text:
Can I sacrifice an enchantment when it is going to be destroyed?
My opponent had an Elvish Lyrist and activated its sacrifice to destroy my Seal of Fire. I sacrificed Seal of Fire after that. Would my Seal still do its 2 points of damage?

Yes. Activated (and triggered) Abilities are independent of their sources. The typical analogy is of a hand grenade: If a soldier throws a grenade, and then is shot, the grenade will still explode.
As long as you activate the seal of fire's ability before the enchantment is destroyed (such as, in response to the effect that would destroy it), the effect still triggers (and does the two damage). In addition, the Elvish lyrist's effect would be countered upon resolution (because Seal of Fire is no longer a valid target), though this is of little importance, because the elf has already been sacrificed.
This works because abilities do not resolve instantly once activated. Instead, they are put on the Stack. When an item (be it an ability, trigger, spell being cast, or most anything else) goes onto the stack, each player gets an opportunity (called priority) to respond to that item.
In this case, Elvish Lyrist's ability is activated and placed onto the stack. You (along with any other players in the game) will receive priority in turn. While you have priority, you may activate Seal of Fire's ability in response. It goes onto the stack (above Elvish Lyrist's ability). Once each player has passed priority, items on the stack resolve in the reverse of the order they were placed there (ie, First in, Last Out). Additionally, each player will receive priority after each item on the stack resolves; so a player could choose to cast a spell after seal of fire's ability deals damage, but before Elvish Lyrist's ability resolves.

While true, abilities existing independently of their sources isn't really the reason this works. It's just a matter of the stack, activating Seal of Fire in response to it being targeted. If objects had to still exist for their abilities to work, Seal of Fire wouldn't work on its own either.

No, but I believe that it was the source of confusion. Regardless, I have edited my post to explain exactly why this works.

I dunno about that - if you know how the stack works the question wouldn't even occur to you. You'd know that you can use Seal of Fire entirely as normal while Elvish Lyrist's ability is still waiting around on the stack. Thanks for editing, anyway.

I like the grenade analogy.

Also fun to note you can't respond by targeting the Elvish Lyricist with the Seal of Fire (if for some reason you wanted to), since the sacrifice is a cost and not an effect, so the elf is already dead by the time you can respond.

Yes you can sacrifice the Seal of Fire to do 2 points of damage.
When the Lyrist activates its ability, that ability doesn't happen right away, it's put on the stack. While on the stack, you have the chance to respond, and so you activate Seal of Fire, doing 2 damage.
Then Lyrist's ability tries to resolve, but since the enchantment isn't around anymore, it fizzles, but the costs stay paid (mana and sacrifice).

The process of putting the Elvish Lyrist activated ability on the stack includes paying the costs (Green Mana, Tapping the Elvish Lyrist, and Sacrifice Elvish Lyrist). It will be gone before priority shifts to the controller of Seal of Fire.


text:
Animated Planeswalkers
Say I have a Liliana of the Veil that is also a 3/3 creature (possibly via Enchanted Evening and Opalescence).
My opponent attacks Lilly with a 4/4 lifelink, trample and I decide to block with Lilly.
Does my opponent gain three or four life from her creature?

Possible duplicate of Does a creature with Lifelink provide lifegain equal to its power, or the defender's toughness?

This is just an ordinary lifelink scenario, the life gain situation doesn't have much to do with the planeswalker route. I had the same question when I started, too!

@doppelgreener It's also a question about trample when the creature you're trampling over is also the planeswalker you're trampling over onto. One might imagine (incorrectly) that after dealing lethal damage to the planeswalker-creature, the creature wouldn't deal any more.

@doppelgreener actually, Jefromi described quite well where my problem was. I don't think that the question is a duplicate of the question you've linked to.

@john_leo you might want to indicate in your question how it is different from the possible duplicate, to clarify for parsing without needing to read the comment chain.

Ok, so the creature is attacking Liliana. Even with trample, the controller can choose to assign all 4 damage to Liliana. So, the controller gains 4 life.
Also, even if you decided to trample the damage over, it would still go to hit Liliana (she wouldn't be dead yet), since all damage is dealt simultaneously.
What's interesting about the scenario is that Liliana is marked for damage as a creature AND loyalty is also removed for each point of damage.

A short question on your last remark: If the (4/4 lifelink) creature attacked a 5/5 planeswalker at 4 loyalty, the planeswalker would die, correct?

Yes. The state-based action of checking if a planeswalker has 0 loyalty would kick in, and the planeswalker would die.

No matter how your opponent assigns damage, your opponent will gain four life when damage is dealt.
##Assigning damage

510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage

702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking

When trample damage is assigned, you must assign at least lethal to all blocking creatures, and any remaining can be assigned to the player or planeswalker. That means your opponent has the following options:

Assign 3 to Liliana, and 1 to Liliana
Assign 4 to Liliana

As you can see, the options in this case all add up to the same result: all four damage gets assigned to Liliana of the Veil.
##Dealing damage

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously

When the 4/4 lifelink trample creature deals damage, it deals four all at once, rather than dealing three followed by one. Simultaneously, its controller gains four life.
Note that because Liliana was dealt four damage in total, she loses four loyalty counters. This is because Liliana is still a planeswalker even though she is also an enchantment and a creature. Even if Liliana were indestructible, she would still die if she loses all of her loyalty. Gideon, Battle-Forged has an ability that specifically protects him from losing loyalty like this.

They would gain 4 life. The creature will deal 4 damage to Liliana either because all 4 damage was assigned to the blocking creature, or 3 was assigned to the blocking creature and 1 trampled over onto the Planeswalker. This is just an odd case where the creature and the Planeswalker are the same object. Since 4 damage was dealt 4 life is gained, it doesn't matter that Liliana only has 3 toughness.

702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking.
702.15b Damage dealt by a source with lifelink causes that source’s controller, or its owner if it has no controller, to gain that much life (in addition to any other results that damage causes).

510.1a Each attacking creature and each blocking creature assigns combat damage equal to its power. Creatures that would assign 0 or less damage this way don’t assign combat damage at all.
510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously.

This means that the 4/4 assigns and deals 4 damage. That means its controller gains 4 life.

It doesn't matter at all that the blocker is a Planeswalker.
It doesn't matter at all that the blocker is also the Planeswalker being attacked.
It doesn't matter at all that the attacker has trample.

There are things that could matter (such as the removal of a blocker if the attacker didn't have trample, or if a blocker has Protection from a quality the attacker has), but there are none in the posted scenario.

702.19b The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking

Options:

Assign 3 to the blocker, and 1 to the attacked Planeswalker.
Assign 4 to the blocker.

Either way, four damage is assigned, and four damage is dealt.

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Does untapping a creature save it from a spell that destroys a tapped creature?
My opponent cast Murderous Compulsion, which says "Destroy target tapped creature". In response, I cast Aim High, which says "Untap target creature. It gets +2/+2 and gains reach until end of turn. (It can block creatures with flying.)"
Does my creature gets destroyed? I think not because of the stack, being my spell was the last to be cast.

This oughta be a duplicate. There were several questions about legality of targets. Gaining hexproof before a spell resolves invokes the exact same rule.

@tsuma534: Hexproof is maybe close enough, although it's much more straightforward to have an ability say "can't be targetted" than a target becoming illegal because its tapped/untapped state has changed. In any case, you can flag a post as duplicate, and it will be handled by votes.

@TheThirdMan Flagging as a duplicate requires me to provide a question which is the original. As a perfectionist I wouldn't be satisfied with finding any question that fits. I would need to find a best one. At the moment, I don't have enough time to do this.

Yes, you can save the creature in this situation by untapping it in response
Murderous Compulsion, like every other targetted spell or ability, checks whether its targets are legal both when you choose targets, as well as on resolution of the spell. If on resolution, the creature previously chosen as a target is now untapped, the target becomes illegal (and because there's only a single target involved, the spell gets countered by the game rules for not having any legal targets).

601.2c The player announces his or her choice of an appropriate player, object, or zone for each target the spell requires. (...)
608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. (...) Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed (...). The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. (...)

As for the stack - you would have to cast Aim High in response to your opponent's spell. Because the stack resolves from the top (last in, first out), your spell will resolve before theirs, untapping your creature before it would be destroyed.

405.2. The stack keeps track of the order that spells and/or abilities were added to it. Each time an object is put on the stack, it’s put on top of all objects already there.
405.5. When all players pass in succession, the top (last-added) spell or ability on the stack resolves. If the stack is empty when all players pass, the current step or phase ends and the next begins.

That is correct, the target is essentially checked twice for validity, once while the spell is cast and again before it resolves. If the tapped creature is untapped before the spell has resolved then it is no longer a valid target and Murderous Compulsion will "Fizzle" (become countered), having no effect. Rule 608.2b covers this:

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

It might be helpful to mention that "fizzle" is just slang for being countered by the game rules, to help future readers who may not be familiar with the term and are confused by why they're not seeing the word "fizzle" in the quoted rule.

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When can I discard?
I'm curious I started magic with my mother yesterday and she doesn't like house rules only official rules. Can I discard a card from my hand and draw a card from my library?

It would beat the purpose of One with Nothing

Discard at will? No. You either discard when instructed by a game rule (more cards than hand size at the end of your turn), when instructed by an ability (such as Enhanced Awareness's), or to pay a cost (such as for Rummaging Goblin's ability). If you aren't instructed to discard, you can't. Similarly, you can't just draw a card to replace any card you discard.

You only draw one card during your draw step. At the end of your turn, if you have more than 7 cards in hand, you must discard until you have 7 cards in hand. These are standard rules that always apply unless a spell or ability commands you to do otherwise. When discarding you are not allowed to redraw to replace the card unless a spell or ability allows you to do so. Library of Leng, Anvil of Bogarden, Grafted Skullcap, Heightened Awareness are examples of spells that affect how you draw and discard.

You can also discard a card to pay a cost (such as for Rummaging Goblin's ability). I'm not sure how to add that to your answer.


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Clarification of creature's subtype for card effects
The wife and I are new players to this particular card game, though not card games in general. We have only dueled twice with MtG so far. We had something come up we were curious about. She used the card Sharpened Pitchfork which has in its effect:

As long as equipped creature is a Human, it gets +1/+1.

Which she used on her Moorland Inquisitor whose creature subtype is Human Soldier.
Now common sense and reality say, yes this effect should work since he is a human. However, in many card games the writing has to match perfectly, and technically this does not. He is a 'Human Soldier', and it calls for a 'Human'. So in this example, do you use the common sense, he is a human, or does it not count?
I had the same thing happen in our first duel, but with the card Ghoulraiser who has the ability:

When Ghoulraiser enters the battlefield, return a Zombie card at random from your graveyard to your hand.

And the creature in question for this one was Makeshift Mauler whose creature subtype is 'Zombie Horror'
Not considering the random part, would this work or not with the same thought based on common sense, or technical writing?
We're using the Blessed vs Cursed duel decks if anybody wants/needs to see the cards in question. Thank you for your help on what I am sure is an obvious question, but I tend to overthink things so I have to check small stuff like this.

In Magic each subtype is its own separate thing. So when the Inquisitor says "Human Soldier" it means "this creature is a Human and this creature is a Soldier". Similarly Avacynian Priest couldn't tap the Inquisitor even though it has the Soldier subtype because it is still a Human.
Ghoulraiser would work the same way, the Mauler is a Zombie (regardless of any other subtypes it may have) so it is an option to be returned to your hand.

205.3b Subtypes of each card type except plane are always single words and are listed after a long dash. Each word after the dash is a separate subtype; such objects may have multiple types. Subtypes of planes are also listed after a long dash, but may be multiple words; all words after the dash are, collectively, a single subtype.
Example: [...] “Creature — Goblin Wizard” means the card is a creature with the subtypes Goblin and Wizard.

That my friend was both fast and perfect. Thank you very much.

Hopefully not too surprisingly, this works with types and colors too. An artifact creature is an artifact and a creature, and a blue-white spell is a blue spell and a white spell.

@Jefromi That's funny you mention that, I played an Artifact Creature I got from a booster yesterday and wondered to myself if it was the same then saw your comment when I got to work lol

Note that this can go both ways - a card could specify that "Human Soldier creatures you control get +1/+1", which would specifically require that the creature be both a Human and a Soldier.


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If a token is returned to hand, is it considered dying?

1/1 Devil token (ala Devils' Playground) on board
Just the Wind cast on the 1/1 Devil
Token gets removed from board
?? Devil does 1 damage to target creature or player ??

Unfortunately, no, it doesn't die. "Dies" has a specific meaning:

700.4. The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.”

The token does cease to exist once in the player's hand, but that's due to other rules, and that's not considered dying either:

110.5f A token that’s phased out, or that’s in a zone other than the battlefield, ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704. (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)

But, this has an interesting implication that a token can die and is temporarily in the graveyard, thus satisfying death triggers.

For added effect:
Tokens still "die", but then they are removed from the graveyard immediately as a state-based action.

This could use a mention of the rule that does cause the token to stop existing when bounced. That would give the opportunity to show that it stops existing without rule 700.4 applying.

If it doesn't die, then the added ability doesn't trigger.


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Confused on helping and wandering monsters in munchkin zombies
There are 5 players. Player 1 kicks down door, there is a monster he needs help with. A player agrees to help. Can the other three players all use a wandering monster card and a monster card?
If so are the two players now fighting 4 monsters or 3 because the first monster dies at the moment the player said he/she would help?
If the two beat all the monsters, do both get levels per monster killed or just player one?

Even the player who fight can add more wandering monsters...

The two players would have to defeat all 4 monsters. After getting help, the other players are allowed a reasonable amount of time to interfere before you can claim levels and treasure.
And just like normal getting help, only player 1 gets the levels, but both share the treasure.

As a point to sharing treasure, they still share treasure according to the initial agreement! If you helped for "2 of 4 treasures" rather than "half" that's all you'd get, even if there are loads more treasures now.


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Does killing Might Sliver before damage affect other slivers' power and toughness?
I got quite confused on what exactly happens in this situation:
Opponent is attacking, he does so with three (3/3) creatures.
I declare blockers, which would be two unimportant (1/1) Slivers and a Might Sliver (2/2). The Might Sliver has a static ability: "All Slivers get +2/+2", so in fact I have two (3/3)'s and one (4/4) creature to block with.
If, after the blockers are declared and before the damage is dealt, the opponent destroys the Might Sliver with an instant (Murder), will my Slivers retain the +2/+2 bonus until damage is dealt, so I would lose three creatures, while he loses two, or is it lost and my defense crumbles and my defenders are all killed?

When you'd attack with a 1/1 Elvish Pioneer, and it gets blocked by a 2/2 Grizzly Bear, then - before damage is dealt - you would be able to cast Giant Growth on the Pioneer, right? So between bolckers are assigned and damage is dealt, players can change P/T of the creatures on the board. No different with the (removal of) MIght Sliver.

The ability from Might Sliver is a static ability: it functions as long as Might Sliver is on the battlefield.  When the sliver leaves the battlefield (dies in this case), its ability also goes with it.  Your other creatures loose the power/toughness increase.
At the time that your opponent played the instant, it was still in the Declare Blockers step.  During that step, you declare blockers, then both players have a chance to play instants before combat damage. Once your Might Sliver is dead, your other Slivers are 1/1 when you choose to move to damage.

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

I think OP knows that the other slivers lose the +2/+2; the essence of the question is at what point does the P/T become "locked in", i.e. the combat damage step. It should at least be added that players get priority after blockers are declared, and that all P/T changes in that step affect the outcome of the combat damage step.

Exactly, my point is, when exactly is the bonus is lost, because i've met players  doing it both ways, thats why i made up this example... and the rules themselves don't explain it enough for me.

@hujuku As the answer says, the bonus is lost when the sliver leaves the battlefield.


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Saboteur inbetween the goal cards
If I reach a goal card that is a rock, can I put a path card going from that goal card to another one, even though that goal card dosen't have a path connected to it on that side?

No.
The general rule is that you orient the goal card to connect with the path you added.  That goal card is now part of your path, and to add a path from there, it has to correctly match the path on the goal card.


text:
Is it possible to move auras with the equip ability?
Let's say my field is:

a bear creature
an elf creature
an aura (for completeness sake: it gives flying to the enchanted creature)
Mycosynth Lattice
Bludgeon Brawl

The aura is enchanting the bear.
The aura has "Equip {x}" granted by Bludgeon Brawl.
If I was to activate the Equip ability targeting the elf, what would the aura be attached to?

Which creature would have the +x/+0 and flying?
Would the answer be the same if the aura could only enchant a land?

An easy way to get an answer will be to look at Bludgeon Brawl's Gatherer tips:

While Bludgeon Brawl is on the battlefield, an Aura enchantment that somehow becomes an artifact in addition to its other types will also become an Equipment. Any of its abilities that refer to either "enchanted creature" or "equipped creature" refer to the creature it's currently attached to. It can be attached to other creatures using its equip ability. If you try to attach the Aura Equipment to a creature it can't legally be attached to, it remains where it is. If the creature it's attached to becomes an illegal permanent for it to enchant, the Aura Equipment will be put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action.

This is governed by a bunch of rules, but the gist is: you can equip the aura on another legal target, and it will give both the aura and equipment bonuses (it will be attached to a new object).
As for the second part, an Aura which can only enchant a Land will be moved to graveyard if the Land it was enchanting isn't also a creature, because an Equipment can only be attached to a creature. Basically, "enchanting" and "equipped" mean the same - attached to an object. And since the attachment is not legal anymore, the Aura will be moved to graveyard as SBA.

303.4b The object or player an Aura is attached to is called enchanted. The Aura is attached to, or “enchants,” that object or
player.
301.5a The creature an Equipment is attached to is called the “equipped creature.” The Equipment is attached to, or “equips,” that creature.
303.4c If an Aura is enchanting an illegal object or player as defined by its enchant ability and other applicable effects, the object it was attached to no longer exists, or the player it was attached to has left the game, the Aura is put into its owner’s graveyard. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)

And if the current Land it is enchanting is a legal target (it is a creature as well), you may only attach (equip) the Aura-Equipment to another Land if it is a legal target, otherwise it will not move and stay attached to the current Land.

RTGR = Read The Gatherer Rulings

I've pondered this question for a while yet somehow missed the gather ruling :S Serves me right for not reading everything

I don't think your answer about the second part (trying to attach to a land) is right. The ruling you quote says "If you try to attach the Aura Equipment to a creature it can't legally be attached to, it remains where it is." It only goes to the graveyard if it's already attached and the attachment becomes illegal.

That is what I meant what happens if the aura is enchanting a land and becomes an equipment, it will go to the graveyard if it isn't also a creature. I'll try to clarify that, thanks!

The aura-equipment will be attached only to the elf, and the aura's effects and the equipment's effects will apply only to the newly-equipped creature (the elf).
If you instead had an "enchant land" aura attached to a land, you'd lose it as soon as you got the "combo" on the battlefield, before getting a chance to activate the equip ability. It'd be illegal for the equipment to be attached to it, so it'd become unattached, and then since it's also an aura that's not attached to anything, it'd be put into your graveyard as a state-based action.
If on the other hand it was attached to a Dryad Arbor (a land creature) it'd be fine - but if you tried to move it to a regular creature, it wouldn't move, since that's an illegal target for the aura to be attached to.
Vilmar's answer quotes the Bludgeon Brawl rulings which pretty much cover all of this. As for the detailed rules...

303.4b The object or player an Aura is attached to is called enchanted. The Aura is attached to, or “enchants,” that object or player.

This means the aura's effects will apply to whatever it's attached to. There's no notion of "attached-as-an-equipment" versus "attached-as-an-aura". Objects are simply attached.

702.6a Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. “Equip [cost]” means “[Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.”

So when you activate the equip ability, you attach.

701.3. Attach
701.3a To attach an Aura, Equipment, or Fortification to an object means to take it from where it currently is and put it onto that object. If something is attached to a permanent on the battlefield, it’s customary to place it so that it’s physically touching the permanent. An Aura, Equipment, or Fortification can’t be attached to an object it couldn’t enchant, equip, or fortify, respectively.

It's not totally explicit, but this is the closest I could find to something saying that an object can only be attached to one object, i.e. if A is attached to B and you then attach it to C, it's no longer attached to B. (Clearly this is how equipment works, so I don't think we need worry about it being wrong.)
Taken together, this means that when you equip your aura-equipment to a new (legal) object, it becomes attached only to that object, and the aura's effects apply only to that new object. In your case, this means that the elf gets +X/+0 and flying, and the bear doesn't get anything.
As for the case where you try to attach to an illegal target, it's pretty simple:

701.3b If an effect tries to attach an Aura, Equipment, or Fortification to an object it can’t be attached to, the Aura, Equipment, or Fortification doesn’t move. If an effect tries to attach an Aura, Equipment, or Fortification to the object it’s already attached to, the effect does nothing. If an effect tries to attach an object that isn’t an Aura, Equipment, or Fortification to another object or player, the effect does nothing and the first object doesn’t move.


text:
Do basic land cards enter the battlefield tapped?
I'm new to Magic: The Gathering, so I am not familiar with the rules yet.
The person who taught me says land cards do not enter tapped, unless the card says otherwise, meaning I can have land enter the battlefield, tap it and use it to summon a creature onto the battlefield.
According to others I played with, ALL CARDS enter tapped, even basic land, and says I have to wait until my next upkeep to untap, then re-tap the mana in order to use it for summoning a creature. Which is correct?

A minor correction that could trip you up if you keep playing with more complex cards: You don't untap during your upkeep; untap is a separate step that happens before upkeep.

It sounds like your friends are confusing summoning sickness with entering tapped. Although a creature can't attack or tap to activate abilities the turn it entered, it is does not enter tapped. Tapping summoning-sick creatures could be a common way for new players to remember which creatures just entered, but this is bad practise

@MatthewJensen Tapping creatures to indicate summoning sickness is not just bad practice, it's wrong, according to the rules.

As an aside, for getting used to the basic rules the introduction and color challenges available to new players in Magic:Arena are in my opinion very well scripted and do a good job of teaching core mechanics and giving a taste of what strategies might look like.  Granted, there are many more interesting card effects and situations with sometimes very nuanced rules which it cannot cover in such a format but it should at least get you comfortable with the basics of the game.  I recommend giving that a go as a supplemental learning tool.

@JMoravitz, now, since you mention the basic rules, I can't see them mention summoning sickness at all... They do mention how tapping works as a cost and that only untapped creatures may attack (though that's only under the detailed list of the parts of a turn, not under attacking), so based on just them and the external knowledge that creatures can't attack on the same turn, one might well assume that hence they must enter the game tapped.

That's a common misunderstanding of the rules. Some MTG communities not only mix up the concepts of Summoning Sickness with "entering the battlefield tapped" but apply it to everything in the game, creating some hilariously strange games. This was a common misunderstanding on local game store for a good few years, that only was cleared out when another shop opened - this time owned by someone that knew MTG properly - opened up nearby.

Other commonly mixed up rules are "Only one land per turn", how "Regenerate" and "Vigilance" works, and how damage is split among creatures.

All permanents, including lands, enter the battlefield untapped unless an effect says otherwise.
This is stated in the rule book, in rule 110.5b:

Permanents enter the battlefield untapped, unflipped, face up, and phased in unless a spell or ability says otherwise.

Just as an example Grasslands will enter tapped (since its written on the cart)

As murgatroid99’s answer states, per rule 110.5b from the comprehensive rules, everything enters untapped unless something says otherwise (as well as unflipped, face up, and phased in).
However, it's possible that the statement that everything enters tapped may have been true at that particular point in that particular game. There are a couple of cards that actually have this effect (though none are currently standard-legal), such as Orb of Dreams, or a tapped Archelos, Lagoon Mystic. These further highlight though the fact that normally things enter untapped, because otherwise they would be pointless cards (and WotC generally does not print truly pointless cards).
It’s also possible that the players who told you everything enters tapped are confused about rule 302.6, commonly known as ‘Summoning sickness’:

A creature’s activated ability with the tap symbol or the untap symbol in its activation cost can’t be activated unless the creature has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. A creature can’t attack unless it has been under its controller’s control continuously since their most recent turn began. This rule is informally called the “summoning sickness” rule.

Notably:

This only affects creatures, not other permanent types.
This does not tap the creature, it just prevents it from attacking or using it’s tap (or untap) abilities.
Creatures with summoning sickness can still block (as long as they are untapped.
Creatures with summoning sickness can still be tapped by other effects.  For example, if you had a Merfolk creature enter your side of the battlefield this turn, you could still tap it to pay for one of Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca's abilities.

One key point is that creatures without haste can't attack the turn they entered the battlefield under your control, but they can still block. Tapped creatures can't block.

Another good example is Azami, Lady of Scrolls. She can tap herself for her ability the turn she entered the battlefield, assuming she didn't lose her creature type somehow

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


text:
Where can I find an opening database of professional games for 9x9 Go?
I'm looking for an opening database (also called game explorer) for 9x9 Go, showing in every position the percentage of times each move is played and also possibly the percentage of times each move leads to a win for Black.
The database must only include games played by professionals.
Just like the following database, but for 9x9 instead of 19x19: http://ps.waltheri.net/
It doesn't matter if there are not a lot of games in the database. Even a hundred games would be sufficient.

Edit:
I found one! Here it is: https://online-go.com/puzzle/181
But I would still be interested in other databases. So if somebody else finds another 9x9 database, with at least as much games (361) as the previous one, please do give me its link.

If you find the answer to your own question after posting, post it as an answer.
If you are not satisfied by the solution you found yourself, explain why you are not satisfied.

Note that the alleged duplicate asks for more, namely the time spent on each move. None of the three links given in this Q&A appear to include this feature.

It's not professional games but they are between very strong players:
http://dcook.org/compgo/9by9_experiments.html
This has tons of games:
http://gobase.org/9x9/

I have already went to both of these two pages. For the first I can't even manage to open the .tgz and .zip files... For the second page it's not what I am looking for (as I said what I'm looking for is something that shows "in every position the percentage of times each move is played and also possibly the percentage of times each move leads to a win for Black").

@user50746 : for the analysis part, several Go program will do that for you when you upload the games in their database. So just go for the databases, like the ones Liam gave you, and the one you found too

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


text:
Frozen prize pile in canasta when all but one player has only 1 card in hand?
What happens when the prize pile is frozen in canasta, and all but one player has only 1 card in hand, assuming no players have a canasta yet, and the player with more cards has already melded-in?
This occurred when playing a round of 3-person canasta. Both other players were down to two cards, while I had 6 cards in hand, and I had just taken the discard pile. I had already met the entry meld requirement. I then baited the next person in turn order to take the prize pile by discarding a card they wanted, they did and so ended the turn with one card in hand. That player then did the same thing to the remaining player. When it comes around to my turn, I am the only one with a hand and the other two have 1 card in hand.
So I froze the prize pile, seeing an opportunity to basically play all cards in the deck.
At this point, we all had a laugh (none of us are very experienced at this game) and decided to pack up the game with a nebulous winner, since it was late (I was thousands of points behind at this point: 1895 points versus 3595 and 3135.)
Am I right that in this situation, I can basically play the whole remaining deck? My thought process is as follows: I have 5 cards in hand, containing two pairs in suits I have not melded yet. I wait for the prize pile to get nice and fat (neither of the other two players can play anything) and then I take the prize pile, melding the minimum to do so (I can take the pile using either of the pairs in my hand.) At this point, I can just re-freeze the empty pile. If I do so, then there is a very high chance that I can take the pile again in subsequent rounds, because I have multiples in almost everything. Alternatively, I can just play the oodles I have and let the game continue, even I will have substantial card advantage.
Thanks!

Your thinking is correct. If you are the only player who has more than 1 card in hand, then there is nothing to stop you from melding the rest of the cards in the draw pile. This has happened to me in a 2 player game (when playing draw 1 instead of draw 2). Nothing here would be different about 3 players. Your opponents have no way of ever legally picking up the discard pile or going out as long as your first discard after picking up the discard pile is a wild card.
You most likely should have been able to play out that hand and won the game. Being thousands of points behind wouldn't have mattered; you likely could have gotten enough points on that one hand to win.


text:
In Canasta, may I discard a card of a rank I have melded?
If you are playing Canasta with two players, and you have 9's down in your meld, can you discard another 9 from your hand?

Unless I'm missing something in the translation, the answer would be yes. Could you expand this a little??

There is not, in my copy of Hoyle's Rules of Card Games, a requirement to meld any particular card. Nor is there a requirement to meld at all in a given turn, either. It is usually better to meld what you can, but it's not a requirement.
Looking at the Hoyle Gaming website's Canasta Rules, it says the following:

How the Game Is Played
At the beginning of the game, one card is flipped to the discard pile. If that card is a 2, joker, or red 3, another card is flipped on top of it and the pile is frozen. Before play begins, any red 3s in players’ hands are automatically played to the 3 pile on the board and replaced with new cards.
On your turn, you either draw a card from the draw pile or pick up the discard pile. See “Picking Up the Discard Pile” earlier in this chapter. If you pick up the discard pile, the top card of the pile is automatically played to the appropriate card pile. If the pile was frozen, you must then also play two natural cards to that pile; if you don’t, you won’t be able to take the pile.
Next, meld cards to the table, if you want to. (The first play your team can make is the initial meld.) You may be able to undo melds, if you need to; see the in-game help for details. At the end of your turn, discard a card by dragging it to the discard pile. You must always keep at least one card in your hand at the end of a turn, unless you are going out.

Melding is explicitly "if you want to"... The only compulsory behaviors are the draw, the discard, and that after discard, one must retain one card in hand.
Later, it notes:

Going Out
Your team is qualified to go out (ending the current hand) if you have at least one canasta on the table. To go out, either you or your partner must play all of the cards in your hand to the table. The last card in your hand can either be melded or discarded; this is the only time in the game you are not required to discard at the end of your turn.

This provides that one need not discard when going out.
Bycicle's Rules Page for Canasta says of melding:

A player may meld as many cards as he pleases, of one rank or different ranks, forming new melds or adding cards to previous melds. (But see restrictions on "Going Out".) All the melds of a partnership are placed in front of either partner. A partnership may meld in a rank already melded by the opponents, but may not make two different melds of the same rank.
A player may add additional cards to a meld by his side, provided that the melds remain valid (having no more than three wild cards). He may not add cards to the opponents' melds.

No compulsion to meld is listed.

In Canasta, the only discard limitation is on 7s in a 6-player game.
This game is often referred to as Pennies From Heaven, and the relevant section goes like this:

Sevens cannot be discarded unless both teams have completed a canasta
  of sevens.

There are no discard limitations in any other variant of the game, so you can feel free to discard any card you like in your game.


text:
What do you do when you get stuck in an Eastern Crows loop?
What do you do when you get caught in an Eastern Crows loop? There are three Eastern Crows cards that get shuffled back into the encounter deck every time they're defeated (supposing none are drawn as shadow effect cards). If you go all the way through the encounter deck you will be left with these cards, and then you're stuck in and endless Eastern Crows loop because you never technically empty the encounter deck so you can't reshuffle the discard pile. If you're playing with Thalin it's even worse, because if he's committed to the quest, then he deals one damage to every enemy as it's dealt. So... Eastern crows comes out > gets dealt one damage > goes back in the deck. But it also has the surge keyword:

So one more card is drawn from the deck, and it's Eastern Crows again... and the cycle starts over again...

THALIN
Dwarf. Warrior.
While Thalin is committed to a quest, deal 1 damage to each enemy as it is revealed by the encounter deck.
EASTERN CROWS
Creature.
Surge.
Forced: After Eastern Crows is defeated, shuffle it back into the encounter deck.
What's the solution here? Do you just play with Eastern crows until the end of the quest?

Thalin's ability fires before the "Surge" keyword can resolve, here's the official FAQ entry:

When an enemy card is revealed from the encounter
  deck, Thalin’s ability resolves before any keyword or
  “When Revealed” card effects on the encounter card

What about when you're not playing with Thalin? Do you just cycle through the Eastern Crows cards until the end of the game? Or do you have to defend against the crows but not attack until the deck empties in order to shuffle the discard pile?

I guess you could do that, but at that point the game should be easily won by questing anyway.
Also, i found this thread on BGG that talks about this exact situation.

The last post in that thread basically says you're stuck if you get to the end of the deck with 2 or 3 crow cards.

@Shem Why are you stuck?  I can see that you might be drawing crows for the rest of the game, but that doesn't break anything.

@bwarner That's lame. Gamers would call itta glitch.

Thalin's revealed ability triggers before Surge so Eastern Crows immediately go back into the encounter deck and no surge card is drawn.
As long as the Eastern Crows aren't used as shadow cards, you'll have a pretty easy time with your quest phases for the rest of the game.


text:
Does Deathtouch apply to damage dealt via Fall of the Hammer?
Does Deathtouch (from my creature) apply if Fall of the Hammer is used on an enemy creature?
The rules say about deathtouch:

The rule that causes creatures dealt damage by a source with deathtouch to be destroyed applies to any damage, not just combat damage.

That rule quote seems to make it pretty clear. What about this situation confuses you after reading that rule?

I wasn't sure if the creature is still the source, or if the spell Fall of the Hammer is the source. I thought it would apply, but wanted confirmation.

The question title is misleading. It appears to be about the Deathtouch mechanic, but when you read the body of the question, it's about how to identify the source of damage. This will make it difficult to identify duplicate questions in the future, and will also make it difficult for search engines to find your question and help others who have the same question but with a different card. I'd suggest something like "Is Fall of the Hammer the source of damage?" or "What is the source of damage for Fall of the Hammer?"

@Rainbolt however, would somebody who is not expert in magic use the terms "source of damage" in a search? It's more likely that they would search using the word deathtouch, or if deathtouch is not involved in their particular case, use some other term that is written on the card.

If you search for "fall of the hammer source of damage" in google, the second result (the first is this question, even without the words "source of damage" in the title) answers that. So yes, it seems the OP didn't search using those terms. And of course you could close the other question as a duplicate. That's something completely unrelated to editing the title or not.

@Rainbolt and if you search using google with "fall of the hammer deathtouch", you'll find even more results, because that's something that people actually ask and search more than "fall of the hammer source of damage".

@Pablo they probably would actually, once they got to the point that SpazzMarticus was in when asking this question. They had reached the rules quote using the words "dealt damage by a source with deathtouch" logically does lead to the question being "which object in this case is the source of the damage?"

Deathtouch does in fact apply when Fall of the Hammer is used. Fall specifically says that the first target creature deals the damage, and that means that this is treated just like any other instance of a creature dealing damage to another. Deathtouch applies; Lifelink applies; everything that applies to a creature dealing non-combat damage applies to this.

Yes, if the creature you control has deathtouch, it will apply to Fall of the Hammer
The rule on deathtouch is 702.2 in the comprehensive rules. The one that matters for this question is rule 702.2b:

702.2b A creature with toughness greater than 0 that’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action. See rule 704.

And the referenced rule from 704 is pretty much a restating of this same rule:

704.5h If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and it’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked, that creature is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

These rule mean if the source of damage has deathtouch, then any damage is enough to destroy the creature. So the real question here is what the source of damage is, and the source of damage is explained at the beginning of Fall of the Hammer"

"Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to another target creature."

Fall of the hammer specifies that the damage is being dealt by "Target creature you control", since the creature is the source of the damage, abilities like Deathtouch and Lifelink will apply.

Note: As an example of a similar card where the creature abilities wouldn't apply, take a look at Dragon's Breath. The card lets you choose or reveal a dragon as you cast it, and uses that dragon's power to set the amount of damage, but it still specifies that the spell, not the creature, is the source of the damage:

As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may reveal a Dragon card from your hand or choose a Dragon you control.
Dragon's Fire deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker. If you revealed a Dragon card or chose a Dragon as you cast this spell, Dragon's Fire deals damage equal to the power of that card or creature instead.


text:
How do I tell which cards are "bombs" in draft?
I use the BREAD strategy for drafting, but am unsure what exactly makes a "Bomb".
For example, in a Kahns of Tarkir draft I'm normally quite happy to pick a Mystic of the Hidden Way as a first pick, but is it a bomb? If it isn't why not, and what does qualify as a bomb?

This question is primarily opinion based. There is a vast amount of (also opinionated) material on this topic already out there. Read this and this, and form your own.

Agree with 'bolt, voting to close as opinion based.

The issue for me would be the varying definition of what the term "bomb" entails, less the vague nature of cards fulfilling any possible interpretation. As @Allure said, players usually have a good grasp on what they'd consider bombs, but those opinions won't necessarily align. I'd say bombs are usually potentially game-winning cards, not necessarily on their own - but in the context of looking at cards to identify which to pick and which not, that definition doesn't help you a whole lot, I'd say. This looks to me like the prime example for a question yielding opinion-based answers, really.

This post is closed, re-opened and closed in 2014. It was reopened a few hours ago and now starting to collect close votes again.
Maybe we should make up our mind ;-).

First off, what is a bomb? According to a Limited Information article it is ... a powerful, game-ending, stabilizing card." though the author does admit that other people might have slightly different definitions. The MTG Salvation Wiki describes a bomb as "...a card, generally used in conjunction with Limited play, that always makes a large card impact on a game in which it is played."
From these definitions we can gather that 'bombs' are cards that when you play them have a high impact on the board, making it so that if you were behind you have now caught up, or even pulled ahead (stabilizing), and if unanswered will win you the game quickly (powerful, game-ending). In general I would say a bomb is anything that when played, regardless of board state, makes you go 'Oh crap' when played against you.
In general this means that a lot of bombs are creatures with high power and toughness (usually 5/5 or bigger), evasion or protection from removal is nice but not always required especially on ones with powerful 'enters the battlefield' triggers, speaking of which ETB triggers are also help make bombs because even if they have removal you still got some value out of the card. There can be other factors that that make creatures bombs but these are the big ones.
While a lot of bombs are creatures it is possible to have non-creature bombs too, most Planeswalkers are bombs, for other non-creature non-Planeswalker cards generally you want things that will have a large impact on the board for example End Hostilities or any other board wipe, Overrun or Flying Crane Technique or other things that give your entire team a boost and/or evasion. For these though it is a bit harder to define exactly what makes a bomb since bomb creatures are designed primarily to attack, but non-creature bombs can do a wide variety of things.
As for Mystic of the Hidden Way, according to the definition I've been using it is not a bomb. While it does have evasion in its 'can't be blocked', it doesn't have very impressive stats at 3/2. This means it neither helps you stabilize your board if you are behind, since it can't block most cards without dying too, and while it will inevitably win the game for you if you keep attacking it will take a long time. This doesn't mean that it is a bad card, it just means it isn't a bomb.

Possibly the simplest way to do this is imagine yourself in a losing situation where you are dead in about 2 turns (for Limited, ex: you have a 2/2 and 10 life, your opponent has a couple 3/3s and 20 life, you are both top decking).  Imagine you draw this card that you think might be a bomb and you can play it in the next turn cycle (your current turn + your opponent's turn).  Does it change your losing board into a winning one?  Are you at least even with your opponent?  If the answer is yes, it's a bomb.  If it's no, then it probably isn't a bomb.  It can still be a solid card, but it doesn't have the power to make a big enough impact to be called a bomb.

Not necessarily.  If your opponent can just swing past your beefy creature (ie you can't block enough of their creatures to keep from dying) and out race you then it isn't a terribly good bomb.    OTOH in Limited a big creature can do a lot and might be a bomb.  Look at most of the creatures considered bombs by other answers.  Most of them aren't small.  Kinda depends on the set you are playing.  A 7/7 that in set filled with Doom Blade type cards isn't likely to stabilize you (and thus doesn't save you from a losing board).  But a 7/7 in a set with almost no removal?  That's a bomb.

Also, a losing board state doesn't have to mean being down on creatures and such, though that's probably the most common thing in Limited.  What that board state looks like depends on the set and thus what a bomb is depends on the set.  In a set with strong red burn, a losing board might be sitting at 5 life with a 3-4 creatures staring down an Izzet player who is ready to chump block and dome you.  This answer is usually my basic rule of thumb for determining how good a potential bomb could be.  You have to take into account the set and how much the potential bomb will stabilize you.

A big body might stabilize you a little bit.  A big-ish body with evasion and an ETB will stabilize you a lot more.  This provides a framework for evaluating possible bomb-ness and comparing the strength of those bombs.


text:
Mishra's Factory - Rarity and Peasant/Pauper Legality
So, I'm getting my feet wet with Peasant Magic, and wanted to know what exactly Mishra's Factory counts as in terms of rarity.
For those who don't know, Peasant is an inofficial constructed format allowing cards from all expansions - the only limitations are that you aren't allowed to use rares, and your deck may only contain a maximum of 5 uncommons. If it was ever printed as uncommon or common, you can bring it along.
Now, there's this card called Mishra's Factory that I'm really fond of, and that I'd like to include in my deck. Mishra's Factory is listed as uncommon, and as such can be used. So far, so good.
But:
The rarity of one of its alternative-art prints is listed not as (U1), but as (C1) instead - which is weird because they're from the same set, and any later reprint too is listed as uncommon.
 VS
Now, here's my question: Is this particular old print in fact common? And as a consequence, does that mean I may freely run a full playset of Factories in Pearsant (or Pauper, even) without using up my uncommon slots on them?
If anyone could clear this up a bit, they'd be more than welcome.

humm... Gatherer lists all prints as uncommon, except for the three alternate prints as rare.

As a pre-emptive rebuttal to anyone saying "magiccards.info isn't an official source of information on cards", WOTC's own Antiquities checklist also lists Mishra's factory at U1/C1/U1/U1. (I'm playing the devil's advocate here, as I think Gatherer is the one and only source that counts)

@Kevin, See diego's answer. A U1 is a rare, and a C1 is an uncommon.

C1 means it is an Uncommon even though it was printed on the Common sheet.
Back when Antiquities was printed they only had 2 printing sheets, an Uncommon sheet and a Common sheet, then on each sheet there was a variable number of each card printed to create its rarity. This designation of rarity is written like U1 or C4, denoting one copy on the Uncommon sheet and 4 copies on the Common sheet respectively. U1 cards are considered Rares, U3 and C1 cards have the same rarity and are considered Uncommons, C4 cards are Commons, U2 and C2 cards are a little weird and seem to get classified as Uncommons even though they are actually more rare/common respectively. (Source)
When in doubt you can always check Gatherer. As you can see it considers 3 of the arts to be Rare (since they were printed at U1) and one of them to be Uncommon (because it was printed at C1)

Which begs the question.. It is allowed as an Uncommon? Yes, yes it is. Right from the article, Library of Alexandria is allowed even though it has Uncommon and Rare prints. It has since gained a Mythic Rare print, but again, that doesn't matter. It doesn't appear that you need to have the Uncommon print, but it's not clear.  (It says that "four copies of Library of Alexandria" are allowed, not "four copies of Library of Alexandria from Arabian Nights".)

@ikegami you mean prompts the question =) begs the question would mean the answer assumes it is allowed as an uncommon as an accepted fact for the answer, and then proceeds to prove that it is allowed as an uncommon (which would be rather silly, of course).

I would recommend using http://magiccards.info/ for rarity, as gatherer has some of the cards mislabeled (or labeled as multiple rarities). Other than that, it's probably wise to use the latest printed version of the card (which in this case is uncommon).
But it entirely depends on what your playgroup agrees upon, since the format is not officially supported by WOTC, and events are most likely not sanctoined as such.

He did use magiccards.info, and why would his playgroup get to decide what's in the format?

The 'format' is not officialy supported. So unless it's a sanctioned event he's playing in (which I highly doubt, since the format is not officially supported) it's best to just discuss it within your playgroup.

Not official doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Of course you can ignore the format, but that doesn't answer questions about the format.

Never said you should ignore the format. Just saying that there aren't really 'official' rules, therefor you should be consulting your playgroup to make sure you're all on the same page.


text:
Who acts as Capo after Capo is wacked?
The situation came up in a recent game where the Capo was wacked. The question that arises is who acts as Capo, breaks ties, etc. in the interim after the Capo is wacked and before a new Capo is appointed. Is it the player who controlled the Capo and has the ring, or would the Capo responsibilities fall to the next lowest rank?

It's not the Capo that breaks ties, etc. It's the player with the Capo ring. This is described in a couple sections of the rules, seen below.

Controlling the Capo
The player that controls the Capo immediately takes the Capo (First
player) Ring. If no one controls the Capo, the player who currently has
the Capo Ring retains it. The Capo Ring moves as soon as a new player
has the most Influence markers on the current Capo – even if it is in the
middle of a phase!

Also, later, in the Position Special Powers section:

Since the tie breaking power is tied to the Capo ring, not the position, it
cannot be canceled.

In your case, the player who previously controlled the Capo (previous to the whackening) will retain the Capo ring and, thus, retains the affiliated tie-breaking power, etc.


text:
Is an artifact paid ability considered a spell?
I happen to be one lucky man who managed to get Erebos, God of the Dead, Demon's Horn, and Staff of the Death Magus. All three were in play, but Erebus was not a creature yet as I didn't have enough devotion. His ability though, (pay one black and one colorless mana and pay 2 life: draw a card) doe's it count as a spell when I activate it, and therefore gain back the 2 life I lost from Demon's Horn and Staff of the Death Magus?
EDIT:
Looking at the MTG Rulebook says (some) abilities go on the stack (as spells do)

No, it is neither a spell nor black. Neither Demon's Horn's ability nor Staff of the Death Magus's ability will trigger when you activate Erebos's activated ability.

Spells are cards on the stack (and copies thereof). While activated abilities  are very similar to spells, they are not spells.

111.1. A spell is a card on the stack. As the first step of being cast (see rule 601, “Casting Spells”), the card becomes a spell and is moved to the top of the stack from the zone it was in, which is usually its owner’s hand. (See rule 405, “Stack.”) A spell remains on the stack as a spell until it resolves (see rule 608, “Resolving Spells and Abilities”), is countered (see rule 701.5), or otherwise leaves the stack. For more information, see section 6, “Spells, Abilities, and Effects.”
111.1a A copy of a spell is also a spell, even if it has no card associated with it. See rule 706.10.
111.1b Some effects allow a player to cast a copy of a card; if the player does, that copy is a spell as well. See rule 706.12.

Furthermore, while Erobos is black, the ability on the stack has no color.

602.2. [...] Activating an ability follows the steps listed below, in order. [...]
602.2a The player announces that he or she is activating the ability. [...] That ability is created on the stack as an object that’s not a card. [...] It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. [...]
109.3. An object’s characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. [...]


text:
What is the significance of the coin and gem spaces on the board?
There are spaces with coin and gem icons (most of them have this).  What is the significance of these spaces?  Do I collect one of each of these items as I move through these spaces?  I don't see reference to it in the rules, so a mention of where these rules are would be appreciated.

Could you please create a tag wiki for [near-and-far] so that it doesn't get purged?

From Page 24:

When a player builds a camp on a space with a coin or a gem symbol, the player gains gems or coins equal to the number of search symbols in the player's active party.


text:
When survivors get knocked back from a range attack, do they get pushed in the cardinal direction closest to the vector from monster to survivor?
The rules say knockback occurs directly away from the monster, so if the vector from monster to survivor is more Southward than Eastward, is the knockback wholly Southward?

There's no official answer to this from the FAQ, or anywhere in the rest of the community, unfortunately.  Most people play that you would do it in the rough direction of the vector, alternating moving horizontally and vertically in a way as to match the line between the survivor and monster.
This makes some of the monster abilities work more sensibly - there is a monster that does knockback towards itself, pulling the survivors to it (ostensibly to then beat them to a pulp).  Doing the knockback in a cardinal-direction line would prevent this from working as intended, and potentially leave the survivors out of reach.

My understand is that the knockback direction is perpendicular to the monsters movement. That is to say if the monster is moving vertically, the survivor is knocked horizontally, and vice versa. This also means you will not have multiple collisions with the same monster/survivor except in very rare cases.


text:
In what order are triggered abilities executed?
When in a player window where triggered abilities can take effect, how do players determine the order of execution of the triggered abilities?  Can they be in any order, i.e. player 1 triggers 2 abilities, then player 2 triggers 1, then player 1 again triggers 1?  Or do they follow certain restrictions such as particular abilities requiring all triggerings for that to be done atomically or, in the case of a disagreement among players, defaulting to the player who controls the lead investigator to decide who goes when, or in player order etc.?  I would think the answer is likely in the order the players decide, with disputes resolved by the lead investigator.

Do you have any actual examples for this? In all of my games, this honestly hasn't been an issue, since most triggered abilities don't have the same triggers... If they did, I think you could do them in any order you want.

I don't have any examples. I just assumed there would be plenty of cases of abilities that could trigger in someone else's turn and certainly even more that can trigger during one's own turn so there must be some resolution of turn order as far as executing those.  If I come upon an actual one, I'll elaborate on this question.  It does seem reasonable to make it a 'team decision deferring to lead investigator' though.

Naw, most abilities in the game are only triggered by the player who has control of the card. Very few are triggered out of turn (although some characters use these windows to great effect - e.g., giving Agnes horror in multiple phases to deal damage).

Form Rules Reference, p.17
Priority of Simultaneous Resolution
If an effect affects multiple players simultaneously, but the players
must individually make choices to resolve the effect, these choices
are made in player order. Once all necessary choices have been
made, the effect resolves simultaneously upon all affected entities.

If two or more forced abilities (including delayed effects)
would resolve at the same time, the lead investigator
determines the order in which the abilities resolve.
If two or more constant abilities and/or lasting effects
cannot be applied simultaneously, the lead investigator
determines the order in which they are applied.

If multiple triggered abilities trigger at the same time by the same player, those abilities can be placed onto the stack in the order of that players choosing resolving in reverse order. If multiple triggered abilities from multiple players trigger at the same time, first the active player orders their abilities in the order of their choosing onto the stack, then the next player in turn order does the same for their abilities, going around until each player has done this. This is active non-active player order.
The abilities begin to resolve in reverse order one by one from how they were put on the stack (meaning the last ability from the player furthest from the active player would resolve first). If a triggered ability or abilities were to then be triggered during the resolution of one of the stacked abilities, the current ability would finish resolving first. Before the next ability on the stack resolves, the new triggered abilities would be put onto the stack in active non-active player order again, and the last of these added triggered abilities would be the next one to resolve.

Are you sure this applies to Arkham Horror LCG? There is no such thing as "stack" in it.

yes, this is stack exchange

A game must have a stack predefined in this platform as it is stack exchange


text:
How does the Stun mechanic work in this scenario in Maximum Apocalypse?
In Maximum Apocalypse, what is the result of the following scenario?
As the Firefighter, I land on a tile and draw a monster, I used the Firefighter's short-range ability, 'Fire Extinguisher' to stun the monster, stunning it until the start of my next turn.
During the same turn, I then move to a new tile and draw a second monster.
Is the second monster stunned also?
For the duration of my turn, does the stun mechanic continue to stun all monsters that appear after I use it, or does the stun mechanic only affect monsters in play/range when I use it?

The second monster will not be stunned.
The fire extinguisher is an Instant Action, so you'll need to discard it upon use. When you discard it, you take the action that's printed on the card. In this case you stun all monsters on the same space as your character as per short range rules in the rulebook (BGG account may be needed):

Short Range: These cards can target and affect the space that your character currently occupies.

You then move to a new tile, where the fire extinguisher was not used, and draw a monster. This monster (a) wasn't in range when you used the extinguisher and (b) you'd already used the effect in a previous action and discarded the card. The second monster will not be stunned.


text:
In Axis & Allies 1941 can tanks and infantry hit aircraft?
The book does not specifically say anything.

Yes, in both cases.
If aircraft are supporting a ground attack, they can be hit by anti-aircraft fire, but the player may choose to take infantry or tank losses before sacrificing aircraft.
If the aircraft are defending a territory, it can be hit by infantry or tanks, but this will typically happen after the defender has lost all his less valuable infantry and tanks.
As a practical matter, aircraft are seldom hit. That's because the player can choose which units to take as casualties, and will usually choose infantry or tanks. Aircraft become casualties only when the player has "run out" of other units.

Yes, aircraft units can be hit by both infantry units and tank units.
Remember that a unit is not a single individual; this is not a single infantryman or a single tank.  Think of a unit as a division (or corp) with all the attached artillery, half-tracks, jeeps, headquarters tents, mechanics, engineers, and light anti-aircraft weaponry required to support ~10,000 men.

If you mean the original rules, then yes. Only submarines are unable to hit aircraft.


text:
Terminus as an instant?
If my opponent has Sensei's Divining Top in play on my turn, can he activate it in response to my attack phase in order to play Terminus for its miracle cost?

Yes, your opponent can do this, as long as the Terminus is the first card drawn that turn. It doesn't matter whose turn it is, or that Terminus is a sorcery, Miracle will trigger if it is the first card drawn on by that player on that turn.
From the Avacyn Restored Mechanics article:

As you draw an instant or sorcery with miracle, if it's the first card you've drawn this turn, you can immediately reveal it. When you do so, you may cast it for its miracle cost. It doesn't matter whether it's an instant or sorcery; if you choose to cast it, you do so right away, even if it's at a time (such as your draw step) when you couldn't normally cast it.

And the CR:

702.93a Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Miracle [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it's the first card you've drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."

Yes, he can.
It's a common misconception that you are forbidden from casting Sorcery spells outside of your turn. There's no such restriction. Priority simply doesn't give you the option to cast a Sorcery when it's not your turn.
But Priority isn't the only rule or effect that allows you to cast spells. Miracle is one too.

702.93a Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). “Miracle [cost]” means “You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it’s the first card you’ve drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost.”

Unlike Priority, Miracle doesn't check the type of the card or whose turn it is.

You also need the stack to be empty and it be either of your main phases to play a sorcery. Your answer could be more specific.

@Neil Meyer, That's totally wrong. The stack DOESN'T need to be empty, and it DOESN'T need to be one of your main phases. In fact, in the presented scenario, you are allowed to cast it even though the stack isn't empty, and even though it's not one of your main phases. Those are some of the conditions required for Priority to allow you to cast Sorceries, and the whole point of this answer is that this is completely inapplicable here because you aren't relying on Priority but the (optional) instruction to cast it found in the delayed triggered ability created by Miracle.

Yes, an opponent can use Sensei's Divining Top, or any other instant-speed draw effect, to draw and play a Miracle like Terminus on your turn. The rules for Miracle (702.93a) say

Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Miracle [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it's the first card you've drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."

So, when your opponent activates the Top's ability, the following steps happen:

They draw Terminus, and put the Top on top of their Libary.
Terminus is the first card they draw that turn, so miracle ability allows them to reveal it.
Revealing it triggers the Miracle triggered ability.
The Miracle triggered ability starts to resolve, and they choose to cast Terminus for {W}. They are casting Terminus as part of the process of resolving the ability, so normal timing rules do not apply.
Terminus resolves.


text:
How to shorten Puerto Rico to fit one hour?
I do love Puerto Rico, it's mostly strategy oriented over random factors.
But this board game is so long to play, I would like to shorten the play time to fit one hour.
Do you have suggestions for this?

There is a related question out there about games taking too long because people over analyze everything. Sadly I can't find it. Anyone else?

They over analyse because they want to win but I agree they miss key points and finally lose :)

Found it

The quick answer would be to use a timer and set it to an hour.
When the timer goes off, you can finish the round.
You might try limiting the spaces available for buildings, maybe remove a row or column, thus filling the spaces more quickly and triggering the endgame.  Also, remove some of the potential workers from the worker pool.
I'm not sure how these changes would affect the overall game play, and any changes may introduce adverse effects that can be exploited.
I'd love to hear how they work if you try them.

I like very much your idea. I'll give it a try.

Play it more often. I finish two-player games with an expert friend in about 50 minutes, after having played a lot over the Internet and live. As you start learning the buildings and understand the two fundamental strategies of the game, i.e., building vs shipping, you'll start realizing your chances faster.
There are a lot of house rules you can apply to accelerate game play, most of them already mentioned, but all of them giving advantages to specific strategies or players in a specific player order. In general, there are two ways to go:
1. Shorten the game-ending conditions.
That means, remove colonists, building spaces and/or victory point chips from the game. Nevertheless, be aware that shortening the game by removing colonists or building spots favors in general the building strategy, as a heavy builder will try to build the Guild Hall and fill in his spaces or empty the colonist pool before the shippers' engines kick in. Removing some VP chits might counterbalance it, but I am not sure.
2. Make it easier for players to reach the current game-ending conditions.
You can provide them with infrastructure, such as:

Random plantations; would make the game too random, though, giving advantage to players who might receive corn. First player with starting corn and having the first pick on the first quarry is in a very good position.
Starting colonists. It will shift the advantage to the first/second player. A huge headache of the first two players is that they don't receive a second colonist, therefore they can't do much, except if they got a corn during the first settler.
A quarry to each player. This sounds fair, but again favors the building strategy a bit more now.
More coins to each player. This could work. However, I read on BGG that a couple of simulations have been carried on the Puerto Rico AI, by giving $100 to each player; 3rd player would win 100% of the time. So, more coins might mean more advantage to the 3rd spot.

We have played 2-3 times a month for a long time.
Of course games are shorter with fewer people and go faster when everyone is well acquainted with the game.  We have played normal extended version games in about an hour with 3 people.
We recently added a column of property spaces on each town to extend play - you could remove a column to shorten play.
You can deal out some random plantations at the start to accelerate play (like a bunch of Hacienda plays.)  You may give everyone a quarry to accelerate play.  You may add squares to the trading center or to the ships to accelerate play. You may add 2 coins jnstead of one to unused roles. Note that any of these steps will alter the playing strategies from a normal game.
Cheers.

I'm interested in your ideas, but have you had success implementing them?

Nope.  We have changed rules for various purposes, usually to try to balance effects that we did not like.  My suggestions are based upon trying to accelerate the game ending strategies - building or shipping.  Money, especially, should speed up the movement from the beginning to the mid-game.  Distributing plantations and quarries also speeds up movement out of the beginning to the mid-game.

If you play in 2 players, chess clock is always good.
If you play Puerto Rico online, the mean of the duration is around 27 minutes. So technically is possible to play even faster.
You can speed up by having the paper and pen and writing the scores down there. Searching for the VPs (1 or 5) is a lil' bit lengthy. Especially when you firstly put 3 objects on the ship, then other 2, so you get 5, but u take five ones, not one five. The minus is, the results are public. But in 2-players mode it does not mater (you + opponent is always 65).

I would use a "first past the post" rule.
In my answer to another question, I noted the following:

"I'm used to games where someone wins if they are the first to reach a specified number of victory points, say 15, or if they have the most victory points at the end of a specified number of rounds, say 15."

That's the kind of rule that makes for a short, or at least time-limited game.
Further on, I wrote:"

"But that's not how Puerto Rico works.

Basically, you win if the game ends [when you run out of one of three things, colonists, victory points, or building space]  when you have the most victory points. So the goal of the game is not just to get the most victory points, but to end the game when you have the most."
This is the feature that lengthens the game. Eliminate it, and you have a shorter game.


text:
What happens to a card exiled with Jacob Hauken, Inspector that is returned to hand?
I'm a little confused on a potential play:

Activate Jacob Hauken, Inspector's ability, without paying the cost to transform:

{T}: Draw a card, then exile a card from your hand face down. You may look at that card for as long as it remains exiled. You may pay 4{U}{U}. If you do, transform Jacob Hauken, Inspector.

Choose to exile a card from your hand with flashback, for example Croaking Counterpart.
Activate the third ability of Rootcoil Creeper:

{G}{U}, {T}, Exile Rootcoil Creeper: Return target card with flashback you own from exile to your hand.

Target the Croaking Counterpart that was exiled with Jacob Hauken, returning that card to hand.

On a later turn, activate Jacob Hauken's ability again. Exile any card and pay the cost is paid to transform into Hauken's Insight. This has the ability:

Once during each of your turns, you may play a land or cast a spell from among the cards exiled with this permanent without paying its mana cost.

Does the previously "exiled" Croaking Counterpart in hand have a cost to cast, assuming it's the first card cast from those that were exiled as the card effect doesn't state it still needs to be in exile?
In addition to this, once the card is cast/played (from hand/exile ...) could I cast it again in another turn for free (if I were able to bounce/put into grave or again into exile)?
I expect the card state is reset when moving to and from exile? If so, cards that are exiled with counters on them like Evelyn, the Covetous what happens to those counters once cast?

Related: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/58366/why-dont-some-cards-use-last-known-information-for-a-card-thats-left-exile-e

Pretty sure you can't return the exiled card using Rootcoil Creeper since it is face down, but the scenario still stands.

We can replace Jacob Hauken, Inspector with Kaho, Minamo Historian and Croaking Counterpart with Cackling Counterpart to get essentially the same question but with the card exiled face up.

Abilities that refer to exiled cards like that only affect cards that are currently in exile that were put there by one of that permanent's other abilities.
First, I want to note that the scenario in question does not exactly work as described. Jacob Hauken's ability exiles cards face down, which means that Rootcoil Creeper cannot see that they have flashback and cannot interact with them. However, if we replace Jacob Hauken, Inspector with Kaho, Minamo Historian and Croaking Counterpart with Cackling Counterpart, Rootcoil Creeper can move the Cackling Counterpart to the hand as expected. For the rest of the answer, I will work with those cards.

With that out of the way, rule 400.7 says:

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

That rule has exceptions, but none apply here. When Rootcoil Creeper moves the Cackling Counterpart into your hand, it is a completely different object that no longer is associated with Kaho in any way. You can't cast it using Kaho ability, and that doesn't change if you cast it and it moves back into exile.
In addition, the abilities on Kaho, Minamo Historian are linked abilities, covered by rule 607.2a:

If an object has an activated or triggered ability printed on it that instructs a player to exile one or more cards and an ability printed on it that refers either to “the exiled cards” or to cards “exiled with [this object],” these abilities are linked. The second ability refers only to cards in the exile zone that were put there as a result of an instruction to exile them in the first ability.

Regarding your question about Evelyn, the Covetous, rule 122.2 says this:

Counters on an object are not retained if that object moves from one zone to another. The counters are not “removed”; they simply cease to exist. See rule 400.7.

I appreciate your reply, thank you for the clarification.

Also, the cards are exiled face down, so Rootcoil Creeper won't be able to see the Flashback, right?

I have made an edit to address that.


text:
White token in Catan cities and knights
Catan cities and knights has four colored circular tokens.  There is a yellow, blue, and green to indicate when someone has acquired the metropolis for trade, politics and science respectively.  There are also a white and grey one.  My question is what are the white and grey one for?  I couldn't find any reference to it in the rules.

Which edition do you have? I have the original wood edition and the chips for the metropolis are all the same color, and there is no additional chip in the box.

I have the 5th edition.

It's a spare piece. Usually these kinds of tokens are printed on a sheet of cardboard that's big enough to fit in the game box, and if there's a bit of extra space then a few extra things might be put on the board to fill the space. Those tokens can then be used as replacements for the main tokens - so if, for example, you lost the green one, you can just state that the grey token replaces the green.


text:
Exile then return Jace, Vryn's Prodigy?
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy has the text

If there are five or more cards in your graveyard, exile Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.

What is the point of exiling him and then returning him?

There are 2 aspects to this question:

Why is it necessary at all to include extra actions, why not just transform Jace?

Answer: If Jace was simply transformed from creature to planeswalker, he would not get his 5 loyalty counters and would go to the graveyard as a state-based action. A planeswalker only gets the initial loyalty counters when the permanent that represents it enters the battlefield as a planeswalker.
It's also in the card's rulings, indirectly:
In some rare cases, a spell or ability may cause one of these five cards to transform while it’s a creature (front face up) on the battlefield. If this happens, the resulting planeswalker won’t have any loyalty counters on it and will subsequently be put into its owner’s graveyard.

To solve problem 1, why exile Jace instead of taking all required steps manually?

To fully "reset" a creature so that nothing can continue affecting the planeswalker or generally cause confusion, you would have to take care of many things: Remove all counters, unattach auras (there are "enchant permanent" auras that do not fall off automatically) and equipments, end permanent effects that would continue to be active after transformation such as change of controller and color, remove effects such as Cipher, and so on; finally you would have to add 5 loyalty counters manually.
Exiling and returning the creature transformed takes care of all of these issues at once, and, maybe most importantly in this context, it also takes care of any future issues that could crop up from new mechanics and interactions.
Furthermore, solving these issues explicitly would require much more rules text on the card.
In conclusion, the answer is From a rules perspective it's one possible solution that produces a functional planeswalker, and from a design perspective it's the most elegant and future-proof way of doing so.

I fixed it. As a League of Legends player, I kept  thinking of the champion named Jayce.

Don't forget flavor. Non-planeswalker, spark ignites, leaves, returns changed.

@JonTheMon I don't really buy that flavor argument, without official proof. After all, you could make the same argument about all transform permanents, but only the creature->planeswalker transformers do have that mechanic.

@Hackworth Planeswalkers go somewhere completely different (another plane!) when their spark ignites. (Official sources were pretty clear about this process and that it's what's represented on the card.) Werewolves don't go to another plane, they stay right there and change.

@Jefromi Could you provide such a source then? The answer to the other question also cites no source.

I'll look for one when I have time. I'm not saying it was the reason they did it (there are plenty of mechanical ones too as you've pointed out) but it is also a clear flavor fit specifically for planeswalkers, i.e. I disagree with your comment that it made just as much sense for creatures. The fact that it fits in that manner doesn't really require a source.

@Jefromi I respectfully disagree that the flavor argument does not require a source. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's far from self-evident or common knowledge, especially if the most official source on the matter seems to be a Tumblr post, as the comment on the other answer suggests.

@Hackworth My point is that all an official source will tell you is that people at Wizards were aware of the flavor fit, and they liked it, which... well, it'd be surprising if that weren't true. If you want a source that says "we did it this way because of flavor", sure, that adds something - but it's not really what we're saying. We're saying "this is a reason it's good".

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

Just to nail this one down: "How do you represent a spark"

Nothing would have prevented them from saying:
Remove all counters from ~. Put five loyalty counters on ~ and transform it.

(Note that auras and equipment would drop off due to its new non-creature status.)
But then it wouldn't have "entered the battlefield". For the standard at the time and now, this would have been an insignificant change. For Oath of the Gatewatch, however, there are cards where it specifically  and significantly matters (that is to say the primary effect of the card would be negated for these, as opposed to a simple side-effect of the existing complexity of Magic):
Oath of Gideon

Each planeswalker you control enters the battlefield with an additional loyalty counter on it.

Oath of Chandra

At the beginning of each end step, if a planeswalker entered the battlefield under your control this turn, Oath of Chandra deals 2 damage to each opponent.

In order to trigger these new cards, the flip cards would have had to actually entered the battlefield, not simply transformed.

"all plays would have been exactly the same" seems to disagree quite substantially with the other answer.

It actually doesn't. I read it multiple times and find nothing conflicting.

While auras and equipment would fall off, at least counters would remain on the planeswalker, which seems undesirable and confusing

Well, there's the fact that some auras stay on, and many continuous effects don't end

Whether or not the other answer actually says so, that statement is incorrect. If you would like a list of cards that would work differently, here's a start: Confiscate, Dream Lash, Elemental Resonance, Indestructibility, Reality Acid, Take Possession, Volition Reigns, Aegis Angel, Aethermage's Touch, Apprentice Necromancer, Arbiter of the Ideal, Bazaar Trader, Captivating Glance, Custody Battle, Djinn of Infinite Deceits, Donate, Dread Slaver, Dream Coat, Fated Return, Feldon of the Third Path, Fractured Loyalty, Goryo's Vengeance, Grave Betrayal, Gruesome Encore, Healing Salve, ...

@murgatroid99 None of those cards are from Battle for Zendikar. "For Battle For Zendikar [...] all plays would have been exactly the same". The answer then goes on to list cards outside of BFZ that make a difference.

Oh, I thought he meant up to Battle for Zendikar. We are, after all, talking about a card from Magic Origins, so I don't see why discussing only effects that were printed in Battle for Zendikar would be meaningful

@murgatroid99 Oh, good point. Now I'm confused by the statement as well.

@murgatroid99 You're right that I should have clarified "standard" - there are lots of cards that effect it (although I question the inclusion of some of your list, that's a complete side topic). Simply put, they don't design for eternal formats, but they do for current formats. So things in Khans and Theros would be affected, as well as future blocks.

I can justify the inclusion of everything on that list, if asked. And Aegis Angel was printed in Origins, as was Willbreaker (which would have been on my list, except that I was going in alphabetical order).

@murgatroid99 I've edited that specific wording to more acutely demonstrate the difference between Oaths and those cards. Although not a game-breaker, there are some other effects that would work slightly different, such as Act of Treason but this would again be minor side effects as opposed to directly contradicting an intended purpose of the card.

You could just not bother with the "insignificant" - most things would work the same, some wouldn't, not worth debating about exactly how significant it is. Also, eternal formats - they don't design specifically for them, but they do keep them in mind. For example, the interaction between "destroy target permanent" and a planeswalker transforming would surely have occurred to them, even if it wasn't prominent in standard at the time. (Silumgar's Command was there, though, and has  "return target permanent to its owner's hand".)


text:
When do you flip a coin for conditions
I understand that you flip a coin to check if a pokemon wakes up. Assume that my son puts my active Pokémon to sleep (he has a Litwick which does this very easily). At the end of his turn do I get to check if the Pokémon wakes up?

If yes but I get unlucky, or if not: since I can't retire a sleeping Pokémon I am basically stuck during my turn unless I have some special effect card that allows for switch, right? Now at the end of my turn do I get to flip at least?
Basically, who gets to flip at the end of whose turn? The rules online are not detailed enough...

According to Rulebook, page 15:

Asleep
Turn the Pokémon counterclockwise to show that it is Asleep.
If a Pokémon is Asleep, it cannot attack or retreat. Between turns, flip a coin. If you flip heads, the Pokémon wakes up (turn the card right-side up), but if you flip tails, it stays Asleep.

Flipping for sleep occurs between turns. On the same page, there is a brief description of what between turns means:

Before the game continues to the next player, take care of Special Conditions in this order:

POISONED     2. BURNED     3. ASLEEP     4. PARALYZED

Then, apply the effects of any Abilities (or anything else that a card states must happen between turns). After both players have done these things, check to see if any affected Pokémon were Knocked Out. Then, start the next player’s turn!

(emphasis mine)
It doesn't matter whose Pokémon is asleep, it doesn't matter whose turn is next.
In your example, yes, you get to flip before your round starts (that means 50% probability that you would be stuck with sleeping Pokémon) and after your turn ends, you get to flip again.

Ok I wasn't sure if that only applied to the player who had just completed its turn. I have played like that since it seemed to me the most sensible interpretation but I wanted to be sure because I don't want to "unknowingly cheat" with my kid, who owns these "put opponents to sleep" cards.

By the way now that you pointed it out, I have found the "both players" reference in the rulebook. I will mark the answer as accepted!


text:
When charging an entrance in Zoomaka do I give change?
Let's say I have a full set of Monkeys in Zoomaka the total sum of all cards are 3+2+2+2 = 9 So all players should give me 9 Zoomas right? If one of my opponents only has two five Zooma cards in their bank am I required to give change?

No.
I presume from the title you've played the relevant Entrance card to charge the fee.
From the rules, page 10:

When paying a debt no change is returned.

The player could choose to pay with assets from their zoo instead of using the full 5-cost banked card, though this might make more sense if the total cost were, for example, 7.

Thanks. I wrote the rules so I was planning on answering my self. We are making an FAQ about the game. But thank for your reply.

@Pablo Jomer, When you are composing a Question, there's a checkbox at the bottom labeled "Answer your own question". It allows you to post a Question and an Answer at the same time.

@Pablo Jomer, Also note that the new tag won't survive auto-reaping unless you give it a description (or use it for a second question).

@ikegame Thanks I knew this already as I have been a member of the stack overflow community for about five years. Thanks for being helpful though. <3


text:
What does "Rarity: Basic land" mean?
For example, in Woodland Chasm's Gatherer page, you can see the following:

I am pretty sure Woodland Chasm is not a basic land, for it is not among its types, but what that "rarity" tag means then? Why not just put "common"?

Basic lands are a special case in a number of ways. While they're given the common set symbol, their rarity doesn't exactly correspond to “common” because of the way they're included in draft boosters: they almost always have a dedicated slot at the back of the booster, and not mixed in with other commons.
Woodland Chasm isn't a basic land, but it was included in the basic land slot for Kaldheim—hence it gets basic land's rarity, apparently!
They even have a unique rarity mark in the lower left of the card. If you look at the bottom left of cards since M15, they'll have a letter in the lower left explaining their rarity: M, R, U, or C—for Mythic, Rare, Uncommon, or Common respectively.

Basic lands meanwhile just have an L for Land:

Some sites like Scryfall opt to just call it “close enough” and file them as common, but Gatherer has opted to be more specific.

They have a special rarity other than common because they don't appear in the same places/frequency as regular commons in random packs like boosters. Instead, they appear as often as basic lands. From the Wizards website:

As always, Kaldheim comes in Draft Boosters. These are by far the best way to play any Limited format. This is the classic Magic booster, and the contents are pretty straightforward:

1 Rare or mythic rare
3 Uncommons
10 Commons
1 Snow land (basic or dual land)
1 Token/ad card
1 in 3 packs have 1 common card replaced by a foil card of any rarity

(emphasis mine)