Changeling for Ghost

[skillwinlucklose]

Why won't Changeling allow you to gain a Ghost? It says "exchange for a card in play". Also, if it is not allowed, why does it allow you to choose it? It will trash the Changeling but not give you a Ghost. There are other cards that do this; Ambassador says to "return a card" but then allows you to choose a card that can't be returned, like Shelters. Why? ???

[jdsdog10]

Like all cards that allow you to gain, you can only gain from the supply. Had to look this up myself. Here's the wiki page for the card, it is mentioned in "other rules clarification" http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Changeling

[Ingix]

Note that the on-play ability of Changeling does not use the exchange wording. It simply says:

Trash this. Gain a copy of a card you have in play.

Gaining a card is ruled to come from the Supply, unless an explicite other source is given (say on Graverobber, which can gain cards from the trash) or the name of the card is explicitely mentioned (say on Cavalry/Sleigh, where you are told to gain 2 Horses).

Dominion operates on the principle that things are allowed what isn't otherwise forbidden, even if that leads to "bad" outcomes. It's your responsibility as a player to understand what will happen in a given case.

It turns out that for many "obviously bad cases" there are situations where they are not so bad after all. If the game in questions contains Tomb and Wall, for example, that "bad" move of trashing Changeling to gain a Ghost that you then don't gain usually results is a 2 VP increase for you (1 VP chip from Tomb, and since you now have 1 less card in your deck, probably one less VP penatly from Wall).

So again, the game allows you to make choices where you "shoot yourself in the foot". It does because actually describing what "shoot yourself in the foot" means, and is understandable by all players and interpreted the same by all players is basically impossible.

So it just gives you the option make choices, and like in most games, whith experience comes the knowledge what choices are good or bad. And like in chess, there is no rule that forbids you to sacrifice your Queen. You'll learn that in 99.9% of cases it is the wrong move, but very rarely, it wins you games.