Can I give a creature trample after blockers have been assigned? I declare my attack with a 3/3 creature & then my opponent assigns a 1/1 creature to block.

Am I allowed to use the ability of an Elvish Herder (1 Green Mana - Target creature gains trample until end of turn) on my original 3/3 creature to make sure that, in addition to his creature dying, he receives 2 damage to himself as well?

Or would that give my opponent the chance to go back and assign a secondary blocker?

Yes, you can. If you look through the comprehensive rules on the details of the combat phase, you'll find that after blocks are declared, the active player (in this case the attacker) gets priority:

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

You can activate your trample ability now. If you activate it doesn't mean you rewind to the phase where you redeclare blockers (509.1, "First, the defending player declares blockers ..."). You simply move on to the next phase of combat damage.

If opponent died because he didn't declare enough blockers, then he's been outplayed.


How to play Ring of Valkas? My understanding is that artifacts and equipment are permanents. When playing the Ring of Valkas, it states that at the beginning of every upkeep you can add a +1/+1 counter to equipped creature. My confusion is the ability to equip the creature says to "Equip only as a sorcery".

My Understanding is sorcery only lasts until the end of the turn. With that said, how would the creature be equipped at the start of your upkeep to receive the +1/+1 counter? Also would the creature lose the +1/+1 counter at the end of your turn?

EDIT:
Actually I think I may have read the sorcery definition incorrectly which is what is confusing my understanding.

You can only equip the Ring of Valkas as a sorcery (so, only during one of your main phases) but once it is equipped, the Ring stays on the equipped creature until it is moved or the creature dies. So, you put it on your creature this turn and it starts getting counters on it during your next upkeep, assuming it's still alive.

Edit: Looks like I missed part of the question. Any +1/+1 counters remain on the creature, even if you move the Ring to a different creature, or the ring is destroyed.


How can I prevent players from cheating on their stats that carry between games? I have created a card game that allows players to advance. The problem is that you can keep your stats until your next game (with anybody else). For the life of me, I can't find out how to be able to "prove" that the stats are valid (other than keeping a booklet or something, which I already am doing, but they could just fake what is in their booklet too)? For example, if I'm playing with someone new, how can I ensure that if they say they are on the top tier, they are telling the truth?

I could put in the rules that anybody caught cheating will automatically be downgraded to the bottom tier, or some other penalty, but how do I PROVE that they are cheating? Maybe a different method of going up tiers? Or keeping track of going up tiers?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I've been racking my brain about this. The whole game revolves around being able to go up tiers, but I don't want people to cheat.

Make it so that it doesn't matter if players have faked their profile.
Say having a high ranked profile means that you have access to better equipment (and therefore an incentive to produce a fake profile). You could reduce the impact of this by (say) introducing a handicap for high ranked players when playing against lower ranked players.
If there is a handicap system (or some similar mechanic) that balances the game, it doesn't matter for a casual game if one player has a faked profile, since neither player has an unfair advantage.
I'm also assuming casual games with unknown players would be the main problem, because:

If you repeatedly face the same opponent(s), you'll start to notice them doctoring their profile between games
If you're having a tournament, it probably makes sense for the tournament body to hold the profiles and check them between games.

As an aside, this also opens up your game to other demographics. For example,
on D&D, there are players that would prefer to start at a high level with a bunch of equipment already. Also, if it doesn't matter if the profiles have been built "correctly" or not, then players can fabricate profiles to see how a different set of choices would play out.


In Kill Team, can a Genestealer Cult team have a genestealer? I'm new to Kill Team and got the starter box. Looking through my old bitz box, I found a few genestealers which I thought "Perfect! I will add them to my genestealer cult."

But looking through the Kill Team book, I can be sure if I can use those genestealer in my force or if I have to use them as proxy for something else.

Yes you can

In the Kill Team book, just above the entries for the Genestealer cults, there is a one-liner that explicitly states it.

Odd location, I would've preferred to have the Genestealer entry to have the Genestealer Cult Faction Keyword.


When to lead a spade? In the game of Spades, after spades are broken, you can lead a trick with a spade.  In which situations leading with a spade is wise?

I thought about three situations:

Have high cards in side suits but some opponent is void in that suit.  After the spades are out those high cards are sure takes again.
Long suit in spades.  By playing spades you can remove all other spades in the round, then from your ~4th spade you are the only player with spades and each spade is a take.
Only have spades

I wonder if some one have other situations where leading spades is the best move

In a nice spades strategy guide (written by Buckey) the situations to lead spades are the following:

Your partner has their bid or you can cover their bid.
You know your partner bid high spades. Not leading spades might just give your
opponents a chance to set you by trumping with lower spades.
Either one or both of your opponents are void in any non-spade suit you could lead.
If you're trying to slough and have nothing better to slough in.
One way you can set your opponent is if you are two suited (spades being one of the
suits.) You can run spades and make your other suit good. (be very careful that you do
not set yourself by setting your partners bid in the process).
If your partner first led spades and is going for a set.
When trying to set a nil.


Elevation simulation So, I am designing a board game. In it, players will recreate various tank battles (essentially a tabletop version of War Thunder.) The tanks will be represented by 3d printed models, so its a little like a cross between Armada and Axis and Allies Miniatures.

Design is going good, but I have run up against a problem: I cannot figure out how to simulate elevation. What are some techniques I could use to do so?

Like Arcanist Lupus said, it depends on whether you mean simulating elevation on your board, or as a mechanic.  Here are some brief notes for either case, but I will improve the answer when you clarify your question a bit.

As far as simulating elevation visually is concerned, this can be done with a contour elevation map.  These are maps which have bands at each gradation of elevation.  Every point along a single band is exactly the same elevation, and the distance between any two bands covers the same amount of elevation.  If two bands are close to each other at a point, that indicates a steep elevation, whereas a further distance is representative of a more gradual slope.

As far as mechanics are concerned, elevation can impact movement and combat.  Some parts of your contour map could have bands which are very close together, to the point where they are too steep to be passable.  Additionally, you can have a movement penalty for increasing in elevation, or a movement boost for decreasing in elevation.  You could also add a chance for a vehicle to slide down the hill they are on if they are ascending too rapidly.  A vehicle at a higher elevation will have a longer range than one at lower elevation.  You could implement range in your combat with physical measurements (like inches or mm), and increase or decrease that range in game based on the relative elevations of your vehicle and its target.  So if you were to attack up an elevation, you would have reduced range, but attacking down elevation will increase range.


Does passing a horror or strength test mean 1 success or enough to avoid losing sanity or health? Some monsters say if you fail the horror check, then there are consequences. Do these consequences occur if you get zero will test successes or if you take even 1 point of sanity damage? Ie if a monster has 3 horror, do you have to roll 3 successes to pass the will test?

You only need one success to pass a skill test. There can still be consequences (Sanity or Health loss for instance).

If the text says that if you fail the horror check you will suffer blablabla, then you only need your test result to be 1 or higher to avoid the blablabla consequence.

Here are extracts from the Reference Guide to cover those answers (emphasis mine):

On page 11 (Tests):

The third step says:

  Determine Result: Each “5” or “6” rolled is one success. The total number of successes rolled is the test result. If he rolls at least one success, he passes the test. If he does not roll any successes, he fails the test

The fourth step says:

  Resolve Pass or Fail Effect: The consequence of passing or failing the test is determined by the effect that triggered the test.

  Some effects specify only a pass effect or a fail effect. If an  investigator passes a test that does not have a pass effect, there is no effect. Likewise, if an investigator fails a test that does not have a fail effect, he suffers no ill effects.
  On encounter cards, tests are declared using their skill icon    embedded in the text in parentheses. The test declaration may also indicate a test modifier.
  Effects that are dependent on a test are always preceded by “if you pass,” or “if you fail.” Any effect in that sentence occurs only if you pass the test or fail the test, respectively. Any effect after the period or part of a new paragraph, is independent from previous effects


What is (Larry Cohen's) the "Law of Total Tricks" In Bridge? Based on my (imperfect) understanding of the "law," it means that my partnership should bid up to the same level as the number of trumps. For instance, with four trumps over my partner's five card major, I could raise his bid to three.

But I was taught to use a combination of trumps and points. Thus, we'd want to bid four spades with 26 points and eight trumps, or with 23 points and nine trumps, or with 20 points and ten trumps. So why the "law?'

Apparently, the opponents' (theoretical) trump suit also figures into this equation. How do I count for their "trumps?" And once I've done so, how do I combine their trumps and mine into a "law" calculation? Why would I do this anyway?

Law of total tricks is an empirical law which states the following:

  If opponents play the contract with their best suit (with A cards) as trumps, and they can make x tricks, and you play the contract in your best suit (with B cards) as trumps and you can make y tricks, then A + B = x + y.

This was first proposed by Jean-Rene Vernes in a bridge world article and made popular by Larry Cohen in his book: "To Bid or not to Bid: The Law of Total Tricks."

The purpose of the law is to decide whether to play or defend and the level to play, when both sides are bidding, i.e. it is more useful in competitive auctions.  Trying to apply it in constructive auctions (where opponents haven't bid) does not make much sense. (Of course, when you are raising partner with a weak hand, as a preempt, you are kind of using the law in advance).

As a simple example: Say you hold xx, Kxxx, QJx, Txxx, playing IMPS, non-vul.

Suppose partner opens 1 Heart (showing 5+ cards), RHO overcalls 1 Spade. You bid 2 Hearts and LHO bids 2S, which is passed around to you.

Now assuming opponents have 8 spades between them, if you assume the law, then there are 8+9 = 17 total tricks.

Now suppose 2S is making exactly. Then by the law, it means you can make 3H.
Now suppose 2S is making 9 tricks. Then by the law, 3H is at most down 1.
Now suppose 2S is down 1. Then by the law, you make 10 tricks in hearts!

In all cases, you are better off bidding 3H (even if doubled, non-vul) as opposed to letting them play in 2S.

Of course the law is based on empirical evidence, and there are many adjustments that need to be made, which you can find in Larry Cohen's book.

On the flip-side, there is a book by Mike Lawrence: I Fought the Law of Total Tricks which says that the law might actually not be as useful as people think.


How to apply the effect "You may treat all Constructs as Mechana Constructs" in Ascension game? Could I treat any Construct in center row as Mechana Construct and accure them acquire it as a Mechana Construct?

Yes, once you have the effect of "You may treat all constructs as Mechana Constructs", this applies to acquisition (e.g. runes that can only be used to purchase Mechana constructs can be used to buy any construct under this effect) and to effects that count the number of Mechana constructs in play. (There may be other effects from later expansions.)


Oko, Thief of Crown's +1 vs. Deputy of Detention Let's say my opponent plays Deputy of Detention and exiles my creature. I play Oko, Thief of Crowns and +1 on Deputy. Do I get my original creature back? If the answer is "no", do I get my original creature back if I later kill the 3/3 green Elk "Deputy of Detention"?

I'm guessing the answer is "no" in either case, because in the first case Deputy hasn't left the battlefield, and in the second when Deputy leaves the battlefield it's already lost all abilities, so the creature remains permanently exiled.

You will get your creature back when the Deputy leaves the battlefield - even if they have no abilities at the time.

Deputy of Detention's ability creates a delayed trigger at the time the ability takes effect (that is, when the creature is exiled).  Removing the Deputy's abilities at a later time doesn't affect the trigger, because the trigger, once created, is independent of the Deputy (even though it is still 'watching' it).

  603.7a Delayed triggered abilities are created during the resolution of spells or abilities, as the result of a replacement effect being applied, or as a result of a static ability that allows a player to take an action. A delayed triggered ability won’t trigger until it has actually been created, even if its trigger event occurred just beforehand. Other events that happen earlier may make the trigger event impossible.
  Example: Part of an effect reads “When this creature leaves the battlefield,” but the creature in question leaves the battlefield before the spell or ability creating the effect resolves. In this case, the delayed ability never triggers.
  Example: If an effect reads “When this creature becomes untapped” and the named creature becomes untapped before the effect resolves, the ability waits for the next time that creature untaps.

  603.7b A delayed triggered ability will trigger only once—the next time its trigger event occurs—unless it has a stated duration, such as “this turn.” If its trigger event occurs more than once simultaneously and the ability doesn’t have a stated duration, the controller of the delayed triggered ability chooses which event causes the ability to trigger.

  603.7c A delayed triggered ability that refers to a particular object still affects it even if the object changes characteristics. However, if that object is no longer in the zone it’s expected to be in at the time the delayed triggered ability resolves, the ability won’t affect it. (Note that if that object left that zone and then returned, it’s a new object and thus won’t be affected. See rule 400.7.)
  Example: An ability that reads “Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step” will exile the permanent even if it’s no longer a creature during the next end step. However, it won’t do anything if the permanent left the battlefield before then.

Back in the olden days, cards like this were templated differently, and it was possible to lose a creature forever.  Cards like Oblivion Ring had two triggered abilities - an enters the battlefield ability and a leaves the battlefield ability.  By removing the card's abilities you could remove the card from play without the leaves the battlefield ability triggering, and render a creature permanently exiled.

Another fairly common trick was to bounce the exiling permanent back to its owner's hand while the first ability was still on the stack.  The second trigger would resolve while there was nothing in exile to return, and then the first ability would resolve, exiling the card permanently.  This doesn't work with the modern template, because the ability will see that the delayed trigger condition has been fulfilled and won't try and exile the target in the first place.

The template changed with the 2014 Core Set, when Banisher Priest was printed with a modern delayed trigger.


What are a blackjack dealer's options? Everywhere I read manuals it focuses my options as a player. I can't figure out if the dealer knows his hidden card or not? Of course, when dealer has 10 or Ace showing, he checks if he's got a blackjack, right?

What are the dealer's options?

Blackjack dealers have no options for the in-game decisions of whether to hit or stay; they follow a strict algorithm that will depend on the casino. The dealer waits until the players have exercised all their options, then the dealer reveals his hidden card and hits until he has at least 17 (most common).

The only variation I'm familiar with is a rule where the dealer will hit a soft 17 (any 17 with an Ace taking the value 11--denoted "H17" for Hit 17, as opposed to "S17" for Stand 17), but this is not the dealer's choice, it will be determined by the casino. According to Wikipedia, this rule will generally be printed on the table if it is being used, and it hurts players. Wikipedia phrases it the other direction: going from H17 to S17. 'Substituting an "H17" rule with an "S17" rule in a game benefits the player, decreasing the house edge by about 0.2%'

See @NiceVerAz's answer below for a nice explanation of "meta-game" options that the dealer does control.


When does a player's turn end in the Now That's What I Call Music board game? Note, this question is about the board game not the similarly-themed card game or DVD-based games.

The rules state that when your turn begins, you roll the dice and take various actions depending on what you roll and what you then land on - for example, answer a question from a card, or act out a song title charades-style. All of the rules describing the actions say that if you fail (get the question wrong, no-one guesses your charade, etc.) then your turn ends. There are also some other cases where the rules explicitly state that your turn ends, for example if you roll the dice and land on a space with no symbol on it.

To me this implies that if you succeed (answer the question correctly, someone guesses your charade, etc.) then you should roll again and have another go still in your same turn. This would be the same ethos as eg Trivial Pursuit. However, nowhere in the rules does it explicitly say this and it seems like a pretty big omission if I am correct.

Is there a definitive answer to this? Do other players have house rules about it?

Edit: pics of the rules attached.

Quick disclaimer I've never played this and struggled to find printed rules online.  My rules source here is a YouTube unboxing video which showed both sides of the rules sheet.

from my screen cap of the rules the wording is:-

  If the active player answers the question correctly their piece remains where it is.  If they answer incorrectly they go back to where they started their turn.  This is the end of their turn.

If a player was to continue and take another turn this should and would be explicitly stated in the rules.  I personally would read that as "The player wither remains where they are, or moves back.  THEN (regardless of the result) their turn ends.

The other rules for Song Charades and Oldies follow a similar pattern of stating what happens for success and failure and then that turn passes on.  From reading this I don't think you can assume the players take successive turns in a Trivial Pursuit fashion. Just because it's the rule in another game does not mean it is here.  This to me is a case of 'If its not printed in the rules to take extra goes then it isn't the rule'


In the Pokémon TCG, is there a combination of cards that prevents you from milling out? One way to lose in the Pokémon TCG is to have no cards left to draw at the beginning of your turn.

Is there an combination of cards that prevents you from ever running out of cards to draw?

Lysandre's Trump Card reads:

  Each player shuffles all cards in his or her discard pile into his or her deck (except for Lysandre's Trump Card).

This can be used with any card that returns a Supporter card from the disard pile, such as VS Seeker which states:

  Put a Supporter card from your discard pile into your hand.


How do split cards work? I saw these cards on the Internet and quickly became curious: How in the world do they work?
Do you pick one of them to play and then discard the card, or can you play both? How does their color and mana-cost duality function with cards that depend on them? When were these cards added to MTG?

Note: The answers given here were correct at the time they were written, rules changes have since made parts of them incorrect.
They work as if they only had one of the sides attributes while on the Stack, and as if they had both sides' qualities in every other zone.
If an effect is asking for a particular characteristic, it gets two answers. For example, Infernal Genesis asks you to reveal the top card of your library and add a number of 1/1 tokens to the battlefield based on the converted mana cost of the revealed card, if you revealed Hit//Run you would get 8 tokens, because the converted mana cost of the card would have two answers 3 and 5.
If an effect is performing a comparison, it only gets one answer. If either side would return a Yes answer when performing the comparison, then you would get a single Yes. For example, if you used Sunforger to search your library for a card that was red or white and had a converted mana cost of 4 or less, you could search out Wax/Wane (because for one of the sides, you would get a yes - Wane is white, and has a CMC of 4 or less) and still cast the Green side (Wax) of the card (only the search is restricted by color and CMC).
When casting a split card, you choose a side and proceed to do the normal process for casting a spell. Announce the spell, choose targets, pay costs, etc.
The Split Card type was added to MtG first in Invasion Block.

708.2. In every zone except the stack, split cards have two sets of characteristics and two converted mana costs. As long as a split card is a spell on the stack, only the characteristics of the half being cast exist. The other half’s characteristics are treated as though they didn’t exist.
708.2a If a player casts a split card, that player chooses which half of that split card he or she is casting before putting it onto the stack. Only the half that is being cast is considered to be put onto the stack.

As of Amonkhet, these cards no longer give separate answers for characteristics - they give one answer that combines the characteristics of both halves. Some of this makes no difference, as explained here Infernal Genesis will still give 8 tokens for Hit//Run because it now gets one answer, 8, instead of two answers 3 and 5. Other times the difference matters, Isochron Scepter can no longer imprint Bound // Determined because the card no longer returns 5 and 2 for CMC, it returns just 7.


What are rules for completely blank tiles? Few days ago I got a Mahjong set. The majority of tiles I could identify from standard rules, but there were 8 I could not.

4 of them are completely blank.
Another four have same desing of 2 red hieroglyphs in brackets (well, 2 straight angles around them).

What are they needed for? What rules should I look for?

Usually “mahjong joker” leads to endless web games pages.

NB. Set already includes all clearly identifiable dragons and flowers/seasons.

I know some sets use a blank tile for a white dragon. The red one could be a red dragon.

This page has a blank white dragon.

And according to this page (link provided by  L. Scott Johnson):

  There are blank tiles in other sets too, including Chinese Bakelite and Bakelite sets. These tiles were always a bit of insurance that a lost tile would not make the set unplayable: one of the other tiles could be adapted. These sets tend to have carved White Dragons, so these tiles usually remain stored in the case until needed.

So it can be spare parts too.


What are the rules for who wins when the gold is reached in Saboteur 2? In Saboteur 2, I am having trouble understanding precisely which dwarves win in certain situations. Could someone clarify what's already in the rulebook?

In particular, I was wondering: if a dwarf from the green team reaches the gold, does the blue team also win (and vice-versa)?

The way that made the most sense in my head was: if any dwarf of ANY kind reaches the gold, then winners include: the boss, the profiteer, and dwarves on teams for which a path to the gold is NOT blocked by a door. However, the rules seemed to say that WHICH dwarf reached the gold actually mattered, which doesn't really seem sensible.

I agree the the rules are poorly phrased in the "A team wins if:" section.  It provides an outcome tree, but clearly fails to provide a branch for what happens if a dwarf from the other team creates a connection to the treasure, and the way is not blocked for that team by a door of the wrong colour.

Later in the rules, under "Splitting The Treasure" it states:

  Depending on whether there is an uninterrupted path from the start to
  the treasure or not, the Gold-Diggers or the Saboteurs win the round.
  If the path to the treasure is blocked by a door, only the dwarves
  from the team of the same color win.

I think from that paragraph it becomes pretty clear that an uninterrupted path unblocked by any door would be a victory for all Gold-Diggers.  I think your initial instincts were right and you shouldn't worry too much about the sloppily-phrased earlier paragraph.  These things do happen, much to the distress of OCD rules lawyers like us!


If I turn a token creature into an enchantment aura, can I choose to attach it to something or does it just go to the graveyard? I'm thinking of using Replication Technique to make a token copy of an aura in conjunction with something like Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer to create a bucket load of copies of of that same aura through the liberal abuse of token generation.
Since these auras aren't actually entering the battlefield would I be able to attach them to anything?

You can copy auras through Replication Technique, have them enchant something, and copy them through Brudiclad. However, the tokens turned into auras by Brudiclad will die immediately.
Replication Technique creates a token aura. An aura that enters the battlefield through any means other than resolving an aura spell enters the battlefield attached to a legal target of your choice:

303.4f If an Aura is entering the battlefield under a player’s control by any means other than by resolving as an Aura spell, and the effect putting it onto the battlefield doesn’t specify the object or player the Aura will enchant, that player chooses what it will enchant as the Aura enters the battlefield. The player must choose a legal object or player according to the Aura’s enchant ability and any other applicable effects.

However, if you change an existing permanent's subtype to aura through Brudiclad, that permanent did not enter the battlefield at that time. The aura will not attach to anything and go to their owner's graveyard as a state-based action:

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

The state-based action referred to in 303.4c is:

704.5m If an Aura is attached to an illegal object or player, or is not attached to an object or player, that Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard.


Wagon movement on completion of a feature The rules for the Wagon state that when the feature it is placed on is completed, it can be move to an unclaimed, incomplete connected feature.  To my reading, this means that the feature it is moved to does not need to be directly connected to the feature just completed, as it does not explicitly say this.

However, in the Annotated Rules, it says the wagon may only be moved to a feature directly connected.  I'm wondering how this conclusion is reached, and whether my interpretation of the rules in the box is valid?

You are correct that the English translation of the rule says nothing about direct:

  ...move it to a connected incomplete and unoccupied road, city or
  monastery.

But this is just a (sadly typical) garbling of the original German rules which clearly state (emphasis added) that the feature must be directly connected

  ...oder in ein direkt angrenzendes Gebiet (Straße, Stadt oder Kloster)
  versetzen.

So the conclusion in the Annotated Rules is reached by referring to the original German rules for the game. Your interpretation of the English rules is fair, but the rules in the box are (as is often the case with the English rules for Carcassonne) wrong.


In Elder Sign, does defeating a monster with a spell count as a completed task? My understanding is that a 'completed' task is one in which you fulfill the roll requirements and thus can roll the remaining dice without discarding one as a penalty.  If I use a spell to defeat a monster after I roll, do I then need to also complete an additional task in order to re-roll without discarding a die? This is how the iOS game "Elder Sign: Omens" works, but I don't see any indication in the rules of it. I'm looking for documentation that implies this is how it should play.

This is a quote from the Elder Sign rulebook, as currently posted online.  Page 8.

  Failing Rolls
  If the player is unable or unwilling to use his die results to satisfy
  any task’s requirements, the roll is considered a failed roll. He
  must discard one die of his choice from the dice pool and
  roll the remaining dice in another attempt to complete a
  task.

There is no other errata or clarifications or asides that alter this rule (other than a brief aside to confirm that yes, you can choose to intentionally fail rather than spend too many dice on one task).  It doesn't matter that you managed to complete a task on the adventure card in some other way, in your case by killing a monster with a spell.  The roll still failed.  You must still discard a die.


Multiple Replacement Effects for "Next Time" So I recognize that replacement effects are chosen in order by the affected object/player's controller per

  616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the
  affected object's controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or
  the affected player chooses one to apply, following the steps listed
  below. If two or more players have to make these choices at the same
  time, choices are made in APNAP order (see rule 101.4).

My question is, in the case of multiple "Next Time" effects, say, Circle of Protection activations, are all of the uses forced to happen at the same time? If a replacement effect isn't used, does it work similar to regeneration shields, in that they can still be used later?

Circle of Protection: Red has an activated ability with oracle text as follows

  1: The next time a red source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.

Example Scenario:

Adam activates Circle of Protection: Red two times during Nat's
Beginning of Combat step, choosing Nat's Dragon-Style Twins (A red
creature with double strike).
Nat attacks with his Dragon-Style
Twins, and Adam does not block.

Will Nat's Dragon-Style Twins deal combat damage during either the first strike or normal combat damage steps? Obviously, please cite your answer, thanks!

The Dragon-Style Twins will not deal damage in either combat damage step.

One of the subrules of the rule you quoted, 616.1e, says

  Once the chosen effect has been applied, this process is repeated (taking into account only replacement or prevention effects that would now be applicable) until there are no more left to apply.

So, in the first combat damage step, the process of applying replacement and prevention effects goes like this:

We start with two instances of "the next time Dragon-Style Twins would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that damage".
The effect to be modified is "Dragon-Style Twins deals 3 damage to you".
You choose (arbitrarily) to apply the first prevention effect.
The new effect is "Nothing happens". Now there are no applicable replacement or prevention effects, so the process ends.
One instance of the Circle of Protection: Red effect was applied, and the other was not, so now we have one remaining Circle of Protection: Red effect to apply.

In other words, a replacement or prevention effect that applies to "the next time" something would happen is only consumed if it is actually applied to an event.


Formal Format for Documenting the Game Design Process Is there a formal format for documenting the game design process?

Before you answer with "The Game Design Document (GDD), of course!", in my opinion (and lots of people's opinions as well, I think) a GDD is used for presenting a finalized product, and not documenting the actual game design process.

What I need is a tool to aid me in the process of designing a game. It has to have some sort of categorization of ideas (e.g. in the set of elements that Greg Costikyan has proposed, it could have sections for goals, resources, challenges, etc., although it doesn't necessarily have to fit Costikyan's ideas), it has to be aimed towards the iterative design process (which means that it has to have inherent non-linear capabilities, non-existent in the GDD format) and it has to be as universal as possible (suitable for both video games or board games).

If such a tool doesn't exist, I propose to start a collaborative effort from the game designer community, working towards creating it, producing a tool that's as standard and universal as possible.

P.S. Although the formalization of the game design process has been proposed several times, the closest I could find to a formal format is this document.

Maybe this won't answer your question either, but it might get us closer.

First, a short glance at Jason Bakker's "A GDD Template for the Indie Developer" will stress the need for Breaking down components, keeping it simple, lists are a great tool for knowing what you'll do (as in a To Do or shopping list). Analysis itself being key in the process of game creation.
Second, I would suggest a good look at Stone Librande's suggestion of "One Page Designs". Stressing the need to show the relationship between elements in a more visual way.

Still, I agree with Steven, no tool will ever fit all needs. So:

Lastly, I would add a key component to the process of Game Design: Document Design itself. So we keep this ever-evolving and so that every project has the right document to it. Making the document is the process itself. A living document, changing all along the project.


In Pandemic, why take the extra step of eradicating a disease after you've cured it? I understand that you need to cure all four diseases to win the game.

But the next step beyond curing a disease is eradicating it. Why do this? After you cure a disease, how are you helped by going to all the trouble of eradicating it?

The only advantage I can think of is that since no more cubes get placed, you don't run the risk of an outbreak which moves the counter. Is that correct?

Eradicating a disease relieves pressure on the game board. Those infection cards that correspond to the eradicated disease remain in the deck, and continue to get drawn but have no effect other than counting as a drawn card.

If a quarter of your infection deck is red and you are drawing 3 infection cards each turn, and you eradicate red, then a quarter of the infection cards have no effect, and your effective is 3/4*3 = 2.25 cards per turn.

If the top of the infection deck is weighted to a particular colour, the change can be more noticeable. If 2/5 cards are of the same colour and you eradicate it, your effective draw rate at 3 cards per turn will be 1.8 cards per turn.

The less infections on the board, the easier your team will have managing the rest of the infections. The game has a limited number of total actions possible (by the number of cards in the player deck) by the players, and removing a colour from the board frees actions that would be spent controlling the disease and allows more actions spent on other colours. It's a fine balance between how many more actions it takes to eradicate a disease and what that frees up in the future.

As James mentioned in a comment below, there's another factor for eradicating a disease:

  You also care if you run out of blocks of a particular color and are required to place another one, because that is a game loss.

And as gambler22 says, you get a potential relief on the Infect step of the Epidemic cards:

  You don't only get potential relief at the top of the deck, but at the bottom of the deck as well if an Epidemic card is drawn.


Does attempting a puzzle require a movement point or an action point? In our last (and first) game, an investigator attempted to move through a room that had an obstacle which revealed a puzzle. He was unable to resolve the puzzle on his turn. We only counted the attempted move and puzzle solve as one movement point. Is this correct?

On his next turn, does he (or any other investigator for that matter) need to use a movement point to reattempt to solve the puzzle or an action point?

I would say movement point or use the action as a move. So yes you are correct. I believe the manual says somthing about that if you encounter a locked door you stop your movement in front of the door.


Can you buy with a copper after buying Grand Market? If you buy the Grand Market in your turn, can you then use spare copper to buy something else? Or does doing so forbid you from having bought the Grand Market?

No. Technically, you play all treasure cards you want to use at the beginning of your buy phase, after which point you cannot play more cards. If you have played any copper, you cannot buy Grand Market, and if you have already bought Grand Market you are into your buy phase already and cannot play any coppers.

There are a few exceptions:

Cards that give you an extra Buy phase, (e.g., Black Market, Villa). You can play all the Coppers you want in one Buy phase and buy Grand Market in another.
Cards that remove treasure cards in play during your Buy phase (e.g., Mint, Bonfire, Counterfeit, Mandarin). If you are able to remove Coppers after playing them (trashing them, or something else like Mandarin), they are no longer in play and you can buy a Grand Market.

Of course, additional exceptions may be created...


Paying more mana for a Flashed creature Flash says

  You may put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. If you do, sacrifice it unless you pay its mana cost reduced by up to 2.

(emphasis mine)

Does this "up to" clause mean that I can choose to Flash something and pay its full mana cost, or that it's only reduced by one?

The use of "up to" means that the discount is optional.  You can chose to have Flash's ability use a generic mana cost reduction of 0, 1, or 2.

Rules justification

The phrase "up to" is consistently used in Magic to mean you get to chose a number between 0 and the full value.  You can choose to have Abandon Reason target 0, 1, or 2 creatures.

See the ruling on Training Grounds (which has a similar cost reduction) for one defense of this:

  You may choose not to apply Training Ground’s cost reduction effect. You may also choose to apply only part of it (causing an activated ability of a creature you control to cost just {1} less to activate).

As further defense, the use of "up to" is not necessary to support cards that have less than 2 generic mana in their cost.  Magic in general does not need specific wording to prevent numbers from going negative (see 107.1b Most of the time, the Magic game uses only positive numbers and zero.).  For example, Arcane Melee and Power Artifact do not include the phrase "up to", and yet each reduces costs just fine.

Where this matters

Where the optionality of cost reduction usually matters is with cards like Prossh, Skyraider of Kher or Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge.  However, this isn't relevant here because Flash is not casting the creatures, and therefore not reducing the mana spent to casting them.  Mana burn was one of the main reasons this would matter; good thing Wizards got rid of that rule :)  For examples of when this would matter, see here: When would it be advantageous not apply Training Ground's cost reduction?


Timing of the Titans of Ul Abilities The Titans of Ul have five abilities that can all potentially trigger around activating a system:

Scanlink Drone Network [Starting Technology]: When you activate a system, you may explore 1 planet in that system which contains 1 or more of your units.

Terragenesis [Faction Ability]: After you explore a planet that does not have a sleeper token, you may place or move 1 sleeper token onto that planet.

Awaken [Faction Ability]: After you activate a system that contains 1 or more of your sleeper tokens, you may replace each of those tokens with 1 PDS from your reinforcements.

Hecatoncheires [Mech]: DEPLOY: When you would place a PDS on a planet, you may place 1 mech and 1 infantry on that planet instead

Ouranos [Flagship]: DEPLOY: After you activate a system that contains 1 or more of your PDS, you may replace 1 of those PDS with this unit.

If I activate a system with a planet with one of my ground forces, in what order do these abilities trigger and what outcomes can I get?  Does it matter whether or not I already have a sleeper token or PDS on the planet?

You may do each of the following, in order.  In these steps, "pre-existing" means it was there at the start of your activation:

Place a sleeper token on one planet that has ground forces but no sleeper token.

Convert a pre-existing PDS into your flagship.

Convert each pre-existing sleeper token into either:

A PDS
A Mech and an Infantry

If you have a planet with just an infantry, it takes 3 activations of the sector to make your flagship through this ability chain (add sleeper token -> convert sleeper token to PDS -> convert PDS to flagship).

From the Rules Reference on Timing:

If the timing of an ability uses the word “before” or “after,” the ability’s effect occurs immediately before or after the described timing event, respectively.
If the timing of an ability uses the word “when,” the ability’s effect occurs at the moment of the described timing event.  Such an ability typically modifies or replaces the timing event in some way.
Effects that occur “when” an event happens take priority over effects that occur “after” an event happens.

From this, we have the following order of triggers:

Scanlink Drone Network triggers first, which modifies "activating a system" to include an exploration of one of that system's planets.

Terragenesis would trigger next, following the completion of the exploration component of the activation of the system.  If you don't have a sleeper token, the planet would gain one.

Awaken and Ouranos trigger third, following the completion of the modified activation.  You can resolve them in either order, but given they (unfortunately) don't interact, it's always better to have Ouranos trigger first so that you don't hit your PDS limit.  Ouranos requires you to have had a PDS in the system when you activated it.  You can choose to turn one of your pre-existing PDS into your flagship.  Any PDS with Awaken this turn can't turn into your flagship because they weren't there at the start of the activation (Ouranos says "you may replace 1 of those PDS").

Awaken requires you to have had sleeper tokens on at least one planet in the system when you activated it.  You can only use Awaken on sleeper tokens  that were there at the start of your activation; tokens added by Terragenesis can't be immediately awakened because they weren't there at the start of your activation (Awaken says "you may replace each of those tokens).

For each PDS you place with Awaken, Hecatoncheires triggers, and you can replace the PDS with a Mech and an Infantry.


Do abilities interrupt transform effects? I've recently had a debate with someone on how interrupting works for transform cards. Let's say I have just played an Ulrich of the Krallenhorde, and the opponent has a Scorpion God, as well as enough mana to put as many -1/-1 counters on Ulrich to kill him. If I interrupt his using of Scorpion Gods ability to play Waxing Moon, transforming Ulrich, will Ulrichs Transform effect be interruptible by further use of Scorpion Gods ability?

Yes, your opponent will be able to kill your Ulrich.

Whenever a spell is cast, or an ability is activated, it goes on the top of the stack. When both players pass priority, the top of the stack resolves. In this case, your opponent will be able to respond to your Waxing Moon spell by activating Scorpion God, and the -1/-1 counters will be placed on Ulrich, killing him before Waxing Moon ever resolves.

The stack will look like this at each step:

Step 1; opponent activates Scorpion God's ability 4 times, targeting Ulrich:

Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter

Step 2; you respond with Waxing Moon:

Waxing Moon
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter

Step 3; your opponent responds by activating Scorpion God's ability 4 times:

Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Waxing Moon
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter
Ulrich gets a -1/-1 counter

Then, if neither of you do anything else, the stack will resolve from top to bottom. 4 steps down, Ulrich will go to the graveyard for having 0 toughness. Then Waxing Moon will be countered because it has no legal target (Ulrich is in the graveyard now). Then each of the 4 original activated abilities will be countered because they have no legal target.


Game of Thrones: Declaring a March to various adjacent territories at the same time Consider the following scenario in Game of Thrones Board Game:

I am playing with the green pieces.

QUESTION 1. Can I march with two units onto area C first, apply the combat, and after that decide whether or not I will march with the third unit to B? In other words, can I wait for the combat result to decide what will I do with the rest of my units in A?

QUESTION 2. If it's the case that I can't wait for the combat result, and I must declare everything at once, can I wait for the combat result to decide whether or not I will put a power token on area A?

Motivation of the questions: if possible, for optimal strategy, I would like to attack the blue player first, and depending on the result, I would decide whether or not I want to march with the third unit to B. Also, I would like to be able to decide whether or not to spend a power token on area A after seeing the combat result, because if I lose the combat my pieces would retreat to A and a power token would be unneccssary.

Answer 1 "Before resolving combat, all other non-combat movement from
the area assigned the March Order must be completed." GoT second edition rule book, page 15, 7th bullet point.

Answer 2 It is not the case.   "If a playerleaves an area vacant before initiating combat , he must decide whether or not to establish control of the area before combat begins" GoT second edition rule book, page 24, 4th paragrqph of "establishing control of an area"


What does Will of the Council do with 2 Players? Will of the Council -- Starting with you, each player votes for X. The X with the most votes does YZ.

What happens when you have only two players, therefore making it in some cases impossible for there to be a larger amount of votes than the other?

For example, Council's Judgement:

Will of the Council -- Starting with you, each player votes for a nonland permanent you don't control. Exile each permanent with the most votes or tied for the most votes. With two players, one might for one permanent, and the other for another permanent. What happens then?

The card itself states what to do in the case of a tie. In the example of Council's Judgement, it says "or tied for the most votes". This means that if 2 different permanents gets 1 vote each, then both of them will be exiled because they both are tied for the most votes.

This is not only an issue in 2 players, but could occur with any number of players.


How do I determine a character's probability to escape from combat in DungeonQuest (third edition)? I have 4 cards with the following numbers on them: 1, 2, 3, 4.

My opponent has 4 cards with the following numbers on them: 2, 3, 4, 6.

We both randomly draw a card from our decks, if my number is equal to or higher than my opponent's I will escape successfully. What is my probability of escaping? Please show how you arrived at the proper answer. Thanks!

The decks here are small enough that we can explicitly list out all the possibilities:

your draw, opponent's draw
1, 2
1, 3
1, 4
1, 6
2, 2 *
2, 3
2, 4
2, 6
3, 2 *
3, 3 *
3, 4
3, 6
4, 2 *
4, 3 *
4, 4 *
4, 6

I've put an * next to all combinations which result in you escaping. As you can see there are 6 of those out of 16 total. Since each pair of draws in the list is equally likely, your probability of escaping is just 6/16 (which is 3/8 or 37.5%).

If you're trying to do this kind of calculation in the middle of a game (i.e. quickly and in your head), you may want to solve it slightly differently. First of all, we can tell that there will be 16 pairs in the list without actually listing them out, just by multiplying the deck sizes (4*4). After that you only have to count the ways to escape, which you can do by seeing how many cards each of yours beats: your 1 doesn't beat any (0), your 2 wins against their 2 (1), and so on for your 3 (2), and your 4 (3), for 0+1+2+3=6 ways of escaping.


Canfield solitaire: moving partial sequences According to the Wikipedia description of Canfield, "cards on the tableau are also moved one unit, provided that the entire column has to be moved". In other words, this suggests that if you move a sequence of cards from one column to another, that sequence must constitute the entire column being moved, rather than an arbitrary number of cards from the bottom of a column.

However, I can't find any other reference to this restriction. In other books of card games I have referenced, they seem to imply simply that arbitrary valid sequences can be moved from one column to another. Can anybody provide a source for the more restrictive version of the rule mentioned in the Wikipedia article?

(My question is hence similar to this question referring to movement in Klondike, but applied to Canfield.)

Bicycle cards lists the more restrictive rule.

Building
Any movable card or cards (from tableau, reserve, or stock) may be placed only on a card next-higher in rank and of opposite color in the tableau. Example: The  8♥ may be placed on  9♣ or  9♠. An entire pile of the tableau must be moved as a unit.

Boardgames.about.com also lists the more restrictive rule.
To move cards from one tableau pile to another, you may only move the entire pile.


MTG Graveyard casting with 'X' costs I play a Goblin Dark-Dwellers and its ability targets a Tempt with Vengeance. From what I read I would assume it would be legal and I may cast it from the graveyard, but I may choose X to be 2 as its cast since I choose the value of X when I cast it. Or would it rather see the card when it is in the graveyard as a 0 and force me to play it out with X being 0?

My friends tell me that it would be a 0 but I insist that when it allows me to cast I may choose for it to be 0, 1 or 2 (as long as the CMC is less than 3 overall). Is this wrong of me to believe or is it correct?

X will be zero

  When Goblin Dark-Dwellers enters the battlefield, you may cast target instant or sorcery card with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard without paying its mana cost. If that card would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.

You are casting it from your graveyard, but you don't pay its mana cost. In that case, zero must be chosen for X.

from Goblin Dark-Dwellers on Gatherer

  1/22/2016: If the instant or sorcery card has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as its value.


How do the various expansions for Arkham Horror change the game? In what order would you recommend buying them? Currently there are 7 different expansions for Arkham Horror, and I'm need some advice as which to buy.

How does each expansion change the game?
What new components does it offer?
In what order and in what circumstances would you recommend buying it?

Feel free to list whatever information you can on the expansions you have, as I realize that very few people will have 7. :D

I'll list the expansions in the order they were released, and give you some basic information and my experiences with them.

Curse of the Dark Pharaoh - The first expansion, a "small box" expansion that just adds new cards.  Out of all of the expansions, this one (currently) adds the smallest amount to the game.  It adds a few new mechanics in the Exhibit Items (which are a different class of Unique Items), being able to be locked out of a neighbourhood, and the benefits and detriments.  There's a revised version coming out during the summer of 2011, so if you were planning on getting it, you may want to consider waiting until then, as it will completely replace the old version.
Dunwich Horror - This was the first "big box" expansion that adds to the board.  It also adds 8 new investigators, 4 new Ancient Ones, and some new mechanics (Injuries and Madnesses, conditions, Vortex Spaces, Stalkers) and monsters and whatnot.  It's a pretty fun expansion, in my opinion.  The Dunwich Horror itself is a fun encounter, and the new location fits in well and adds to the board well.
The King in Yellow - Another "small box."  It adds Heralds (which are kind of like mini-Ancient Ones that add debuffs or other challenges to the game, you know, if things are going to easy for you) and persistent Magical Effects.  It also adds Blights, and has a cool Acts and Yellow Sign mechanics, which can really amp up the intensity of the game.
Kingsport Horror - A "big box" that adds to the game board again, and also comes with new investigators and Ancient Ones.  It also includes some new mechanics, like Rift gates (movable Gates), Epic Battles (which are cards that add a little more structure and excitement to battles with the Ancient Ones), and Guardians (the opposite of Heralds, these provide mechanics and buffs to help the investigators).  While I like the Guardians and the Epic Battles, Kingsport itself is incredibly annoying.  You pretty much have to have at least one investigator up there, running around doing the equivalent of busywork to keep Rifts from popping up keeping it under control.
The Black Goat of the Woods - A "small box" expansion that introduces Difficulty cards (things too easy last time?  Play at a harder difficulty as described by these cards), Corruption (effects triggered by other effects in the game, like monster movement), and Cult encounters.  You can even join the cult.  I wasn't a big fan of this box, but I know a lot of other players love it.  I just didn't find it really added anything to the game.
Innsmouth Horror - This is my favourite expansion.  It's a "big box" that adds to the board, as well as adding new investigators, a whole whack of Ancient Ones (8), two more Heralds, the aquatic movement mechanic, and Personal Stories, which are a lot of fun.  They're kind of meta-game missions for each character that can add some cool mechanics or enhance a character if successfully completed... or really hinder a character if failed.  They can detract from the main goal of the game, however, so you have to be careful.  Innsmouth is an interesting place with its own mechanics that don't feel like busywork like Kingsport.  The Ancient Old ones here are also quite interesting, with their own mechanics and challenges.
The Lurker at the Threshold - The latest "small box" expansion, this adds Gate tokens with new mechanics that replace the existing Gates in the game, Relationship cards which can change how your investigator relates to the other investigators in the game (in both positive and negative ways), and the Lurker at the Threshold herald, who can be a help or a hinderance.  He likes to help you succeed at casting spells... but there may be a price to pay.  If you don't tend to play spell casters, it's also completely ignorable.

Spring 2011 will see the release of the Miskatonic Horror expansion, which is a big box expansion that adds to all of the other expansions.

As for which to get, if you can only get a few, I'd recommend Innsmouth Horror, the King in Yellow, and Kingsport Horror, if only for the Epic Battles.

I have all of the expansions to date, and have played them all pretty extensively (except for the Black Goat of the Woods), and they all have their pros and cons.  I would starts with those three, however.  You can play with all of the expansions at once, but be prepared that you will have a lot of things to keep track of.  Not to mention that you'd need a very large table and that the balance would require a large number of investigators.


Early to mid 70's 2-player maze race game - What was the name? It's not Pathfinder.
This one came with a vertical red plastic board that had pegs on half of each side with which you would build a maze using several dozen white "T"-shaped blocks placed between 2 pegs. When your maze was complete, you would close the clear plastic door, covering the whole playing field, to lock the pegs in place. Your opponent did the same thing on their side.  The other half of your board was the back of the other player's maze and you had a magnetic tool that you used to pick up a steel ball from the bottom of the playing area and blindly navigate their maze until you hit a block and the ball fell. Then it was the other person't turn.  Your maze had to have a navigable path to a hole in the board, near the top, that, if you successfully solved the maze, you would retrieve the ball bearing through. First one to do so, won the game.

It sounds like you're talking about Mind Maze.


What happens when each player has to draw a card with no cards left in their library? So I was wondering, if all players had no cards in their library and you cast a card like Skyscribing that makes everyone draw a card, does this make the game a draw  or is there a draw order and one person wins?

I think it has the same order as resolving like Living Death but I would like to get this cleared.

It's a draw.
A player does not lose immediately when drawing a card from an empty library:

704.5b If a player attempted to draw a card from a library with no cards in it since the last time state-based actions were checked, that player loses the game.

State-based actions are not checked until after Skyscribing resolves completely:

704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (see rule 117, “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.
117.2e Resolving spells and abilities may instruct players to make choices or take actions, or may allow players to activate mana abilities. Even if a player is doing so, no player has priority while a spell or ability is resolving. See rule 608, “Resolving Spells and Abilities.”

State-based actions will make all players lose the game, and 104.4 applies in that situation:

104.4. There are several ways for the game to be a draw.
104.4a If all the players remaining in a game lose simultaneously, the game is a draw.

So it's a draw. (Unless one of the players has an effect akin to Obstinate Familiar, in which case they win the game as the only surviving player.)


Does Prophet of Kruphix apply to Planeswalker abilities that create creatures? The Prophet of Kruphix has the ability

  You may cast creature cards as if they had flash.

Does this apply to the Loyalty ability

  Put three 1/1 white soldier creature tokens onto the battlefield

of the Planeswalker Elspeth, Sun's Champion?

No, there's no overlap here at all, for two reasons.

Elspeth doesn't involve casting creature cards. What goes on there has nothing to do with the process of casting creature cards.
Even if it did, you don't have anything that lets you use Planeswalker loyalty abilities on other peoples' turns.

Casting a creature card is the process you go through to put Prophet of Kruphix on the battlefield in the first place:

You take it from your hand.
You pay its costs.
The spell goes on the stack. (It's a creature spell, because the card has the creature type.)

That's the casting part. Hopefully, it doesn't get countered. When the spell resolves, the creature lands on the battlefield.

Sometimes it's a little different: a card with Flashback (Ancient Grudge) can be cast from your graveyard rather than your hand. A card with Cipher (Paranoid Delusions) has a free copy cast of it sometimes. But the process is still the same: the creature, or the spell, goes on the stack.

Elspeth's ability isn't the same thing. It's a loyalty ability and it's that ability that goes on the stack. When it resolves, it puts some creature tokens on the battlefield. The ability is used, but a spell isn't cast. Also, the tokens may get represented by physical cards, but they're still tokens and don't count as cards.


Can I exile my opponent's Progenitus/True-Name Nemesis with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria's emblem? Teferi, Hero of Dominaria's emblem says:

  You get an emblem with "Whenever you draw a card, exile target permanent an opponent controls."

Progenitus and True-Name Nemesis both have protection from "everything" opponent controls, which would presumably include planeswalker emblems. However emblems are unusual things - they're not permanents and survive a "Destroy all permanents" effect, have no colour even though the planeswalker creating them can have colors, etc, so I'm asking this question to make sure.

You cannot exile Progenitus or True-Name Nemesis.

"Protection from everything" has a specific meaning in the rules:

  702.16j “Protection from everything” is a variant of the protection ability. A permanent with protection from everything has protection from each object regardless of that object’s characteristic values. Such a permanent can’t be targeted by spells or abilities, enchanted by Auras, equipped by Equipment, fortified by Fortifications, or blocked by creatures, and all damage that would be dealt to it is prevented.

So nothing at all can target Progenitus.

"Protection from [a player] also is specifically defined:

  702.16k “Protection from [a player]” is a variant of the protection ability. A permanent with protection from a specific player has protection from each object the player controls and protection from each object the player owns not controlled by another player, regardless of that object’s characteristic values. Such a permanent can’t be targeted by spells or abilities the player controls, enchanted by Auras the player controls, equipped by Equipment the player controls, fortified by Fortifications the player controls, or blocked by creatures the player controls, and all damage that would be dealt to it by sources controlled by the player or owned by the player but not controlled by another player is prevented.

Whether created by an emblem or not; the controller of the emblem is the controller of the triggered ability; so it cannot target True-Name Nemesis if that player was chosen.


Can a Zooloretto Enclosure Score Money if Filled Via Enclosure w/ Breeding? In the rules for Zooloretto it states that you won't collect money for filling an enclosure through the "exchange" action. It also states that animals of opposite sex will not breed in the barn. If you exchange one type of animal enclosure with another type of animal from the barn (which happens to include the breeding-ready couple), would you receive the coin bonus? My interpretation is that the breeding happens after the exchange, so you would get the bonus, but this is not spelled out in the actual rules. Does anyone have a definite answer on how this situation is scored?

As a side-note, the iOS version of this game would be no help in seeing how the computer scores the situation, as it incorrectly does not let you exchange animals out of the barn (the rules clearly state that you can).

It's a good question: the rules state that pairs united by an exchange DO breed; and that you DO NOT collect money for filling an enclosure through an exchange action.  It really comes down to whether exchanging-then-breeding counts as "filling an enclosure through an exchange action", or whether the breeding is really subsequent to and distinct from the exchange action.

My gut reaction was that, sure, it's a bit ambiguous, but why not give the benefit of the doubt, don't be cheap, dish out some money.  Fortunately, I managed to find a passage in the rules that proves my gut is an idiot:

  Exception: NO bonus is awarded when
  all enclosure spaces are filled as a
  result of an exchange. There is also
  NO bonus awarded if an offspring
  produced by the exchange fills the
  last space.

So there you have it!  (Incidentally, I found a useful combined rules pdf online here: http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/48p5z9a045/Zooloretto.pdf?)  You're welcome!


In Elder Sign, can I use Jenny Barnes' ability to discard a spell when the mythos lingering effect bars investigators from using spells? Can I use Jenny's ability to discard a spell to gain the dice, because discarding is not the same as 'using' a spell?

Yes.  Special effects that refer to discarding a card do not count as using the card.


Are there times when a hand with a seven card suit is too strong for a three level pre-empt? Partner opened with 3 spades (pre-empt). I passed with (s) xx (h) KQx (d) KQxx (c) AJxx.

That's because I was expecting something like the following (with or without the side jacks):

(s) KQxxxxx (h) Jxx (d) Jx (c) x.

Partner's spade suit was actually AKQxxxx, with the other suits as listed above. So we missed a cold game in spades or possibly no trump.

I said, "You had eleven high card points. That, together with your distributional strength was an opening hand. Opposite my (better than) opening hand, that meant game."

She said, "I bid three to show you may seven card suit."

I said, "That's not nearly as important as your high card strength. Your length will become clear when you rebid."

Was I right to pass, in expectation of the weaker version of her hand, given that three spades is quite high? Should partner have bid one spade if she didn't want me to pass her out with my 15 points?

An opening bid of 3 spades shows a somewhat weak hand with 7 spades. A hand like AKJxxxx Ax xx Qx would certainly never open 3S. Partner's hand in first or second seat is worth a 1S opening in my book; it's certainly better than any balanced 12-count. In third seat I might open 3S, since game is unlikely (partner is a passed hand) and LHO might have a good hand and guess wrong about how to proceed.

Personally I would have risked a game bid with your hand, at least at some forms of scoring (eg vulnerable at IMPs). Game is a good bet if partner shows up with the hand you expected. You'll expect a loser in hearts and diamonds, with some chances of shaking a club loser or two on the red suits. You'll run into a bad time if partner had a spade suit headed by the KJ and nothing outside, so when your side has favorable vulnerability, the raise to game may be ill-advised.


Is playing against an opponent's known "misbids" a good way to defend against a contract? Neither side vulnerable at rubber, South opens one spade. (He claims to subscribe to five card majors, three card minors, and strong 1NT but not "Flannery." He's also probably capable of  "psyching.")
I (West) pass with (s)JT8xx (h) Kxx (d) Kxx (c) Kx. (All x's are 7 or lower.)
North bids three spades. South alerts "Bergen raise." That means that North has exactly four spades, but has less than six points non-vulnerable. He may have zero. (If he had six, he would have raised to two spades.) All pass. East does not have the 12 hcps he needs for a takeout double, nor the good six card suit he needs for an overcall.
South and North clearly aren't 5-4 in spades, and I believe that South is bidding "Bergen" style; that is treating AKQx as better than a weak five card suit (e.g. Qxxxx) because of his high sequence. This would also imply more than minimum values (15+ hcps). Put another way, I have no reason to believe that North doesn't have four spades and that South has five.
My inclination is to lead the J of spades, because South has fewer spades than his bidding implied (and was unlucky to run into a 5-0 split). Does such a lead make sense?

Assuming no psych bid: South has a balanced hand with 12+ to 14 HCP presumed to include Spade AKQ for his 4-card holding. That leaves very little room for additional values in his hand. With a presumed (23) or (33) holding in the minors the likely reason to have not opened one of those, planning a rebid in NT, is that they are both bare of high cards.
It's Rubber Bridge so I'm leading the Club K expecting to find partner with a good (45)  or (53) holding in the minors with at least 4 Clubs. We will strip South of his side suit exits and make him give me my two Spade tricks. I'm looking for a 2 or 3 trick set here, and at dinner Partner and I will discuss the value of voids in Opener's suit, and why we didn't get 500 or 800 on this hand.
I can only ever lead Spades from my hand safely once; and I need to save that in case I get endplayed later in the hand. So I'm not leading Spades on Trick One.


In Seven-Wonders Can I buy resources that were built by my neighbors this turn? In 7 Wonders, you do a lot of building things and purchasing resources from your neighbors. Naturally, you cannot purchase resources that aren't actually there.

However, sometimes you run into a situation where you attempt to build a building that requires a resource that isn't available right now, but it just so happens someone also built the resource that turn.

In such a case, is it possible to purchase the resource from that player?

Times this would happen:

You were going to build something from your left neighbor, but you have a discount from the one on the right and hey they happened to build it this turn!
I want to try and build a thing that I can't afford, hoping my neighbor will build something. If not, I'll just discard for cash instead.

Semi-duplicate of an earlier question of mine: Timing Rules in Seven Wonders...

The consensus we seemed to come to then was that, no, you can't build something with a neighbour's resources that have come into play that turn.

If it helps to clarify the order that things go in, I recommend doing it this way: everyone reveals their card, which is not yet in play.  Then everyone pays the costs of their revealed cards (buying resources from neighbours if necessary).  Then the revealed cards are put into play, and any resulting gold bonuses are added to players' treasuries.

It's a bit "Magic the Gathering" (and possibly a bit anal!) to break everything down into discrete phases in this way, but I think it makes it a lot easier to visualise what's happening, when people are still hazy on the precise timing rules...


What happens after using Spinal Embrace on a Theros God? Spinal Embrace:

  Cast Spinal Embrace only during combat. Untap target creature you
  don't control and gain control of it. It gains haste until end of
  turn. At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice it. If you do,
  you gain life equal to its toughness.

Phenax, God of Deception

  As long as your devotion to blue and black is less than seven, Phenax
  isn't a creature.

If I have Phenax in play, and my opponent plays Spinal Embrace targeting it, and then gains control of it, but does not have enough devotion to make Phenax a creature, what happens? Do they gain control of Phenax permanently?

Your opponent will gain control of Phenax, then at the end of your turn they will sacrifice it and gain zero life.

When Spinal Embrace resolves, it creates two continuous effects:

You control that Phenax.
Phenax gains haste until end of turn.

and a delayed triggered ability:

  At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice Phenax. If you do, you gain life equal to its toughness.

So, right after Spinal Embrace resolves, your opponent controls Phenax and it has haste. Then, at the beginning of the next end step, the delayed triggered ability triggers and they sacrifice Phenax. Then they gain life equal to its toughness. However, rule 302.4 says

  Power and toughness are characteristics only creatures have.

and rule 107.2 says

  If anything needs to use a number that can't be determined, either as a result or in a calculation, it uses 0 instead.

When you sacrifice Phenax, it is not a creature, so it doesn't have a toughness. So, they gain zero life.


Does the old Howling Mine have an erratum? There appears to be two sets of card text on Howling Mine, depending on when it was printed. Do they function exactly the same? Or does the old one not matter if it is tapped or not.

Different printings of cards all work exactly the same way. The functionality of a card is determined by its Oracle text, which can be found on Gatherer (rule 108.1). For example, the Gatherer entry for Howling Mine says that the card text is

  At the beginning of each player's draw step, if Howling Mine is untapped, that player draws an additional card.

You can see in your image that the old printing of Howling Mine has the type "Continuous Artifact". At the time, that meant that the card would only work while it was untapped. Since then, they have gotten rid of that type, and made the functional aspect explicit in the card text. This is why two printings have different card text.

In general, you can find many cards with text that has been updated over time to keep up with revisions in the rules. No matter what printing you have, the functionality is determined by the current Oracle text on Gatherer.


Do Evolutions combine, for example Breath of Doom, Mecha Blast, and Claws of Steel? Breath of Doom is a Permanent Evolution that says:

  If you attack Tokyo, deal 1 damage to all other Monsters not in Tokyo.

Mecha Blast is a Temporary Evolution that says:

  Discard this Evolution to deal 2 extra damage.

Claws of Steel is a Permanent Evolution that says:

  Deal one extra damage on a turn in which you dealt 3 or more damage.

Starting with some poorly worded terms, Damage means: Lose [Heart]. It is unclear if Claws of Steel could be used in a 4 player game when Meka Dragon is in Tokyo and rolls a single [Claw] (since you are dealing 1 damage to 3 Monsters), or if it requires dealing 3 damage to a single source. I believe the correct answer is the latter.

Can you reveal all three of these Evolutions during a turn where you attack Tokyo with a single [Claw], and if you do, what is the result?

(Example: Do you deal 1 damage to Tokyo and with Breath of Doom 1 damage to all other Monsters, discard Mecha Blast to deal 2 more damage to Tokyo and all other Monsters, and Claws of Steel makes all Monsters take an additional 1 damage. Final Result: 4 damage to all other Monsters, or does the additional 2 damage from Mecha Blast not hit the Monsters outside of Tokyo?)

If not specifically stated as with Breath of Doom, the term deal X damage always translates to

  Deal X damage to all target monsters and each monster that has taken damage from you this turn.

If you're in Tokyo, this means your target is all monsters outside of it. If you are attacking Tokyo, your target is all monster inside of Tokyo (Bay included). In case you have dealt damage to monsters that are not your target, they will also take extra damage from these modifiers.

And vice versa, the translation of "you dealt X or more damage" is

  All of the monsters that you targeted have taken X or more damage originating from your number of rolled claws, damage from cards and damage from power-ups.

So, if you're in Tokyo, you need to have at least dealt X damage to all monsters outside of Tokyo. This can be important because there are cards that affect only your neighbours.

This is how the total damage is counted after each effect in your example:

You roll a single claw.

  Total DMG: 1: Only the monsters in Tokyo are affected

Use Breath of Doom.

  Total DMG: 1: because the only monsters affected by Breath of Doom are the ones outside of Tokyo, hence not your target

Use Mecha Blast.

  Total DMG: 3: At this point you've already attacked all other monsters, so all other monsters take extra damage. In case you wouldn't have played Breath of Doom, only the monster(s) in Tokyo would have taken 2 damage!

Play Claws of Steel.

  Total DMG: 4: The same reasoning as in the previous step.


What is the origins and evolutionary track of Go game? I didn't find any source explaining the "origins" or "evolution", rather than just history of Go.

Book and article suggestions would also be helpful.

The following book has information on the origins and history of Go, as well as describing how to play it and explaining some strategy:

https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Game-Peter-Shotwell/dp/080483475X


Bang! Fistful and Boots What happens with fistful and boots? Do you draw for the hits from fistful between the hits?

Boots (1 stock, 3 cost, black border) For each lost life point, you draw 1 card from deck.

A Fistful of Cards: at the beginning of his turn, each player is the target of as many Bang! as the number of cards in his hand.

Each bang is coming in as a separate event so you will draw a card each time you take damage.  Just like if you had a barrel and you would flip for each one.  Also if you are playing the character with the same ability as boots you would draw for each one.


What are the differences between Deadlands: Doomtown and Doomtown: Reloaded? On first glance, Doomtown: Reloaded (2014) looks pretty similar to Deadlands: Doomtown (1998) and they are both published by AEG. What differences are there between each other? Are they compatible?

Both games are indeed similar. They are both set in the Deadlands universe (although Doomtown: Reloaded does not explicitly say it, despite there being obvious signs such as Harrowed, Hucksters, and other references to the setting). Both have the basic mechanics of cards having playing card values and the need to control locations while managing ghost rock. And both have an ongoing story that is in continuity with the other.

The big difference between the two is that Deadlands: Doomtown was packaged as a collectible card game. Doomtown: Reloaded on the other hand is what AEG calls an "Expandable Card Game", which is exactly the same as a Fantasy Flight Games' "Living Card Game" (Fantasy Flight Games trademarked the term, so AEG had to come up with something different). Instead of having booster packs, new sets have 4 copies of every card in them, so you don't need to scour for that one card you need.

As for actual rules differences, the core gameplay is the same, but there are a number of important differences. A fanmade compilation of the rules differences is pretty exhaustive. A few highlights:

  Decks can only have 4 cards of the same suit and value.
  Dude and deed Uniqueness only applies to your own gang.  Different crews can have the same dude or deed in play.
  If you equip more than one weapon or horse the previous weapon or steed are discarded.
  Skills checks are now equal to or greater, instead of just greater than the target number.
  Aced dudes no longer have their gear sent to boot hill.  It is discarded instead.
  When resolving shootouts, a dude can be discarded for 1 rank difference in casualties, and aced for 2 rank difference.  If they are harrowed, they can be sent home booted for 1 rank difference, discarded for 2 and aced for 3.
  Bounties can be increased beyond 1 ghost rock, and anybody with a bounty is considered wanted (if the amount is reduced to 0, they are no longer wanted)
  Law Dogs (or any other faction) are no longer able to boot to remove bounty
  Card memory no longer exists (i.e. once a card is out of play, all effects on it, including permanent effects, are removed and not added back if the card is returned to play)
  The player with the most influence no longer draws an extra card at Nightfall (now called Sundown)
  Fear level no longer exists
  Events no longer exist.

There are also a number of new mechanics, such as Grifters, which allow you to activate their ability at the start of the game if they are in your starting posse. For instance, the Grifter in the base set can boot to shuffle your starting hand into your deck and draw 5 more cards (this ability can only be used once at the start of the game).

You may also notice that there are some general paradigm shifts in Doomtown: Reloaded. For instance, a developer diary explained that it was intentional that there are so few Out of Town locations (basically, the Out of Town "landslide" deck that was used often in Deadlands: Doomtown became too powerful and too difficult to contest, since movement was restricted).

Despite the similarities, the two card sets are not intended to be played with each other and the tournament rules explicitly state that you cannot use Deadlands: Doomtown cards with Doomtown: Reloaded. That said, it probably is possible to mix them, so long as you remove any cards that contradict with any new rules.


Smash Up: Microbot Fixer + Microbot Alpha The Microbot Fixer has the ability:

  If this is the first minion you played this turn, you may play an extra minion. Ongoing: Each of your Microbots gains +1 power.

If the Microbot Fixer is already in play, can I play the Microbot Alpha with its ability:

  Ongoing : Gains +1 power for each of your other Microbots. All of your minions are considered Microbots.

to boost the power of my other non-robot/non-Microbot cards in play?

Put another way, does the phrase "All of your minions are considered Microbots" affect my other cards (by modifying them into Microbots, allowing them to benefit from the +1 fixer ability), or does it only serve to guide the calculation of the Microbot Alpha's final power?

All your minions gain +1 power, because they are all Microbots.
From the FAQ,

Q: When a card makes all of your minions microbots, and further then gives all of your microbots strength bonuses, is the effect only local to the base those cards are located or are those effects global?
A: If the text does not reference “on this base” or “at this base” then it is global.

Additionally, the rules explain how to handle Ongoing abilities. Since both the Alpha Microbot and Microbot Fixer's effect are active as long as it is in play, all your Minions are Microbots and they all gain +1 Power, and the Alpha gets an additional bonus equal to the number of other Minions.

Ongoing: Most abilities happen, and then they're over. Ongoing abilities are active for as long as they're in play.


What does it mean that only permanents are legal targets for spells or abilities? I just noticed rule 114.2 in the comprehensive rules:

  114.2 Only permanents are legal targets for spells and abilities, unless a spell or ability (a) specifies that it can target an object in another zone or a player, (b) targets an object that can't exist on the battlefield, such as a spell or ability, or (c) targets a zone.

Is it not true that every spell or ability that targets also says in the text of the spell or ability what things it must target? Is there a situation in which something is not a legal target, but would be if rule 114.2 didn't exist? It seems to be like that rule could just as easily say "only creature cards in graveyards are legal targets for spells and abilities, unless a spell or ability specifies that it can target an object in another zone."

In other words, legal targets are always defined on the spell or ability itself, so what does this rule mean? How are permanents any more "targetable" than anything else?

Consider a creature like Nectar Faerie. It says

  {B}, {T}: Target Faerie or Elf gains lifelink until end of turn.

Now we know that spells can have lifelink, as per Soulfire Grand Master.

And we also know that there could be Faerie Tribal spells, such as Faerie Trickery.

This rule exists to clarify things like... "You could not use Nectar Faerie to give Faerie Trickery lifelink because it doesn't specifically say you can".


Can I keep on pumping Phyrexian Devourer? Can I keep activating activated abilities as Phyrexian Devourer goes past 7 power? In theory, could I keep activating it and then follow up with a Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord sacrifice ability targeting the Phyrexian Devourer?

Yes, you can achieve what you want by activating Phyrexian Devourer's second ability and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord's second ability in response to Phyrexian Devourer's first ability.

Most abilities trigger when when an event occurs. This one is different.

  603.8. Some triggered abilities trigger when a game state (such as a player controlling no permanents of a particular card type) is true, rather than triggering when an event occurs. These abilities trigger as soon as the game state matches the condition. They’ll go onto the stack at the next available opportunity. These are called state triggers. (Note that state triggers aren’t the same as state-based actions.) A state-triggered ability doesn’t trigger again until the ability has resolved, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack. Then, if the object with the ability is still in the same zone and the game state still matches its trigger condition, the ability will trigger again.
  Example: A permanent’s ability reads, “Whenever you have no cards in hand, draw a card.” If its controller plays the last card from his or her hand, the ability will trigger once and won’t trigger again until it has resolved. If its controller casts a spell that reads “Discard your hand, then draw that many cards,” the ability will trigger during the spell’s resolution because the player’s hand was momentarily empty.

Because Phyrexian Devourer's first ability won't go on stack as long as it's already on the stack, you can freely activate its second ability as many times as you want in response to its first ability.

Activate Phyrexian Devourer's second ability.
Let it resolve.

Phyrexian Devourer gains +1/+1 counters.

[...]
Activate Phyrexian Devourer's second ability.
Let it resolve.

Phyrexian Devourer gains +1/+1 counters.

Phyrexian Devourer's first ability triggers.

Place Phyrexian Devourer's first ability on the stack and retain priority.
Activate Phyrexian Devourer's second ability (in response to its first).
Let it resolve.

Phyrexian Devourer gains +1/+1 counters.

[...]
Activate Phyrexian Devourer's second ability (in response to its first).
Let it resolve.

Phyrexian Devourer gains +1/+1 counters.

[...]
Activate Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord second ability (in response to Phyrexian Devourer's first).
Let it resolve.

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord causes your opponents to lose a bucktetload of life.

Let Phyrexian Devourer's first ability resolve.

It does nothing.


MTG: Mutavault - how does it work? How does this card work?
How do you effectively play this card?
What happens when it gets killed as a creature?
What makes this card so expensive?

http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=152724

The card works in much the same way as other "Manland" type cards. You pay the activation cost, it becomes a 2/2 creature with all creature types, and for the rest of the turn it behaves exactly as if it was a 2/2 colourless Llanowar elves (NOTE: this includes summoning sickness. As long as its just a land you can tap it for mana as you could a regular land. If you turn it into a creature straight after playing it however, it has summoning sickness and you CANNOT tap it for mana).

You effectively play this card by utilising its attacking abilities at the right times, it is essentially a "free creature" at the cost (which can be a benefit) of turning it into a creature for 1 mana per turn.

The fact that it starts out and reverts to a land makes it safe from sorcery speed removal much of the time, the fact that it is all creature types makes it very potent in some tribal decks (legacy/modern merfolk), and the fact that it acts as a land until the point that you need it to be a creature makes your deck much more stable for casting expensive spells.

If it dies as a creature, it dies. Note that spells that say "target non-land permanent" can't target it, it may be a creature, but its still a land. It doesn't revert to being a land if it dies, it goes to the graveyard just like anything else.

The card is expensive because of it's proven track record, and it is a very powerful example of a man land due to its low activation cost and positive tribal interactions. Merfolk decks will commonly activate this as a 4/4 or 5/5 creature.


Do you have to pay the mana cost for cards exiled with Muse Vessel? Muse Vessel reads as follows:

{3}, {T}: Target player exiles a card from their hand. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
{1}: Choose a card exiled with Muse Vessel. You may play that card this turn.

If the card exiled is a nonland card, do I have to pay its mana cost?

Yes, you do.
From the comprehensive rules (emphasis mine):

701.13b To play a card means to play that card as a land or to cast that card as a spell, whichever is appropriate.
701.4a To cast a spell is to take it from the zone it’s in (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

Muse Vessel lets you play the card, which equates to casting a spell, but does not change the requirement to pay the cost for the spell.


Opening bids with no long suits My partner and I play a strong NT and 5 card Majors. However, we're unsure how to open strong hands with no long suits.

For example, how do we open a 4432 hand with 16-19 high card points or 20-22 high card points?

How do we open 4441 hands with 16 or more high card points?

4432, 5332, and 4333 shapes are all balanced, and should be bid as such. It is my sense that these days, it is common to open 1NT even with a 5-card major, although it is not universal. Pairs with weak 1NT openers are less likely to open a 5-card major with 1NT because they have a different set of methods than pairs with strong NT openers.

In America these days, a "strong no trump" implies a 15-17 HCP range for 1NT openers, so you'd open a 4432 like so:

With 12-14 HCP, open a minor and plan to rebid 1NT.
With 15-17 HCP, open 1NT.
With 18-19 HCP, open a minor and plan to jump to 2NT.
With 20-21 HCP, open 2NT.

4441 is the hardest shape to bid, since systems are mostly not built with them in mind. My preference is to open the lowest 4-card suit. With 16+ (not counting any singleton honor), you can splinter if partner bids one of your suits. If your short suit is spades or clubs, you can rebid 2H (slightly lying about your shape) when partner bids your singleton. If your short suit is diamonds or hearts, with 17-19 you'll have to rebid 2NT, and with 20-22 you'll have to jump to 2S when partner bids your singleton.


What do you do with unused well tiles after your turn? What do you do with the tiles you pick up from the well and can't use? I know they count against you, but do they go back into the well or do they stay into your hand?

They stay in your hand. I'm not sure if there are any official rules available online, but the drawing-from-a-common-pile mechanism, shared by many games (e.g. Scrabble, but also Ticket to Ride) permanently puts tiles/cards in your hand. If it were differently for Triominos, the rules would explicitly mention this.


Strategies and kingdom cards for a strong opening in Dominion? Dominion is a game of widely varying strategies and paths toward victory. But the most important part of any winning strategy is a strong opening.

How can I tell if a kingdom card is a good opening card?
What are some of the best cards to buy in your first 4-6 turns?
What are some good tactics for getting to your later game strategy as soon as possible?

This question discusses evaluating kingdom sets in general., and this discusses general tactics. This is sort of a combination of both, focusing on openings. :D

Good cards to buy early:

Chapel: this is close to a must-buy if it is on the board.
Sea Hag: another almost must-buy so that you don't fall behind on curses. It's less valuable in a multiplayer game (because if everyone else is firing it, the curses will run out quickly, and then it just takes up space in your deck).
Ambassador: functionally trashing your deck while bloating your opponent with bad cards. Ambassador/Silver/Ambassador can be a devastating opening.
Militia: especially in 3+ player games, this is brutal. Less effective if a Library is on the board.
Moneylender: trashing + accelerating you to 5/6 coin cards. But, it can potentially clog your deck in the mid/endgame.
Envoy / Smithy: these cards accelerate the entire game. Big Money buys 4 provinces in 17 turns, on average. Purchasing one of these cards lowers that to 14.5 turns.
Cutpurse: also deadly in multiplayer games, but still great for slowing your opponent early. Less valuable as an attack late in the game, but it's still worth a Silver if you have actions to burn.
Trading Post: if you open 5/2, this is a great card because it trashes your junk into silvers, which also allows you to save your initial buys for non-treasure cards.
Mining Village: trash early for a 5/6 coin hand.
Baron: useful early for an easy 4 coin. Can clog a deck later in the game, but its ability to give you an extra Estate and an extra buy can sometimes tip the balance in a close game.
Loan: useful for trashing coppers without costing an action and can also be used to cycle your deck, getting new cards shuffled in faster.
Quarry: useful if there are expensive actions in the set (King's Court, Forge, Peddler, and game-changing 6 cost cards like Goons).
Pawn: there are many times where the +buy or +coin will be useful; in the worst case scenario, it's a self-replacing card (+1 card/+1 action). Because it only costs 2, you probably want to buy it earlier instead of wasting a 7 coin hand on it.


Are tile bonuses counted twice if 2 new words are formed? An example:

  O
 O?

There is a triple letter tile to the right of the bottom O, indicated with a ?.

If I place an X on it, making the words OX (vertical) and OX (horizontal), do I score 50 points (scoring the tile twice) or 34 (scoring it once)?

Yes, you score it twice as long as the double/triple letter/word tile was covered up by your current play.

From the rules:

  When two or more words are formed in the same play, each is scored. The common letter is counted (with full premium value, if any) for each word. (See Turns 3, 4 and 5 in the Scoring Examples


What is the Trans America Express card for? I just got the USA 1910 expansion for the US version of Ticket To Ride.  It comes with a few new cards including "Trans America Express".  What is the Trans America Express card for, and how does one earn it?  (The route on the picture looks really hard!)

The Trans America Express card replaces the Longest Path card in the original game.

Giving players a replacement larger set of cards gave the designers license to make a couple changes.  The name change you noted is one.  Also 4 Destination Tickets had their rewards lowered to be in line with the rest of the destinations.