How does flicker relate to a card like Ulamog's dispoiler I was wondering how a card like Flicker and a card like Ulamog's Despoiler would work together. Since Ulamog's Despoiler returns a card from exile and flicker exiles a card snd then returns it would flicker return the card that was put into a graveyard to the battlefield or would it just stay in the graveyard? I tried to look at rule 400.7 but I got confused on if it would work. If anyone could help me I would be very grateful.

You can't cast or resolve anything whilst the target of Flicker is in exile, as it is returned to the battlefield as part of the spell.
You could do it to the target of Otherworldly Journey, as that returns the card at the next end step. If you did, it would stay in the graveyard, the object in the exile zone that Journey is looking for is no more.


How does Arcbond interact with Saving Grace? This is a damage-dealing and timing-related question about casting Saving Grace (SG) and Arcbond  on a creature, and I or a creature I control being then dealt damage.

Arcbond:

  Choose target creature. Whenever that creature is dealt damage this turn, it deals that much damage to each other creature and each player.

Saving Grace:

  Flash

  Enchant creature you control

  When Saving Grace enters the battlefield, all damage that would be dealt this turn to you and permanents you control is dealt to enchanted creature instead.

  Enchanted creature gets +0/+3.

Say I have a 3/3 and four 2/2 and an opponent casts shock (2 damage) on one of my 2/2's. As a response, I cast Saving Grace (with flash) and Arcbond on my 3/3.
The damage is redirected to my 3/3 by SG, and my 3/3 takes 2 damage.

This triggers Arcbond's effect, and all my 2/2s and myself are dealt 2 damage.
Which triggers SG, and all this damage (2*5=10 damage total) is redirected to my 3/3 (3/6 because of Saving grace, but this is irrelevant), my 3/3 has taken damage, so Arcbond triggers, and so on...

Here are the questions:

Do both trigger separately for redirected damage from each of my 2/2 and myself, thus dealing a total of 3*2=6 damage to everyone else (the toughness of my 3/3+0/3 being consumed), or do they "group" all the damage and deal 12 damage to everyone else (2 for the first redirected shock damage, and 10 for the total Arcbond redirected damage)
Is the damage from Arcbond dealt to everyone before, or after the "damage counters" are put on my 3/3, meaning will this combo stop when lethal damage has been redirected to my 3/3, or will it accumulate to infinity, never letting the damage event occur because it constantly reacts to the damage being "called"? (thus technically ending the game on a draw)

Or does something completely different happen?
I have gone to the comprehensive rules, but it's still not clear to me...

The result of this combo will be three damage events: the original shock, plus the two Arcbond triggers. The first deals 2 damage to the 3/3, the second deals 2 damage to your opponent and each creature you don't control and 10 damage to the 3/3, and the third deals 10 damage to each creature and player. After that point the 3/3 will be dead, so there will be no more Arcbond triggers.

The reason it works that way is because Arcbond's effect is a triggered ability, which means that each time it triggers, there is time in between for other events to occur, and Saving Grace's effect creates a replacement effect, which modifies the damage events in place.

The exact sequence of events is as follows:

Your opponent casts Shock targeting your 2/2 creature.
In response, you cast Arcbond targeting that creature. Arcbond resolves, and creates a delayed triggered ability that will apply for the rest of the turn.
Still in response to shock, you also cast Saving Grace. Saving Grace resolves, and its triggered ability triggers. The creature is now a 3/6. That triggered ability also resolves, and creates a replacement effect that will redirect damage for the rest of the turn.
Shock resolves and would deal 2 damage to the 2/2, but Saving Grace's replacement effect modifies it. Instead it deals 2 damage to the 3/6. Arcbond's delayed triggered ability triggers.
Arcbond's triggered ability resolves. This would deal 2 damage to each other creature and each player, but Saving Grace's replacement effect modifies it. Instead, it deals 2 damage to your opponent and each creature you don't control, and 10 damage to the original creature. Arcbond's delayed triggered ability triggers again.
At this point, the creature has taken 12 damage and it has only 6 toughness, so it dies as a state-based action. The Saving Grace is also put into your graveyard as a state-based action.
Arcbond's ability resolves again, and deals 10 damage to each creature and each player.


Can I use both of Grindclock's abilities at the same time? I'm starting on mono blue mill deck and I saw Grindclock. I'm not sure about its ability.

  {tap}: put a charge counter on Grindclock

  {tap}: target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of charge counters on Grindclock.

If I just cast Grindclock and use its first ability, will the second ability take effect, or do I just put a charge counter on it? If there's already one charge counter on it and I use the first ability again, it will have two charge counters on it? Then the second ability will take effect with two cards being sent to graveyard?

If I use spells or ability to untap it after being used can I use its ability again on the same turn?

When a card has 2 separate sets of "cost: effect", these are 2 separate abilities. You can choose to activate either the first ability or the second ability. Because the cost of both abilities is "tap", you will not normally be able to activate both in the same turn.

If you do untap the card using another spell or ability, then yes, you can use Grindclock's same ability again in the same turn.


How to speed up reaction time in Settlers of Catan? I'm looking for ideas on how to make Settlers of Catan quicker to play between friends.
Whenever I play with friends they complain that you have to stop all the time to decide what are you going to do: trade, build, exchange at a port so the game doesn't flow as good as it should.
This could be because my friends (and me) don't play board games very much. No one seems to be able to make key decisions quickly.
Any ideas/suggestions on how to deal with this issue of slow decision-making?
Note: This question, unlike the other, is not about how to "shorten" the game by reducing the required number of moves. This question is about how to shorten the reaction time for a given move.

One way to speed up the game is to increase resource production. There are two common approaches to this:

During setup, each player's second placement is a city. This gives a boost to everyone's economy/engine from the start.
Play a 3/4-player game with the map layout for 5/6 players. There will be many more spots, more valuable spots, and less blocking throughout the game.

Obviously, neither of these addresses the issues with turn length and trading. It sounds like your friends need to hurry up and make a decision!


In Santorini, does a god power replace original win condition Just starting playing this game.  My wife chose chronus, and I chose eros.  Both have alternate win conditions.

Do you have to win via these conditions? Or can you also win by reaching the third pillar as well?

Thanks!

You can win by reaching the third pillar with both those gods.

Per the rules, the win conditions of Chronus and Eros both start with:

  You also win if ...

Also indicates an additional win condition.  Completing either will earn you the win.

This is spelled out on page 2 of the rules as well

  Additional Win Conditions are
  specified by some God Powers. In addition to
  being able to win by moving up onto the third
  level during your turn, you can also win by
  fulfilling the “Win Condition” described.


Cribbage beginner "Go" questions I found this explnation of "Go" on the Bicycle cards website https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/cribbage/

"THE GO
During play, the running total of cards may never be carried beyond 31. If a player cannot add another card without exceeding 31, he or she says "Go" and the opponent pegs 1. After gaining the Go, the opponent must first lay down any additional cards he can without exceeding 31. Besides the point for Go, he may then score any additional points that can be made through pairs and runs (described later). If a player reaches exactly 31, he pegs two instead of one for Go.
The player who called Go leads for the next series of plays, with the count starting at zero. The lead may not be combined with any cards previously played to form a scoring combination; the Go has interrupted the sequence.
The person who plays the last card pegs one for Go, plus one extra if the card brings the count to exactly 31. The dealer is sure to peg at least one point in every hand, for he will have a Go on the last card if not earlier."

So my understanding is...

The Play:

1) Non-dealer lays for first round of Play and cards are layed, counting as play proceeds.
2) If a player cannot add another card without exceeding 31, he or she says "Go" and the opponent pegs 1

What happens if the opponent can't lay a card to bring the score to either 31 or under 31?
What happens if the oppponent lays a card and brings the total to under 31?
What happens if the oppponent lays a card and brings the total to 31?

3) Spent cards are turned over as these can not count towards the next round of Play
4) The player who previously called Go leads for the next series of plays, with the count starting at zero.

What would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" has no cards to put down to lead?

Or what would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" is the only player with cards left?

Lead's cards to play = A,7,A,6/K
Opponent's cards to play = 5,k,Q,Q

Lead A (1), Opp 5 (6), Lead 7 (13), Opp K (23), Lead A (24), Opp Go.

If Lead 6 (30) then lead pegs 1. Lead now has no cards to play. What happens at this point, as opponent has two Qs left?

However, say where Lead has a K to play instead of a 6, then

Lead A (1), Opp 5 (6), Lead 7 (13), Opp K (23), Lead Go.

At this point, the Opponent can't lay either Q. So are any points given?

In order:

- What happens if the opponent can't lay a card to bring the score to either 31 or under 31?
 Nothing; that's normal. The Go stands.

- What happens if the opponent lays a card and brings the total to under 31?
 Nothing; that's normal again. The Go stands.

- What happens if the opponent lays a card and brings the total to 31?
 Opponent gets 2 for Thirty One instead of the already scored Go.

Alternately, think of it as getting a second point for the Thirty One being reached exactly.

- What would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" has no cards to put down to lead?
 As in any other circumstance, that's another Go and opponent can play any remaining cards in hand as desired to maximize pegging value.

- Or what would happen if for example, the player who previously called "Go" is the only player with cards left?
 Same as before, but reversed.

- What happens at this point, as opponent has two Qs left?
 Opponent plays Q(10), Q(20) for Pair (two points) and Last Card (one point, functionally identical to go but called differently.)

- At this point, the Opponent can't play either Q. So are any points given?
 This is the default situation. Opponent scores the Go, and starts off the next sequence once already played cards have been turned over.

To remember the correct technique note that the proper timing for scoring a Go is once neither player can play anymore cards. At this moment in time, the last player to have played one or more cards gets either two points (if the count is exactly 31) or one point (if the count is less than 31).

The American Cribbage Congress Tournament Rules hint, but don't quite make explicit, this interpretation (my emphasis):

From the Scoring Chart

From Rule 7.2 Scoring

  a) Points are earned during the play of the cards for the following single card or combination of consecutive cards played. The player playing the last card that forms a combination earns the points (see scoring chart in Rule 1.7):

  ...

  (7) a cumulative count of 31

  (8) the final card played, not making a cumulative count of 31

  b) ... When a player's opponent has no more cards or calls "go," the other player may play all playable cards in succession and announce the points scored before pegging the total at one time.

So it is the combination of all cards played in this series after the opponent has last played a card that scores either two for Thirty One or one for whichever of Go or Last Card applies.


Can someone be "one trick" better at bridge against "club level" competition? There is a player on the site who claims to be able to play bridge "one trick" better than some opponents. I don't doubt this if the opponents are say, advanced beginners.

But beyond a certain level of play, such odds become too steep even for a world class player. I'll use examples from other games where I'm sure of my premises to illustrate my question.

In chess, "queen odds" is a heavy handicap. So much so that while a beginner can be beaten by many people at those odds, even an intermediate player would be a favorite against a world champion given those odds. In golf, if an "intermediate" player has say, a +8 handicap (over 18 holes), even a world champion might be hard pressed to beat him by one stroke a hole, or a score of -10, on most days. Put another way, my definition of a solid "club" player is someone who would be a favorite with queen odds against a world class chess player or one stroke per hole odds against a world class golf player.

When I refer to "club level" competition in bridge, I mean people who play bridge regularly take lessons, and practice, and occasionally participate in tournaments against people of comparable ability, but do not play professionally.

In bridge, my understanding is that contracts are geared to a fight for the last trick. That is, when four of a major is bid, the declaring side usually has nine tricks in hand, the defending side three, and the fight is over the last trick. If partnership A is "one trick" better on average than partnership B, it would imply that the weaker partnership would lose essentially every contract that the stronger partnership A was (barely) capable of making.

Here's my alternate theory of levels: My feeling is that a club player is someone who can usually make contracts when the breaks are "normal;" e.g. there is an opposing distributions of one's trump or other key eight card suit of 3-2, (this occurs 68% of the time), or an equivalent high card distribution. An expert is someone who can often prevail against a 4-1 suit distribution, which occurs 28% of the time, or equivalent high card distribution. A world class player can beat even a 5-0 distribution the few times it comes up. So relative to the the club "68%-er," the expert player will prevail at least 20% more often (out of a possible 28%), and the world class player will win an additional 3%-5% more often. That's "less" than one trick.

So when someone claims to play bridge one trick better than others, could that possibly mean "club level" competition, or only at most against advanced beginners?

Absolutely. And the best in the world are that much better again, or more, than those players.

The year before his premature death I had the pleasure of kibitzing Mark Molson in a late KO round of the Toronto Easter Regional. I arrived at the break, and Molson's team was down a couple of IMPS. Receiving permission to kibitz, I parked myself behind him. Across the table was the client.

Not knowing me from a hole in the wall, Molson wouldn't even let me see his cards for the first hour. Gradually, as I demonstrated good behaviour, he loosened up and I was able to settle in to enjoy the game. After 15 boards no more than a couple of likely 1-IMP swings each way had occurred. On the final board Molson picked up a balanced 12 count and drove to a 3NT game opposite his partner's balanced 9. Two 4432 hands with a combined 21 HCP - but the opponents didn't know Mark was light, opening a deceptive opportunity that allowed him to steal a tempo. Mark also had all four 10's and three of the 9's amongst the combined holdings.

I saw a couple of opportunities for the seventh trick, but had no idea where to even begin for an eighth or ninth. After a couple of minutes (only) thought on the opening lead, Molson saw that if one finesse was on (for trick 8) he had a chance of combining two possibilities, either a squeeze on one hand or a throw-in to the other, for trick nine. The gods were smiling and he chalked up 9 tricks, a 10 IMP swing, and the match.

In the absence of a Deep Finesse analysis, or the pleasure of watching Mark play it, I'd have played this hand for +120 and likely have never even realized that I had missed a 30% Vulnerable game opportunity.

The best players in the world, the Bob Hamman's, Jeff Mechstroth's and Eric Rodwell's, are nearly as far above Mark Molson in ability as Mark was above me.

You have phrased the question with a hidden assumption that all tricks are equal. The scoring, especially in IMP play, makes that far from the case. A full game swing (made at one table, set at the other) scores the same as 7 or 9 overtricks depending on vulnerability. In a 64 board IMP match with well dealt cards a double slam swing for 20 or so IMPs is not impossible. Hands are won or lost in the bidding as often as in the play and defence, and a double part-score swing is the same 7 IMPs as a non-vulnerable full game swing.

What does "a trick better" really mean in the context of Contract Bridge?

An (undoubled) overtrick is worth either 20 or 30 points depending on denomination. An (undoubled) undertrick is worth either 50 or 100 points depending on vulnerability. Any calculation of the worth of a trick needs to weight these; but assuming contracts are made twice as often as set and denominations equally likely, as a ballpark estimate, one gets an estimate
of about:

V = ( 2 * (30 + 30 + 30 + 20 + 20) + 5 * (50 + 100) / 2 ) / 15
  = ( 2 * 130 + 5 * 75 ) / 15
  = ( 260 + 375 ) / 15  = 635 / 15 ~ 42

This is right on the cusp of the 1 to 2 IMP transition of the IMP scale, so let's say that our one trick better standard is also about 1.5 IMPs.

Here is the complete Round Robin record of France in the 2017 Bermuda Bowl:

Over the 336 Boards (16 * 21 rds.) of the Round Robin France accumulated a total net IMP score of +283, or 0.84 IMPs / board; against national champions that have placed well in Zonal championships to earn the right to compete at this level. By our estimate above that represents about 0.6 trick better than opponents who, on average, might well be 2-3 tricks better than typical club players. And France finished second to USA2 in the 144-board final by a score of 278-276.


Can I lose more life than I have? In a multiplayer game, I'm playing Exquisite Blood and resolve the second ability of Aetherflux Reservoir, dealing 50 damage to an opponent who's life total was only 10. I was able to pay the 50 life - that's not part of the question.
What I want to check is if, when Aetherflux Reservoir's ability deals 50 damage to my opponent, Exquisite Blood's ability will make me gain 50 life, or if I only gain 10 - because that was my opponent's "available life" before.
Rule 119.2 says “Damage dealt to a player normally causes that player to lose that much life”, and Rule 119.6 says “If a player has 0 or less life, that player loses the game as a state-based action”. The “or less life” makes me think that a player's life can be negative, and so I would gain 50 life - but I may be missing any other relevant rule here.
I know I can't pay more life than I have per rule 118.4. But that doesn't tell me anything regarding losing more lives than I have.
(not sure if tagging mtg-multiplayer since this can happen in 1v1, but can't think on a situation in which it matters)

Yes, you can have a life total below zero. This is mainly a consequence of rule 107.1b:

Most of the time, the Magic game uses only positive numbers and zero. You can’t choose a negative number, deal negative damage, gain negative life, and so on. However, it’s possible for a game value, such as a creature’s power, to be less than zero. If a calculation or comparison needs to use a negative value, it does so. If a calculation that would determine the result of an effect yields a negative number, zero is used instead, unless that effect doubles or sets to a specific value a player’s life total or a creature’s power and/or toughness.

A player's life total is a game value, so it is possible for it to be less than zero. In addition, the last sentence specifically calls out that it is possible to set a player's life total to a negative value or double a negative life total.


In bridge, are there penalties for "table talk" that can only help the opponents? Declarer is playing a hand. Dummy has very limited rights to talk, such as "no more of the suit, partner?" to prevent a possible "revoke."

But suppose dummy asks indiscreetly, "why did you do that, partner?" Declarer answers something like, "transportation." This occurs after the play was made, but before the hand was over.

Now declarer has just given away part of his strategy to others at the table. On the other hand, his side will not benefit from this revelation because dummy doesn't get to play. The declarer, of course, knows his strategy, but his opponents might possibly benefit from hearing it before the hand is over.

In such a situation, is the declarer's side penalized?

The Laws of Rubber Bridge (2014) make clear that this behaviour is unacceptable by Dummy (my emphasis):

  Law 43 - Dummy's Limitations

  Dummy may not participate in the play (except to play the cards of dummy’s hand as directed by declarer) or make any comment on the bidding, play or score of the current deal. If he does so, Law 16A may apply. During play dummy may not call attention to an irregularity once it has occurred.

  Dummy forfeits the rights provided in Law 42 if he exchanges hands with declarer, leaves his seat to watch declarer play or, on his own initiative, looks at the face of a card in either defender’s hand.

In many cases a comment such as you describe could not be claimed to contain unauthorized information. One obvious exception is if there is still trump out in Defender's hands, when the comment has been made particularly if one or more rounds have already been drawn. Other circumstances, such as appearing to abandon Dummy with an unplayed established long suit, might exist.

  Law 16 - Unauthorized Information

  A player may be subject to penalty if information is conveyed from his partner other than by a legal call or play.

    A. Regarding information obtained from partner: If a player conveys information to his partner by means of a remark, question, ..., [it] is unauthorized. When the offending side has profited by use of this unauthorized information, it should, in conformance with Proprieties 1, redress any damage done to the non-offending side.

    B. ....

  ....

  A player on the offending side must not base any subsequent calls or plays on such unauthorized information. If it is determined that this has been violated and the non-offending side has been damaged, the result should be adjusted to redress any damage done to the non-offending side.

However the intent of Rule 16 is to restore equity in these circumstances. There is no penalty applied under this rule unless damage to the non-offending side has occurred (as assessed by an unbiased reasonable  observer). If your game happens to have an Arbiter, there is an additional extension of Rule 16 that can be enabled by the Club to have the Arbiter make such a determination.

Dummy also has certain rights enumerated in Law 42, which are lost if Dummy engages in specific activities noted above. If Dummy has forfeited his rights and subsequently attempts to use them certain procedural penalties apply to Declarer, as noted in the second half of Law 43.

The Proprieties also state:

  Proprieties

  1. General Principles

  These Laws cannot cover every situation that might arise, nor can they produce equity in every situation covered. .... The guiding principle: the side that commits an irregularity bears an obligation not to gain directly from the infraction.

  To infringe a Law intentionally is a serious breach of ethics, even if there is a prescribed penalty that one is willing to pay. The offence may be the more serious when no penalty is prescribed.

  ....

  Furthermore, the following are considered breaches of propriety: ...

  H.  indicating approval or disapproval of a call or play.

It is eminently obvious here that Dummy is both in violation of the Proprieties, in a manner, as noted above, so egregious that no specific penalty has been prescribed. This should be politely noted to Dummy when such behaviour occurs, perhaps by quoting the paragraph above from The Proprieties.

Note that:

  The Scope of the Laws

  The Laws are designed to define correct procedure and to provide an adequate remedy whenever a player accidentally, carelessly or inadvertently disturbs the proper course of the game, or gains an unintentional but nevertheless unfair advantage. An offending player should be ready to graciously accept any penalty set forth in these Laws or any adjustment or decision of an Arbiter

And, if all else fails in regard to a recalcitrant offender

  These Laws do not deal with dishonorable practices where ostracism is the ultimate remedy.

Update

In any organized competition the organizing committee has the right (and should publicize in the conditions of contest) to impose additional penalties, up to and including expulsion from the event, for repeated violations of The Proprieties, whether or not otherwise covered under The Laws of Rubber Bridge.


Claiming a tunnel when no matching cards are turned over Could I claim a tunnel if there are no cards matching the color of the cards played to claim the Tunnel?

I want to claim a red tunnel of 4 cards. I have 4 red cards. Three top cards from the Train draw pile are turned face-up and there are no red cards or train cards there.

The rules state:

  When attempting to claim a Tunnel route, a player first lays down the number of cards required by the length of the route. Then the three top cards from the Train draw pile are turned face-up. For each card revealed whose color matches the color of the cards played to claim the Tunnel, an additional card of the same color (or a Locomotive) must now be played from his hand. Only then can the player successfully claim the Tunnel route.

Yes, you can. There were zero cards revealed from the train draw pile which matched the colour of the cards used to claim the tunnel (red), so you must play zero extra red cards - and having done that trivial action, you claim the tunnel.


In Canasta, if the pile is frozen, must you take the whole pile or can you take just the top one? If the discard pile is frozen and you have two natural cards in your hand matching the top card of the frozen pile, can you take just the top card or must you take the entire pile?

You always take the entire discard pile, whether it is frozen or not does not affect this. There is no way in the game to only take the top card without taking the rest.

From the rules:

  Under certain conditions, instead of drawing from the stock, you are permitted to take the whole of the discard pile. In order to do this, you must be able to meld the top discard, without needing any of the other cards in the discard pile to make your meld valid.

Also a point on strategy, the phrase "you must take the entire pile" implies that you wouldn't want to. While it's certainly possible to think of a situation in which you wish you could take just the top card; in practice you will almost always be happy to take the entire discard pile; as it will generally contain lots of cards that you can use to meld and score points.


Will a spell like Fiery Cannonade kill Wayfaring Temple if Temple had more toughness than the damage before casting? Wayfaring Temple says:

Wayfaring Temple’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control.
Whenever Wayfaring Temple deals combat damage to a player, populate. (Create a token that’s a copy of a creature token you control.)

My opponent had Wayfaring Temple out and it was a 4/4. I played Fiery Cannonade which deals 2 damage to each non-pirate creature, and it killed off 2 of the creatures making Wayfaring Temple lose two power and toughness making it back to a 2/2. Would Wayfaring Temple die from the two damage is was already dealt or does it revert back to a 2/2?  Help please.

The Wayfaring Temple will die.

When Fiery Cannonade resolves, it deals 2 damage to each non-pirate creature, which in this case is 2 damage to Wayfaring Temple, 2 damage to creature A, 2 damage to creature B, and 2 damage to creature C. When state-based actions are checked, creatures A and B die because they have as much damage as toughness. Because state-based actions caused something to happen, they are checked again. This time, Wayfaring Temple is a 2/2 with 2 damage, so it dies as well.

  State-Based Actions

    704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 116, "Timing and Priority"), the game checks for any of the listed conditions for state-based actions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any state-based actions are performed as a result of a check, the check is repeated

      704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

Damage only wears off at the end of the turn; so if it survived, it would have 0 damage at the start of the next turn. But it still has that 2 damage for the rest of the current turn.


Can a planeswalker ability be activated in response to another spell or ability? If I cast a Lightning Helix targeting my opponent's Gideon, Ally of Zendikar on his upkeep with it having 3 Loyalty, can he in response use Gideon's plus 1 ability to put it out of Lightning Helix's range?

No, a player can't activate loyalty abilities during his upkeep nor in response to spells or abilities. Loyalty abilities can be activated at "sorcery speed", only during a player's main phase. The specific rule from the Comprehensive rules is:

  606.3. A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent they control any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn, but only if no player has previously activated a loyalty ability of that permanent that turn.


What is the maximum allowed number of repeats in a Pokémon deck? I've realised that, when playing Pokémon, the trick to winning is to evolve your Pokémon.

This takes a bit of luck, in that you have to have the first level Pokemon on the table, then you have to have drawn its corresponding first evolve card, and then you have to have drawn its second evolve card.

So, if I want to create the ultimate Pokémon deck, I'd simply buy 5 water type decks, then assemble a deck containing 25 Totodiles, 10 Croconaws and 10 Feraligatrs. It would make for a less interesting game, but I'm guaranteed to evolve my Pokémon, and my opponent doesn't have a chance unless he does the same thing I do.

I wouldn't be the first person to have thought of this. Is there an official rule specifying the maximum number of any one Pokémon in your deck?

The official website does have the rules, and the maximum limit for any card is 4, unless the format restricts the card further.

  1.1 Constructed - In a Constructed event, players arrive at the tournament with a 60-card deck. The cards used to build the deck come from each player's personal collection. Decks may not contain more than 4 copies of a single card, as defined by the card's English title, with the standard exception for basic Energy cards. Some cards may have additional construction restrictions on them, which are treated as exceptions to the 4-copy rule. Matches are played for 6 Prize cards.


Can you play base-game Claustrophobia scenarios with De Profundis included? Perhaps stupidly, I bought both Claustrophobia and its De Profundis expansion both at once.

After doing so I discovered that the designer has stated the scenarios in the base game are not suitable for playing with the material from De Profundis.

This is a colossal pain because it means sorting and removing all the cards and tiles from De Profundis every time we want to switch back to a base game scenario.

Does anyone know why this advice was given? Does it actually break the game somehow, or it merely untested? And has anyone actually tried it to see if it works okay?

Do you have a link for where the designer stated this?

Nobody I know cares about sorting out the cards to switch back to a base-game scenario. The only concern with using De Profundis with the base game is to impose a 3-card hand limit on the Demon player's Event Cards (because the expansion cards are more powerful). You also probably don't want to use the Hellhounds.


Does Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper now provide mana for casting Planeswalkers? With Planeswalkers being Legendary now, and all Planeswalkers receiving errata to become Legendary, does Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper generate {C}{C} mana for the purpose of summoning Planeswalkers?

Yes. Planeswalkers are legendary.  Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper gives mana for Legendary purposes.


What's a fair handicap? I really enjoy the Game-Of-Thrones board game. (We only own the first edition, so no ports or siege engines etc.). My wife and friends tend to enjoy it also, well they used to.

The problem is that currently, every time we play the game I always win. I've tried playing whomever I think is the weakest army but that doesn't seem to help much.  And by always win, what I mean is that a turn ends, and generally, I take the last castle, or they look at the board as the turn starts and see that no matter what they do, I'll get the last castle. They are normally only  1 or 2 castles behind me.

Is there some handicap I can give myself which will still make the game enjoyable but also even the odds a bit?

Take away a single unstarred order token from your set. Which one depends on how much handicap you think is needed. A huge handicap would be to remove a march token. A big handicap is to remove a support token or a defense token. A significant handicap would be to remove a consolidate power or raid token.

If you find those handicaps too hard on you, you can also try playing without an order token for a few turns (say, 3-5 turns) and then getting them back. Or, maybe, play the first 3 turns without a march token, then 1 turn without each one of the remaining tokens, then with all of them. This will make the game much harder to you, but then you'll not need to feel bad about doing your best against your opponents.

Something I do when I'm teaching the game is, for the first 3 rounds, play my orders facing up and explain the strategy. This shows players some possibilities they did not understand they could do and open their minds to new tactics. You can't do that for too long though, specially in games with more than 4 players.


What are the odds for a “19” (zero pt) hand in Cribbage? I am doing a math paper for school using Cribbage.  I know how to use factorials to calculate the odds of getting the perfect 29 hand.

My question is, how many 5 card hands (4 in hand and turn up card) add up to zero?

I wrote a software simulation (20 million deals) to work this out, because the maths is far too complicated. The chances of getting a zero-point hand of five cards (assuming the starter card is chosen randomly among those five) is roughly 7.4%.
However, this assumes that your five cards are chosen at random. In reality a player chooses four cards from the six they are dealt, so you would actually need to calculate the odds of getting a six-card hand of zero points (about 1.36%), then getting a starter card that means you still end up on zero points. This comes out at approximately 0.43%, assuming the four cards you keep from the initial six are chosen randomly.


Insufficient resources for full resupply At the end of Bureaucracy, what happens if there are not enough available resources to fully resupply a given type? For example, assume the game dictates resupplying 5 Coal but only 3 are available from “the bank” because one player has 2 stored on a plant.

You just supply with what you can. In your case, supply just 2 coal, instead of 3, because one player has been hoarding coal.

From the rulebook, page 6:

  If there are not enough resources left in the supply, that resource is
  not fully re-supplied! This might happen, if the players store too
  many resources in their power plants. The resource tokens in the game
  are limited.


When to leave the 20 point? I'm relatively new to backgammon, and something I often struggle with is deciding when to leave the 20 point once I've made it. Furthermore, I also sometimes struggle with whether or not to leave the 13 point before or after the 20 point. Are there any rules of thumb which can help guide my decision when it isn't immediately obvious?

The question is more generally about when to leave pieces in your opponents home board.  If those pieces are safe, you can theoretically leave them there until all of your other pieces are in your home board.  The question is, should you?  The advantage of leaving these pieces is threefold.

It forces your opponent to play safe when bringing pieces towards or into their home board, as you have a credible counterattack sitting there.  Without that, they can take a much looser approach to their home board and you can only punish them if they hit one of your pieces.
It prevents them from completely blocking their home board, meaning you can always (theoretically) bear on.
It delays the beginning of the pure race.

The disadvantages are:

Those pieces can be much harder to get to your home board.  This is much more of a consideration if the pieces are sitting on the 24 point rather than the 20 point, as it's very easy for pieces on the 24 point to get stuck.
You can be forced to make a disadvantageous move if those are the only pieces not in your home board.
It delays the beginning of the pure race (this is a downside if you are ahead as it gives your opponent more chances to turn the game around).

In the case where you have already moved both pieces to the 20 point, disadvantage #1 is less of a concern.  Consequently, whether you want to move these pieces as opposed to others mostly boils down to whether you are ahead or behind: move them if you are ahead so that you can start the pure race earlier (which solidifies your lead) and leave them if you are behind to try to disrupt/hit your opponent and gain an advantage.

Necessary caveat: all of this depends on both the rolls you make and the situation on the board.  If you have a roll that lets you safely advance pieces from one of these positions but not the other, this can force your hand.  Additionally, if you can hit a piece in your opponents home or outer board, that should take extremely high strategic priority.


Do events that occur "After the Activate Cylon Ships step" occur on revealed Cylon turns? Revealed Cylons can choose to enact Crisis cards from Caprica. At least one of these cards - Fulfiller of Prophecy - says something along these lines:

  After the Activate Cylon Ships step, return to the Resolve Crisis step [Draw a new Crisis card and resolve it.]

The rules state for a Cylon player's turn:

  There are no "Activate Cylon Ship" and "Prepare for Jump" steps during a revealed Cylon player's turn.

So, if a revealed Cylon uses this card, do we draw a new Crisis card or not? It's obvious the Activate Cylon Ships step doesn't happen, but it's not clear whether "after the step" occurs or not.

This question was apparently put to Fantasy Flight Games and their ruling was that the current player would simply discard the Crisis card and then resolve the top card of the Crisis deck (as instructed in the parenthesis).

(According to this link: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/398485/rule-question-revealed-cylon-caprica-and-fulfill)

I've only played BSG once and I was quite drunk at the time, so I'm hesitant to unpack things any further than that, but I hope this link is enough to settle your doubts!


Does casting a card and paying for it work like this? Let's say that I have two cards in my hand, Lion's Eye Diamond and Shock.  According to the rules, the steps to casting a spell are as follows:

Announcing the spell (put the spell on the stack)
Determine Modes
Choose targets
Announce Divisions
Determine Total Cost
Activate Mana Abilities
Pay costs
The spell is now considered cast

So, by reading this, does this mean that I can cast the artifact, then once it resolves cast the Shock by putting it on the Stack, going through the steps, then sacraficing the artifact for it's mana ability (and discarding my hand, which is 0) and paying for the shock with the mana the artifact produced?

Due to the Oracle revision to this card, what your are describing will not work. The current errata states that you can only use  Lion's Eye Diamond's ability as an instant. The only abilities you can activate while a spell is being placed on the stack ("Pay Costs") are mana abilities such as tapping lands.

If Lion's Eye Diamond was not changed to specifically state that its ability is played as an instant, what you are describing would work.

Relevant Oracle text:

  Sacrifice Lion's Eye Diamond, Discard your hand: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool. Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant.


When can lands be tapped? I'm completely new to Magic the Gathering. I've read the basic rulebook pretty thoroughly and have a pretty good grasp of the basic rules, but it's unclear to me as to when you can tap lands to generate mana.

First off,  mana is supposed to dry up after each phase in a turn. Can I untap my land cards and then tap them again in the next phase if I need more mana to power a spell? Or does a land card remain tapped until my next turn like everything else?

Second, the rules mention that I can play instants and activate abilities during my opponent's turn. Does that then mean that I can tap my land cards during my opponent's turn to power those spells?

Third, does my opponent's untap step for their turn only apply to their cards? Or can I untap mine as well? Not closely related to land cards, but when I can tap and untap my land cards would make a huge difference as to how I play.

Hope these questions aren't painfully obvious, but I've just started playing the game. Thanks for your time!

You can tap lands for mana at almost any time. Pretty much any time you could do anything else, anyway. Among other things, you can tap land for mana any time you want to play a spell or ability and you need mana to do so.

You can only untap a land when you untap your other cards during YOUR untap step (or if a spell or ability instructs you to untap a card). So no, you cannot untap your lands after each phase when the mana they produced goes away, or during your opponent's untap step.

So without getting into the specific details of the comprehensive rules, which would just cause confusion for beginners, what you really need to know is that you can tap a land any time you need mana, and your lands will normally only untap at the beginning of your turn.

Relevant rules from the Basic Rulebook:

Under "Casting a Spell"

  Now check what the spell’s cost is. Tap your lands to
  produce the mana necessary to pay that cost, and pay it.

Also note that mana will empty from your mana pool at the end of every step, not just at the end of each phase. Each phase is divided into multiple steps.


Initial card house rule for Kingdom Builder I noticed in Kingdom Builder that the later players have a noticeable disadvantage if they have a card for the same terrain, because there is usually only one good spot to start with (see the question on initial placements), and that will be taken.

Therefore I have suggested and played with this rule:

  During the first round, if you draw a card with a terrain that one of the players before you has had already, you draw again.

I did not play it often enough for it to occur often enough to assess whether this helps, and whether later player still have a too-large disadvantage. Have you tried that or similar rules before, and how did it go?

My groups have enjoyed having players always have two terrains from which to choose.  When you play one draw to replace it.


To what extent do mobile adaptations of board games change the games? Some board games tend to have a lot of complex rules, and many also have several official variants.  Sometimes the mechanics of a mobile device (iPhone, Android, iPad), make implementing some rules cumbersome.  In these cases, do the mobile versions take liberties with how faithful of an adaptation they implement?  Do they tend to also implement rule variations?  When things are changed, are the changes generally received well, or do gamers, in general, feel let down by the changes?

You are probably going to have to perform more research to find an answer to your question.

Yes, mobile application developers take liberties.
I would guess that few mobile app developers implement variations, official or not. no one is going to waste development time on version 1 implementing a variant that might not be played. (but the only way to verify this would be to find all mobile apps for Boardgames and figure out which of those have game variations in physical form, then figure out what percentage of those have mobile app variants)

Are mobile apps that behave differently received well? Don't know. Do you know of a polling company that does this kind of research? Do you have a list of all liberal implementations of board games, such that a poll could determine that 50% or more of those games were received poorly/well?

I don't think your question can be answered without considerable effort.


What to do with "Antarctic Guide" and "Dog Sled" while playing against an Ancient One from the base game? The unique asset deck in Mountains of Madness expansion features two cards which only have an effect if you are on the Antarctica Side Board. What if I am playing against an Ancient One from the base game? Should these components be returned to the box in that case?

As long as you are playing with the Antarctica side board, those cards are usable.

From the expansion rules, page 2:

  When playing with the Mountains of Madness expansion, add
  all expansion components to their respective decks or pools
  of Eldritch Horror components except for the components
  described below.

  [unrelated items skipped]

  Shuffle all Unique Assets to create the Unique Asset deck.
  Place this deck faceup near the Asset deck.


Minimum bid rule for Monopoly auctions Other questions have asserted that many people don't actually auction properties as instructed in the rules.  Monopoly doesn't specify any rules to control the auction.  I have seen auctions stretch on with many +$1 bids, making the process painfully slow.

Seems to me some combination of eBay bid increments and/or Poker raise rules would be appropriate.

What minimum bid increment rule(s) are recommended?
Do these rule(s) lead to faster auctions?

We have played with a minimum 1st bid of 1/4 the price of the property (to vary with property value, but to allow for unchallenged bids to be profitable from immediately mortgaging; this puts upward pressure on the 2nd bid, pushing it towards the mortgage price). Incremental bids are then at least the no-house rent amount (and so also varies with property value).


How to calculate the power level of a Commander deck? I've been playing Magic casually for almost half a year now, mostly in the multiplayer Commander format. Regularly, I hear people talk about the power levels of decks. Especially when I'm playing with someone new, they ask me "what power level are we playing?" My response usually is something like "I don't know".
After asking around and looking online, I've learned the following details—please correct me if I'm wrong.
Power Level
I've heard a couple parameters so far that influence the power level of a deck:

the amount of win conditions (e.g. bomb cards, infinite combos)
the ease of manipulating chances to play those win conditions (e.g. tutor cards)
flexibility in removing threats from opponents (e.g. single target removal, and the ease of having them in hand when needed)
having certain staple land and mana cards

So far this has been helpful, but whenever I ask how exactly they come to the conclusion of their deck's power level, I usually receive a shrug and/or blank stare (or find articles that beat around the bush). I've asked multiple people at different gamestores, but found no clear reasoning so far, so I get the sense it's more of a gut feeling than a clear calculation.
Question
Is there a tier system of some sort? If possible, I would like to see clear and concrete pointers for how to calculate the power level of any deck. If this is ultimately a gut feeling based on certain parameters, a guide for rating my decks with this gut feeling is much appreciated.
Example
For clarity, an example might work. Let's say I have Samut, Voice of Dissent as my commander. The primary win condition is smashing face for commander damage, making her stronger with equipments and auras, with the help of some big trampling creatures. There's quite some ramping options, but there's hardly any card draw in the deck. There's one potential infinite combo in there with Godo, Bandit Warlord and Helm of the Host, and about four removal cards for dealing with threats from creatures, enchantments or artifacts. The deck contains a couple of land fetchers (such as Renegade Map, Traveler's Amulet, but no tutor cards.

In case it matters for answering this question, I'm mostly interested in:

Commander
casual play (winning is not my main goal)
multiplayer

Power level is very subjective, and its main purpose is to communicate gameplay expectations.
I personally think that trying to create a very refined algorithm for grading power levels misses the point of what the power level is trying to achieve.  Power level is based mostly on comparing decks to each other.
Because Commander is mostly a casual, multiplayer format, power level is simply a discussion to help maintain player parity to ensure interactive and enjoyable gameplay.  It's to prevent someone's janky Pirates win with treasure deck from being completely obliterated by a well-tuned Prossh Food Chain combo deck.  While both those decks are playing Commander, they're arguably playing different games.  The power level is a discussion tool to manage expectations and make sure no one feels left out of this long, multiplayer game.
To that end, the parameters I've heard for determining power level are much less specific than the ones you've posited in the question. The concepts I use to estimate power level are as follows:

Raw power of win conditions
Consistency
Speed

Some of your criteria in the question fall into these broad categories.  For example, the presence of Commander staple ramp cards help improve both the consistency and speed of the deck.  Immediate win-conditions like Expropriate or Craterhoof Behemoth have good raw-power.  Having a single combo that is easily disrupted by your opponents' removal lowers the consistency of your deck.
Comparing decks is just making sure that games are fun and reasonably competitive instead of being one player playing solitaire and everyone one else just watching.  So I wouldn't worry about getting the exact numbers in your rating system as long as the decks are close.  That being said, my 0-10 rating system, that I based on advice from The Command Zone (a podcast about Commander), is as follows:

0-1: It's hard to consciously bring yourself to make a deck this actively bad unless you're going for an off-beat theme like "griffon tribal."
2-3: These decks might be a jumble of rares (and not necessarily good ones) that someone had in their collection.  The commander exists to provide the color identity needed to play all of these favorite cards, even though many do not synergize with each other.  Consistency is typically low because there is no coherent idea for the deck.
4-5: Most of the Commander pre-constructed deck are at this power level.  There are some themes in the deck, but maybe the deck just plays slowly due a lack of ramp.  Possibly there are too many ideas going on at once, or maybe the win-conditions are just not very powerful.
6-8: These decks have a very clear game plan.  They are pretty efficient and/or flexible.  Research and refinement of deckbuilding is likely.  Upgraded pre-cons and decks that have gone through experimentation and updating typically are around here.  The financial costs of these decks can be higher due to the expense of consistent, faster mana bases or sought-after singles that are high impact.
9-10: These decks are built to win.  They are competitive-tier (CEDH) decks that are very fast and very consistent.  Often, these decks use expensive cards (like Mox) to help speed up the deck even more.

Based on your brief description of your Samut beatdown deck, I'd estimate it at about 5 depending on how consistent it is.  The strategy sounds a bit fragile because it appears all-in on combat and lacks card draw, but it sounds like it has plenty of threats and ways to deal damage.


How should I determine whether a deck is legal in a particular format? I have a list of cards for a deck I want to build or buy. What should I do to check whether that deck is legal in a particular format (Standard, for example)?

When checking whether a decklist is legal in a particular format, you should follow these steps:

Check that every card in your deck has a non-silver border or no structured border, rounded corners, and a normal card back, and that they are sleeved if you can tell any of them apart from the back.
Check that your deck follows the deck construction rules for your particular format. Most formats follow the general deck-building rules laid out in the Comprehensive Rules 100.2-100.5. Some formats have additional constraints though. Highlander, for example, requires that each deck have at least 100 cards (as opposed to the usual 60), and that you have only one of each card that's not a basic land.
Determine what sets are legal in your format, and make sure that each card has been printed in a legal set. The version of the card that you use doesn't have to be from one of those sets, as long as it was once printed in that set. Standard, for example, only allows cards from the last couple of years (with some exclusions), but if one of those sets contains a card originally printed in Beta, you can play the Beta version.
Check the ban list for your format and make sure that none of those cards are in your deck.
Check the restricted list (found on the same page as the ban list) for your format and make sure that your deck has no more than one of each of those cards. Note that currently, only Vintage has a restricted list.

Websites exist that will help you determine your deck's legality automatically. A few popular examples are:

deckstats.net
deckbox.org
tappedout.net


If I can Special Summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon without Polymerization, why would I ever use Polymerization for it? The text of Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon reads:

  Must be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by sending the above monsters you control to the Graveyard (in which case you do not use "Polymerization") and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways.

In both of these cases would the Twin Burst Dragon be starting off in the Extra Deck? If so, if I can Special Summon it just by having the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons and without Polymerization, why would I used Polymerization for it? Why waste the spell?

I should warn you that, perhaps, you may be playing your Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon incorrectly (as per your "just by having...").

Let's break down the effect of that card:

  Must be either Fusion Summoned,

This means that one option to Fusion summon it by using Polymerization, as you correctly pointed out, or...

  or Special Summoned by sending the above monsters you control to the Graveyard (in which case you do not use "Polymerization")

instead Special Summon it by sending both Blue Eyes White Dragons to the GY. Do note that you control things that are on your part of the field. Things on hand are not under your control; they are under your possession, though, and you also surely are the owner of that card. These are other two important in-game terms to remember.

  and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways.

Meaning no Call of the Haunted, or back from Banish, nor anything similar. If it's dead, its dead (time for Dragon Mirror maybe?).

Under these considerations we can see that if you want to use the Special Summon you must have two Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field (or at least two cards with that name ;) if you copycat one). This is more restricted as being able to do this from the hand (quite OP to do don't you think?).

Or you can well Fusion summon to be able to use them as materials from your hand or the field (more accessible, but requires Polymerization or similar)

As we can see, either Polymerization or having two Blue Eyes on the field is a "reasonable" requirement to summon such powerful card. Thus, both summon ways balance each other (so it does not become broken).


How replayable is Pandemic Legacy? (Is the game still playable after you have completed it) So my understanding is that Pandemic Legacy has a story arc of 12-24 games, at which point the game is complete.

My question is - according to the design of the game - is the game still playable as a 'non-story' game, scars and all, once this is complete?

ie. I'm not asking about whether I can play the twelve month story through again

If not - what are people meant to do with their sets?

It is not intended to be replayable.

Depending on what options you choose during the campaign, certain components are intended to be physically destroyed. You could choose to just set things aside instead of destroying them; though that does take away some of the thematic fun. And then you would just have to ignore any stickers that were put on the board during play if you wanted to play regular Pandemic after.

You can either throw it out or keep it as a souvenir.  As a matter of pure opinion; it is well worth it even though you can’t keep playing it after; those 12-24 games are worth the cost!


Name and rules of Japanese card game While in Japan recently, a Japanese colleague taught me an excellent card game.

It involved a standard 52 card deck, and the game play proceeded like Uno in that each player could lay a card whose suit or number matched the top card on the discard pile.  However, the most important difference is that in this game your opponent can not end on a card which matches with any of the following operations on your cards: average, sum, geometric average, difference (2 cards) multiple, etc.  In addition, many of the cards have special meanings such as reverse, opponent shows cards, draw two, etc.

My colleague told me that this was a common game for him and his school mates during high school.  I've spent a while googling, and I can't seem to come up with the name or official rules.

What is the name of the game?  What are the official rules?

Might it be Crazy Eight? (or Crates, Switch, Swedish Rummy, Last One, Rockaway, Mau-Mau or Pesten).

It has the most rules you mention, like reverse, draw two. Looks like UNO.

The last card rule might be a kind 'house rule', because there are a lot of variants of this card game all over the world.

http://www.pagat.com/eights/crazy8s.html

In the japanese wikipedia article, its saying also Crazy Eights. Article translated by Google Translate.

https://translate.google.nl/translate?hl=nl&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fja.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B8%E3%83%BC%E3%82%A8%E3%82%A4%E3%83%88


How can Final Countdown be exploited? Consider Final Countdown:

  Pay 2000 Life Points. After 20 turns have passed (counting the turn you activate this card as the 1st turn), you win the Duel.

I know that Final Countdown has been limited to 1 and I recently read somewhere on this site that that was because some decks were abusing it (i.e. some decks were enable to exploit Final Countdown in a way that almost assured victory against most decks at the time).

How can this be achieved? 10 turns of each player is a very long time and some decks run out of cards before that, in addition Final Countdown has to be drawn first. It may be a 39.4% chance to draw in first turn (6 out of 40) when three times in the deck, but there is also a 37.0% chance not to draw it within your first 5 turns, in which case the duel would have to last at least 20 turns. I know there are some cards that can simulate phases, but I cannot imagine them to be enough to justify limitation.

After some research I can provide some insight. To have a One Turn Kill with Final Countdown, one needs to be able to recycle the effect of Pyro Clock of Destiny indefinitely. I found two ways to archive this, both of which are not possible with the current list of banned cards (and possibly will never be able to be playable again), but at least the second variant was playable for a time.

With Makyura the Destroyer

When Makyura is sent to the graveyard, trap cards can be activated from the hand. This video shows how powerful this effect can be exploited. Makyura was banned right when forbidden cards were first introduced, as he allows many other exploits. Basic idea here: Draw your entire deck (easy enough these days, e.g. take variation of Exodia/Dark World deck just like in the video), in the process discard Makyura, play Final Countdown and make some other preparations. Now:

Play Pyro Clock of Destiny from hand.
Play The Transmigration Prophecy from hand to add the clock and a Golden Bamboo Sword from your graveyard into your empty deck.
Use another bamboo sword to draw these two cards.
Use another transmigration prophecy to return the other prophecy and the bamboo sword to the empty deck, draw them with the other bamboo sword.
After repeating step 4 two extra times, your two Royal Magical Library on the field have caught up.
Use transmigration prophecy to return the other prophecy and the bamboo sword to the empty deck, draw them with the libraries.
Play the clock.
Use the other transmigration prophecy to add the clock and the prophecy to your empty deck.
Go to step 3.

With Return from the Different Dimension

Return from the Different Dimension lets you summon all of your removed from play monsters. This was always a card that could turn a duel completely around. In the distant past, you needed a working D.D. deck or a chaos deck to make good use of it but since nowadays basically any monster can go to any position on the game table, it is too easy to get a lot of powerful monsters in one turn. For the OTK, we again recycle the Pyro Clock of Destiny indefinitely, this time it is just much more sophisticated. The precise steps are described here, I will give a simplifying explanation. Again we draw our entire deck, get a Black Luster Soldier Envoy of the Beginning and a libraries on the field, as well as three Junk Collector with the use of a Monster Reborn (or whatever adequate replacement is available) in combination with Inferno Reckless Summon. The Junk Collector enables you to activate a normal trap card effect by removing him from the field and the card from your hand. Now the gist of things is this:

Use Junk Collector to activate the clock, The Transmigration Prophecy and Return from the Different Dimension as needed.
Use Primal Seed to return the trap cards to your hand.
Use Transmigration Prophecy and Magical Stone Excavation to get Primal Seed or drawer cards back to hand or them or Excavation back to deck to draw them with drawer cards (like upstart goblin) and the library.
Use Return to reset the Junk Collector monsters.

If carefully done, this can win the duel in one turn.

Alternatives

The power from Pyro Clock of destiny is very impressive. Alternatives I have seen work with Mask of Darkness and flipping a lot. In combination with slowing the duel via cards like Battle Fader and friends, using Pyro Clock of Destiny 5 times a duel seems reasonable. But drawing the entire deck doesn't work well with waiting for Final Countdown, so the easiest way to weaken a Final Countdown deck is to limit the key card. Through personally I don't see that it did that much damage unlimited.


Does Homing Sliver give other Slivers slivercycling even before it's been cast? Homing Sliver gives each sliver card in each player's hand slivercycling 3. My question is... does it do that even if Homing Sliver hasn't been cast? Or do slivers in peoples hands only gain that ability after homing sliver is on the battlefield?

Homing Sliver only affects other Sliver cards when it is in play. The ability that says

  Each Sliver card in each player's hand has slivercycling {3}

is a static ability. Rule 604.2 says

  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.

This ability does not match any of the exceptions mentioned in rule 112.6, so it is only active as long as the Homing Sliver is on the battlefield.

Note that as long as Homing Sliver is on the battlefield, every Sliver card in each player's hand has the activated ability slivercycling, which does work from the hand because it matches rule 112.6i:

  An object's activated ability that has a cost that can't be paid while the object is on the battlefield functions from any zone in which its cost can be paid.


Is morphing a creature effectively a cost? I'm teaching some of my friends magic, and morph seems to be a bit of an outlier mechanic. It's one of the few things that a player has a choice to do but 'doesn't use the stack'. It can make it a bit hard to describe to my new players that are just learning how the stack/abilities resolving work.

Is it fair to describe morph as a cost (paid in addition to the actual morph cost), which does nothing? Effectively, rewording it as

  [Cost], turn this creature face up: Do nothing.

Of course, once a creature is turned face up there are effects, such as a change in the creature's power and toughness, and (usually) triggered abilities, but those are only a consequence of an action happening, not a new action paid for by the morph cost.

In my understanding, treating morph as a cost in this way is entirely keeping with the rules. As normal costs, it can only be done when you have priority. Similarly, it can't be responded to. (A creature sacrificed as a cost, as an analogy, cannot be responded to either.)

My question is: is this a fair way of explaining the special case of Morph as a mechanic to newer players, or is there some rule or corner case that I'm missing?

Turning a creature face up by paying its Morph cost is a Special Action, like playing a land.

Taking a special action is similar to paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability, in that both take effect immediately without waiting for anything on the stack to resolve, but there are also differences. Players can explicitly take special actions whenever they have priority, but costs can only be paid as part of taking some other action. So, any attempt to represent it as a cost would make it part of another action that does nothing except provide an opportunity to pay that cost, which is essentially backwards.

If Morph was represented as a cost to activate a nothing ability as described in the question, that action could not be taken while you cannot activate non-mana abilites because of cards like Overwhelming Splendor or abilities like Split second.


Are enchantments and artifacts considered spells? In Magic: The Gathering, are enchantments and artifacts considered spells?

More precisely, can I use Cancel (which says "Counter target spell.") on an enchantment or an artifact?

Since you asked for some citations from the official rules:

  111.1. A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see
  rule 601, “Casting Spells”), the card
  becomes a spell and is moved to the
  top of the stack from the zone it was
  in, which is usually its owner’s hand.
  (See rule 405, “Stack.”) A spell
  remains on the stack as a spell until
  it resolves (see rule 608, “Resolving
  Spells and Abilities”), is countered
  (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves
  the stack. For more information, see
  section 6, “Spells, Abilities, and
  Effects.”

So basically, pretty much every card in Magic is a "spell" - or rather, becomes one, during the transitional period from being a card in your hand to  being a permanent on the battlefield.  But wait!  Why isn't a land a spell, in that case?  Well, because it has special rules making it an exceptional case:

  305.1. A player who has priority may play a land card from his or her hand
  during a main phase of his or her turn
  when the stack is empty. Playing a
  land is a special action; it doesn’t
  use the stack (see rule 115). Rather,
  the player simply puts the land onto
  the battlefield. Since the land
  doesn’t go on the stack, it is never a
  spell, and players can’t respond to it
  with instants or activated abilities.

The Magic rules are pretty arcane at the best of times (appropriately enough), but I hope that clarifies things for you!

EDIT: Actually, it occurs to me that even more clarification may be necessary.  Enchantments and artifacts aren't spells when they're in play: they're permanents.  They aren't spells when they're in their hand, they're enchantment cards and artifact cards.  But they are spells while on the stack (i.e. in the process of being cast).  I'm sure you already know that "counter target spell" means "stop something on the stack from resolving and becoming a permanent, and send the card to the graveyard instead", but it wasn't 100% explicit from your question!  So, just in case there's any doubt at all, Cancel can stop an artifact or enchantment card from coming into play, but it can't send it to the graveyard from play, or anything wacky like that...


What happens when someone references the Masons. Ultimate Werewolf In Ultimate Werewolf the Mason cards are a bit abstract on what happens when someone references them. So I would just like to clarify, what happens when more than one person references them. Do they all die? Or do the Masons choose them one by one each night? Also, if there are 2 Masons playing and one Mason references them. Does that Mason die? Or can Masons never die from referencing them. Anyone able to clear this up a bit would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Let me start out by saying I generally don't like rules that restricts what players can discuss. I find that it makes for interesting gameplay to let people discuss freely about what roles exist in the game. - which is why I never play with this "Don't mention the Masons" rule.

That being said, I find that there are 2 reasons behind this restriction:

1. Thematic
The masons are a secret society. The masons themselves are not allowed to acknowledge its existance, and the rest of the village simply don't know about it.

2. Balance
The Masons may seem somewhat overpowered because they can just tell everyone who they are, and nobody but the evil team has any reason to contest their claim - which allows you to quickly narrow down who's the werewolf.

To answer your question:

Yes, if a mason mentions the masons, they die. If not you could just start the game by yelling "MASON!", and the fact that you didn't die that night would be evidence of your role.

No, the masons don't get to pick and choose who dies. They only wake up the first night to learn each others' identity.

Yes, technically, if everyone talks about the Masons, everyone dies. That'll teach them. After the first massacre people probably won't do it again in future games...

To be honest, the death punishment shouldn't even be needed in my opinion. If the rule is not to talk about the masons, don't talk about the f'ing masons! Just like you're not allowed to look at each others' cards or peak during night time. Obey the rules, or don't play the game.


What is the timing of the Hidden Pocket effect? When does the Virulent Strain Epidemic effect for Hidden Pocket happen? The way the card is laid out, it would seem that it happens after the three epidemic steps; however, that would negate the effect as there would never be any cards in the discard pile. It could happen before step 1, but that could be pretty nasty and seems to go against the title of the effect, as "hidden pocket" would imply only a small amount of the disease.

When this situation arose in a game, resolving the effect before step 1 would have been pretty bad as there were a lot of cards in the discard pile. We chose to resolve the effect after the Infector phase, since there would only be a few cards in the discard pile, but that seems like a stretch.

This card is definitely ambiguous, which is strange, as all the other virulent strain Epidemic cards are quite clear about when they take effect. However, Tom Lehmann, the game's designer, has actually answered this specific question on BoardGameGeek:

  Hidden Pocket is resolved after Infect (and before Intensify).

  So, if the Virulent Strain disease has been eradicated and a city of
  that disease is drawn during the Infect step, you don't place 3 cubes
  on it (as per the normal eradication rules).

  However, that card then goes into the Infection Discard Pile (see page
  6 of the Pandemic rules), and therefore will end up with 1 cube on it
  when Hidden Pocket is applied, before resetting the Infection Discard
  Pile.

So yeah, it's pretty nasty!


Lost in the Crystal Caves - Solve Step Order In the MLP CCG there is a problem card called "Lost in the Crystal Caves":
http://mlpccg.wikia.com/wiki/Lost_in_the_Crystal_Caves_(Canterlot_Nights)

If confronting the problem forces you to move a character from the problem back to home, and you would no longer satisfy the problem requirements, would you still score the point for initially confronting the problem?

What if your opponent was satisfying the problem? Would you perform a faceoff?

At what point does the problem text trigger?

You already seem to be aware that "confront the problem" means having enough power at the problem when you enter the Confront Step. The specific rules (from the Canterlot Nights comprehensive rules) about this say:

(611.1) The turn player confronts a Problem if that player meets the Problem’s confront requirements.
(611.3) A player meets the confront requirements of a Problem if that player controls characters at that Problem contributing power in the required amounts of the required colors to confronting that Problem.
(611.4) As a player confronts a Problem, that player scores a point. If an opponent also meets their confront requirements for that Problem (611.3), there will be a Problem Faceoff at that Problem.

When you enter the Confront Step, you check whether you have the confront requirements of the problem, and if you do, you confront the problem and get a point. The "As" wording in (611.4) indicates that confronting the problem and scoring a point are the same event, so the problem's triggered ability triggers on that event and happens after you get the point.
The second half of (611.4) says that there is a faceoff "if an opponent also meets their confront requirements". This doesn't say that the opponent confronts the problem, so the ability doesn't trigger for them. It also doesn't say you check your power at the problem again, so you move to faceoff depending on whether you confronted the problem, not whether you currently satisfy the confront requirements.


Constricting Sliver + Hibernating Sliver interaction If a sliver comes into play while Constricting Sliver is in play, and then with the exile ETB effect on the stack, the sliver is returned to hand with Hibernation Sliver's ability, is the target of the exile effect exiled with no chance of returning to the battlefield or does it immediately return to the battlefield?

The (attempted) exiled creature will never leave the battlefield.
This is because the exile ability only works if the sliver causing it is still on the battlefield when it resolves. As per the Gatherer rulings:

If a Sliver leaves the battlefield before its enters-the-battlefield ability resolves, the target creature won’t be exiled.

This is covered under One-shot effects in the comprehensive rules:

610.2.: Some one-shot effects create a delayed triggered ability, which instructs a player to do something later in the game (usually at a specific time) rather than as the spell or ability that’s creating the one-shot effect resolves. See rule 603.7.
610.3.: Some one-shot effects cause an object to change zones “until” a specified event occurs. A second one-shot effect is created immediately after the specified event. This second one-shot effect returns the object to its previous zone.
610.3a: If the specified event has already occurred when the initial one-shot effect would cause the object to change zones, the object doesn’t move.

Lets break down your interaction:

You control a Hibernation Sliver and a Constricting Sliver. You opponent controls a Runeclaw Bear.
You play a Sliver creature, Constricting Sliver's given effect triggers. You target your opponents Bear.
You then return that Sliver creature to your hand using Hibernation Sliver's given ability. The stack is now (hibernation) return effect on top of (constrict) exile effect.
Your opponent has no responses, the stack starts to resolve.
First your sliver leaves the battlefield. Next the exile effect checks to see if the Sliver is still on the battlefield, and fails to find it. The exile ability does nothing, the Runeclaw Bear is not moved and remains on the battlefield under your opponents control.


Legality in Standard of Standard-legal cards from previous printings Say I have a copy of Llanowar Elves from the 2017 Core Set. Can I put it in a current Standard deck, or do I need to have a version from currently Standard-legal set?

Yes. Answered here.

  Yes. The only thing that matters for determining card legality is the name of the card. As far as the Oracle is concerned, 2 different printings of shockare the exact same card for all game and tournament rule purposes


Using opponent's first sequence spaces My question is for the case of two teams where two sequences are needed to win the game. Say team Blue built a sequence and team Green hasn't.

The rules say:

  If you are playing the game which requires two SEQUENCES to win, you may use any one of the spaces from your first SEQUENCE as part of your second.

So does this mean team Blue can place chips over the first sequence chips, but team Green CANNOT place chips over team Blue's first sequence. Right?

That's right, you cannot use your opponent's sequence space.

But what it also mean is that a player/team can use a chip (of their own) already in play as part of a SEQUENCE, to complete another SEQUENCE. So if you e.g. have a horizontal SEQUENCE you can use any of these chips to complete e.g. a vertical SEQUENCE.

So no one can place a chip on top of another chip that has already been placed on the board.

  Set-Up
  ... Once a marker chip has been played, it cannot be removed by an opponent except when using a one-eyed Jack as explained below...

And by the normal rules you cannot remove chips from a already completed SEQUENCE.

  The Jacks
  ... You cannot remove a marker chip that is already part of a completed SEQUENCE.
  Once a SEQUENCE is achieved by a player or a team, it cannot be broken...

SEQUENCE Rules


Can I win in 1v1 if I stole someone else's platinum angel, would lose without it, then defeat them? While playing in multiplayer Commander, we came across this specific situation where I used Bribery on a player to steal his Platinum Angel.

Later in the game, we are the two last players in play and my life total is 0 or less. Can I still win if my opponent lose the game or do I lose too? Considering that his Platinum Angel will be removed from the game according to the rules below as soon as he loses the game.

  800.4a. When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game, any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end, and all spells and abilities controlled by that player on the stack cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game

You'll win the game. Once your opponent leaves, and you're the last person standing, you win immediately. From the rules on Ending the Game:

104.1. A game ends immediately when a player wins, when the game is a draw, or when the game is restarted.
104.2. There are several ways to win the game.
104.2a A player still in the game wins the game if that player’s opponents have all left the game. This happens immediately and overrides all effects that would preclude that player from winning the game.
(...)
104.5. If a player loses the game, he or she leaves the game. If the game is a draw for a player, he or she leaves the game. The multiplayer rules handle what happens when a player leaves the game; see rule 800.4.

All of these in approximately reverse order mean the following:

When a player loses, they leave the game. (We handle the processes around them collecting all their stuff in multiplayer games.)
Once they leave the game and you're the only player left, you win. This happens immediately as they leave.
Once you win, the game ends immediately.

There is no time gap between any of these steps; they effectively happen simultaneously.
You'd only lose if the game continued (for example due to a third player still being in the game), as we'd remove the platinum angel, check state-based actions, and determine that you lose for having 0 or less life. But since that wasn't the case for you, you've won! Congratulations.


One Deck Dungeon Paladin Heroic Feat The text of the Heroic Feat for the Paladin states “Store a (Heroic Die) here when you open a door with 4+ (XP). You may only store one die at a time.”

What does “with 4+ XP” mean?

Does it mean the door has to have a loot of 4 XP? But Loot isn’t specified.
Does it mean that I have to have 4+ XP on my character?

And if it’s the second option, does this mean that if I’m level 2 (which costs 6 XP), that I have to get 4 XP after starting that level before I can once again get the die, or do I always get it? That seems a little too easy, so I’m guessing not.

The Paladin's ability triggers when you open (flip) a door card and reveal a monster or peril worth at least 4 XP.

The "with" in the description applies to the door card, not to your character, so having 4 XP in your possession won't trigger anything.

The description also doesn't mention taking the card as loot as it triggers when the door is first opened or flipped to reveal the contents. You do not have to stay and encounter the monster/peril and can choose to flee after gaining the Heroic die. Note that if you return later, the ability will not trigger again as the door is already open.


Restoring worn-out deck of cards. Many board games have a special deck of cards and over time get worn out.

When they start to get worn out, they get "sticky" and difficult to shuffle.

Is there a way or a product that can be applied to a deck of cards to make them "slippery" again?

You need deck sleeves.

They should be available at your local game store, or from any number of online suppliers.  They are available in various sizes, so be sure to bring a sample card along while shopping (or measure it precisely before hand).

Online you can find lower quality sleeves for around 1 cent apiece in bulk.  Higher quality sleeves may cost upwards of 10 cents/sleeve.  The higher quality will give you a sleeve that shuffles much easier and can optionally have an opaque back.  (An opaque back is desirable if some of your cards are marked or bent due to heavy use).

Ultra-Pro and Fantasy Flight are two high quality well known manufacturers to ask for if you want somewhere to start.


Tapping Active Abilities when they have summoning sickness? If I put a Goblin Fireslinger onto the battlefield, which would have summoning sickness, can I tap it that turn to use its ability or do I have to wait an extra turn to use it?

Summoning sickness applies to all abilities of a creature that include the tap symbol as a cost, but other abilities with other costs may be played instantly.


Canasta opening with jokers Can you open with 5 wild cards, then use a sixth to put with a pair?

My partner needed 155 points and this is the only way they could open.

No.

Any valid meld in Canasta needs to have at least 2 naturals in it, so wilds by themselves are not enough.

From Bicycle:

  A meld is valid if it contains at least two natural cards of the same rank - aces down to fours inclusive - and not more than three wild cards. Jokers and deuces may never be melded apart from natural cards.

Note that there is a variation of this rule that is seen in some places; according to canasta.net:

  However, there may never be more wildcards than natural cards within one meld.

In most situations, these 2 rules work the same way; they both mean that a meld of 3 -7 cards must have at least as many naturals as wilds.

The difference is that one of the rules allows you to add a 4th wild to a Canasta that has 4 naturals and 3 wilds, while the other does not, but this rarely could matter, as you can likely just add that wild somewhere else instead if you need to.


Is Go played for money? Playing for money in this meaning would be single games played for some stake, not tournaments with a prize money.

Backgammon has a large tradition to be played like, chess a smaller one (I think). I havn't heard of Go in such a context. Is this (widely) done?

In the West, Go is almost exclusively played for fun. The exception here would top players who strive for tournament price money. This is actually a pretty important, there have been intense discussions between the organizers of the major Go tournaments/congresses and top players about the sum and distribution of money.

In Asia, Go is more often than not played without money on stake, however, betting on your own games is well known, too, especially for older folks. In Japan, there is a basic differentiation how money is distributed according to the result:

In ban-go the winner simply takes it all.
In me-go money is exchanged according to the territory at the end, so winning with a large difference is advantageous.

In Korea, betting games are called Bang Neki, typically with a fixed sum for winning and extra money for each bang (score difference of 10 points).


Ral Zareks first Ability: Magic The Gathering Can I activate Ral Zarek's first ability (Tap target permanent, then untap another permanent) if my opponent has no "untapped" permanents? If so, will I get a loyalty counter, and be able to untap another permanent?

Yes, you can. You must choose a 'target permanent' for the first part of the ability; the ability doesn't specify you must choose an untapped permanent. The ability won't be able to tap that permanent:

  701.20a To tap a permanent, turn it sideways from an upright position. Only untapped permanents can be tapped.

but that's not a problem; to activate an ability you must choose valid targets, it doesn't matter if the ability resolves fully. Part of activating an ability is paying its cost, which in this case is adding a loyalty counter:

  606.4. The cost to activate a loyalty ability of a permanent is to put on or remove from that permanent a certain number of loyalty counters, as shown by the loyalty symbol in the ability’s cost.

During resolution, even if the first part of the ability doesn't do anything, the second part is still carried out:

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


Does the Crokinole playing surface material really affect the gameplay? My father in law is saying that his oncle's old solid wood Crokinole board outmatch the cheap cardboard game he actually got.

I never played on this solid wood board and before upgrading to a better board, I'm wondering if anyone who tested many different board types could detail how the playing surface (cardboard vs lacquered vs solid wood) affect the game.

When considering whether "upgrading" your board, you want to consider how it will impact your enjoyment of the game.
Enjoyment of the game is impacted in a few ways:
Gameplay:

A hard, smooth, level, and slick surface allows for accurate shots and purer deflections that allow advanced players to use "angles" better then lower quality surfaces.
The rigidity of the posts, and cleaner cut 20 hole provide more consistent bounces and 20 point hits.
A solid, thicker play surface combined with a taller rail supports having harder shots being trapped in the ditch rather than bouncing back on to the play surface disturbing the remaining pieces.

Longevity:

Stained and urethaned wood or composites are less susceptible to moisture, wear and tear and are less likely to warp and/or lose their shape over time.   Quality crokinole boards are frequently considered desirable heirlooms and can be enjoyed pass down other generations

Presentation, Aesthetic and Ergonomics:

Many owners of high quality boards consider them artwork or attractive furniture.  Over hung on a wall or displayed on a stand, the boards are often conversation starters: you are more likely to play.
Placing a substantial and attractive board on a table with high quality discs definitely changes the look, feel, sound, and even smell (esp a freshly waxed board) that engages players more than a smaller cardboard playset.

If you enjoy crokinole on small cardboard set, and think that this is a game you would be playing for many years, you might consider a handmade board a form of investment.   Its not uncommon for players to point to the size and price point of a quality crokinole board as reasonable alternative to a billiard table or shuffleboard table.


Playing Arkham Horror in a counter-players role as the Herald of the Ancient one or something similar? For those that have played games like Descent: Journeys in the Dark where an Overlord player is pitted against a heroic party, actively working against the players and laying down traps and other such machinations to keep the game interesting, I thought it might be fun to play the role of the Herald, actively orchestrating the forces of the Mythos to pave the way for the Ancient One's awakening.

Obviously you'd have to be very careful about what rules you alter as the "Herald" to not totally break the game in favor of the Mythos. Has anyone tried this before?

To answer the question...the kind of game you're thinking of, really, is Mansion of Madness, which is the Descent version of Arkham Horror.  Players play one of eight investigators and move through a location as they try to uncover a secret plot.  The story teller acts as the Herald or Overlord, by moving monsters to certain locations and playing cards on the player characters as they move through.  Generally speaking, it's very weighted against the players, unless they've played the scenarios a number of times and know what to do in each situation.

What you're proposing is basically the same idea.  Arkham Horror would turn into Mansions of Madness very quickly given the changes you've proposed.  I would say, from the number of times I've retconned certain turns in Arkham Horror, that the game is hard enough with the board being as random and cruel as it is.  If you had someone actively choosing Mythos cards or moving monsters, you would have a much harder and significantly different game on your hands.

My advice to you would be to pick up Mansions of Madness.  It's a long setup for a game, but I like it and what it does to the players as they frantically run around, trying to not die.


Can an Aetherborn Marauder take +1/+1 counters off a creature that didn't have them (but has P/T to spare)? So my brother play Aetherborn Marauder. He wants to move three +1/+1 counters from a 4/4 with no previous interaction with any +1/+1 counters. I insist that a +1/+1 counter must have been put on it first, and that its base P/T are not applicable due to the use of the word "counter".

Anyone able to quote the rulebook for this one?

From the rules :

  121.5. If an effect says to “move” a counter, it means to take that counter from the object it’s currently on and put it onto a second
  object. If the first and second objects are the same object, nothing
  happens. If the first object has no counters, nothing happens; the
  second object doesn’t get a counter put on it. If the second object
  (or any possible second objects) is no longer in the correct zone when
  the effect would move the counter, nothing happens; a counter isn’t
  removed from the first object.

Your Aetherborn Marauder doesn't get any counter if the target of its ETB ability doesn't have counters when the ability resolve.


Looking to identify Solitaire game My dad (now 93 years old) used to play a two deck solitaire game with the cards laid out in 10 columns as shown in the picture.  In brief:

Two Decks
10 columns
1st column has one card, second column has two cards . . . tenth column has ten cards.
Cards alternate face up, face down
Remaining cards are used one at time and only the most recent card that is top of the pile can be used.

I am looking to identify this variant and see if I can find an online version for him.

The closest I’ve found is Batsford.

Batsford uses 2 decks, and has 10 tableau stacks going from 1 to 10. You didn’t mention how many foundation piles; but given 2 deck I would assume 8 foundation piles.

The problem is that Batsford only has the top card facing up in the tableau stacks. Perhaps this is a Batsford variant that alternates the cards face up and face down in the tableau stacks...

Batsford is available online at https://www.classicsolitaire.com/batsford.html.


MOTO Acronym for MTG Online Some people refer to Magic: The Gathering Online as "MOTO" or "MODO". None of them can tell me what it stands for, so at first, I thought they just got the acronym wrong. It turns out to be pretty popular, that's all I've been able to find out. The term is not in the Magic Jargon article, and not one person in this thread spelled it out.

What does MOTO stand for? Is it different from MODO?

Wikipedia claims that this is an acronym from earlier in its development which was later discontinued:

  WotC was sufficiently convinced and contracted LLS to develop the
  service, which was then known as Magic Online with Digital Objects
  (MODO). Initially, the idea of charging for virtual goods, as opposed
  to a subscription model with unlimited access, was greeted with
  skepticism. Additionally, concerns were floated over how solid the
  server and trading code would be;[6] if exploits were found, the
  entire economy could easily be destroyed. After a period of
  beta-testing, the game became available to the general public in June
  2002. The name was changed from MODO to its final commercial title, Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO).

The game apparently gained some notoriety during its development under this name, which may have caused it to stick.  It's likely that this is simply an affectionate hold-over nickname from a time when this old name was relevant.


Do we really need to leave materials below the completed structure? According to the official rules, after completing the structure these things happen:

  When you complete a structure, take its Site card and tuck it
  underneath the top edge of your Camp so that the gold coins are
  showing. The materials stay with the completed structure.

According to that, the materials used to build this structure need to stay below, for the whole game.

Anyway, the buildings stacked on the 2-3 materials, especially when you've put your cards into sleeves, are still moving a bit, and they make some chaos because of that stacking.

I'm wondering if they could be just put away from the game, after completing the building? I was looking for the others buildings rules, trying to search any situation, when materials of completed building could matter in any way.

Do you know any situation of this kind? Do you think I can remove them from the game safely?

In the base game there is no building that interact with the materials, so, in this case, the answer is yes, you can remove them from the game safely.

But in "Glory to Rome Promo Cards" set you have three buildings that do interact with the materials. Castra Praetoria, Solarium and Watch Post. For the first two cards the kind of interaction is not important here, they move materials upon building completion, after that you do that you could still remove from the game the rest of materials. But Watch Post states : you may use a CRAFTSMAN action to tear down one of you completed buildings. Add foundation to your hand and materials to your stockpile.
So if you are playing with that card the answer is no, you cannot remove them from the game safely.

(I hope that my answer is understandable ... I am not english native speaker)