Domino is a mutant who can disrupt technology and the laws of probability. She joined the mercenary team Six Pack (later Wild Pack) led by Cable to oppose the traitorous Weapon X director Malcolm Colcord.
When a game of domino is played, the tiles are shuffled and then drawn by players. The player with the heaviest tile makes the first play.
Rules
The rules of domino depend on the particular game being played. However, most games involve laying a line of dominoes that are connected by the number of dots on each exposed end. On a turn, a player may play any tile that matches one of the open ends of the existing chain, but the new domino must touch another exposed end of the same line to continue the connection (one’s touching other’s or two’s touching three’s).
The order of play is determined by drawing lots or by the seating arrangement. Depending on the game, players may also buy a tile from the stock (see “Dominoing” below).
The first domino played must be a spinner (a double that can be played on all four sides). Typically, additional tiles are placed to the right and left of a double in the line of play, but not directly across it. A score is made when the count of the exposed ends of the line of play totals a multiple of five.
Variations
Domino is a game with many variants. One popular variation is Matador, which uses curved dominoes and has unusual rules for matching. Another is muggins, which is played with a spinner (usually a double) and scores only when the open ends of all exposed dominoes are a multiple of five.
The basic Block game is the simplest: Each player draws seven dominoes from a boneyard and plays them in order of highest double-lead, for example, “double-six”. Players then extend this line by playing domino halves with matching pips end to end, scoring as they go.
After M-Day, Domino was recruited by Cable to join his mercenary team and help liberate mutants in sequestered camps by the Office of National Emergency. She also joined a new S.H.I.E.L.D. incarnation and helped oppose the messianic Gryaznova. She later worked with the Six Pack to investigate Weapon X and its depraved director, Malcolm Colcord.
Materials
Throughout history domino pieces have been made from many different materials. Some of the oldest were hand carved from animal bones (and sometimes ivory for wealthier players) which are still used in some Asian games. In the 19th century cheap sets were commercially made from tinplate.
Modern mass produced dominoes are usually made from plastics or metal. They are normally twice as long as they are wide, which makes them easy to stack and re-stack. They can also be made from wood, and high end dominoes often use woods of great beauty with layers of lacquer.
The individual domino pieces are called bones, cards, men or tiles. They are usually marked with numbers or pips. Each pips represents one result of throwing two six-sided dice. The blank face of a domino is not used in a normal set of dominoes, but it is used in some special games. The pips can be either dots or blanks, but each domino must have at least one dot to be considered a valid piece in the game.
Scoring
In most domino games the object is to empty one’s hand while blocking the opponent’s. The winning player is awarded points equal to the value of the pips remaining on each of his or her opponents’ tiles. This value is usually rounded up to the nearest multiple of five. If the ends of a double are exposed they are scored separately; for example, a domino with a double four and two is worth eight points.
The term “domino effect” is often applied to political phenomena such as the rise of communist regimes in Chile and Cuba in the 1970s, which some claim would lead to a red sandwich of communist or socialist regimes encircling Latin America. In a 1977 Frost/Nixon interview, Richard Nixon used this analogy to justify the United States’ destabilization of Salvador Allende’s regime in Chile. More recently, the theory was invoked to support the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983. Domino is a mercenary with a reputation for destroying those she can’t trust. She has worked for both the government and private clients, including a stint as an NSA agent.
