Just wanted to get a couple early rulings that I discussed with Peter out here while the FAQ percolates.

Q1: What happens if a player needs to draw a new hand and both the cosmic deck and discard pile are empty?
A1: Cosmic Quake! Every player discards his or her hand, and the discard pile is shuffled to make a new deck, then 8 cards are dealt to each player.

Q2: Are flares considered to be in your hand while their effects go off, or do they leave your hand when played, returning after the effect is resolved?
A2: The latter. So, for example, the Wild Oracle flare is not part of the two hands that are shuffled together, instead returning to your hand afterwards.

Been wondering about Q2 there, thanks for the answer.

As for Q1...has that actually ever happened, or is it just a cover-your-butt ruling?

in a game with a nonstop defence zombie ally collecting cards and a hacker and barbarian, that that happens.

And a active wild flare filch can end up with the whole shebang of cards lickdy split.

I saw someone come close with Kamikaze.

EDIT: Spelling

Very interesting. I'm a bit surprised by #1, actually, although the ruling is very much in "the spirit" of CE.

The second one is the most frequently-asked question I've seen so far, so it's good to have an initial ruling.

Number one confused me the first time I read it as well but after thinking about it, I realised that there isn't much else you can do... A defender needs to play something, unless you want to count their inability to play a card as a 00...