activate Guiding Ariadne's monster effect, or will two do? Because it becomes an issue when the deck gets thin.

Guiding Ariadne requires you to reveal 3 cards when activating the effect for you opponent to choose from.
If this is impossible because you do not have the required amount, you can not activate the effect.

This is why when Ariadne was a popular deck choice during PePe format, people often played 4 or 5 counter traps, to be sure they could resolve this effect even if a countertrap was already drawn.

Now it is possible you make a mistake and try to activate the effect and then notice you do not have 3 cards left.
What happens then is up to the discretion of the judge, but usually if no deck stacking due to an effect has occurred, you will be allowed to shuffle your deck and continue play.


Why did deathtouch not work against a double strike or first strike creature? I am new to mtg, but I come across a lot of technical things that don’t make sense to me. One major thing that has infuriated me is why deathtouch doesn’t work when I block with it. I had Orzhov Enforcer and blocked with it against a Fencing Ace with a +1/+1 counter on it. It didn’t die though. My creature defended and dealt -1 damage which should’ve killed it, but didn’t. Why did this happen more than once with me.

There is another case where I dealt 2 damage with two 1/1’s against Tajic, Legion’s Edge and it did not die. The card says it prevents damage to other creatures you control not the card itself. So, why did it not die that time either?

In both encounters, the opponent did not have any enchantment, artifact, instant, whatever to prevent any damage or keep these two creatures alive. So, what is the deal? What am I missing?

Fencing Ace has double strike. Tajic can be given first strike. That means they deal combat damage first, before your Orzhov Enforcer can, so the Enforcer's deathtouch did not matter.
Normally, when combat happens there is a single damage step after attackers and blockers have been declared. In a damage step, all combat damage is dealt simultaneously.
However, if one or more creatures have double strike and/or first strike, there is another damage step in which only creatures with first strike and/or double strike deal damage:

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).

If a creature dies in that step, it won't be around for the next damage step to deal damage:

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

Also note that Tajic only prevents noncombat damage, i.e. only damage that was not dealt during a combat damage step, though it didn't matter either way for your question.


Diplomacy - Movement question Lets say we have

F Bar-StP
F Nwy S F Bar-StP
F StP-Nwy

Does the support from Norway get cut from the fleet in St. Petersburg?  And as such stopping the movement of the Fleet in the Barents sea from moving into St. Petersburg?

If these are all orders from one country, nothing happens.  From the rules:

  A country cannot dislodge or support the dislodgement of one of its own units

If "F StP -> Nwy" is a different country from the other two orders, the unit in StP is dislodged.  From the rules:

  Support is cut if the unit giving support is attacked from any province except the one where support is being given.


Can Panic Spellbomb be returned to the library in response to its ability? When activating the ability on Panic Spellbomb (tap, Sacrifice Panic Spellbomb: Target creature can't block this turn.), can the opponent then use an Instant such as Banishing Stroke to put Panic Spellbomb on the bottom of it's owner's library? Both are happening at instant speed, so do they stack like typical instants?

Your opponent can't do that. Sacrificing the Spellbomb is part of the cost, and you pay costs as part of activating the ability and putting it on the stack, and only once you're done with all that does anyone get priority. So by the time your opponent gets the chance to do anything, it's already in your graveyard. (This is just like how your opponent couldn't do something in response to you paying mana for a spell or ability.)

If the Spellbomb weren't being sacrificed, your opponent could cast Banishing Stroke on it, but it wouldn't really accomplish anything. Once an ability is activated, it exists on the stack independently of its source. (Yes, activated abilities use the stack.) You'd activate the ability, and your opponent could cast Banishing Stroke in response. The Banishing Stroke would then be on top of the stack, and resolve first. It'd put the Spellbomb on the bottom of your library, then the Spellbomb's ability would resolve as usual.

Side note: all spells and activated abilities use the stack, regardless of whether they're instants (or at "instant speed"). The important thing about instants and activated abilities is that they can be cast/activated any time you have priority, e.g. while something's already on the stack. That is, the bottom thing on the stack definitely doesn't have to be at "instant speed", just the things added on top of it (usually) - and the stack resolves top-down the same way no matter what's on it.


Does the effect "Reduce all HP recovery by 2" affect Setback's cards? In the Time Cataclysm environment, there is a card called Oppressive Smog that has the following text:

Oppressive Smog
Anomaly
Reduce all HP recovery by 2.
At the start of the Environment Turn, a player may discard 1 card to destroy this card.

There are two cards in Setback's deck that the HP recovery effect might apply to, but it's not clear because they don't use the words "HP recovery". Specifically:

Karmic Retribution
One-Shot
If you have fewer than 7 tokens in your Unlucky Pool, remove 1 of them. If you do, Setback regains 2 HP.

Is "regains X HP" an instance of "HP recovery"?

Silver Lining
Ongoing
If Setback would be reduced to 0 or fewer HP, remove all tokens from your Unlucky Pool and restore Setback to HP equal to the amount of tokens removed this way.
Then, destroy this card.

Is "restore Setback to HP equal to…" an instance of "HP recovery"?
In both cases, the cards increase the HP of Setback, but don't use the word "recover" or "recovery". Does Oppressive Smog, or another card that reduces HP recovery, apply to these cards in Setback's deck that use the terms "regain" and "restore" in relation to HP?

Recovery only applies when you are regaining health, not when health is being restored.

As noted by phantaskippy on the Greater Than Games forums:

  Regain and restore are different terms.  Health can still be restored if Health can't be regained.

Despite only the term restore showing up in the glossary, regain and restore are both keywords that apply to different abilities. This is further clarified here (page 17) and here (just search for the word "restore"). Something that restores health is not affected if an ability increases HP that is regained.

In the forum post, phantaskippy goes on to say:

  There is recovery as a term as well, but that has only applied to Regaining health so far.

In some cases, the word recovery is used to reference regaining health. This does not impact the keyword restore and will only impact abilities that use the keyword regain.

For your specific card interactions, if Oppressive Smog was in play, Setback would regain 2-2 HP (0) with Karmic Retribution. If Silver Lining would trigger, Setback will restore HP equal to the number of tokens in your Unlucky Pool with no reduction.

For what it's worth, phantaskippy is a playtester and active user on the GTG forums. He also generated a series of story challenges with rules tweaks for "epic" gameplay. I mention this to show that his comments on the forums carry weight and are generally trustworthy.


French Tarot (card game): Feasibility of playing a King on the first hand I had a little debate with some friends about the feasibility of a certain type of play and wanted to get the communities opinion.

The question is whether playing a King(Regent) on the first hand is a good play or not in terms of probability. The reason is that there is a risk of someone being completely out of that suite and having the 1 of Trumps, playing that, and thereby getting roughly 10 points on the first hand. The idea is that even though this is relatively rare, the impact of it is so great it is not worth playing a King in this situation.

If we assume a 4-player game and you are on the defense, my argument is that the odds of the attacker being in this situation is the same (or slightly higher) than each of the other 2 defenders. However, since there are two defenders the overall odds of someone taking the 1 of trumps on the first hand are in favor of the defense. And the defense acquiring the 1 of trumps is just as important as the attacker acquiring it.

One counter argument I was told was that even if the attacker does have at least one of that that suite, then you can just wait for them to play it and play your King then and still win that hand. I think there is some merit to this, but feel my argument above is stronger.

Tarot is not poker. It is not a matter of probability and psychology, wishing that your opponent will bend over you. It is matter of card strength and strategy.

Do not play randomly your King (and its 4.5 points!) if you do not know if your opponent have cards of the same suit or not. It is far too risky for such a card. It is like playing the 1 of trumps randomly, wishing that your opponent will not have the trump card to take it. Play your King only if you are sure that your opponent will not take it. Kings have got too much points to be played randomly, because statistics say that it will likely win.

The only risk you can take is the following: Attackers often perform "coupes franches" (I do not know the English name) on one suit only. If this suit is revealed and if your King does not belong to this suit, the attacker will likely not be able to double it and will not take it.

If you love statistics, Wikipedia has got tables for this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_tarot#Strategy But just like I said before, tarot is not poker and statistics does not matter in this game.


What deck size is ideal? The person I have been playing with and I both have decks of around 130 cards.
Now I know that technically you can have as many cards as you can shuffle, but is there some sort of deck size before it becomes ineffective?

Yes, and the limit may surprise you: it's 60 cards, which is exactly the minimum number of cards in a deck.

Why is this so? It's very simple: some cards are more powerful than others, but (with a few exceptions such as Relentless Rats) you can only include a limited number of copies of them in your deck. Generally speaking, you want to maximize the chance you draw your most powerful card(s), and apart from including as many copies as possible (four), the only other thing you can do about this is including as few other cards as possible. That means running 60 cards, and not a single one more.

Of course, this is a general rule, and there are some exceptions (e.g. if you build a deck around Battle of Wits you'll want somewhat more than 200 cards, but not too much more) but they are few and far between. In Limited tournaments (e.g. booster drafts) the minimum deck size is 40 cards, but again the ideal deck size is equal to the minimum size, 40.


Armadillo Cloak contains a triggered event that in combat resolution resolves? When Armadillo Cloak's ability is triggered due to combat it is placed on the stack.  My assumption is that the stack does not resolve till the second main phase and only after all players have passed.  Is this correct?

No, not entirely. Combat damage is dealt in the Combat Damage step (rule 510):

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.
510.3. Third, the active player gets priority. (See rule 116, “Timing and Priority.”)
510.3a Any abilities that triggered on damage being dealt or while state-based actions are performed afterward are put onto the stack before the active player gets priority; the order in which they triggered doesn’t matter. (See rule 603, “Handling Triggered Abilities.”)

After the stack resolves, everybody passes, the End of Combat step follows, and only then the second main phase.


Does the commander count as part of your deck? Say I have an EDH/Commander deck with Omnath, Locus of Mana as my commander.

Does that count as being in my deck?

Or can I have another Omnath, Locus of Mana in my deck?  (If so I imagine I would have to follow all the Legendary rules about playing the second one.)

If I could include a second one in my deck that could be useful (if the commander version gets killed a few times I would be able to play the one from the deck for only 3 mana.)

Yes, the Commander is part of the deck.

  903.5a Each deck must contain exactly 100 cards, including its commander.

The Legend rule doesn't limit what can be present in a deck — it limits what's on the 'field — but the following Commander rule does:

  903.5b Other than basic lands, each card in a Commander deck must have a different English name.

The uniqueness rule extends to the sideboard. You only have a single copy of a card in both the deck and 10 card sideboard combined.


Mairsil, the Pretender Out of Battlefield abilities Does Mairsil, the Pretender ability work on activated abilities that are not reliant on being on the battlefield?
Or is his second ability only in effect while he-himself is on the field?

For instance Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow activated keyword Commander ninjutsu? Or Reassembling Skeleton?
(If either is a bad example please use a better example of an activated ability usable from another zone, hand, graveyard, etc.)

Unless otherwise specified, static abilities like the second ability of Mairsil, the Pretender function only while the card is on the battlefield.

  604.2. Static abilities create continuous effects, some of which are prevention effects or replacement
  effects. These effects are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains on the battlefield
  and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone, as
  described in rule 112.6.

  112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack.
  Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows: [...]

To clear up some confusion: All abilities that aren't spell abilities, activated abilities or triggered abilities are static abilities and are subject to the rules I mentioned above. But there are some exceptions to rule 112.6 that define which abilities might be effective even outside the battlefield. Some examples are:

Characteristic-defining abilities (like "This card is all colors.")
Abilities that say that say that they function in a specific zone.
Abilities that modify the deck-building rules (like "A deck can have any number of cards named Relentless Rats.")


Mirrorwing Dragon with Vigor Mortis When I cast Vigor Mortis or a similar spell (Reanimate, Resurrection, etc.) on my Mirrorwing Dragon,  does it copy the spell on other targets in my graveyard?

I suppose not, since I do not control the creature cards in my graveyard.

No, Mirrorwing Dragon's ability only works while it's on the battlefield, and creature cards in the graveyard are not creatures.
Generally, abilities of permanent cards only work while that card is a permanent on the battlefield. Exceptions to that will always be noted on the card itself.
Even if Mirrorwing Dragon's ability would work while in the graveyard, creature cards in the graveyard are not creatures (shorthand for creature permanents), and as you noted, cards in the graveyard have no controller, so a copied Reanimate spell could not target them anyway.

112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows: [none of the exceptions apply]
110.1. A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield.  [..]
109.2. If a spell or ability uses a description of an object that includes a card type or subtype, but doesn’t include the word “card,” “spell,” “source,” or “scheme,” it means a permanent of that card type or subtype on the battlefield.
108.4. A card doesn’t have a controller unless that card represents a permanent or spell; in those cases, its controller is determined by the rules for permanents or spells. See rules 110.2 and 111.2.


Pandemic--epidemics with eradicated diseases If an Epidemic card is drawn, but the card from the infection deck that is then drawn has an eradicated disease on it, is it necessary to shift the infection rate forward--or does the fact that the disease is eradicated mean that the epidemic has been avoided? Is it necessary to intensify by shuffling the infection discards and putting them on top of the infection deck in this case?

Yes, you still move the infection rate forward and intensify by shuffling the discards. The only thing that eradicating a disease does is prevent you from placing more cubes of that disease on the board.


In bridge, do people go through cycles of under- and -over bidding? In the board game Go, there are two basic styles, high and low. "High" is all the rage for about ten years, until people have forgotten how to play "low." Then "low" gets "rediscovered," and people win tournaments with itfor about ten years until high becomes popular again.

In bridge, people used to "underbid" in competitive situations. That is, they failed to overcall, make takeout doubles or "balance," even when it was to their advantage to do so (that is when the penalty for going down was less than the opponent's probably game). Then people learned these techniques and did them a lot. Have they ever overdone such competitive techniques (that is, give away more games or gone down more than they should have)?

Have people made "mistakes" in the past that would be considered such by today's standards, even though they may have been acceptable bids at the time they were made?

There is a famous anecdote of Hans Kreijns (playing with Bob Slavenburg) overcalling Benito Garozzo's 4 Spades pre-empt with a 4 Spades overcall, on 4 to two top Honours, sometime in the 1960's. That's an overbid.

Seriously, when I learned to play bridge in the early 1970's, overbidding was everywhere. Precision had just become famous, and everyone was opening ratty 10 and 11 counts because C.C.Wei's Precision team did it.

Since then overbidding has declined in the bridge company I keep, and so has underbidding. Of course, it is not the same company: the quality has increased substantially, and the bidding has generally become more accurate. Less overbidding, and less underbidding, because the bidding is simply better.


Which program to chose when designing my own cards? I am working on a prototype of a board game for which I need to design several cards. The cards will have several features like name, picture, text and some additional symbols. I am not sure which program would be the best for designing them.

First I thought about LaTeX - I have a template for generating the cards. The biggest advantage is, that when I decide to make a change in design, it is instantly applied to all the cards using this template. The disadvantage is, that making a design in TeX is a painful process and some special features are not very easy to manage in it...

Second choice would be Inkscape or similar vector-based editor. Is there some free library or model, which would make it easier to design a card from a scratch? What approach would you suggest?

Thanks for any tips!

EDIT (April 2017): I released the SVG-based software described in my original answer below for playing card design as a desktop application.  You can learn more here:

http://cardcreatr.shane.guru

Original Answer: I use custom SVG when designing playing cards.  Inkscape uses SVG as its backend format.  Coming from a web development background, I found SVG to be easier to learn than something like LaTeX.  (It's just XML.)

I have a single external CSS file and a Ruby script using the "builder" library to construct the SVGs from a database.  If you don't want to use a script to generate your SVGs, it is also possible to pass parameters to your SVG.

The most difficult aspect of SVG I have found is its compatibility with other formats.  The only SVG rendering enging I've found to do a reliably good job is Apache Batik.  You can use Batik to convert your SVGs to PDF, which of course is a widely accepted format.  "Squiggle" is an SVG viewer that runs on top of Batik so that you don't need to render your SVGs every time you make a change.


What happens when a commander is exiled? Let's say you have a commander on the field, and an opponent uses Sisters Of Stone Death to force your commander to block the sisters and then exiles your commander?  Does it remain exiled, or does it go back to your commander zone?

The rule is

  If a commander would be put into a library, hand, graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead.

(See mtgcommander.net)

So, in this case, you get to choose whether it goes into exile or the command zone. If you put it in the command zone, then your opponent can't use the Sisters' other ability to bring it back, of course.

Several important nuances:

You don't have to put your commander back in the command zone. This is handy if, for instance, you can't afford to hardcast your commander, but you've got a reanimation spell in your hand.
Going to the command zone is a replacement effect, so your commander will never actually hit the graveyard or the exile zone, and won't trigger "on exile" or "on graveyard" triggers. E.g. if you are playing Keiga as your commander, you don't actually get to steal a creature if you put Keiga in the command zone when it dies.
Owner, not controller. Even if someone else Mind-Controls your commander, you still get to pick whether it goes back into your command zone.
You only get a choice when the commander is about to go to the new zone. So, if you put it into the graveyard, it'll stay there. If someone exiles it from your graveyard, then "would be put into ... exile from anywhere" applies again, so you can scoop your commander back into the command zone. Mimeoplasm, for example, can copy a dead commander like any other creature card in your graveyard, but at least you can put that commander back in your command zone since it gets exiled (Mimeoplasm still comes into play as the copy).
Recasting your commander from your hand doesn't cost extra like bringing it back from the command zone does; nor does it count for figuring out how many times you've cast it from the command zone already.
Rare card interactions can cause a card to move from one zone to the same zone. If that happens to your commander, fear not: you do still get the option to put it in the command zone. See this answer for a detailed explanation.


In bridge, is there a penalty if dummy incorrectly lays down his hand? In bridge, is there a penalty if dummy lays down his hand and places a spade with the clubs and it is not noticed by the players until the third round is played?

As a general guideline, all players at the table are jointly responsible for the play and management of Dummy's cards. Consequently, in accordance with Law 64 of The Laws of Contract Bridge (2014):

Law 64 - Procedure after Establishment of a Revoke
...
D. there is no penalty for the established revoke ...
3. if the revoke was made in failing to play any card faced on, or belonging to a hand faced on, the table, including a card from the dummy's hand, or ....

So although a revoke in Spades by Dummy may have occurred and become established, there is no penalty except as provided in the recap of Law 64:

When any established revoke, including one not
subject to penalty, causes damage to the non-offending
side insufficiently compensated by the Law, the
offending side should transfer additional tricks so as to
restore equity.

If no revoke occurred before the discovery of the Spade amongst Dummy's Clubs, then there is no basis for a penalty. However if one of your opponent's is competent at counting to 13, and you are playing for stakes above a couple of cents per point, then I would keep a sharp eye on said opponent in future contests. I have never known a strong player (meaning one who habitually counts as part of playing the game) to not immediately notice any error in Dummy's hand.

As an aside: I am sure that every duplicate club has had a scenario like the following occur every few years:

Auction:
Pass - Pass - Pass - DIRECTOR!
"This hand has not been shuffled since last week, when I made 8.5 match points with my Right-Hand Opponent's cards for 1NT just in."

That is how well strong players remember all 52 cards of a hand, even long after it is over and scored.


What are mistakes beginners should avoid in Dominion? I am going to play my first round of Dominion (+ Intrigue Expansion) this weekend with 4 other players who have played Dominion before. I have read the rules and now I want to avoid the typical traps a beginner might fall into.

What are the big and tempting mistakes that you see new players make in Dominion? Is there any other advise for the first steps in this game?

The bottom line is victory points. Period. Nothing else matters. If something is not actively helping you get more or your opponents get less, don't do it. It seems obvious that I'm telling you to remember how to win, but its very easy to go super-heavy on kingdom cards until you realize its too late...
Most of the time, the way to get victory points is with $$$. When I was learning I loved to pull of the 10 card action combos that took me 14+ turns to build, but when I realized I still had only made 7$ by the end of it I started looking at things differently. Solution: Make sure you have enough powerful treasures and actions that give +coins. Gold is king!
Keep an eye on end-game. How many provinces are left? Which piles are low? What are your predictions for what people are about to buy? If you know you have the most victory points, sometimes you just want to make the game end as fast as possible. If you can use a Coppersmith to get 1 or 2 provinces early, and then use plenty of +buys cards to buy up 3 piles of cost 2 and 3 cards before your opponents decks really get rolling, go for it. Its so funny when your opponents have just built these gold stocked decks to nail provinces and they realize you just ended the game and won with 10 victory points.
Know what cards will maximize your average $ per card ratio. If you have plenty of treasures in your deck, a smithy is often even better than a gold. Likewise, if you have plenty of actions that give you +cards, make sure you have treasures to back them up.
Know the difference between early game cards, mid-game cards, and late game cards.
Watch your terminal actions. There's nothing that sucks more than drawing 5 terminal actions and having to just pick one of them to play. Try to balance your terminals with you chain actions. On the other hand, don't overload on +actions if you have very few terminals. A few of my friends love the 'village idiot' strategy: get 6 or more villages and have giant chains of them every turn. If you're not using the extra action from a village, its completely and utterly useless as all it does is replace itself.
Know the basic strategies, like drawing lots of cards, big money, attack cards, and trashing your bad cards as early as possible. These are covered very thoroughly here, so I'll just leave it at that.
Know how to evaluate a kingdom set to see what strategies will be strongest. Note how each attack card will change things, and how you need to adjust your strategy. I cover this more in the linked post.


Which rules advance the chapter end marker in Mice and Mystics? There are some rules, such as many of the achievements, that advance the chapter end marker in Mice and Mystics. Which other rules, cards or events do this?

Our experiences so far are that the hourglass advances pretty quickly. We already lost two times in the first level because of this. So I am interested if we missed some rules that play in our favour, and which for example advance the end marker, to give us more time.

The only things that move it are achievements and specific story line events that will be listed in the story book.  I believe Chapter 1 has one or two of those.

Some tips for keeping the pages from advancing too quickly:

Try to get the first attack.  Most rooms start with the monsters a ways away from you.  If you act first, hold back out of their range.  They will blindly charge forward and you will be able to get in the first attack next round.
Don't be too stingy with your cheese.  Using special abilities kills monsters faster, reducing the number of dice you roll that could come up cheese.
Don't spend a lot of time searching after you've killed the last enemy.  Try to have the last mouse on the track be in position to explore, and only let the people in between search.  Some times you can delay killing the last enemy to give yourself a bit more time, but this can also backfire.
Don't spend a lot of actions healing during battle.  Kill the enemies first, then heal before leaving the room.
If someone is getting close to an achievement like Roach Master, you can leave the final kills for them so that they can advance the end marker for you.


How does Mining Village's extra effect work in Dominion? Mining Village has the option to trash it immediately and gain 2 coins. What exactly is meant by immediately? In other words, if I play a Mining Village what can I do before I must choose whether to trash it or not and gain 2 coins?

I'm interested in whether I can first draw another card (one of Mining Village's effects) and play it.

You draw the card, but may not play it prior to fully resolving Mining Village.

Always work from the top down on a card.  For Mining Village you do the following

+1 Card
+2 Actions
Optional - trash Mining Village for +2 coins.


Does Defectors do anything when triggered by Five-Year Plan I was playing as the USSR, and Five-Year Plan was played against me.  Defectors was the randomly selected card. It has a US event, so it triggers.

But, the event in question occurs when "played by USSR during Soviet action round". Does that event occur? It seems to me that it would trigger if I were the one who played Five-Year Plan, but since it was played on a US action round, nothing happens.

The card texts are:

Five-Year Plan

  USSR player must randomly discard one card. If the card has a US associated
  Event, the Event occurs immediately. If the card is a USSR associated
  Event or an Event applicable to both players, then the card must be
  discarded without triggering the Event.

Defectors

  Play in Headline Phase in order to cancel
  USSR Headline Event, including scoring card. Canceled card
  returns to Discard Pile.

  If Defectors is played by the USSR
  during Soviet action round, the US gains 1 VP. (unless played on the Space Race)

If Defectors is triggered by Five-Year Plan during the Headline Phase, it cancels the USSR event if it hasn't happened yet. From the Twilight Struggle FAQ:

  Q: If Defectors is not selected by the US, but a Headline
  event causes it to be played, is the USSR Headline event canceled?

  A: If the event that caused Defectors to be played would be executed before
  the USSR event, then that event is canceled. If the USSR event has already
  been executed, it is not canceled.

However, if Defectors is triggered as an event during the US Action phase, the event occurs, but no VP is gained (because it's not the USSR Action Round).


Identify a card game where you make card patterns to earn points Please help me to learn how the game is called. I've played it in the childhood and have no idea how it's called.

Here is what I remember about the rules:

Each player holds a hand of 5-6 cards or so.
There is the deck on the table. Also a few cards are face up on the table - some kind of the "market". Players take cards to their hands either from the deck or from the "market" when needed.

When a player has a card pattern on their hands, like 4 Queens, or 6-7-8 of clubs (at least 3 cards are needed), they can put the cards on the table in front of them. They are left there till the end of the game and will give points to the player.
Then another player can add cards to the enemy player patterns, like if he has 9 of clubs he can put it on the table and it will give him the points.
The game ends when one of the players will rid of all cards in their hand. Then cards in the other player hands will bring them negative points.
You can play it with 54 cards, and with 2 people.

Per the comments, it's some sort of Rummy. If you're looking to get back into playing the game, I'd recommend checking out the rules and variations over at Pagat.


Is an Action card resolved before or after an initiated clash? When an Action card initiates a clash, is this Action card resolved

when the clash ends, or
before the clash begins?

Background: The red card Lug Samildanach allows to take an Action card to your hand after it has been resolved. If player A plays an Action card that initiates a clash, and player B plays Lug Samildanach, can B use A’s Action card in this clash?

IMHO, the action card is resolved when the clash ends.

This is not made explicit in the rules, but on p. 7 of the rule book it says (under "Play a Season Card"): "The player plays the card, resolves the indicated effect, and then discards that card." This would mean that everything triggered by the Action Card (such as a clash) is resolved before it is discarded, and thus, by association, that an Action Card is only fully resolved after all its effects have been resolved.


Granting Indestructible and the Stack If I play an instant that grants target creature "indestructible," can an opponent use an instant in response to destroy said creature? Would the stack resolve their ability first? If so, would I be allowed to change target for indestructible? If not, do I still pay the mana cost?

Would the stack resolve their ability first?

Yes. A spell cast in response to another resolves first (Last In, First Out).

  116.4. If all players pass in succession (that is, if all players pass without taking any actions in between passing), the spell or ability on top of the stack resolves or, if the stack is empty, the phase or step ends.

  would I be allowed to change target for indestructible?

No.

When you are about to resolve a spell, the following happens:

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. [...] The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. [...]

If your spell isn't countered by the above check, it continues on to resolve.

  609.3. If an effect attempts to do something impossible, it does only as much as possible.

  do I still pay the mana cost?

You already did. The mana cost to cast a spell is payed when casting the spell. Acting in response to a spell means acting after the spell is cast, but before it resolves.

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

You don't get a refund if your spell is useless. You don't even get a refund if it's countered.


Resolving an ambiguous game state caused by mixing restricted mana Anthony activates Mishra's Workshop to add {3} to his mana pool. He casts Bronze Sable, leaving him with {1} in his mana pool. This mana comes with a restriction that it may only be used to cast artifacts.

Next, Anthony activates Xenagos, the Reveler to add {G}{G} to his mana pool. He casts Elsewhere Flask. This leaves him with one mana in his pool. Elsewhere Flash resolves, and Anthony draws a card.

We arrive at an ambiguous game state. Anthony failed to specify exactly which mana in his pool he was using to cast Elsewhere Flask. Does he have {1} in his pool with a restriction, or {G} in his pool with no restriction? Does the game back up to before it became ambiguous? Does Anthony get to choose? Are any penalties awarded?

Assume that this scenario occurred at Regular AND Competitive REL. Describe the outcome of both if they happen to be different.

We will start with the relevant rule:

  106.4a If a player passes priority (see rule 116) while there is mana in his or her mana pool, that player announces what mana is there. If any mana remains in a player’s mana pool after he or she spends mana to pay a cost, that player announces what mana is still there.

Anthony would get a Warning for Game Play Error - Game Rule Violation for failing to follow the above rule.  (I can't think of a card that having the {1} would be advantageous over the {G}, but board state is irrelevant for this kind of infraction.)

The fix for this type of violation is to attempt to fix the problem by performing the required action if possible, if that isn't back up the game if possible, and if that isn't possible leaving the game state alone. In this case if caught soon enough the problem can be fixed by Anthony deciding what kind of mana he has, otherwise just leave the game where it is.

If Anthony's opponent did not catch the error soon after it was committed they would receive a Warning for Game Play Error - Failure to Maintain Game State.

At a Regular REL both of the Warning should be downgraded to Cautions, since the point at Regular REL is to educate and not punish for most infractions.


Fury of Dracula 3rd ed. - Fangs point scoring In Fury of Dracula 3rd edition, does Dracula score 1 point whenever 'Fangs' combat card is resolved, or only if it was resolved with night & mesmerized conditions met? I know the rules just say "when 'Fangs' is resolved", but the reason I'm asking is because of the way the text on the card is printed out, with no empty line above "Then, advance the influence track by 1":

Fantasy Flight clarified this:

  The 1 influence point only occurs when it is night and the engaged hunter is mesmerized.

source: https://boardgamegeek.com/article/21076368#21076368


40K Orks: what is the tactical value of having Mekboys in a mob of Lootas? I was considering strategies to help my armored infantry style Ork army get into assault range and was looking at Lootas as a long range direct fire support option. I see Mekboyz may replace 1-3 Lootas, but what is the value of replacing Lootas with Mekboyz? The weapon options for a Mekboy do not offer any advantage over the Lootas deffgun that I can see, so why would someone field Mekboyz with Lootas?

Update 8 October 2012 When I asked this question, 40K was in 5th edition, and the accepted answer remains quite valid for 5th ed. Now that we're in 6th edition, a Battlewagon full of Lootaz may fire their heavy Deffguns as snap shots when their rolling fortress moves. Having a Mekboy along for the ride has some tactical value for immobilized/weapon destroyed repairs on the Battlewagon. I do not want to start a discussion, simply point out I find there is now some tactical value for choosing a Mekboy with a mob of Lootaz in 6th edition.

Most people don't field the Mekboys.  In fact, in 5 years I've never seen anyone put a Mekboy in a squad of Lootas.

So, you're not alone in not seeing their usefulness.  Technically you could use the Mekboy to build a little duality into the unit.  This makes them slightly more well rounded so as to be able to deal with other types of threats, but that's not what people generally take Lootas for.

Lootas are Orks most consistent and effective long range shooting, adding a Mekboy degrades their points efficiency.

In response to the edit about 6th

In that case I think you are better off with an attached Big Mek.  That way you can add in a Kustom Force Field to protect the battle wagon.  I'm also not a big fan of just snap shooting them from a moving vehicle.  They'll be susceptible to stun and shaken results on the wagon even if they disembark afterwards.  Going from a 5+ to a 6+ to hit may not seem like much, but is still a 50% reduction in shooting effectiveness.  Why do that if you don't have too?  And finally, why would you need to move a long ranged unit like Lootas in the first place?  A good deployment position should give them range to most of the board.  Put something else in that wagon; something you want to get closer to the enemy.


In Diplomacy, Should You Have Separate Country "Draws" For Players of Different Experience? Once I was in Diplomacy game with two experienced players, one intermediate (me), and four people who had never played the game before.

As it were, the two best players drew England and Turkey, and ran all over the board. Two of the new ones ended up with Italy and Austria-Hungary. "Italy," in particular complained, "I didn't know what I was doing the whole game." Meaning he wasn't about to play it again.

England, France, Russia, and Turkey are relatively easy to play because they are in the corners of the board. Germany, Austria, and Italy are much harder because they are in the center, and more easily surrounded.

If I had it to do again, I would have had the four newbies draw for the "corner" countries, and the three veterans draw for the three "center" countries. Would such a plan have made it a better, more balanced, game? And more fun for the newcomers?

I don't think it would've changed the outcome at all.  A strong player will walk all over weak ones regardless of which country they are assigned.

A better plan might be to play several "mini-games".  Play for the most centers at the end of 1904, then take 15 minutes to "debrief" so that the newer players can get an idea of the strategy that was going on "behind their backs".  Draw for new countries, and repeat, maybe playing a little longer this time.

Knowing that their entire day isn't ruined by a bad start and that they only have to wait a little while to start over should keep you from losing the new players, and the experienced players should be challenged by trying to repeatedly pull off strong showings.  While ending at a particular year does result in some weird tactics toward the end, it should still serve as a good learning session that hopefully leaves everyone wanting more.


Stealing a Soul Seizer I was in control of a Soul Seizer that I cast. An Act of Treason, which states "gain control of target creature until end of turn", was used to take my Soul Seizer from me. My opponent then attacked and damaged me with it, chose to transform it, and then took one of my other creatures, and the Seizer became an enchantment. What happens here? Does it return to me immediately because it's no longer a creature and the effect granting control targeted a creature. Does it remain where it's at (in my opponents control) permanently because it became something else in his possession. Or does it return to me when the effect ends even though it's no longer a creature.

I believe it comes back because the effect ends, but my opponent felt he should keep it because it became something else while under his possession. I couldn't find an answer and I would be curious to know the specific rulings. (I let him keep it because it didn't matter and I defeated him anyway)

The Soul Seizer remains an enchantment, but you regain control of it (at the end of the turn). Nothing in the rules about the transform ability says it becomes a different permanent, even though it changes types.

701.27. Transform
701.27a To transform a permanent, turn it over so that its other face is up. Only permanents represented by double-faced cards can transform. (See rule 711, “Double-Faced Cards.”)

Since it now enchants one of your own creatures, it's effectively useless. However, you can't use it anymore on your opponent's creatures, so it's definitely a smart move from your opponent. Just not that smart ...


Could player discard nearest cards to place the part of `War Machine` in proper order? Suppose, player got a part of War Machine after attack. Could he discard nearest cards to place the machine in proper order, even if he have another rooms ?

No. You may only discard other cards if there are not enough open spaces. From the Fantasy Flight Chaos Marauders - Card Reference (page 14), regarding taking War Machine parts:

  ... He must then place the cards in his own battle lines - If there are not enough open spaces, he must discard cards to make room.


Will generated tokens be progressively stronger when using Cathar's Crusade and Sorin, Grim Nemesis? I played a game yesterday where I had Cathars' Crusade and Sorin, Grim Nemesis on the battlefield. I managed to activate Sorin's -9 action:

  Put a number of 1/1 black Vampire Knight creature tokens with lifelink onto the battlefield equal to the highest life total among all players.

One of my opponents had 35 life at that point, so I got 35 tokens.

Cathar's Crusade says:

  Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.

How will this play out? As far as I can tell, this will result in one of the following scenarios, ranging from the least to the most powerful:

I put 35 tokens on the battlefield at the same time. This will trigger the effect once, giving all of them one counter.
I put the first token on the battlefield, it gets one counter. I put the second token on the battlefield. It gets one counter, and the first token will get one counter for a total of two. Continuing this pattern will end with a battlefield with 35 tokens with an increasing number of counters (ranging from 1 counter on the last token to 35 counters on the first token)
I put 35 tokens on the battlefield at the same time. This will trigger the effect 35 times, giving all the tokens 35 counters.

We went with option 2, but I had some other bolster cards on the board (Captivating Vampire, Legion Lieutenant and Door of Destinies with three counters) so I would have easily won even if we had chosen option 1, but I'm still curious which option is the correct one.

All 35 tokens enter the battlefield at the same time. All creatures you control, including the 35 tokens you just created, will get 35 +1/+1 counters.
As Sorin's ability resolves, you carry out its instructions; in this case, create 35 1/1 creature tokens.
Cathars' Crusade will be triggered 35 times:

603.2c An ability triggers only once each time its trigger event occurs. However, it can trigger repeatedly if one event contains multiple occurrences.

If it were to trigger only once, its trigger condition would have to be worded differently, for example as "Whenever one or more creatures enter the battlefield, [..]". As it is, it triggers once for every single creature entering the battlefield.
All abilities that do trigger during the resolution of a spell or ability wait until that spell or ability is fully resolved before they enter the stack:

603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority.
116.3. Which player has priority is determined by the following rules:
116.3b The active player receives priority after a spell or ability (other than a mana ability) resolves.

The abilities created by Cathars' Crusade work on all creatures on the battlefield at the time they resolve, not when it is triggered or when it enters the stack. Assuming that no player takes further action, the 35 Cathars' Crusade triggers will resolve and give every creature you control, including the tokens, 35 +1/+1 counters each.


Can you still fizzle in response to a spell that can't be countered? If I have Fleeting Image in play, and my opponent targets it with Urza's Rage, am I not allowed to bounce the Fleeting Image in response, since making Urza's Rage fizzle technically counters it?

You can bounce your Fleeting Image.

The key you're looking for is that Urza's Rage is countered by the game, not a spell or ability. It's just like if you gave Fleeting Image hexproof.  Since hexproof makes it an illegal target, Rage is countered by the game.

  608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally. Illegal targets, if any, won’t be affected by parts of a resolving spell’s effect for which they’re illegal. Other parts of the effect for which those targets are not illegal may still affect them. If the spell or ability creates any continuous effects that affect game rules (see rule 613.10), those effects don’t apply to illegal targets. If part of the effect requires information about an illegal target, it fails to determine any such information. Any part of the effect that requires that information won’t happen.


Infractions/Player Communication - Infernal Tutor and Lion's Eye Diamond In a Competitive REL tournament with an opponent, a player casts Lion's Eye Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Infernal Tutor, making a note of storm count after each spell is cast. If the active player has not declared immediately after casting Infernal Tutor that they are intending to respond to it, are they able to activate their Lion's Eye Diamonds in the following situations?

a) The opponent does nothing, and the active player goes to activate the Lion's Eye Diamonds after finishing writing down the storm count.

b) The opponent says, "In response," and the active player says, "Before you respond I need to activate my Lion's Eye Diamonds".

c) The opponent says, "That resolves," before the active player has finished updating the storm count (this may be a duplicate of a).

Are there any differences in rulings in these situations? Or is it a case of "Declare the maintaining of priority immediately, or the opponent can force you to lose it"?

There is no way to give absolute answers to some of those scenarios in a vacuum on the internet.  I agree with Hackworth's answer as far as the 'most correct' interpretation based on the rules absent any other information, but you did ask about player communication in a CREL event.  Judges are in fact required to, well, apply judgement in some situations and there is not always a 100% correct answer or 100% repeatability.

Taking scenario C, it could be:

1) Storm player is leaning forward over table looking down, holding his hand of cards, taps a swamp and puts down a Ritual and a Tutor, still leaning forward, without looking up, grabs pen with other hand to mark paper then reaches for LEDs.  Opponent says some possibly more polite version of "Haha, you forgot to explicitly retain priority, picking up the pen isn't a game action so it implies you were done casting, GG sucker."  Storm Player calls for judge.

2) Storm player puts down Ritual and Tutor, leans back in chair, puts down hand of cards, makes eye contact with opponent, then picks up pen, marks, then reaches for LEDs.  Opponent calls for judge.

As much as we'd like paper magic to be an absolute black and white game as if we were on MODO, these are different situations and some judges will treat them differently.  That's the reality of a situation that has three human participants.  (Further compounded by the fact that the judge probably didn't actually witness it personally!)  If a head judge gives you a ruling on the day-of, that is the ruling.  "Some guy on the internet said XYZ" will get you nothing but reminded not to argue with judges.


In my turn, can I just take an "accessible" card into my hand and not play it yet? When selecting cards in Duel, can I select a card and keep it on my hand until I collect money/resource or do I have to sell/play the card immediately?
If I can take the card and not play it yet, can I later sell it or decide what I want to do with it?

No, you may not keep the card for later use.
The rules say

On your turn, you must choose an “accessible” card in the card
structure and play it. An accessible card is a card which isn’t
partially covered by other cards.
You can play the card you’ve chosen in one of three different ways: •

Construct the Building • 2. Discard the card to obtain coins • 3. Construct a Wonder

There is nothing in the rules about keeping cards to play later.  You make an immediate choice from the 3 options listed.


Exploding kittens defuse card We're playing 2 player exploding kittens. We had 4 attack cards in a row yielding 8 turns for player B. There is only 1 card left in the draw pile , which is the exploding kitten. When player B draws the exploding kitten and plays their defuse card, the rules state their turn is over. Should we take turn to mean a single turn? In other words does player B still need to draw 7 more times?

We had 4 attack cards in a row yielding 8 turns for player B.

For the nerfed version: The attack card does not stack in Exploding Kittens. It is not like the +1 in Uno (if you get the reference).

If you play an attack on me, I have to draw 2 cards. If I play an attack card on top of your attack card, my turns are immediately over and you have to play two turns.

For the current version, player B has to play 8 turns.

  Should we take turn to mean a single turn?

Yes, a single turn, but player B has to play 2 turns (nerfed version) or 8 turns (current version).

So if I understood correctly,

player B played attack on A
player A played attack on B
player B played attack on A
player A played attack on B
player B has to play two turns or eight depending on the version you're playing. So B has to draw the last card on the deck, which is an exploding kitten. Player B draws the exploding kitten, plays a defuse and has to put the exploding kitten back on the deck. Since there is only one card left player B puts the exploding kitten back on the draw pile facing down.
Player B finishes her first turn.
It is player B turn again. Player B must draw a card from the deck which is an exploding kitten.

In your case, player B had an extra defuse? If not, player B explodes and loses the game. If player B had an extra defuse card, it can draw the EK, play its defuse, put EK back in the draw pile and it is player A's turn.

If you are playing the current version, player B won't have 8 defuse cards. So player B loses the game.

I hope that helps


What happens to an Inkmoth Nexus that has had Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas' -1 ability used on it? From my initial expectations I'd expect otherwise, but I was recently told at a tournament that an activated Inkmoth Nexus that had been the target of Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas' -1 ability ("Target artifact becomes a 5/5 artifact creature.") would cease being a vanilla 5/5 artifact at the end of the turn when Inkmoth Nexus' ability ends. I was planning on using Revoke Existence, but my plans were quashed.

Was this correct? Without looking at layers or anything, I'd assume appears Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas' ability (which is persistent) would remain active after Inkmoth Nexus' ends, and that on the next turn it would remain a vanilla 5/5 artifact creature.

Whoever gave you the ruling was mistaken.

According to level 4 judge Chris Richter, the Inkmoth Nexus will remain a 5/5 artifact creature land but will lose flying, infect, and its Blinkmoth subtype after the turn ends.

Some more details on what happens afterward:

  When the turn ends, the animation effect from the Inkmoth Nexus will
  end. When this happens, the Nexus will be become a 5/5 artifact
  creature land. This Nexus will still have the normal abilities of an
  Inkmoth Nexus, the mana ability and the ‘animation’ activated ability,
  as well. But this permanent will not have flying or infect at this
  point. This is because Inkmoth Nexus’ animation ability has a duration
  that lasts until the end of turn, while the animation effect from
  Tezzeret’s ability does not. The animation effect from Tezzeret’s
  ability will last as long as that permanent remains in play. If no
  other effects are applied, then this Nexus will look like this (a 5/5
  artifact creature land with Nexus abilities) for the rest of the game
  or as long as this Nexus remains in play.

  However, you may just want to use additional animation effects on this
  Nexus for strategic reasons. If the Inkmoth Nexus’ animation activated
  ability resolves again, then this permanent will become an 1/1
  artifact creature land with both flying and infect. It is a 1/1
  creature again for the same reason as why it became a 5/5 earlier, the
  power and toughness setting portion of the Nexus’ effect is applied in
  timestamp order and overrides Tezzeret’s effect that makes it a 5/5.
  And, just as earlier, you can use Tezzeret’s ability again as well.
  Doing so will make this permanent into a 5/5 creature with both flying
  and infect. Then, as before, at the end of turn when the Inkmoth
  animation effect wears off it will become a 5/5 artifact creature
  land.


Where can I find raw data for DCI sanctioned Constructed tournaments? It is often easier to answer questions about Magic experimentally instead of mathematically. Anyone can see the final standing of a deck in a tournament and find out who piloted it. Here is an example. However, there is some data I cannot find:

Mulligans taken
Games played
Games on the play
Final life totals per game

Does this data exist for DCI sanctioned Constructed tournaments? If so, where can I find it?

MTGGoldfish has information, but they only appear to cover Limited formats. Here is their page covering Khans of Tarkir.

In terms of offline (non-MTGO) information, the only data point that is brought away from a tournament match is the match record - mulligans, die-roll winners, and life totals are not processed in any way.

There are not any resources online with general match records (i.e. how often matches end 2-0, etc.) that I am aware of. You can go into the archives of GPs and parse the information from the round results pages if you wanted to, but that's likely about it. I'm confident WotC has the capability to derive this type of information internally, but the data for more global audiences to derive it is not public. (nor would WotC likely make such data public)

The site you linked gets it's information by monitoring Magic Online and recording metadata based on games played there - there's definitely more data there, but you'd need to keep in mind that MTGO and paper Magic may have different results for different events, especially when you take into account the difference in draw procedures, and the occasional prevalence of decks in paper Magic which cannot be effectively piloted on MTGO. (or vice versa)


Travel in the Lord of the Rings LCG? I'm never quite sure how this phase of each round is supposed to go...

So, say during the quest phase you encounter a location with 2 quest points, and after you resolve the quest you come out +2. Do you put the progress tokens on the quest card and then travel to the location? or do you travel to the location and put them on the location card?

If you have an "active" location, you place progress on it before you place them on the current quest.  But a location only becomes active when you travel to it.  If you just revealed the location, it is still in the staging area and not active, so you would put the progress on the quest.  You may then choose to travel to the location during the travel phase.


Can opponents keep Jeskai Infiltrator under their control past the end of their turn if it was manifested? So recently, when I was vsing a friend, they used Act of Treason on my Jeskai Infiltrator, then attacked me. I took the damage without blocking, then Jeskai and the top card of their library was exiled, shuffled, and manifested because of the second ability.

Reading other posts on this site, it seems that they would keep control of the manifested cards past the end of their turn, but it was never directly stated. So I just want some clarification on the rules of this card: do they get to keep it?

Yes, they will keep control of Jeskai Infiltrator. The card was exiled and then returned to the battlefield, so it is considered by the rules a new permanent with no relation to the card that Act of Treason was used on.

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

(none of the exceptions apply here).

Remember that everybody will know which of the face down cards is Jeskai Infiltrator, because who is the owner of a card is always known. There is a ruling in Jeskai Infiltrator that confirms this.