text:
In what order are cost reductions applied?
Suppose I control a Blossoming Tortoise, Agatha of the Vile Cauldron, and a land creature with an activated ability that costs {2} (e.g. an animated Witch's Clinic). If Agatha applies before Tortoise, the ability will be free! But if Tortoise is applied before Agatha, the ability will cost {1} because Agatha can't reduce the cost to {0}. Which order should I apply them in?

Whatever order you choose.

601.2f [...] Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. [...] If multiple cost reductions apply, the player may apply them in any order. If the mana component of the total cost is reduced to nothing by cost reduction effects, it is considered to be {0}. It can’t be reduced to less than {0}.

In the example given, you can simply choose to apply Agatha before Tortoise.


text:
Alliance Cruiser in Border Space
In the Blue Sun expansion, there is a border space card that places Alliance cruiser alert tokens on every sector with an outlaw ship, in resolving the alert tokens the Alliance cruiser may end up having to move the cruiser to a sector outside of Alliance space. Is this an accurate reading of the rules, given that it results in the Alliance cruiser in either border or rim space?
And then, if this is the case after this happens, how does the Alliance cruiser move after this when directed to move 1 space within Alliance space?

Reavers may never move to Alliance space, and the Cruiser can never move to Reaver space.
If they can't move to the space, nothing happens.
But note that in the Kalidasa expansion, there is an Operative's Corvette that can move everywhere, and would use the tokens in that situation.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
Resilient Population Card in Pandemic
Once a city card is removed from the infection deck, do you still place infection cubes on that city?

Yes, you can still place infection cubes in that city if they would be placed there through other methods. You just won't draw that card anymore.

Yes, though the only reason for placing cubes in that city is an outbreak in an adjacent city.

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
What is the racing board game they are playing in Netflix's show about Formula 1, s02e09?
They play some kind of board game with joysticks, she says "that's all we did growing up" so it's quite old and probably not very computerised.
Now, from what I gather the cars turn automatically, and they have to handle braking at the correct moments? I have no clue. Looks fascinating. I don't have enough vocabulary for google to give me anything sensible. Have anyone any idea which game is this?
Here's a screenshot:

It looks like Slot Car racing.  There are a number of different brands, so which set is hard to identify, but here's an example by Tyco:

Just some additional info:
If this is in germany it is most certainly from carrera, as these games are referred to as "carrera tracks".
At least in germany pretty much every kid had one of those since the 80s or so.

@bibleblade Since the 70s ;-).

You might also explicitly clarify that slot car racing wouldn't be considered a "board game".

This is Scalextric or a clone.


text:
Double/triple space scoring
If you play a letter on a double or triple space and it makes 2 different words going in 2 directions, do you get double/triple points for BOTH words??

Very similar to https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/44481/word-premium-applies-to-2-words, but the question is a bit different.

It does seem to be an exact duplicate of Are tile bonuses counted twice if 2 new words are formed? though.


text:
Should uno be said if the next card is played from draw pile
If you played your second to last card and said Uno as required. If on the next turn you are unable to play, but you play the card immediately from the draw pile. Are you required to say uno again?

nb: you don't play "from the draw pile". You play from your hand. If it's your turn and you cannot (or don't want to play), then you must draw (draw a card from the draw pile and put it in your hand). You then have the option to play a card (from your hand) if you now can (or now want to).

Yes, the draw takes you back up to two cards in your and and the play takes you back down to one card which requires you to declare uno. You might make a house rule that would change that but outside of that you would still be required to call uno and get a penalty if you don't and get caught.

There's a rule that states if you have a playable card and choose not to play it and instead go to the draw pile. Once you draw a card you can't play from you hand anymore. That suggested to me that the cards already in your hand is viewed differently as the one from the draw pile until your turn is over. If that's the case, wouldn't immediately discarding the card from the draw pile mean I remain with 1 card?

That rule has nothing to do with the fact that drawing a card takes you from 1 card in your hand to 2 cards in your hand. Whenever you go from 2 cards to 1 card you are required to call uno and it doesn't matter if you started the turn with 1 card.


text:
If 5'th fascist rule enacted with frustrated populace, VETO POWER is granted or not?
pdf rules says: "Immediately reveal the Policy on top of the Policy deck and enact it. Any power granted by this Policy is ignored, but the Election Tracker resets, and existing term-limits are forgotten."
but I don't understand veto power in next rounds must be granted or not?!

The veto power doesn't depend on how the polices got enacted just that they did. After five have been enacted if both the president and chancellor agree to veto it will happen.
https://www.secrethitler.com/assets/Secret_Hitler_Rules.pdf

The Veto Power is a special rule that comes into
effect after five Fascist Policies have been
enacted. For all Legislative Sessions after the
fifth Fascist Policy is enacted, the Executive
branch gains a permanent new ability to discard
all three Policy tiles if both the Chancellor
and President agree.

The President draws three Policy tiles,
discards one, and passes the remaining two to
the Chancellor as usual. Then Chancellor may,
instead of enacting either Policy, say “I wish
to veto this agenda.” If the President consents
by saying, “I agree to the veto,” both Policies
are discarded and the President placard passes
to the left as usual. If the President does not
consent, the Chancellor must enact a Policy
as normal.

Each use of the Veto Power represents an
inactive government and advances the Election
Tracker by one.


text:
Does the 'Disturb' keyword (and the transformed effect therein) interact with card effects that reduce the casting cost of spells?
For example: I have Urza's Incubator on the table, and I declare Spirits as my creature type.
I then want to cast Mirrorhall Mimic (A spirit creature) from my graveyard for its Disturb cost which reads: "You may cast this card from your graveyard transformed for its Disturb cost". In isolation, this would have it's spell cost reduced.
What enters the battlefield however, is an Enchantment called Ghastly Mimicry, which would not be impacted by the spell cost reduction.
Rule 712.7 states:

If a transforming double-faced card is cast as a spell, it’s put on the stack with its front face up by default. If a transforming double-faced card is cast “transformed,” it’s put on the stack with its back face up.

What I don't fully understand is this: The enchantment doesn't have a casting cost printed on it, so am I or am I not casting a Spirit creature that then transforms in to an enchantment and who's cost is reduced by the effect of Urza's Incubator.

Casting cost = mana cost or alt cost + additional costs and cost increases - cost reductions. You're using an alternative cost rather than its (non-existing) mana cost, so it's (lack of) mana cost is irrelevant

Even though there is no casting cost printed on the back (meaning it would normally be un-castable), you are still actually casting the back.
First the spell goes on the stack (transformed).  Then you determine the cost.  Normally it would be impossible to cast since no cost is printed, but in this case, the cost is the disturb alternative casting cost.
Since you are actually casting the back side, it is now an enchantment aura and so cost reductions for Spirit creatures do not apply.  Also, since you are applying one alternative cost, you can't apply any other alternative costs (e.g. "cast without paying any mana").

When you cast a spell using a card's disturb ability, the card is put onto the stack with its back face up. The resulting spell has all the characteristics of that face.

It could be noted that Disturb is an alternative cost, and so you can't cast those cards for free through efffects that allow you to cast them "without paying its mana cost"

Worth noting that the disturb cards from Midnight Hunt are spirits on the back side, so these cards will get the cost reduction.

The question mentions confusion about the fact that Disturb seems to be casting the back face even though the back face has no printed mana cost. When casting a card for an alternate casting cost like with Disturb, it doesn't matter what the printed casting cost is or even whether it has one. Other existing cards like Ancestral Vision and Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar apply the same principle.

601.2a To propose the casting of a spell, a player first moves that card (or that copy of a card) from where it is to the stack. It becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has all the characteristics of the card (or the copy of a card) associated with it, and that player becomes its controller. The spell remains on the stack until it resolves, it’s countered, or a rule or effect moves it elsewhere.

601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. Some effects may increase or reduce the cost to pay, or may provide other alternative costs. Costs may include paying mana, tapping permanents, sacrificing permanents, discarding cards, and so on. The total cost is the mana cost or alternative cost (as determined in rule 601.2b) [...]

So you first move the card to the stack in 601.2a. Then, later, in 601.2f, you check what its cost is. By this time it's transformed, and you use that side to decide whether it's eligible for cost reduction. Even though this side doesn't have the Disturb keyword printed on it, the effect of choosing the Disturb ability still holds.


text:
Just a letter in codenames allowed?
Before you get angry with the question, I know that the the rules say "You can't use your clue to talk about the letters in a word or its position on the table".
I was just curious on a move I made if it was illegal. There were only 4 words that starts with H. The tiles were all our words, so I gave the letter H as a clue. I thought this was a once in a blue moon opportunity. What was I did just plain illegal?

I am downvoting because you quote the rules that clearly answer the question; so it's not clear or explained where your uncertainty comes from or what answer you expect other than the rule you already quoted.

As you say, the body of the question clearly outlines an illegal clue and even helpfully quotes the rule it is breaking.  However the question in the title is still interesting.  For example I would not have a problem with the clue "B - 3" given with the intention of indicating "Hive", "Grade" and "Note".

It seems you already know the answer and it is illegal because you are not allowed to talk about the letters in a word. The rules are very clear that the clues you give have to be about the meaning of the word and what you are asking about would be in violation of them.
https://czechgames.com/files/rules/codenames-rules-en.pdf

Your clue must be about the meaning of the
words.

Letters and numbers are valid clues, as long
as they refer to meanings.

The number you say after your clue can't be
used as a clue.

You can't say any form of a visible word
on the table.

You can't say part of a compound word on the
table.

Same-sounding words with different
meanings and different spellings are
considered different words

Words that are spelled the same are
considered the same

Maybe you should bold the second point "Letters and numbers are valid clues..." to highlight that the answer to the question is yes, provided the rest of the rules are folllowed.


text:
Phase 10 Skip card play rules
When a skip card is played does the player get to draw and lay down again, or is it the discard itself?

Discarding the Skip card is playing it. Once the player has selected who will miss the next turn, their own turn is now over.
A player never draws twice in one turn, and can only discard one card at most (though they can lay down and hit as many cards as legitimately possible).


text:
Ticket to Ride Europa 1912: how to draw if both deck and discard are empty?
It's Ticket to Ride Europa 1912 with Warehouses and both the deck and discard piles are empty, but there are still open cards to draw. The rules say

Each time a player uses his turn to Draw Train Car cards, he must first draw
the top card off the Train Car deck and place it in a Warehouse (either his
or another player's) without looking at it, before drawing his own Train cards
in hand.

I conclude that open cards cannot be drawn, because the top card cannot be drawn and the prerequisite fails.
However, there is another paragraph

In the unlikely event there are no more Train Car cards left
to draw or reshuffle and one or more players have run out of
Depots, all Warehouses are immediately emptied out and the
Train cards reshuffled into a new draw pile.

Yes, there are cards in the Warehouses, but what does "no more Train Car cards left
to draw" mean? The open cards are there, but they cannot be drawn because of the first rule. Does it mean that the cards from Warehouses must be shuffled in this situation? If not - then what's the point of the second rule at all?

I think you've answered your own question when you ask "then what's the point of the second rule at all".
As you say the rules state cards going into warehouse must be taken unseen from the top of the train card deck and placed unseen in a warehouse.
"no more Train Car cards left to draw" would mean that the draw deck in empty and there is no discard to shuffle in.  Face up cards would, as you say, not follow the rules of a card going unseen into a warehouse and thus could not be taken.
So if the draw deck and discard is empty then all cards from warehouses will be returned as the rules you quoted say.


text:
MTG first strike vs first strike and non first strike blockers
Attacking player has 6/3 first strike, The blockers are 2/2 first strike, and 4/3 without first strike - do we all die, or does the 6/3 get to live?

The setup is different, but does this answer answer your question?

The 6/3 attacker will live, because the creature without first strike will die before it gets to do any combat damage.
When any creatures with first strike are involved in combat, whether attacking or blocking, there are 2 separate combat damage steps. In the first one, only creatures with first strike will deal damage. In the second one, only creatures without first strike will deal damage.
So in first first combat damage step, the 6/3 and the 2/2 will assign and deal their damage simultaneously. The 6/3 will take 2 damage (and live), while the attacking creature gets to split its 6 damage between the 2 blockers, enough to kill them both. Then when state-based actions are checked before the second combat damage step, the 4/3 will die for having 3 (or 4) damage, without ever dealing damage.

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

You might want add a bit more detail about blocking order and the rules for damage assignment. Just saying 'the attacker gets to split its' damage between the two blockers' skips over some subtle but important details. For example, if the attacker chooses the order "2/2 then 4/3" and the defending player increases the toughness of the 2/2 to a 2/4 before damage, then the attacker will have to assign at least 4 damage to the first creature, so the 4/3 will survive and kill the attacker in the second combat phase. If the order was reversed the 4/3(5) would die but the 6/3 and the 2/2 would live.

As a side note, in the first phase Double strike creatures also deal damage


text:
Train Setup in The Place That Lies Beyond
I have re-read the entire rules and first pages of the story book, and either I am missing something, or the game is not entirely carefully designed. Where does it say anything about setting up the 2x2 train token on the map of "The Place That Lies Beyond" (the second page of the "Big Girl Bed" story)? When reading through the story book as we were playing, this really threw me off, to the point of interrupting game play for way too long. Is that an omission in the game, and if so, should I expect more such sloppyness as the game progresses? Or did I miss a rule? Where would one place the train token, to the right or the left of the train track? Or should I simply stop being so picky and wing things dungeon-master-style as the game goes on?

BGG says "The book tells you to put the train on the bottom right hand space on the tracks."  But without a copy of the rules I hesitate to put this as an answer especially as it doesn't say where this is written.


text:
Zombicide: split problem
In 2 corners are 3 survivors (S) each (3x noise), black field represents building which splits map. At the middle is a zombie wolf (W) which has 3 actions on activation. So how it should be played according to rules, because for me it’s unclear.
Start

After first action:

This is obvious, there exists two equal sources of noise, so the wolf should split in first action.
After second action:

Here it starts to be problematic, because according to rules distance to the source of noise doesn’t matter, so both wolves should split, because  there exists two equal sources of noise. And also to every group of survivors exists two equal roads. So these two wolves add two additional each, Correct ?!?!?!?
After third action:

And here is the final example of absurd these rules, two middle wolves just split due to 2 equal targets. It is easy, 2 wolves in corners should split also so for every wolf is added an wolf. And the biggest problem is wolves in the middle row, because again according to rules distance to the source of noise doesn’t matter, so both wolves should split, because  there exists two equal sources of noise. And also to every group of survivors exists two equal roads.So these two wolves add two additional each again.
So after one activation from one wolf according to rules we got 12 which is completely absurd. What is wrong in this consideration and how should it be played correctly ?

You've ignored the first rule of movement.
Once the zombies can see a survivor, they move towards that survivor only. That is, once you have done the first split, the two wolves will each move towards the nearest group.
You still end up splitting the wolves that are closest to the centre, because they have multiple paths towards the survivors they see, but only towards those survivors.
The splits and movements are, for each side,

Split from middle to adjacent space (one wolf in centre becomes one wolf on each side)

Split from first space to the one above and "outside" of it (one wolf on each side becomes two wolves on each side)

The "outside" wolf moves one space upward, and the "inside" wolf splits to the spaces above and "outside" (two wolves on each side becomes three wolves on each side)

The result is a situation similar to your third diagram, except it doesn't have two triplets of wolves waiting at the bottom.

OK, my mistake the wolves in corners indeed ares eeing survivors, but if for example, but if both group of survivors are hidden behind hedges ? This result is correct, after one turn  signle wolf could split into 12 ?

Yes, if you make a situation sufficiently convoluted or are that unlucky (or have mismanaged your noise that badly... :) there are situations that escalate from nothing to nightmare in a flash.

The rules of "Zombicide Green Horde" say regarding line of sight:
"On the streets, Actors see in straight lines that run parallel to the edges of the board. Actors cannot see diagonally. Their Line of Sight covers as many Zones as the line can pass through before reaching a wall or the edge of the board."
I assume that line of sight definition for zombies is the same as for actors because I have not found another specific definition for them in that rulebook. That given, the zombies cannot see the actors in the corner and would still split up into the center.


text:
Talisman, Woodland expansion
When a Woodland Path card changes strength, craft, fate, or object carrying limits do those effects remain throughout the game or do they end when the Path card is discarded upon leaving the Woodland region?


text:
Haunt #9 More than one traitor?
BAHOTH: In haunt 9 you roll the dice at the beginning of your turn. If you roll less than 4 you lose one sanity. If you lose all of your sanity do you become the traitor if there is already a traitor? Can there be more than one traitor in this scenario?

Yes, there can be more than on traitor in Haunt #9.
Although most haunt scenarios involve a single traitor with everyone else being heroes, there is no general rule in Betrayal at House on the Hill that says this must be the case. There is no reason a haunt can't have more than 1 traitor; or no traitors.
So you simply follow the text in the haunt instructions literally:

If you fail the Sanity roll, and you’re in the
Ballroom, you become insane. You are now a
traitor. (Read this haunt in the Traitor’s Tome.)

If you fail this roll in another room, you take 1
Sanity damage instead. If your Sanity is reduced
to the skull symbol, you don’t die; instead, you
become a traitor (and must read this haunt in
the Traitor’s Tome).

Note also that it says "a traitor" as opposed to "the traitor".


text:
What happens when nobody can build in Catan Junior?
The game says it’s over when someone builds all 7 pirate lairs. However in our 4 player game we ran out of available spaces before anyone had run out of lairs. The rules don’t seem to describe this scenario. What is supposed to happen?

I think there is a misunderstanding in how you are playing and it appears you are placing the ships in the wrong places. It appears you are placing then in the spots for pirates coves instead of in between like they should be.
https://www.ultraboardgames.com/catan/junior.php

There is also a board game geek thread about it with this as well
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1224505/catan-junior-three-player-deadlock\

A little late, obviously, but are you putting the ships in the circles instead of on the dotted lines?

Thanks! Yep we completely missed that ships go on lines instead of circles.


text:
Ticket to Ride New York transportation cards question
My fiance and I are debating over a move he did that I believe is incorrect.  He chose to select transportation cards on his turn.  He picked up a red card and then we replaced the card from the deck to the play area.  It was a wild card (taxi).  He said that was the card he wanted and took it and put the red card back in its spot.  I say that is cheating because that was technically his second card choice and you cannot take a taxi as your second card. He says it is not cheating because he put the red card back.  Who is correct?

At no point are players allowed to trade cards from their hand to the board.
The entirety of the rules for taking action on one's turn are in several short paragraphs in the rules. The only way to gain cards is to draw two cards blind from the deck, or take two non-taxi cards, or one of each, or take one taxi card.
There is no allowance for trading cards to the board, for putting the first card back if one prefers the replacement, or for taking the taxi card instead of the first choice.

Probably worth adding that if a user takes a blind choice from the deck and it's a Taxi (or wild card equivalent in other TTS games) that is does not count as both picks.  It's entirely possible to gain two 'wilds'  in a turn if taking blind from deck.  However, as you rightly say a player can't put a card back, take the wild and say they wanted it instead.  That is not allowed by the rules

You are correct. The rules do not permit returning or exchanging the card in your hand to the draw stacks.


text:
Problem going out in phase ten
I was playing Phase 10 tonight with one other person. Here is our dilemma:
During phase one, each were able to lay down the 2 sets. Let’s say the 4 cards used were: ones, fives, eights, and tens
How is either player supposed to go out in a timely manner if you have to keep drawing while always having cards other than those four cards in the phase to hit on? It seems impossible to ever be able to go because there are only 4 numbers to hit on. You can’t get rid of the cards in your hand because there aren’t enough choices/options to hit on.

It sounds as though you understand the rules correctly; in order to go out, a player needs to hit on an already played meld/phase (their own or an opponent's). It shouldn’t require an unreasonable number of turns to accomplish this though. After laying down your phase one, you have only 4 cards remaining in hand. There are every time you draw a card, you have about a 4 in 12 chance of it being a card you can use to hit, or a 33% chance... it’s a little less because 3 of each number you need has already been played, but then there are also the wild cards to help you out. But still, you should be able to hit with the card you drew for a turn about one out of every 3-4 turns on average. This would take about 16 turns to get rid of all 4 cards. Worst case scenario, most of the required numbers are near the bottom of the deck, but they would still get drawn.
Now if you and your opponent had happened to both lay down the same numbers as each other for your phase, it would be more difficult.. there would only be 2 different numbers to hit on, and 6 of the 24 cards number you need would already be used up. But even so, the right numbers would still get drawn eventually. Turns would be very fast at this point, so you aren’t wasting a lot of time playing this out.
However, if you feel like this part of the game is someone pointless; you would be generally right... the main reason to try and go out is to end the hand before your opponent can lay down their phase. Once all players have laid down their phase, it matters a lot less who goes out first. The only reason to care at all is to address the situation where there is a tie at the end where multiple players got phase 10 in the same round. If that doesn’t happen, then going out first makes no difference at all.
So if you are playing a 2 player game, and you have both laid down your phase already, you could always just flip a coin or roll a die to determine the points for hand. After all, if you both have 4 cards in hand, then it’s just 50/50 which of you will get 0 points this hand (with a slight edge to the person who gets to draw/play first). And the person who doesn't get 0 is very likely to only get 5, or maybe 10 points against them.


text:
Mahjong exposing And discarding
So, i'm learning mahjong at the moment and there is something I don't understand. When you expose a set, do you need to discard a tile afterwards?
Also, do you draw before you expose a set?
If been trying to understand the game but the many different versions and rules makes it very hard to find definitive rule explainations.

"Many different versions and rules" means there really isn't a single definitive answer - there's different answers that are each definitive for specific rule sets

By "exposing a set", I assume you mean the move when you take a just-discarded tile to complete a set you have in hand. When that happens:

You declare the match ("pong" if you're completing a 3-of-a-kind, "chow" if you're completing a run).
You reveal the matching tiles from your hand.
You take the tile the other player discarded and add it to your set.
If you achieved mahjong (four sets and a pair1), you may declare it and the hand ends.  If not, or you don't want to declare it, you discard a tile and play continues to your right (so if the discard wasn't from the player to your left, it changes the play order).

You don't draw a new tile, because the tile you took counts as your draw - you should always have 13 tiles in hand, or 14 when it's your turn, not counting any bonus tiles. You can only call chow from the player to your left2 , i.e. the one you'd be playing after anyway, but you can call pong from any other player's discard.
If you're completing a 4-of-a-kind ("kong"), then it is slightly different. You reveal your 3 matching tiles, take the discarded tile, then you draw a tile from the back end of the wall and discard a tile. The fourth tile in a kong essentially becomes a bonus tile that doesn't count towards your 13 tiles in hand, so you have to replace it so that you can still have a complete hand.

In general, a mahjong hand is four sets and a pair.  Different variants also have different "special hands" with special combinations that also achieve mahjong.  These are quite rare.

At least in some variants, if you need the chow to immediately complete and declare a mahjong, you can claim it from any player's discard.


text:
Euchre Leads question
If I have called the suit, and I have the lead and the highest trump card, but not much else, isn’t it the best strategy to lead that card, flushing out my opponents trump?  Then lead my next best card hoping for help from my partner.   My friend contends that I would be robbing my partner a chance to trump because I would have taken his chance by forcing him to follow suit.  Thank you.

Is this the opening lead of the hand?  Or at some point later in the hand?

This was actually the 2nd lead after taking the first trick, but I didn’t  think it matters.

By not much else, do you mean no more trump cards, or are you lacking any more trump cards as well as non-trump aces?

There are many variables and unknowns here.  That said, the fact that the initial card was turned over by the dealer and no one had ordered it up provides a great deal of information.
You say you called the suit and have the lead and the right bower... What was the rank of the card turned over?  Was it a jack?  An Ace?  A nine?  Now... was the suit you called the same color as what was turned over by the dealer?
If what was turned over wasn't a jack and is the same color as what you bid, then chances are better that the opponents won't have the left bower (as them having it would have increased the likelihood that the dealer would have picked up or been ordered up by their partner) implying there is a slightly increased chance your partner does.
At the same time, noting that no one liked the initial suit well enough to order up or pick up, this implies the non-bowers of that suit are rather well distributed among all four players or are turned down (with the initial card specifically being among those turned down), specifically with slight bias away from the opponents.  That is to say, it is very likely your partner has one of the suit turned down in addition to possibly the other bower and it is quite possible that one of your opponents has a void in that suit.
In such a situation, if your strongest notrump kickers are in the suit of the same color as trump, I would personally want to burn trump twice before trying to run the off suit.  You say "and not much else" which implies to me one other small trump and middling kickers.
Now... the lead I recommend may be controversial, however I have had great success with it in the past (and was frequently accused of cheating / table-talking as a result) and that would be lead with your smallest trump.
For example:  You sit left of the dealer, your hand is Qs,Js,9h,Ah,Kc and Qc was the turned-up card.  Four passes occur and Qc is turned over.  You bid spades.  I would lead with the Qs.
From here, you hope your partner replies with the Jc.  If they do and if they are thin on trump, they will likely continue by playing their strongest notrump, hopefully Ad or Kh.  In the case of Kh, you actually overplay them with your Ah and then burn a final time with Js, followed by 9h and then Kc.  In the case they had a second or third trump, they will instead lead a low trump back to you on the second play.  In the case they didn't have Jc, you'll hope to regain control via hearts or clubs, or hope to see your partner take control somehow instead.
The easiest way for you to be set in this scenario is if the person to your left had the left bower and another trump as well as strong diamonds.
Do I get set some times playing this way?  Yes, but being in control of the bidding goes a long way, and I win on this bid more than often enough to make up for the occasional setbacks to make it worth it.  Especially for tournament style play where risks are more rewarded.

Now... in the event that you are opening bidding on a color different than what is turned over... that is a different story.  If your hand was Qs,Js,9h,Ah,Kc and it was a heart that was turned over... I would not have bid at all and would have waited for an opponent to bid black and tried to set them (begin by leading Ah, trumping in on a diamond lead with the Qs or Kc, burning with the Js, and then playing 9h) or let my partner bid diamonds if they were so inclined.  (Them knowing me however, that I didn't bid the suit turned over while sitting left of the dealer lets them know that I don't have any help for them in terms of trump in that case)


text:
Can Harpie Dancer re-summon a monster on the turn it was returned to the hand?
Recently, some buddies of mine were having a duel, and one of them used Harpie Dancer’s effect to remove a Wind Monster from the field, then used its second effect to re-summon it.  Is this move legal? None of the rulings on this card are relevant to this question, so I figured I’d take it to stackexchange.

Is this move legal?

Yes it is.
In no place in Harpie Dancer's effect indicates that you can't summon the monster you returned to hand (emphasis mine):

You can target 1 WIND monster you control; return it to the hand, then you can Normal Summon 1 WIND monster. You can only use this effect of "Harpie Dancer" once per turn. This card's name becomes "Harpie Lady" while on the field or in the GY.

As we can see the only requirements you must fulfill are:

You have a wind monster to target and return
The monster you Normal Summon is also WIND

Pay special attention to the "you can"... that means you may chose not to Normal Summon after returning.
In fact, doing this is one of the strengths of her effect, allowing you to return/re-summon even if you only have one other monster (so you can trigger Harpies' Hunting Ground, Divine Wind of Mist Valley, etc.).
What's more, you can even return and re-summon Harpie Dancer herself... or just return her and summon nothing...
Remember that, when a card returns to the hand, it "resets" and loses all memory of who it was on the field (similar to MTG I recall??), so for the purposes of the resolution, the effect doesn't care who that card is, as long as the requirements are met (it is a WIND monster that you can Normal Summon).
As a side note, I'm a main Harpie player :)


text:
Diplomacy - dislodged unit still disrupts another?
The scenario:

Turkish army in Moscow move to St Petersburg

Turkish army in Livonia support Moscow to St Petersburg

English army in St Petersburg hold

English army in Prussia move to Livonia

German army in Warsaw move to Prussia

German army in Silesia support Warsaw to Prussia

I (Turkey) would have expected to get into St Petersburg, as the disruption from Prussia -> Livonia was prevented by Warsaw -> Prussia, but actually I didn't get into St Petersburg.
Can anyone clarify if this is correct, and why?
Thanks

Each unit has one potential action each phase. But each year has five phases:

Spring movement
Spring disband/retreat (if needed)
Fall movement
Fall disband/retreat (if needed)
Build/break (if needed)

Dislodged units (normally) still cut support. Because they cut support in the movement phase and are dislodged in the retreat/disband phase. There are a few exceptions where support is not cut, but that is not for this setting.
In this case, we have 6 units with their orders:

Let's first check the support orders:

Turkey: A lvn Supports  A mos -> stp. This support is cut because of (A pru -> lvn).
Germany: A sil Supports  A war -> pru This suport succeeds.

Next the moves.

Turkey: A mos -> stp (unsupported so strength 1, fails because A stp holds with strength 1).
England: A stp Holds (succeeds)
England: A pru -> lvn (move fails, but still cuts support)
Germany: A war -> pru (supported strength 2 so the move succeeds).

The failed orders are shown below:

Now it is time for retreats/disbands

England: A pru is dislodged and can only move to Berlin.

This is the relevant quote from the rules:

A  unit  being  dislodged  by  one  province  can  still  cut  support in another province. Just as a unit being dislodged by one province can still cause a standoff in another, a unit still manages to cut support even if it’s dislodged. Just make sure  that  the  dislodgment  isn’t  coming  from  the  province  where  the  unit  is  giving  support.  (Remember  this  rule:  A  dislodged  unit,  even  with  support,  has  no  effect  on  the  province that dislodged it.)

Straight from the rules:

A unit being dislodged by one province can still cut
support in another province. Just as a unit being dislodged
by one province can still cause a standoff in another, a unit
still manages to cut support even if it’s dislodged. Just make
sure that the dislodgment isn’t coming from the province
where the unit is giving support. (Remember this rule: A
dislodged unit, even with support, has no effect on the
province that dislodged it.)
In Diagram 18, even though the German Army in Munich is
dislodged by a Russian attack, it’s still able to cut the support of the
Russian Army in Silesia. This prevents the Russian Army in Prussia
from entering Berlin.

The example provided in the rules is isomorphic to the example you describe.  Germany's "Army Munich to Silesia" in Diagram 18 is the equivalent of your English "Army Prussia to Livonia".  Though it is dislodged, it still cuts support on an attack on another province.
The exception to this (noted by the rules) is if in your situation, Turkey had issued: "Army Livonia supports Warsaw to Prussia".  In this case, the support would not be cut by "Army Prussia to Livonia" because a unit doesn't cut support on an attack on it's own province unless it dislodges the supporting unit.


text:
Unstable Unicorns - what is the definition of "effect"?
There is a card 'blinding light' that says 'all your unicorns are treated as basic unicorns with no special effects' -  But what is a special effect?  The rules define obvious words like "draw" and "play" but not "effect".
For example, 'annoying flying unicorn' has the text:

When this card enters your Stable, you may choose a player. That
player must DISCARD a card. If this card is sacrificed or destroyed,
return it to your hand.

What part of that is an effect? Is it the second half of the sentence, "discard a card"?  Is it the whole sentence, "That player must DISCARD a card"?  Is it only the condition?  The action?  Sentences with "may" in it?  Maybe its the second sentence - "Return it to your hand"!?
(I have a friend who says the second part is not an effect.  Therefore if I play 'blinding light' and then 'unicorn poison' on her card, she gets to put the card back in her hand.  The reasonings are many - there is an element of choice in the second part, or because the card is no long in the stable, or maybe because it is the third sentence in the card.  Point is, 'effect' is not defined.')
So can anyone define 'effect'?

There's another question with an answer regarding this card on this site: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/44587/what-are-triggered-effects-in-unstable-unicorns?rq=1

Blinding Light treats your unicorns as if they have no text on them at all, except "Basic Unicorn." So if the Annoying Flying Unicorn is sacrificed or destroyed in your stable, it just gets discarded like any other dead unicorn. When you play a unicorn into a stable that already has Blinding Light, it does nothing – just like a Basic Unicorn.
When I looked up Blinding Light, I found this image, which has much less ambiguous text:

No mention of "special" effects, just all Unicorn card effects, i.e. all of the text at the bottom of a Unicorn card. (If your Unicorns were all Pandas, they would be unaffected by this card.)

Blinding Light has had a variety of texts in various printings.


text:
Ticket To Ride Netherlands - Loans
I am out of coins. I need 2 Euros to acquire my next route. Loans are 5 Euros. Do I get 3 Euros in change? My competitor say the rules do not specify change, so I don't. I say change is logical, so I do.

You do not get "change". Loan cards are simply a penalty for playing a route that you can't afford to play. The loan is not a loan for 5 Euros, rather it is simply a card that counts as minus 5 points at the end of the game. The rules don't distinguish between being only 1 toll token short of playing a route or being short more than that... if you are short at all then you get -5 points at the end of the game. The loan card is just the reminder for that point loss.
From the rules:

If a player doesn’t have enough Bridge Toll Tokens left to
pay for the cost of a route, that player must take a single
Loan card from the bank when claiming that route, and
place it face up in front of him for the rest of the game.
The player pays no Tokens (even if he could have made
a partial payment), and can never reimburse this Loan.


text:
Crazy eights use of 8 to keep suit
In crazy 8’s can you use an 8 to change the suit of the game to the suit that is currently being played. For example, if the current play is clubs can you you use the 8 of spades and state “clubs”.

You certainly can keep the suit the same in Uno and this is explicitly made clear in the rules.  From the rules on the Mattel website, "Wild Card - When you play this card, you may change the color being played to any other color (including the current color) to continue play..."  Granted, Uno is much more recent (1970's vs 1930's*) but both follow almost identical rules in many aspects.

There isn't a definitive set of rules. It's a game learned through word of mouth over generations. And house rules are easily added. All this means that not everyone plays by the same rules. Ultimately, the answer comes down to whatever rules the group agreed to use.
What? You didn't agree to a set of rules? ;) Well, the Wikipedia page for Crazy Eights has no variant listed concerning the functioning of eights. It only lists the following rule:

They can also play any 8 at any time, which allows them to declare the suit that the next player is to play; that player must then follow the named suit or play another 8.

And this version of the rules says:

An Eight may be played on any card, and the player of the Eight must nominate a suit.

In both cases, no limit is mentioned concerning the stated suit. Words such as "other" and "change" that would imply a different suit should be picked are conspicuously absent. This means the suit already being played is a valid choice.
This is consistent with how I played.

("At any time" is a poor choice of words.)


text:
Is it possible to respond to a "part" of a triggered ability? (with multiple sentences)
Here is the scenario that came up multiple times when playing Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer, which says:

At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 2/1 blue Myr artifact creature token. Then you may choose a token you control. If you do, each other token you control becomes a copy of that token.

I move to combat, Brudiclad's ability triggers
Nobody responds to the trigger
The 2/1 myr token is created
I choose to make all my tokens copies of another token I have, like a Darksteel Juggernaut
Another player "responds" to that with Path to Exile, targeting the Juggernaut
Juggernaut is exiled, Brudiclad's ability loses target and nothing is copied

Is that a legal response? Couldn't find a good ruling explanation about responding to multiple sentences in a triggered ability.

Helpful reading, since you refer to Brudiclad as a targeted ability: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/43995/which-spells-or-abilities-are-affected-by-things-that-care-about-targeting

To respond to something is to cast or activate after the something has been placed on the stack but before it resolves. Spells can't be cast and abilities can't be activated while a spell or ability is resolving (unless explicitly instructed to do so)

"copies of another token I have, like a Darksteel Juggernaut" -- would that be "... another token I have, like a token copy of a Darksteel Juggernaut" or something like that? The juggernaut itself is not a token, for all I can see.

No, this is not legal, but it isn't because it is a multi-part ability with separate sentences.
The key is that choosing the token you want everything to become a copy of is something you do when the ability resolves, not something you do when you put it on the stack.
When you cast a spell, or in this case when you put a triggered ability on the stack, you choose things such as any targets it requires, and what mode you are using if it is a modal spell. But other choices such as "choose a token you control" are not made at this time.
When the player is choosing the token they control, the ability is already resolving, and no player gets priority to do anything until after the entire ability has resolves.
Contrast to this alternate wording for Brudiclad:

At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 2/1 blue Myr artifact creature token. Then each other token you control becomes a copy of target token you control.

If Brudiclad were worded like this, then you would choose your token to copy when you put the ability on the stack, because it uses the word "target". In that case, your choice could be responded to.

Resolving Spells and Abilities

608.2d If an effect of a spell or ability offers any choices other than choices already made as part of casting the spell, activating the ability, or otherwise putting the spell or ability on the stack, the player announces these while applying the effect.

Casting Spells

601.2b If the spell is modal, the player announces the mode choice
601.2c The player announces their choice of an appropriate object or player for each target the spell requires

This applies to triggered abilities the same as spells:

603.3c If a triggered ability is modal, its controller announces the mode choice when putting the ability on the stack.
603.3d The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d.

I take it with your alternative wording, the new Myr token could not be chosen as a target, since the target has to be chosen before the effect resolves, and the Myr token doesn't exist until the effect resolves?

@Acccumulation Correct; I overlooked that difference... I suspect that the card would rarely be used in that way.

It would be more accurate to represent the sequence of events like this:

You move to combat and Brudiclad's ability triggers
Both players have a chance to play spells and activate abilities, but no one chooses to do so
Brudiclad's ability resolves:

The 2/1 myr token is created
You choose to make all your tokens copies of Darksteel Juggernaut, and they become copies of Darksteel Juggernaut

Now that Brudiclad's ability is done resolving, both players have a chance to play spells and activate abilities

You'll note that your opponent has two chances to play something like Path to Exile: step 2 and step 4. In step 2, you haven't yet chosen what token to make all your other tokens copies of, and in step 4, the tokens have all become copies of whatever was chosen. Those are the only two options. There is no opportunity to play a spell or activate an ability between when the choice is made and when the tokens become copies.
If the ability were worded like this:

At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 2/1 blue Myr artifact creature token. Then you may have each token you control become a copy of target token you control.

then it would be different: in this hypothetical case, the ability has a target, so you choose the target when the ability triggers, during step 1. Then your opponent would be able to cast Path after you made the choice, in step 2. But in reality, Brudiclad's ability does not have a target so the choice of token does not get made during step 1.


text:
Are in-universe Magic characters aware of colors?
There are 5 colors in Magic and many characters are associated with one or more of these colors. The colors thematically represent aspects, but are the characters aware of the existence of these aspects? For example, does Teferi know that he is a blue-white mage?

You make a distinction between colors and the aspects they represent. In the title you ask if characters are aware of the colors, and in the body you ask if the characters are aware of the aspects. That is two questions in one. Which are you actually interested in, colors or aspects?

Good point. I assume that characters are well aware of the aspects of the colors, because, of course, how they view and perceive their own magic. I am interested in the colors specifically.

Characters know that forming mana-bonds with different areas (mountains, swamps, forests, etc.) will give mana that can then only be used for specific purposes; i.e. a mage who draws upon a mountain mana-bond will gain mana that can be used for creating fire, earthquakes, etc. whereas drawing on mana-bonds from the sea will give magic that allows for illusions, etc. Consider this 1999 story, where the mage Feldon visits various colours of wizard and learns from them. The scholar in the story says:

"Green calls to the living," he said. "Black calls to the dead. Blue creates the shadow of life. Red consumes, and that's very important as well, because you must often destroy before you can build. I study, and the magic I wield is White, which is the magic of comprehension and understanding."

Therefore yes, the in-universe characters (or at least some of them) are aware of the various colours of mana and what each is for.


text:
Parcheesi dice roll of double when all pawns still in nest
We are in debate as to the roll of a double on the dice rule when the player throwing the dice has all of the pawns still in the nest.  Since this does not appear to be 100% clear in the rules, it is being debated that regardless if all pawns are in the nest or not, that if a double roll is thrown, then that player is allowed to throw the dice again.  The contention is that if all pawns are in the nest, then that player has no pawn in the field of play and should not be allowed to roll again.  We have searched for a ruling on this and have not found any clear answer.  Please give some clear ruling on this!

Depends on which rules you're using.
If you're playing with these Parker Brothers rules, you only get another turn if you used all of the double roll. If you can't use all of the roll, you don't get an extra turn.

Doubles
If a player throws doubles he has another turn and continues to have another turn as long as he throws doubles, excepting that if he cannot complete the total move on the dice he does not have another throw.

(emphasis original)
If you're playing with these Milton Bradley rules, you get another throw regardless, unless it is your third doubles in a row.

Doublets
A roll of matching dice is called doublets. [...]

If you roll doublets before all of your pawns are entered, take your turn as usual, and then roll again.
Doublets Bonus: If you roll doublets after all four of your pawns are entered, use the four numbers on the tops and bottoms of the dice for movement. [...] If you can't take all four parts of your move, don't move your pawns at all. Whether you move or not, roll again.
Doublets Penalty: The third consecutive time you roll doublets, you may not move forward. Instead, your pawn closest to HOME (even if it's on your home path) must be returned to your START circle and re-entered later. This ends your turn.


text:
What are these Strange Pattern Yugioh Cards
I came across these bizarre looking Yugioh cards in my collection. They look nothing like my other cards. They clearly say Yugioh cards...are they knockoffs? If so, why do they look so bad.

Thanks!

They clearly say Yugioh cards...are they knockoffs?

Those are fake cards*, although from the image I see they use the actual names of existing, original cards, and even the correct effects (for example Hiro's Shadow Scout).
Further reading on counterfeit cards.
*I know they are fake because... experience. But just to point out some of the details:

The YuGiOh logo on the back of the card is clearly not the same as the original YuGiOh logo
The colors are off. Those monsters look red (like trap cards) and trap cards look more like the monster color
The displayed attack on the monster card mimics the one on OCG/Anime (displayed on the bottom right in its own box), whilst the text is English - a clear mix-up

Thanks for the quick and detailed answer. They just look so bad/different that I didn’t think they could ever pass for knock-offs. Glad to have it confirmed though.

@AlexK yeah, at most you could use them as proxies? lol


text:
If the president in Secret Hitler believes the law passed to have been a force will the call of cards matter?
I play Secret Hilter a decent bit. Assume all players play the game perfectly.
When a law has been passed it is META for the President and Chancellor to "call" how many fascist cards they saw. My hypothesis is that if a fascist law has been passed, a regular "call" of the cards is not necessary.
Notation: I will refer to the calls the president makes and the Chancellor as (x,y).
If a fascist law is passed it will be via one of the following cases:
If the president receives 3 fascist cards. (3,2)
If the president receives 2 fascist cards and discards the liberal card. (3,2)
If the president receives 2 fascist cards and discards a fascist card and the chancellor plays fascist.

Either both are fascist, and it is in both player's best interests to lie. (3,2)
Chancellor is fascist and the president is liberal. (2,2). Not applicable to question

If the president receives 1 fascist card and discards a liberal card and the chancellor plays fascist.

Either both are fascist, and it is in both player's best interests to lie. (3,2)
Chancellor is fascist and the president is liberal. (1,2). Not applicable to question

Is this a correct assessment or have I missed anything here?
Hence, from my perspective, it seems that if a fascist law has been passed, a regular "call" of the cards is not necessary.

You are forgetting a key point. Lets say that the president passed 1 liberal and 1 fascist card there is still information to be gained. This revolves around the answers not only to this question but to previous ones as well.
Liberal president - fascist chancellor: Actual draw was 1 liberal, 1 fascist and one other and the pass was done to expose the chancellor as a fascist. In this case the president can use the fact that a choice was present to out the chancellor. However this can also be used by the chancellor to try and discredit the president and it all depends on how well you are keeping track of cards. It could also lead to people believing that both are fascist and the pass was done to get a fail rather than out one player.
Fascist chancellor - liberal president: 1 liberal, 2 fascist and passes both fascists. Learning the makeup of the cards (even if a lie is told) could help reveal the lies such as near the end of a cycle finding out that there are to many fascists cards drawn and that someone lied.
While it might not provide a lot of information it will still provide information and the act of not asking that question also provides information.

The possible pulls in a round of Secret Hitler are the following:

Three Liberal laws
Two Liberal, one Fascist
One Liberal, two Fascist
Three Fascist laws

Do keep in mind that the deck is stacked with more Fascist laws on purpose, so it makes scenario 4 more likely than 3, 3 more likely than 2, and so forth.
No matter the initial pull of three laws, it's always useful for President and Chancellor to "call" the laws they pulled/received.
This is additional information that may inform you on their roles. It is very common for a Fascist president to pull from scenario 4 or 3, and then force a Liberal Chancellor to play a Fascist law claiming they had no choice. At the same time, maybe a Liberal president might pull from scenario 3, giving one of each to the Chancellor who proceeds to pass a Fascist law. Any disagreement between their "calls" is valuable information, as well as who voted to approve the pair of President/Chancellor to begin with.
In other words, if a Fascist law is passed, staying silent is not a good strategy for Liberal players, since it buries information. It might, however be a valid Fascist strategy to further disrupt the other team into doubting allegiances.

I would also mention that it isn't that uncommon for example two to happen with a Fascist/Fascistcombo and have them lie and say it was all Fascist laws and being able to disprove that based on past information.

Your analysis is rather difficult to follow, so I'm not going to try to decode what part is faulty, and just give my own analysis of why it is useful.
First, if you're playing that Hitler doesn't know who the other fascists are, and Hitler is the president, and they pass two fascist laws, they have a strategic decision to make. If they think the chancellor is liberal, they can claim to have passed one liberal law and one fascist law. If they pass two liberal laws and think the chancellor is fascist, they can lie and say that they passed one liberal law and one fascist law.
If a liberal passes a liberal law and a fascist law, and the chancellor passes a fascist law, then the liberal knows the chancellor is a fascist, and probably should share that information.
Also, it's good to announce how many of each type you saw in general, since that gives people more information as to what laws are left.
BTW, that's a use of "meta" that is how a lot of people use it, but isn't consistent with the original meaning.


text:
I remember a certain card game. What is its name?
I once saw a video of a guy explaining how to play a card game. The game was quite like MtG, with a few differences.
The "lands" were attached to the creatures. You paid for a creature by attaching the required number of "lands" to it, and I think you didn't get the "lands" back until the creature died. Damage dealt removed a number of the top cards of the damaged player's deck equal to the damage dealt, and you won by decking out your opponent.
I recall the cards having maybe a black or red border, and some of the cards looked vaguely like Hearthstone's bloated zombie.
It might have been a TCG or a CCG, but I think it might have actually been an LCG.

Do you remember when you played the game since most of these games only last a few years with an active player base?


text:
Is the Arena default deck "Line of Fire" bad or is it just me?
I'm new to Magic. One of the default decks you can unlock when you start playing Arena is called "Line of Fire". It consists of:

1 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
1 Liliana's Standard Bearer
1 Temple of Malice
4 Bloodfell Caves
9 Mountain
10 Swamp
2 Serrated Scorpion
3 Careless Celebrant
3 Slaughter-Priest of Mogis
3 Discordant Piper
2 Blood Aspirant
3 Dire Fleet Warmonger
1 Elite Headhunter
1 Woe Strider
1 Tectonic Giant
2 Forbidden Friendship
2 Infuriate
3 Fire Prophecy
2 Heartless Act
1 Eat to Extinction
1 Goremand
1 Piper of the Swarm
2 Village Rites
1 Alchemist's Gift

The description you get when you first unlock it advises that sacrificing creatures may be necessary for progress. However, I've never won a game with this deck nor lost a game against it. Even when I do sacrifice the token creatures my cards create, my creatures aren't powerful enough to stand against late-game finishers or numerous enough to close out the game early. Is this just a bad deck, or are my opponents and I simply too new to understand its subtleties?

I am fairly consistent in Diamond on Best of One Ladder for constructed.  I started Arena about a year ago.
The Black/Red sacrifice deck I was given was a bit different what you have, but I found it the hardest of the free decks to play.  I personally find knowing when to sacrifice for benefit extremely difficult to get right.
Bottom line, yes it is a hard deck to play, and yes there are Black/Red sacrifice decks that are competitive in the current meta, but they play only the very best cards from your deck.  They are usually called "Rakdos Sacrifice."

There have only been a few "good" default decks, and even those were pretty easy to improve. Of the current decks To Adventure was the best in my opinion, and I did play a modified version of it for a while. Starry eyed isn't bad either, and Knights needed some modification before it was any good. Before that Jungle Secrets and Eternal Thirst were the best in that standard. I think those were the only ones I saw decently competitive straight out of the box.
Starter decks aren't meant to be amazing, they aren't meant to be competitive challengers, in MTGA they are meant to give you a starting point and some understanding of strategy and themes, to suggest a strategy that might be built upon.
On top of that Wizards often gets things wrong. Their staff aren't the most observant, and it has been getting worse not better, of what will dominate the meta. The pro players are far, far better at building "good decks" than the company that prints the cards.
There ARE decks that play Black and Red, they play some of the cards in that deck, but they play more copies of the better cards, four copies of Kroxa, they play two to 4 copies of Woe Strider - This too is why starter decks are never the best, they run fewer copies of the better cards. They also play cards that didn't exist in MTGa when the starter decks came out.
Magic the Gathering's Standard format rotates every year. Starter decks come out at the start of a rotation, when only the first half of the new standard exists - when these decks came out that was Throne of Eldraine, Theros Beyond Death, Ikoria Lair of Behemoths, M21. All of the cards in that starter deck were from one of those 4 sets. This means that players now have access to cards like Immersturm Predator, Awaken the Blood Avatar or even lands like Blightstep Pathway.

I've actually found the green-red deck to be the best of the default decks, butI do agree the green-white one is relatively good as well.

@DavidZ I didn't mention that one in part because it has cards that have since been banned (Escape to the Wilds) and in part because of personal preference (I am not usually a Gruul player)

It doesn't have Escape to the Wilds, or at least it didn't for me. Maybe they've changed the decklist over time.

@DavidZ The decklist has one copy of Escape to the Wilds.

The deck that showed up in my account when I (re)started using Arena recently did not. So it would appear that list is out of date.

I had escape to the wilds in my version of the Gruul deck.  The deck lists change over time.

The idea is that the Starter Decks change only when rotation happens... but I suspect they may have made an exception for Escape to the Wilds because giving new players a banned card is going to lead to immense confusion.


text:
Why is it optimal to hit with a high total against a high card?
Blackjack charts of optimal play tell me that if I have 16, the dealer shows 10, and I can't surrender, I should hit. But my intuition tells me I should stand. Eight of the fifteen card values I could be dealt, just over half, will cause me to bust. If I stand, I at least have a chance of the dealer busting. But I haven't done any math about this so I'm sure I'm off.

Small point, it's 8/13 cards that cause you to bust, which is closer to 2/3 than 1/2

Here's an intuitive justificatiin:
There's a card on top of the deck. If you don’t draw it, the dealer will.*  If that card is a 7-K and you draw it, you bust. But critically, if you don't draw it, the dealer will draw it and win.
If you draw an A-5, your chances of winning improve. The only value that actually has a negative effect on your chances of winning if you draw it is a 6, which causes you to bust but doesn't hand a win to the dealer if you don't take it.
So the question is actually "which is greater: the amount by which an A-5 improves your odds, or the odds of drawing a 6 rather than an A-5?" Suddenly the odds don't seem that outlandish!
*Even if there are other players at the table, statistically it works out the same.

Does this work if the dealer is showing a 10 and hiding something else? 'Cause everyone starts with 2 cards, including the dealer.

@JonTheMon as long as two cards have the same information known about them, statistically you can treat them as the same card.

Now, if you're playing a version of blackjack where the dealer immediately reveals a blackjack in their hole card you would know in this case that the hole card isn't an Ace, and you couldn't treat them identically.  But that will only change the underlying statistics slightly, and drawing a card still puts you ahead

I'm confused about your point. The card I might/not get is not the same card that is face down by the dealer's 10. So aren't they 2 independent events?

@JonTheMon Think of it this way.  Imagine the dealer had a choice after you refused a card - they can either take their hole card (which they have not looked at in this scenario), or they can switch it with the card you just refused.  Which should they do?  It doesn't matter, because statistically the cards are identical, because exactly the same info is known about each.  Since statistically the two cards are the same, you can analyze the situation as if they drew your card and get the same result as if they drew their hole card.

Because the dealer shows a 10 he has very low chances to go bust himself and any time that he is not getting busted he wins your 16.


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What is the worst possible hand that wins at showdown?
We all know that the worst (least likely to win) starting hand in Texas Hold'em is 7/2 offsuit. But suppose that all the players have made it through all rounds of betting and revealed their cards. What is the worst hand that can actually win?
With a little effort, I can devise the following hand. If the community cards are
2 4 6 8 10

, player 1 has
3 7

, and player 2 has
5 9

with suits such that no one has a flush, then player 2 wins with 10 high. They win because of the kicker 9, of course, but the name of the hand's winning cards is 10 high.
Is this improvable? Is it possible to win a showdown with 9 high or even less? And what happens if there are three players at showdown, 4 players, n players — what is the worst hand that can win?

As a starting point, the worst 5-card hand you can actually have would be 2,3,4,5,7; but it's impossible for that to be your best 5-card hand out of 7 cards.

9-high is the worst possible hand that can still win, as long as you have 3 or fewer opponents to beat at showdown.
Throughout this answer I'm just assuming that flushes are not considered; it is very easy to come up with a set of 9 cards where you don't have any 5 of the same suit.

Your hand: 2,6

Opponent hand: 2,5

Community cards: 3,4,7,8,9

Your best 5 for the showdown: 9,8,7,6,4

Opponent's best 5 for the showdown: 9,8,7,5,4

You win with the 9-high, 6 kicker.
This situation applies up to there being 4 people at showdown, since all 3 opponents could have the same hand.
Could your hand be any worse? No.
First off, 8-high is automatically an impossible hand to have. You have 7 available cards to make your hand, and if you cannot have any duplicates, then you'd need 7 distinct cards that are 8 or lower, and those only exist if the cards are 2-8. This means you'd actually have 4,5,6,7,8 for a straight.
So to look at possible worse hands of 9-high:
Of the 7 cards available to you, there are only 8 unique numbers from 2-9 to pick. If you leave 2 of those numbers out, then you only have 6 unique numbers to fill 7 slots, so by the pigeonhole principle you'd have at least a pair. Thus there is a single number left out. If that number were 2-4, then you'd have a 5-9 straight. If that number were 7-9, then you'd have a 2-5 straight. Thus the missing number must be either 5 or 6. This only leaves you with 2 possible sets of 7 cards:

2,3,4,6,7,8,9
2,3,4,5,7,8,9

If you have the first set, that is the solution proposed above. If you have the second set, that is what your opponent had. There is no other worse hand that can be made for 9,8,7,5,4 to beat.
There are other variants where you can switch the 2 with any of the community cards and still end up with the same result. All that matters is that you have a 6 while your opponent has a 5, and that the other card you have is the same as your opponent's other card.

It works with 4 opponents as well, if you have 5,6 and two opponents have 2,5 while two opponents have 2,6.

@Squala You can’t have both 5 and 6 without having a straight.

ah shoot, missed that.

How does the answer change as the number of players increases? Ideally I'd like to see a table of lowest winning hand for all possible numbers of players up to 23, the max possible players in a hand (23*2 + 5 = 51).

@TheWreckersCompanion the worst winning hand with 23 players is at least a pair because all shown cards will form a pair with someone.

@Zibelas That is true, but it is only a lower bound and not a full answer.


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How can Gaea's Blessing be exiled by Ashiok, Dream Renderer?
My opponent activated Ashiok, Dream Render's loyalty ability. Gaea's Blessing was among the four cards milled. I would expect that Gaea's Blessing would trigger and resolve on top of the stack, thus saving my graveyard, but its trigger did not even appear and my graveyard was exiled. What precisely happens here?

Abilities that trigger in the middle of another spell or ability resolving don't resolve or even go on the stack until the original spell or ability has finished resolving. Ashiok's ability moves cards from a player's library to their graveyard, then exiles the opponents' graveyards. That's all one ability; Gaea's Blessing's triggered ability has to wait for it to finish before being put on the stack and eventually resolving.
The most relevant rule is 603.3:

Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority. See rule 117, “Timing and Priority.” [...]

My understanding of your answer is that the Gaea's Blessing trigger would occur after the graveyard has been exiled, and then shuffle the now empty graveyard into the library. However, this seems inconsistent with the statement in the question that "[Gaea's Blessing's] trigger did not even appear" - am I misinterpreting your answer?

Your interpretation is correct. I'm guessing that the asker is playing Magic Arena. Maybe the ability appeared and resolved very quickly, apparently doing nothing. Or maybe there's a bug in how Arena handles two zone changes in one resolving spell or ability. Or it could be something else; I can't account for what they saw, but I'm confident in what should happen.

@murgatroid99 Since the graveyard is empty at the end of Ashiok's ability, there are no legal targets for the Gaia's trigger - MTGa handles situations with no player interaction like that very quickly behind the scenes, particularly if neither player has any instant speed effects that can respond - and unless the asker had known the top card of their library (very unlikely since it was formerly the 5th card down), they wouldn't even notice it was shuffled before the trigger had simply finished resolving as normal.

I understand that you're not saying that the ability doesn't resolve, but that's what "there are no legal target" normally means. Gaea's Blessing's ability doesn't have any targets at all.

Just so that I am understanding the path here.  Ashiok mills 4 cards, Gaea's  Blessing is among them.  Ashiok continues resolving and exiles the graveyard.  Owner of Gaea's Blessing gets priority and puts Gaea's Blessing ability on stack.  Gaea's Blessing ability resolves, shuffling the empty graveyard back into the deck.  Correct?

Yes, that's right. Technically, there's also "Gaea's Blessing's ability triggers" after the first sentence. An ability triggers as soon as the relevant event happens, it just waits to go on the stack until whatever is currently happening has finished.


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If I mutate over a creature to be sacrificed later, is it still sacrificed?
If I create a token using Purphoros's Intervention's first mode, and then I mutate a creature over it, do I still sacrifice the resulting creature at the next end step?

Yes, you still sacrifice the creature.
The rules for "Merging with Permanents" say this

723.1. One keyword causes an object to merge with a permanent. See rule 702.140, “Mutate.”
723.2. To merge an object with a permanent, place that object on top of or under that permanent. That permanent becomes a merged permanent represented by the card or copy that represented that object in addition to any other components that were representing it.

723.2c Because a merged permanent is the same object that it was before, it hasn’t just come under a player’s control, any continuous effects that affected it continue to do so, and so on.

Since the merged permanent is the same object as the permanent you had before you cast the creature with mutate on it, any instructions that referred to it before still refer to the merged permanent, including the instruction to sacrifice it.


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If an action causes a creature to gain an ability, does it trigger effects that say "whenever a creature with [ability] does [action]"?
Suppose I have a Saryth, the Viper's Fang, a Hooded Blightfang, and a third creature without deathtouch or vigilance. I attack with that creature, causing it to tap so that it now has deathtouch from Saryth. Does Hooded Blightfang trigger?
My analysis is no, the Blightfang will not trigger, because of rule 508.2a:

Abilities that trigger on a creature attacking trigger only at the point the creature is declared as an attacker. They will not trigger if a creature attacks and then that creature’s characteristics change to match the ability’s trigger condition.

I interpret this as "abilities triggered on attacking trigger only during the performance of rule 508.1a, declaring which creatures will attack, and not during 508.1f which taps the creatures". Am I correct?

I think this analysis is incorrect; specifically, it's not consistent with rules 508.1m and 603.10.
Rule 508.1 describes the process of declaring attackers:

508.1. First, the active player declares attackers. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. To declare attackers, the active player follows the steps below, in order....

508.1f The active player taps the chosen creatures. Tapping a creature when it’s declared as an attacker isn’t a cost; attacking simply causes creatures to become tapped.
508.1m Any abilities that trigger on attackers being declared trigger.

These steps are carried out in order and take effect instantly, without using the stack. Saryth's static ability also doesn't use the stack, it simply applies at all times. When-something-attacks abilities aren't on the list of triggered abilities that can look back in time (rule 603.10). Therefore, they must use the characteristics of the creature immediately after the event to determine if they trigger:

603.10. Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions, and continuous effects that exist at that time are used to determine what the trigger conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like.

At the point in time that the Blightfang's ability checks whether it should trigger, the third creature is tapped and therefore Saryth's ability applies and it has deathtouch.

Conversely: if an effect said "whenever a creature with hexproof attacks", a creature attacking would not trigger that effect, correct?

@TheWreckersCompanion I believe so, because it doesn't have hexproof at the moment that the ability checks whether it should trigger.


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What is the repeated icon on the Quacks of Quedlinburg bonus dice?
I'm trying to use probability to calculate an optimal strategy for Quacks, but my copy is at another house. I know that the bonus dice has five symbols (1VP,2VP,Orange,Ruby,Drop) with one repeated. Can somebody tell me which one?
Thanks

The Quacks of Quedlinburg bonus dice repeated icon is the 1 Victory Point icon. The faces of the die include:

(2x) The player receives 1 victory point.
The player receives 2 victory points.
The player receives 1 ruby.
The player can move their droplet 1 space.
The player receives 1 orange pumpkin chip in their bag.


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Bid out of turn and next player passes or overcalls
Partner is dealer.  RHO opened bidding out of turn, and I either pass or overcall before anyone calls attention to the infraction.  Is the offender's bid accepted?  Does the dealer still have options?

ruds, of course, is right (my standard spiel here is "one of the next players' options is to accept the call.  By bidding, she has taken that option.  Please continue.")  I want to go through the rest of the story.
The One Rule (in my mind, said with capitals) is Law 9B1a: "The Director should be summoned at once when attention is drawn to an irregularity"*.  So:

if nobody noticed until after you called, then there was no attention drawn, everything's fine.  Now that attention has been drawn, call the TD, who will rule as L29A.  Note that L11A starts "The right to rectification of an irregularity may be forfeited if either member of the non-offending side takes any action before summoning the Director."
if someone did notice and mentioned it and you called anyway, then you have also become an offending player (L9B2: "No player shall take any action until the Director has explained all matters in regard to rectification.")  Which isn't a problem here, as the opponents aren't damaged by taking one of the valid options without them being explained to the table (as opposed to, for instance, attempting to enforce the leading restrictions of a penalty card where with knowledge of the Law, the opponents could have played differently to avoid the situation), but don't do it anyway.  The Director is there for a reason.
if they did notice, and called the TD before you called, you would be given the options in Law 29:

(L29A) accept the call and call over it; or
(L29B) cancel the call, let dealer open the bidding, and then:

if the cancelled call was pass, then the special case of L30A applies: "When a pass out of rotation is made at offender’s RHO’s turn to call, the offender must pass at the next turn to call..."
if the cancelled call was a bid, then (L31A) if dealer passes, they must repeat that bid.  If dealer bids, then L23 "Comparable Call" comes into play, and that is definitely something to leave to the Director.

Note that things are different, and more complicated, if it was dealer's partner or RHO that called out of turn (and that call is not accepted), or if it is not an opening call out of turn.  Never Make Your Own Rulings is the mantra, but especially do not with calls out of turn.  It's been three years, and I still read these out of the Law Book every time.

Note that in no case (accepted or not) does dealer get an option; all the options are with the offender's LHO (in your example, you).  This is something that frequently comes as a surprise at the table.  The person with the options must even make that decision without advice from partner (L10C2) - so in your case, dealer can't even ask you to reject the call.
* All quotes from the WBF Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017, Gender Neutral Edition.

Law 29 of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge applies.
A. Forfeiture of Right to Rectification
Following a call out of rotation offender’s LHO
may elect to call thereby forfeiting the right to
any rectification.

In other words, the auction continues as though RHO were the dealer.


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Catan: Longest Road

Does the longest road have to start and end with a settlement or city at each end?
Can you make an infinite loop around a hex?
Should there be a card that can destroy another player’s road, forcing them to take their road back?

You are asking 3 different questions and should limit it to a single question per post.

You can most definitely create a looping road, but it won't count as infinitely long. Related.

This information is found in the Settlers of Catan Rules.

No.

The requirement for longest road is only that you have a continuous road of at least 5 segments. Your own buildings (settlements or cities) will not affect this, however other players' buildings can be placed along your road to block it.

No.

You count the road pieces that make up the road, not the length of the road from 'start' to 'finish'.

If you are the first player to build a continuous road of at least 5 individual road pieces, you take this special card...

The only requirement is that the road pieces included in the 'longest road' are connected
end-to-end, ie. they don't fork.

Note: If your road network branches, you may only count the single longest branch for purposes of the longest road.

Subjective.

The Cities & Knights expansion does include a card that lets you remove one piece of road as long as at least one end of it doesn't touch any of that player's other pieces. [Answer provided by @ConMan]
Whether it should be included in the base game is definitely a subjective question. I often think it would be useful to have a way to remove even your own roads, just to reclaim the pieces. If such a card were added, it would seem more 'fair' if players could remove their own pieces too. (either for free, or at a price).

The Cities & Knights expansion does include a card that lets you remove one piece of road as long as at least one end of it doesn't touch any of that player's other pieces. Should it be in the base game? That's absolutely a subjective question.

Wow, I never knew that, I've only played the base game. Feel free to add that information to my answer

The 'loop' question is covered in FAQ here https://www.catan.com/faqs/93?page=1
"When counting the individual road pieces, it doesn’t matter whether or not they are built in a more or less straight line - what matters is that they establish an uninterrupted connection between two intersections. This is why 6 road pieces connected in a hexagonal fashion still count as 6 road pieces."


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In Robinson Crusoe, once you build the brick, what happens to it?
As I understand it, the brick increases the palisade level by 1 when it is built. Then what? Do you discard the brick? Turn it over and can build it again? Get a permanent +1?

As I understand it, the brick increases the palisade level by 1 when it is built. Then what?

It is placed in the invention spaces.
Rules, p. 18:

At the end of the Action Phase, any Inventions in the Future Resources space will
trigger their effect, be flipped to the Item side and then placed in the Invention
spaces on the board (even personal Inventions).

It is not turned over to be built again on its own, but if some effect turns it over, then it

undoes its effect (you lose 1 palisade level)
Can be built again.

Rules, p. 18:

The Brick increases the Palisade level by 1. If, later in the game, it is flipped
to the Invention side, the Palisade level must be reduced by 1. If this is not
possible, nothing happens.

Rules, p. 18:

During the game, an effect may force players to flip Items back to their Invention
side. From the start of the following round, such an Item ceases to be available
(it is still available for the current round). It must be built again before it can be
used.

Thanks! So what happens if animals attack and reduce the palisade by 1? Say I have the brick and that makes my palisade level 1, then animals attack to reduce it by 1. Do I lose the brick? Am I fully protected?

When the animals reduce the level by 1, move the marker down one. Leave the Brick alone. If you later lose (flip) the brick, then reduce the palisade marker by one.


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Can you identify this form of solitaire
I learned this as a kid. The setup is one card laid out at a time in a row. You make stack cards next to each other if they match numbers or suits. You may also stack in the same manner but skipping two cards backward toward the first card played. The object is to get all 52 cards into a single stack.
I’ve never heard the name of this solitaire but always referred to it as Satans Solitaire because its easy to play but the devils own time to beat.
Anyone else know this game, have a name for it, or variants?

If that is not the same; this other one might be: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/32706/what-is-the-name-of-this-solitaire-game?rq=1

Looks like it might be accordion!  If you want to drop that as an answer I’d be happy to give you the upvote and check


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Can I play NOPE on Catomic Bomb?
Can I play card 'NOPE' on catomic bomb? isn't too easy that way? I'm wondering.

from the rules here on Nope cards

Stop any action except Exploding Kitten or a Defuse Card.

As Catatonic Bomb is neither of those cards a Nope card can be played.


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CATAN- May one player build roads that pass perpendicularly through another player's established roads?
If player one has built a road system through intersection A. Is it within the rules for player B to build a road system that passes through intersection A from the perpendicular direction? Or is that illegal since player A has already built roads passing through that intersection?

This question, as asked, doesn't make sense.  Catan is played on a hex grid, so there are only three valid road spots on each intersection, and it is therefore not possible for two players to build roads "through" the same intersection.  Please include a diagram of the situation you are envisioning or clarify the question.

What you say is not possible, as there are only 3 different ways that a road could go into an intersection (and in some places just 2, so perpendicularity is not possible). However, it is technically legal for someone to build a road into an intersection where another player already has two roads going through. (Other than the purpose of blocking a player's route however, this is not usually a beneficial move for the player taking it.) In the below example, the green player could make a road going into the red player's intersection legally. (Sorry for the green, I know its not a Catan color, but it was the only color arrow I had.)

It is also legal for a player to insert two roads, effectively blocking another player's route into an intersection in which he has only one road. In Example 2 (below), the green player built two roads to cut off the red's road at the water-ore-desert hex.

You get green in the 5/6 player expansion.

It can be very advantageous for a second player to build to that intersection if that intersection is still a valid settlement spot.  In your first example, if green builds a settlement on the shared intersection, not only will green then have a settlement there, it will also break red's road into two roads for the purposes of longest road


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If a monstrous creature is destroyed does it lose monstrous?
If I have a creature that became monstrous, it gets destroyed, and I pull it from my graveyard, will I have to reapply monstrous or does it last until the end of the game?

A creature that leaves the battlefield stops being monstrous.
Whenever a creature (or any other object) changes zones for any reason, it becomes a new object. That means it will lose monstrous, among other things.

400.7. An object that moves from one zone to another becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous existence.

Also, only permanents can be monstrous, and permanents only exist on the battlefield

701.31a “Monstrosity N” means “If this permanent isn’t monstrous, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.”

110.1. A permanent is a card or token on the battlefield. A permanent remains on the battlefield indefinitely. A card or token becomes a permanent as it enters the battlefield and it stops being a permanent as it’s moved to another zone by an effect or rule.


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Catan: Cities and Knights: "Using" progress cards to get them out of your hand
Can you "use" a mining card without being adjacent to ore, or an irrigation card without being adjacent to wheat, in order to get them out of your hand and prevent opponents from spying them? You will get 0 cards from them but I'm mainly asking if you can use them up in this case.
Can you "use" a medicine card when you can't actually build a city with it or already have the max 4 cities? Or can you "use" an engineer card when you have no city to place it on or already have the max 3 city walls? Same notion.
I thought the answer was no, as you can't do it online. But I can't find anything in the rules specifically disproving it. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.
Thanks

https://www.catan.com/faqs/96?page=6

I agree: the rules don't prohibit you from playing cards simply because it will have no effect. Online or app versions that prevent you from doing so are programmed incorrectly.
As you suggest, there is no specific rule that says this, but following the wording of the specific card should guide you here.
Perhaps the most illustrative examples are Resource Monopoly and Trade Monopoly. Clearly, if you haven't paid attention, it is easy to choose a resource or commodity that no opponent has in their hand. If so, you don't get to choose something else, you just get zero cards.
Other simple examples:

Mining and Irrigation: 2x0 is 0, so you'd collect zero cards.
Saboteur: If you have the most victory points, nobody has to discard cards. (My iPad app gets this one wrong)

Note that the game state might prevent you from playing some cards based on the  situation:

Master Merchant starts out: "Select an opponent who has more victory points than you." Maybe I'm reading too much from MTG rules, but my interpretation is that you cannot play this card if there are no opponents with more victory points.
In contrast, Wedding says "Each player who has more victory points than you must give you...". If you play the card, and the number of matching players is zero, then you get zero resources, but you're not prevented from playing the card.

Other progress cards are a little less clear:

Can you play Crane but then choose not to buy any city improvements this turn? Probably.
Can you play Engineer if you don't have any city walls (or un-walled cities) available? Not sure, probably not?
Can you play Smith with no knights on the board, or with all knights at max level? Eh... sure?
Can you play Smith with level 1 knights on the board, but choose not to upgrade any to level 2? Maybe? Depending on how we interpret "up to two"?

NOTE: this appears to be incorrect. See the accepted answer for the linked question, where an official FAQ says this is not allowed.


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Does it make sense to include cards from Commander decks to your main deck when playing "kitchen table magic"?
Well I don't know if cards in commander decks could be found in standard decks/sets or not but if not then there are cards in the commander decks that great to include them in your main deck that consists of only standard sets. I read on the internet that when playing "kitchen table magic" you can play any deck/card from any standard set you'd like as long as you and the other person agree on it [which will most likely happen, that's what a lot of people do when they play with friends].

Do you have to inform your casual opponent that you have cards from a commander deck in your deck or is it fine not to do so if you're playing "kitchen table magic"?

Is it smart to include cards from commander decks to your main deck?

What format do most people play generally? Modern or Standard? when playing "kitchen table magic".

Honestly, no-one can answer these questions. "Kitchen table magic" almost by definition doesn't have any legality rules.

I think your concept of "kitchen table magic" is actually too restrictive. The main idea is to use cards you have access to while playing with friends, in any way possible. It's a very casual format where anything goes as long as the group agrees to it, and often includes house rules/restrictions to suit each individual table.
That being said, most people still follow the "constructed" deckbuilding ruleset, which is 60 card minimum, no more than 4 copies of any non-basic.
To answer your questions specifically:

Do you have to inform your casual opponent that you have cards from a commander deck in your deck or is it fine not to do so if you're playing "kitchen table magic"?

You don't "have to" do anything, but you probably should give your friends a heads up. Just talk with your play group about what they expect, especially for new cards.

Is it smart to include cards from commander decks to your main deck?

Kitchen table magic usually prioritizes hanging out with friends over building top-tier legacy decks. So it's smart if including them makes the game more enjoyable for you and your friends. It's a bad idea if including them will bring grief (some of these cards can be expensive, or poorly balanced for 1v1 settings).

What format do most people play generally? Modern or Standard? when playing "kitchen table magic"

Kitchen table magic is still usually constructed, so 1v1 with 60 card decks. So I guess technically, most people play legacy but won't have decks anywhere close to being competitive for tournament play.
There can be house rules, especially rules to ease deck construction (such as allowing proxies or free mulligans). Alternatively, there can be house bans on annoying cards that people don't like to play against (such as a "no 2-mana counterspell" restriction).
Even so, people often play various other multiplayer formats like free-for-all or two-headed giant.