# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

- Strategy name: Obeka Splitter Upkeep is a Grixis Commander strategy built around `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, extra upkeep creation, upkeep-trigger permanents, monarch/court pressure, and beginning-phase sequencing rather than a stock combat-tempo or pure control shell.

- Format validation: the active format is Commander, and the registered main deck is 100 cards including `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`; the singleton contract passes because every nonbasic/noncommander registered main-deck card appears once and the only basic lands are `Island`, `Swamp`, and `Mountain` at one copy each.

- Sideboard validation: the registered Veles policy sideboard contains exactly 10 cards: `Abrade`, `Bedevil`, `Rakdos Charm`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, `Opposition Agent`, `Dress Down`, `Grafdigger's Cage`, `Mindbreak Trap`, `Thoughtseize`, and a second registered `Feed the Swarm` outside the main deck; sideboard plans must not exceed one copy of any sideboard card.

- Color identity validation: the deck is UBR/Grixis by commander identity and registered card colors; mana decisions should prioritize blue, black, and red access from `Command Tower`, `Xander's Lounge`, fetchlands, shocklands, original duals, pathways, filters, Talismans, `Arcane Signet`, `Sol Ring`, and `Fellwar Stone` without assuming green or white spell access.

- Archetype status: this is a rogue hybrid engine deck, not a stock Commander staple pile; `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Demonic Tutor`, and `Vampiric Tutor` are present, but the deck’s defining plan is stacking repeated upkeep triggers from cards such as `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Bitterblossom`, `Bloodchief Ascension`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, `Smokestack`, and `Paradox Haze`.

- Mechanic tags: keep the strategy indexed as extra upkeeps, monarch/court triggers, beginning-phase sequencing, trigger stacking, edge-case, and draft-only until live rules-engine proof confirms every unusual trigger window is supported.

- Support concern: `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` and the Court/monarch package require card-reference metadata and rules-engine support for combat-damage-triggered extra upkeep creation, monarch status, and beginning-of-upkeep trigger ordering; if metadata is missing, Veles should mark the line as unresolved support rather than invent exact trigger results.

- Role concern: the deck needs `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` to connect for its highest ceiling, so protection and combat-enabling cards that actually appear here, especially `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Curse of Opulence`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Keeper of Keys`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, matter as deck-specific enablers.

- Mana concern: early sequencing must preserve colored access for interaction while still accelerating into four-mana and five-mana engines; `Ancient Tomb`, `Sol Ring`, and the Talismans speed deployment but do not replace the need for blue-black-red fixing when the hand contains `Counterspell`, `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ambition`, or `Court of Ire`.

- Opponent information status: no opponent decks, matchup notes, or reflection concerns were supplied, so the pilot guide must treat opponent plans as unknown until public information, commander identity, visible permanents, stack actions, graveyards, revealed cards, or Veles matchup labels provide runtime evidence.

## Thesis

Obeka Splitter Upkeep assembles a protected `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, one or more upkeep-trigger permanents, and enough evasive/combat pressure to turn combat damage into repeated beginning-phase value. The deck wins by compounding upkeep triggers from `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Bitterblossom`, `Bloodchief Ascension`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, and `Smokestack`, then converting that resource lead into damage, cards, tokens, copied triggers, stolen cards, or board attrition.

Prioritize survivable engine setup over flashy theft lines. Early turns should secure UBR mana, deploy acceleration, and decide whether the hand is an `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` hand, a draw-tax hand, a Court/monarch hand, or a control-stall hand. `Lightning Greaves` and `Swiftfoot Boots` are high leverage because Obeka must survive and connect before the deck’s strongest trigger-multiplication lines matter. `Paradox Haze`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, and `Roaming Throne` are payoff multipliers only when the battlefield already contains meaningful triggers or a reliable commander connection path.

Do not pilot this as generic Grixis control, storm, or commander-damage Voltron. `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Blasphemous Act` protect the engine and prevent lethal or lock-breaking threats; they are not an invitation to trade one-for-one forever while ignoring upkeep deployment. Combat matters because `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, and `Keeper of Keys` reward connecting, but attacks should respect visible blockers, crackback, monarch exposure, and commander-tax risk.

When rules support is uncertain, preserve legal-action discipline. If Veles lacks card-reference or rules-engine proof for `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, monarch/court triggers, copied triggered abilities, or extra upkeep ordering, the pilot should choose only visible legal actions and mark the missing metadata rather than assuming exact trigger counts, target requirements, or timing windows.

## Role Package

- Threats: `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` is the central combat-damage engine and command-zone threat; `The Scarab God`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Keeper of Keys`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Hostage Taker`, `Notion Thief`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Ledger Shredder`, `Likeness Looter`, and `Baleful Strix` provide pressure, disruption, evasive bodies, or value bodies that can carry combat-trigger plans.

- Payoffs: `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, and `Court of Embereth` are the monarch/upkeep payoff suite; protect monarch when the Court trigger is materially ahead, but do not make losing attacks just to preserve a status marker. `Bloodchief Ascension`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Mechanized Production`, `Smokestack`, `As Foretold`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, and `Roaming Throne` are scaling payoffs that become stronger with extra upkeeps, copied triggers, or repeated beginning-phase windows.

- Engines and velocity: `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Bitterblossom`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, `Stolen Strategy`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Ledger Shredder`, `Likeness Looter`, `Demonic Tutor`, and `Vampiric Tutor` keep cards flowing or select a missing engine piece. Tutor choices should be board-state driven: find protection for an exposed Obeka line, an upkeep payoff for an empty engine shell, or interaction when a visible opponent threat beats the engine.

- Interaction and protection: `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse` are stack tools for protecting commander deployment, stopping sweepers, or blocking decisive opposing spells. `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Cyclonic Rift`, and `Blasphemous Act` answer resolved problems. `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and selective interaction protect key permanents, but the pilot must respect exact legal targets and visible timing.

- Recursion and recovery: `The Scarab God`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Hostage Taker`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, `Stolen Strategy`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound` help rebuild through removal or convert opposing resources into pressure. Use recovery cards after disruption when the engine has been broken, not before mana and protection are stable.

- Mana module: `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Talisman of Dominance`, `Talisman of Indulgence`, `Talisman of Creativity`, `Ancient Tomb`, `Command Tower`, `Exotic Orchard`, `Path of Ancestry`, `Xander's Lounge`, fetchlands, duals, shocklands, pathways, filters, check/slow lands, `Otawara, Soaring City`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance`, `Reliquary Tower`, `Island`, `Swamp`, and `Mountain` must support early UBR access before greedy engine sequencing.

- Sideboard modules: `Abrade` and `Bedevil` add artifact/permanent interaction; `Rakdos Charm`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, and `Grafdigger's Cage` address graveyard lines; `Opposition Agent` and `Thoughtseize` attack search or combo setup; `Dress Down` handles ability-dependent boards; `Mindbreak Trap` is stack pressure against multi-spell turns; sideboard `Feed the Swarm` increases enchantment or creature removal density.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Obeka extra-upkeep engine: Prioritize `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` when the hand can produce UBR mana, protect or clear a connection path, and place at least one upkeep payoff on board. Setup is `Lightning Greaves` or `Swiftfoot Boots`, then `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, then a payoff such as `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Bitterblossom`, `Bloodchief Ascension`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, or `Smokestack`. Execute by connecting with Obeka only through visible legal attacks that do not expose lethal crackback or commander-tax blowouts; if card-reference support for Obeka or extra-upkeep trigger ordering is missing, choose only engine-legal actions surfaced by the rules engine and flag metadata uncertainty. Disruption to respect includes instant-speed removal before combat damage, fog-like combat denial, deathtouch blockers, forced sacrifice, and sweepers after equipment is committed.

- Court and monarch snowball: Prioritize a Court line when `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, or `Court of Embereth` can survive long enough to pay off and the deck can defend monarch with blockers, removal, or pressure. Setup is a Court plus enough defense from `Baleful Strix`, `Bitterblossom`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Keeper of Keys`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Cyclonic Rift`, or `Blasphemous Act`. Execute by protecting monarch when the Court trigger is decisive, but do not make bad attacks merely to keep the status if losing Obeka or a key blocker gives opponents a larger swing.

- Trigger multiplication finish: Prioritize `Paradox Haze`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, or `Roaming Throne` after a real payoff exists, not into an empty battlefield. Setup is one or more upkeep/court triggers plus mana to activate or cast the multiplier while still holding critical interaction. Execute copied or repeated triggers only when the rules engine exposes legal trigger choices; avoid assuming copied modes, targets, or trigger ownership without visible engine output.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Combat-value pressure: Use `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, and `Bident of Thassa` to turn evasive or expendable attackers into cards when Obeka is unavailable or too risky. `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Ledger Shredder`, `Likeness Looter`, `Baleful Strix`, `Bitterblossom` tokens, `Keeper of Keys`, and `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance` tokens can pressure life totals while feeding cards, Treasures, looting, or theft effects. Prioritize this line against slow boards and against opponents spending removal on Obeka; downgrade it when attacks tap needed blockers.

- Drain, burn, and punishment: `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Bloodchief Ascension`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, and `Descent into Avernus` can win without commander damage by making draw steps, life payments, sacrifices, or upkeep triggers lethal over time. Use this route when combat is stalled, when Obeka is taxed out, or when opponents are low enough that repeated triggers matter more than developing another fragile creature. Protect `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse` and active `Bloodchief Ascension` more highly once they represent immediate life-total pressure.

- Theft and recursion inevitability: `The Scarab God`, `Hostage Taker`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, `Stolen Strategy`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound` convert graveyards, exile access, and opponents' cards into a backup engine. Use this line when the original upkeep package has been answered or when opponents present higher-impact threats than the cards in hand. Treat stolen-card casting as resource conversion, not automatic value; preserve colored mana and timing legality.

- Attrition and lock pressure: `Smokestack` backed by expendable permanents from `Bitterblossom`, Treasure from `Professional Face-Breaker`, or repeated value from Court triggers can close by constricting boards. Prioritize this only when sacrifice asymmetry is visible; do not deploy `Smokestack` into a board where it consumes your only engine, commander protection, or mana base faster than opponents.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: Stop paying avoidable life unless the payoff prevents lethal or creates a winning turn. Reassess `Ancient Tomb`, Talismans, `Black Market Connections`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Bitterblossom`, `Descent into Avernus`, shocklands, and fetchlands as costs, not free velocity. Use `Blasphemous Act`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Baleful Strix`, and `Kardur, Doomscourge` to survive before chasing extra upkeeps.

- Behind on board: Stabilize first with `Blasphemous Act`, overloaded or tempo `Cyclonic Rift` if legal, spot removal, or defensive bodies, then rebuild around one compact engine. Do not attack with Obeka into lethal crackback just to make triggers; commander tax makes failed attacks expensive.

- Behind on cards or engines: Find the missing axis with `Demonic Tutor` or `Vampiric Tutor`, favoring `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, or a Court according to board safety. If engines are repeatedly removed, pivot to `The Scarab God`, `Stolen Strategy`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, or `Etali, Primal Storm` rather than recasting unsupported multipliers.

- Behind on mana: Cast `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Talisman of Dominance`, `Talisman of Indulgence`, and `Talisman of Creativity` before expensive payoffs, and sequence lands for UBR access. Do not keep hands that rely on `Ancient Tomb` alone to cast colored spells.

- Behind to graveyard recursion or combo: Use maindeck stack interaction first for decisive spells, and use `The Scarab God` or `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` only when their legal timing advances survival or a rebuild. There is no maindeck hard graveyard hate package; rely on sideboard games for `Rakdos Charm`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, and `Grafdigger's Cage`.

- Win conditions removed: Recast `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` only when protection or immediate value justifies commander tax. If Obeka is too expensive, win through Court triggers, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Bloodchief Ascension`, theft engines, `The Scarab God`, or attrition. There is no registered creature-land plan; do not invent land-based attacker lines from this list.

## Resource Model

- Life is a spendable setup resource until opposing pressure turns it into the limiting resource. Treat `Ancient Tomb`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Bitterblossom`, `Descent into Avernus`, shocklands, fetchlands, and Talismans as acceleration only when the extra card, mana, token, or trigger advances survival or a near-term engine. Stop optional life payments when they expose lethal combat, commander-tax failure, or burn/drain kills.

- Hand converts into persistent triggers and protected attacks, not raw spell count. Prefer one durable engine from `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, or `Bident of Thassa` over dumping multiple fragile pieces into a sweeper.

- Mana converts into tempo when it lands `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` with protection or immediate combat access. `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Talisman of Dominance`, `Talisman of Indulgence`, and `Talisman of Creativity` are strongest when they let the deck keep interaction open after deploying Obeka, a Court, or a trigger multiplier.

- Board presence converts into cards, monarch defense, and safe Obeka connections. `Bitterblossom`, `Baleful Strix`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Keeper of Keys`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, and `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance` supply attackers, blockers, Treasures, or sacrifice insulation; do not trade these away when they are protecting monarch or enabling combat-draw triggers.

- Graveyard and exile are secondary engines, not assumptions. `The Scarab God`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Hostage Taker`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, `Stolen Strategy`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, and `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser` convert public zones or exiled cards only when the rules engine exposes legal timing, costs, ownership, and casting permission.

- Sacrifice fodder is valuable only when asymmetry is visible. Feed `Smokestack` with expendable permanents such as `Bitterblossom` tokens or Treasures from `Professional Face-Breaker` before sacrificing mana rocks, Courts, protection equipment, or colored lands.

- Information converts into tighter stack and tutor choices. Use revealed hands, public commanders, graveyards, exile access, known top-card effects, and visible mana before spending `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, `Demonic Tutor`, or `Vampiric Tutor`.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow matchups into missing axes. `Rakdos Charm`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, and `Grafdigger's Cage` address graveyard or library-cast plans; `Opposition Agent`, `Mindbreak Trap`, and `Thoughtseize` address tutors, storm, or combo; `Abrade`, `Bedevil`, `Dress Down`, and sideboard `Feed the Swarm` add interaction density against permanents or rules-text threats.

## Mana Guide

- Prioritize early UBR access over colorless speed. A keep should normally produce at least two colors and a path to the third by turn three or four; hands relying on `Ancient Tomb`, `Sol Ring`, or one Talisman without colored lands must already contain castable development and a clear route to `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` or interaction.

- Sequence untapped colored lands for the next two turns before optimizing life. `Command Tower`, `Exotic Orchard`, `Morphic Pool`, `Luxury Suite`, `Training Center`, `Underground Sea`, `Badlands`, `Volcanic Island`, and correctly chosen Pathways are premium early sources. Shocklands are acceptable untapped when they enable `Counterspell`, `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Arcane Signet`, or an early engine; otherwise preserve life.

- Use fetchlands to complete exact color needs from registered targets. `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats` can find legal basic-land-type sources such as `Xander's Lounge`, shocklands, original duals, or basics according to each fetchland's type restriction; prefer `Xander's Lounge` when a tapped tri-source is acceptable, and prefer untapped dual/shock access when interaction or commander timing matters.

- Treat tapped and conditional lands as setup, not emergency fixes. `Path of Ancestry`, `Xander's Lounge`, checklands, slowlands, and Pathways require planning; play them early when the turn does not need stack interaction. Choose `Clearwater Pathway`, `Blightstep Pathway`, and `Riverglide Pathway` for the missing color pair in hand, because the choice cannot be casually reversed later.

- Hold utility lands when their channel or no-maximum-hand-size function matters more than a land drop. `Otawara, Soaring City`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, and `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance` are still lands when mana is short, but their channel modes can answer, rebuild, or create bodies if the game is stable. `Reliquary Tower` is best after draw engines exist; it should not replace early colored mana.

- Play lands before draw when the known spell requires immediate mana or landfall is irrelevant. Play after draw when `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Ledger Shredder`, or combat damage could reveal a better land choice and no current action needs the mana first.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: keep three lands with at least two UBR colors plus one accelerator and one engine, such as `Command Tower`, `Watery Grave`, `Badlands`, `Sol Ring`, `Court of Ambition`, `Lightning Greaves`, and `Counterspell`. This hand deploys mana, protects or delays for `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, and can still play if Obeka is removed.

- Strong keep: keep two lands plus `Sol Ring` or `Arcane Signet` when the hand casts a turn-two engine or protected commander line, such as `Polluted Delta`, `Steam Vents`, `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Rhystic Study`, `Swan Song`, and `Terminate`. Fetch for exact colors before assuming later rocks solve double-blue or black-red costs.

- Medium keep: keep two colored lands plus a draw-tax or body-based engine when the first three turns are legal without perfect colors, such as `Morphic Pool`, `Luxury Suite`, `Mystic Remora`, `Baleful Strix`, `Bitterblossom`, `Talisman of Creativity`, and `Chaos Warp`. This hand wants to slow the table, make blockers, then choose whether Obeka or a Court is safer.

- Risky keep: keep `Ancient Tomb` acceleration only when the colored mana path and life pressure are acceptable. `Ancient Tomb`, `Reliquary Tower`, `Sol Ring`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Court of Ire`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, and `Blasphemous Act` is too color-poor unless mulligan rules or visible matchup speed make the risk better than a random six.

- Automatic ship: ship hands with zero or one land, hands with only colorless mana, or hands whose first castable spell is turn four without interaction. A hand like `Reliquary Tower`, `Ancient Tomb`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Cyclonic Rift`, and `Counterspell` cannot execute the deck's colored setup.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep slower Court-heavy hands against creature-light value tables when interaction is present, but ship them against fast combat or combo. `Xander's Lounge`, `Drowned Catacomb`, `Path of Ancestry`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Fierce Guardianship` is playable on the draw against midrange, weaker on the play against explosive commanders.

- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prefer proactive mana plus `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Bitterblossom`, or `Black Market Connections`; on the draw, value `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, `Terminate`, and `Baleful Strix` more because opponents can expose must-answer starts first.

- Trap hand: do not keep a hand because it contains multiple payoff enchantments if it lacks early colored mana or bodies. `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, two slow lands, and no interaction is a pile of delayed triggers, not a functional opener.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: lead with untapped color fixing or a planned tapped tri-source. Prefer `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Mystic Remora`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Curse of Opulence`, or a fetchland for the missing colors; play `Xander's Lounge` or `Path of Ancestry` only when no turn-one spell or stack window matters.

- Turn 1 deviation: hold up `Swan Song` or `An Offer You Can't Refuse` only when a visible commander, known fast combo, or public table context makes a turn-one noncreature spell decisive. Do not pass with unused mana just to bluff if `Mystic Remora`, `Sol Ring`, or `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer` is legal and advances the plan.

- Turn 2: deploy a durable engine or protection setup before committing Obeka into open removal. Best plays are `Rhystic Study`, `Bitterblossom`, `Baleful Strix`, `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Faerie Mastermind`, or `Ledger Shredder`, with `Counterspell` held when an opponent's next play is more dangerous than your engine.

- Turn 3: cast `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` when she can be protected, equipped soon, or attack into a realistic future opening. If combat access is poor, prefer `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Black Market Connections`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, or removal plus development.

- Turn 3 deviation: use `Demonic Tutor` or `Vampiric Tutor` for the missing axis, not a generic favorite. Find protection when Obeka is ready, a Court or `Paradox Haze` when monarch/upkeep scaling is safe, `Cyclonic Rift` or `Blasphemous Act` when behind, or `Counterspell`/`Fierce Guardianship` when one known spell will decide the game.

- Turns 4-5: convert one safe Obeka hit into upkeep pressure only when the rules engine exposes legal attack, damage, and trigger handling. Stack beginning-phase triggers to resolve survival resources before greed when life is low; otherwise prioritize Court damage, discard, mill, draw, Treasure, and copied triggers that compound across extra upkeeps.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: if Obeka is blocked, taxed, or removed, pivot to independent engines. `The Scarab God`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Stolen Strategy`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Keeper of Keys`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, and theft effects can win without repeated commander damage triggers.

- Late game: protect the active engine before adding redundant pieces. Keep mana for `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, `Terminate`, `Counterspell`, `Fierce Guardianship`, or `An Offer You Can't Refuse`; recast Obeka through commander tax only when immediate protection, an open attack, or stacked upkeep payoffs make the mana better than holding interaction.

## Card Roles

`Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` is the deck's pressure engine: cast her when haste/protection, blockers, or interaction make a combat-damage trigger realistic, then turn every safe hit into extra upkeep scaling. Do not recast through commander tax just because she is available; recast when the next attack is plausible or when opponents must spend premium removal before your Courts and draw engines take over.

The upkeep/enchantment core is `Paradox Haze`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Bitterblossom`, `Bloodchief Ascension`, `Descent into Avernus`, `As Foretold`, and `Mechanized Production`. These cards reward extra beginning phases, monarch retention, and copied triggers; sequence survival and card flow before purely damaging triggers when life or board position is unstable.

The combat-damage package is `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Keeper of Keys`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, and small evasive or value bodies. Use these to make attacking profitable even without Obeka, but avoid nonlethal attacks that give away monarch, expose key blockers, or send Obeka into obvious unfavorable blocks.

The copy/trigger enhancers are `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, `Roaming Throne`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`. Hold activations for visible high-impact triggers, not the first legal trigger; copied Court, Obeka, upkeep, theft, or draw triggers are much more important than copying minor incidental value.

The interaction suite is `Cyclonic Rift`, `Blasphemous Act`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse`. Spend it to preserve the engine, stop combo, clear Obeka combat access, or answer monarch-stealing threats; do not burn stack interaction on replaceable creatures while an opponent can present a decisive noncreature spell.

The tutor and tax-draw cards are `Demonic Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Rhystic Study`, and `Mystic Remora`. Tutor for the missing axis: mana/protection before Obeka, interaction when behind, a Court or `Paradox Haze` when stable, and `Cyclonic Rift` or `Blasphemous Act` when the table has outgrown single-target answers.

### Card Hover Notes

#### Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
- Deck role: main/commander, 1 copy, commander core piece.
- Role type: engine piece; mechanic enabler; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: turns combat damage to a player into that many additional upkeep steps, making `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Bitterblossom`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, `Smokestack`, `Mystic Remora`, `The Scarab God`, and `Stolen Strategy` scale.
- Timing: cast when UBR plus protection or a safe attack is realistic; recast through commander tax only when the next attack or forced removal exchange is worth the extra mana.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes commander mana, combat access, and protection; outputs extra upkeep steps only after dealing combat damage to a player.
- Partners / packages: `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Keeper of Keys`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Terminate`, and `Chaos Warp` help Obeka connect or survive.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is `Sphinx of the Second Sun` for extra beginning phases and `Paradox Haze` for extra upkeep pressure.
- Failure modes: attacking into profitable double blocks, recasting with no protection, or assuming extra-upkeep triggers if the runtime does not expose them despite the deck’s unresolved support warning.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against slow boards with weak blockers; downgrade against visible instant-speed removal, deathtouch blockers, fog effects, or commander-tax pressure.
- Low-skill guidance: keep Obeka in the command zone when she dies or is exiled unless a visible effect will immediately return her; protect her first, then attack only when damage is likely to connect.

#### Paradox Haze
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, core extra-upkeep Aura.
- Role type: mechanic enabler; engine payoff; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: enchants a player and gives that player an additional upkeep after their first upkeep, usually enchanting you to multiply `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Bitterblossom`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, `Smokestack`, `Mystic Remora`, `The Scarab God`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Timing: deploy after at least one meaningful upkeep trigger is present or guaranteed next; avoid casting into an empty board unless the hand already has the payoff.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U} and an Aura target player; outputs one additional upkeep on that player’s turn.
- Partners / packages: best with `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `As Foretold`, `Mechanized Production`, and `Stolen Strategy`; risky with `Bitterblossom`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Mystic Remora`, and `Descent into Avernus`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`.
- Failure modes: enchanting an opponent gives them extra upkeep triggers; enchanting yourself while life-loss triggers are lethal can lose the race.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in midrange and control games; slow against fast combo unless paired with `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, or `An Offer You Can't Refuse`.
- Low-skill guidance: enchant yourself only when your upkeep triggers help more than they hurt; do not play it just because it is legal.

#### The Scarab God
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, resilient finisher and graveyard-value engine.
- Role type: recursion; engine piece; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: drains each opponent and scries during your upkeep based on Zombies you control, then turns target creature cards in graveyards into 4/4 black Zombie tokens.
- Timing: cast after graveyards contain strong creature cards or when repeated upkeep drain matters; activate before an opponent can exile or reanimate the best target.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {3}{U}{B} to cast and {2}{U}{B} per activation; outputs Zombie tokens, scry, life loss to each opponent, and hand resilience when it dies.
- Mode map: upkeep trigger counts Zombies; activated ability exiles target creature card from a graveyard and creates a 4/4 black Zombie copy; death trigger returns The Scarab God to owner’s hand at the next end step.
- Partners / packages: `Black Market Connections` can make a changeling Shapeshifter that counts as a Zombie; `Roaming Throne` can choose God to copy its creature trigger, but that is usually lower value than choosing Warlock for Obeka.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` for recovery and `Hostage Taker` for using opposing resources.
- Failure modes: spending four mana on the activation while shields are needed for `Cyclonic Rift`, `Counterspell`, or `Terminate`; expecting drain without Zombies.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature-heavy graveyards and removal-heavy tables; weaker against `Grafdigger's Cage` style hate only when the live rules say the hate stops the token line.
- Low-skill guidance: use The Scarab God as the backup plan when Obeka is taxed; target the best creature card in any graveyard, not only your own.

#### Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, life-swing role player.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; engine payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: turns your card draw from `Phyrexian Arena`, `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Ledger Shredder`, `Baleful Strix`, and `Black Market Connections` into life gain while punishing opposing draws.
- Timing: prioritize when life payments from `Ancient Tomb`, `Bitterblossom`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Descent into Avernus`, fetchlands, shocklands, or `Thoughtseize` are becoming dangerous.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}{B}; outputs 2 life for each card you draw and 2 life loss for each card an opponent draws.
- Partners / packages: pairs sharply with `Faerie Mastermind` activation, `Notion Thief`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Rhystic Study`, and `Mystic Remora`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bloodchief Ascension` for drain/lifegain and `Court of Ambition` for life-total pressure.
- Failure modes: treating Sheoldred as creature removal; she stabilizes races but does not answer a resolved lethal attacker by herself.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against draw-heavy control and low-pressure midrange; protect her less when a combo threat requires stack interaction instead.
- Low-skill guidance: cast Sheoldred when you expect multiple draws soon or need life; do not tap out for her if a visible spell on the stack must be countered.

#### Court of Ambition
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Court core pressure piece.
- Role type: engine payoff; hate piece; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: makes you the monarch, then each upkeep forces each opponent to discard or lose life, with the monarch version doubling the discard/life-loss pressure.
- Timing: cast when you can defend monarch with `Baleful Strix`, `Bitterblossom`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Terminate`, or `Cyclonic Rift`.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}{B}; outputs monarch status, opponent hand depletion, and repeated life loss.
- Partners / packages: extra upkeep from `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` multiplies the trigger; `Keeper of Keys` helps retain monarch.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Court of Ire` for lethal pressure and `Bloodchief Ascension` for drain pressure.
- Failure modes: casting into a board where an opponent can immediately steal monarch and use the extra card before your next upkeep.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against combo and control hands that need specific cards; weaker against creature swarms that can reclaim monarch.
- Low-skill guidance: protect monarch if this is draining or emptying hands, but do not lose Obeka or die in combat just to keep the crown.

#### Court of Ire
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Court damage finisher.
- Role type: reach/finisher; engine payoff; interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: makes you the monarch, then deals 2 damage to any target each upkeep, or 7 damage instead while you are the monarch.
- Timing: deploy when monarch defense is plausible or when repeated upkeep damage can kill a player, planeswalker, or key creature.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {3}{R}{R}; outputs monarch status and targeted damage from each trigger.
- Partners / packages: `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Strionic Resonator`, and `Lithoform Engine` turn one trigger into a closing engine.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Court of Ambition` for life pressure and `Blasphemous Act` for damage-based creature clearing.
- Failure modes: aiming damage at a player while a creature or planeswalker is the survival bottleneck; losing monarch before the 7-damage trigger matters.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against planeswalkers, low-toughness commanders, and low-life tables; respect lifegain decks that can outpace 2-damage triggers.
- Low-skill guidance: if you are monarch, check for lethal or must-kill targets before sending 7 damage at a random opponent.

#### Court of Cunning
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Court mill engine.
- Role type: engine payoff; hate piece; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: makes you the monarch, then mills any number of target players for two cards each upkeep, or ten cards each if you are monarch.
- Timing: cast when mill pressure matters or when an active `Bloodchief Ascension` can punish cards entering opponents’ graveyards.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{U}{U}; outputs monarch status and targeted library-to-graveyard movement.
- Partners / packages: `Bloodchief Ascension` converts opponent graveyard entries into drain once it has three quest counters; `Rakdos Charm`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, and `Grafdigger's Cage` are sideboard tools when milling helps opposing graveyards.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Court of Locthwain` for noncombat card pressure and `Stolen Strategy` for upkeep-based opponent-library access.
- Failure modes: feeding graveyard recursion without `Rakdos Charm`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, or `Grafdigger's Cage`; targeting yourself without a clear `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` or `Likeness Looter` reason.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against slow decks with low graveyard use; dangerous against visible escape, flashback, reanimator, or delve plans.
- Low-skill guidance: target opponents by default, but avoid milling a graveyard deck unless you can punish or exile the graveyard.

#### Court of Locthwain
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Court exile-access engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: makes you the monarch, then exiles the top card of target opponent’s library each upkeep and lets you play it for as long as it remains exiled; while monarch, one spell exiled with it can be cast without paying its mana cost until end of turn.
- Timing: cast when you can use stolen cards or defend monarch long enough to convert the free-cast clause.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}{B}; outputs monarch status, opponent-library exile access, and possible free spell casting.
- Partners / packages: `Prosper, Tome-Bound` rewards playing cards from exile; `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` create more Court triggers.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Stolen Strategy`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, and `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`.
- Failure modes: exiling from the wrong opponent when another library is more likely to supply interaction; losing monarch before using the free-cast window.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against high-card-quality opponents; weaker when opponents’ decks contain narrow synergy cards you cannot use.
- Low-skill guidance: choose the opponent most likely to reveal castable interaction, mana, or threats; do not forget the free spell is only while monarch and only until end of turn.

#### Court of Embereth
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Court token and damage engine.
- Role type: engine payoff; reach/finisher; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: makes you the monarch, creates a 3/1 red Knight creature token each upkeep, then if you are monarch deals damage to each opponent equal to the number of creatures you control.
- Timing: cast when you already have creatures from `Bitterblossom`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance`, `Baleful Strix`, or `Black Market Connections`, or when a token every upkeep stabilizes monarch.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{R}{R}; outputs monarch status, Knight tokens, and scaling opponent damage.
- Partners / packages: `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Bitterblossom`, and `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance` increase creature count and triggers.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bitterblossom` for recurring bodies and `Court of Ire` for upkeep damage.
- Failure modes: playing it onto an empty or losing board when `Blasphemous Act`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Terminate`, or `Feed the Swarm` is needed first.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against slow boards and planeswalker-light tables; risky against go-wide opponents that can steal monarch immediately.
- Low-skill guidance: count your creatures before valuing the damage trigger; one token is useful, but the monarch damage is the payoff.

#### Phyrexian Arena
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, upkeep card-flow role player.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: draws one extra card and loses 1 life at each of your upkeeps, turning extra upkeep steps into more cards at a real life cost.
- Timing: strongest early against low pressure; delay or side down when life is already taxed by `Ancient Tomb`, `Bitterblossom`, `Black Market Connections`, `Descent into Avernus`, shocklands, or `Thoughtseize`.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{B}{B} and 1 life per upkeep trigger; outputs one card per trigger.
- Partners / packages: `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse` offsets the life loss; `Paradox Haze`, `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` multiply both cards and life loss.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, and `Black Market Connections`.
- Failure modes: keeping it when repeated triggers put you in burn or combat lethal range.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent in control and midrange; dangerous against burn, go-wide combat, and commander-damage pressure.
- Low-skill guidance: extra cards are not free; if life is below roughly 12 under pressure, stabilize before adding more Arena triggers.

#### Black Market Connections
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, first-main-phase resource engine.
- Role type: modal utility; engine piece; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: at the beginning of your first main phase, chooses one or more of Treasure, card draw, and a 3/2 changeling Shapeshifter to supply mana, cards, or a blocker/attacker.
- Timing: cast when life total can support the chosen modes; do not treat it as an Obeka extra-upkeep payoff because it triggers at the beginning of your first main phase, not upkeep.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}; each trigger can consume 1 life for a Treasure, 2 life for a card, and 3 life for a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling.
- Mode map: Sell Contraband creates one Treasure and loses 1 life; Buy Information draws one card and loses 2 life; Hire a Mercenary creates the changeling Shapeshifter and loses 3 life.
- Partners / packages: Treasure supports `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Court of Ire`, and `Cyclonic Rift` overload; changeling counts as a Zombie for `The Scarab God`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Phyrexian Arena` for cards, `Professional Face-Breaker` for Treasure, and `Bitterblossom` for bodies.
- Failure modes: choosing all modes under pressure; assuming Paradox Haze or Obeka gives extra first main phases.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against slower tables; trim mode choices against burn, creature swarm, or commander-damage pressure.
- Low-skill guidance: choose Treasure when mana is missing, choose card when safe, choose the Shapeshifter when you need a body, and do not auto-pay 6 life.

#### Bitterblossom
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, upkeep token engine.
- Role type: engine piece; engine fuel/material; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: loses 1 life and creates a 1/1 black Faerie Rogue creature token with flying each upkeep, feeding monarch defense and combat-damage draw.
- Timing: strongest early when life pressure is low; delay if repeated upkeep triggers from `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, or `Sphinx of the Second Sun` would make the life loss dangerous.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{B} and 1 life per upkeep trigger; outputs flying Faerie Rogue tokens.
- Partners / packages: tokens enable `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Court of Embereth`, `Smokestack`, and monarch defense from `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, or `Court of Embereth`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance` for bodies and `Court of Embereth` for recurring creature production.
- Failure modes: dying to your own life-loss engine or sacrificing too many tokens before defending monarch.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against flyers-light midrange; risky against burn and wide boards that ignore one flying blocker.
- Low-skill guidance: Bitterblossom is both attacker and blocker fuel; stop adding extra upkeep pressure if the life loss is racing you.

#### Bloodchief Ascension
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, life-loss payoff.
- Role type: engine payoff; lifegain/stabilization; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: gains quest counters at end steps when an opponent lost 2 or more life that turn, then drains and gains life when cards go to opponents’ graveyards once it has three counters.
- Timing: play early if `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `Descent into Avernus`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, or combat damage can trigger quest counters.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B}; outputs quest counters, opponent life loss, and your life gain after the three-counter threshold.
- Partners / packages: `Court of Cunning` mills opponents, `Blasphemous Act` sends creatures to graveyards, and `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, and `Descent into Avernus` help meet the 2-life condition.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse` for draw punishment and `Court of Ambition` for drain pressure.
- Failure modes: treating it as active before three quest counters; enabling graveyard decks with `Court of Cunning` before Ascension is online.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in long games with many graveyard events; weaker against exile-heavy decks and low-graveyard combo.
- Low-skill guidance: first get three quest counters, then use mill, removal, and damage to turn graveyard movement into life swings.

#### Descent into Avernus
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, risky upkeep acceleration clock.
- Role type: engine piece; reach/finisher; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: adds two descent counters each upkeep, then gives each player X Treasures and deals X damage to each player, where X is the counter count.
- Timing: cast only when you can exploit the Treasures faster than opponents or when the symmetrical damage favors your clock.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{R}; outputs Treasures to every player and damage to every player, escalating every upkeep trigger.
- Partners / packages: `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse` and `Bloodchief Ascension` can offset or punish life movement; `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` accelerate both mana and danger.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Professional Face-Breaker` for Treasure and `Court of Ire` for damage pressure.
- Failure modes: giving combo opponents enough Treasures to win; killing yourself with extra upkeep triggers.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against slow, mana-hungry tables when you are ahead; dangerous against storm, artifact, and burn opponents.
- Low-skill guidance: do not cast this from behind unless the Treasures immediately produce removal, a win, or a protected Obeka turn.

#### Mechanized Production
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, alternate artifact-copy win piece.
- Role type: engine payoff; combo finisher; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: enchants an artifact you control, copies it at each upkeep, then wins if you control eight or more artifacts with the same name as one another.
- Timing: hold until you have a safe artifact target and can protect the enchanted artifact through the next upkeep.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{U} and a legal artifact you control; outputs one token copy each upkeep and a same-name artifact win check.
- Partners / packages: best targets are Treasure tokens from `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Descent into Avernus`, and `Black Market Connections`, or Gold tokens from `Curse of Opulence`; safer nonlegendary artifact targets include `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Talisman of Dominance`, `Talisman of Indulgence`, `Talisman of Creativity`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Smokestack`, `Roaming Throne`, and `Baleful Strix`.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is `As Foretold` for upkeep scaling and `Court of Ire` for noncombat closing.
- Failure modes: enchanting a legendary artifact such as `Lithoform Engine` or `Bident of Thassa` can create legend-rule problems; sacrificing Treasure copies delays the eight-artifact threshold.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong when opponents lack enchantment or artifact removal; weak into visible `Abrade`, `Bedevil`, `Chaos Warp`, or similar effects.
- Low-skill guidance: put it on Treasure or Gold when possible, keep the tokens instead of spending them, and remember the win check happens during upkeep.

#### As Foretold
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, upkeep counter mana engine.
- Role type: engine piece; mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: gains a time counter each upkeep and once each turn lets you pay {0} rather than the mana cost for a spell with mana value X or less.
- Timing: best early, before repeated upkeep steps; worse late if the hand is empty or if you need immediate board impact.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}; outputs time counters and one free-cast permission per turn capped by time counters.
- Partners / packages: `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` add counters faster; free casts help hold mana for `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Terminate`, or `Cyclonic Rift`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, and `Ancient Tomb` for acceleration.
- Failure modes: assuming it ignores timing restrictions, casts more than once each turn, or casts spells above its counter count.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in grindy games; too slow against fast combo unless paired with early interaction.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early if safe, then use the free spell to preserve mana for protection or removal.

#### Smokestack
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, attrition lock piece.
- Role type: engine piece; hate piece; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: can add soot counters on your upkeep, then makes each player sacrifice a permanent of their choice on each of their upkeeps for each soot counter.
- Timing: commit only when you have expendable permanents and opponents are less able to feed it.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {4}; outputs soot counters and repeated sacrifice pressure, with each affected player choosing what they sacrifice.
- Partners / packages: `Bitterblossom`, `Court of Embereth`, `Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Curse of Opulence`, and `Descent into Avernus` create expendable permanents.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Court of Ambition` for attrition and `Blasphemous Act` for board constriction.
- Failure modes: adding soot counters when you must sacrifice `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, mana rocks, Courts, or colored mana sources first.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against low-permanent combo and fragile mana boards; weak against token decks that out-produce you.
- Low-skill guidance: do not add a soot counter unless you already know what you can sacrifice next.

#### Strionic Resonator
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, triggered-ability copy utility.
- Role type: engine piece; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: pays {2} and taps to copy target triggered ability you control, letting you duplicate Obeka damage triggers, Court triggers, upkeep triggers, Etali attack triggers, or high-value draw/theft triggers.
- Timing: hold activation for a trigger that changes the turn or the game, not the first legal trigger.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}, tap, and a target triggered ability you control; outputs a copy and optional new targets for the copy.
- Partners / packages: premium targets are `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Mechanized Production`, `Stolen Strategy`, `The Scarab God`, and `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Lithoform Engine` and `Roaming Throne`.
- Failure modes: spending mana on minor triggers while `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, or `Cyclonic Rift` needs to stay available.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong when a single copied trigger is decisive; weak against artifact removal and fast boards.
- Low-skill guidance: copy Obeka, Court, Mechanized Production, Stolen Strategy, The Scarab God, or Etali triggers before copying routine card draw.

#### Lithoform Engine
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, flexible copy artifact.
- Role type: engine piece; modal utility; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: copies high-impact activated or triggered abilities, instant or sorcery spells, or permanent spells when the legal object is worth the mana.
- Timing: deploy when you can later leave activation mana up; do not tap out for it if a board answer is needed now.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {4} to cast plus {2}, {3}, or {4} and tap for the chosen copy ability.
- Mode map: {2}, tap copies target activated or triggered ability you control; {3}, tap copies target instant or sorcery spell you control; {4}, tap copies target permanent spell you control as a token.
- Partners / packages: copies `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Blasphemous Act`, or a permanent spell such as `Court of Locthwain` when mana allows.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Strionic Resonator`; `Roaming Throne` overlaps only for chosen creature-type triggers.
- Failure modes: using the expensive modes for small value while shields are down; targeting illegal resolved permanents with spell-copy modes.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in slow games with many triggers; weak against artifact hate and fast combo.
- Low-skill guidance: use the {2} trigger-copy mode most often; the {3} and {4} modes are for decisive spells or permanents, not routine plays.

#### Roaming Throne
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, creature-trigger amplifier.
- Role type: engine piece; mechanic payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: chooses a creature type as it enters and doubles triggered abilities of other creatures you control of that type.
- Timing: cast before a protected Obeka attack when choosing Warlock or Ogre will copy Obeka’s combat-damage trigger; otherwise wait until the chosen type has a real trigger payoff.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {4}; outputs a 4/4 artifact creature with ward {2}, the chosen type, and doubled triggers for other matching creatures.
- Mode map: choose Warlock or Ogre for `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`; choose Warlock when `Prosper, Tome-Bound` is also important; choose Rogue for `Faerie Mastermind`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Notion Thief`, or `Keeper of Keys` only when those triggers matter more.
- Partners / packages: strongest with `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`; secondary hits include `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Hostage Taker`, and `Etali, Primal Storm` if their types are chosen.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Strionic Resonator` and `Lithoform Engine`.
- Failure modes: naming a creature type with no current or planned trigger; expecting it to double enchantment triggers from Courts or `Phyrexian Arena`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong when one Obeka hit will decide the game; weaker into creature removal before combat.
- Low-skill guidance: choose Warlock when Obeka is the plan; Roaming Throne does not copy Court or enchantment upkeep triggers.

#### Talisman of Dominance
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-black artifact mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: accelerates into `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Counterspell`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Cunning`, `Demonic Tutor`, and `The Scarab God`.
- Timing: cast early when it fixes the next two turns; use colorless mode when colored damage is unnecessary.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}; taps for {C}, or taps for {U} or {B} and deals 1 damage to you.
- Mode map: choose {C} for generic costs on `Sol Ring`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Strionic Resonator`, or `Lithoform Engine`; choose {U} or {B} only when the spell requires it.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Sunken Ruins`, `Counterspell`, `Rhystic Study`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Court of Locthwain`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Watery Grave`, `Underground Sea`, and `Drowned Catacomb`.
- Failure modes: unnecessary damage while low against burn or combat; thinking it supplies red.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: value the painless {C} mode in burn matchups and the colored mode when holding stack interaction.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early, but tap for colorless unless blue or black is required right now.

#### Talisman of Indulgence
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, black-red artifact mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: fixes `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Embereth`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, and `Blasphemous Act`.
- Timing: cast early when black-red access is missing or when ramping to four- and five-mana engines matters.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}; taps for {C}, or taps for {B} or {R} and deals 1 damage to you.
- Mode map: choose {C} for generic costs; choose {B} or {R} only when paying exact colored costs.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Graven Cairns`, `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Blood Crypt`, `Badlands`, and `Dragonskull Summit`.
- Failure modes: taking pain for mana that is not spent; assuming it helps cast `Counterspell`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: protect life total against burn and go-wide boards; use colored modes aggressively when a removal spell must be cast.
- Low-skill guidance: this is ramp and fixing, not free life; use black/red only when the current spell needs black/red.

#### Talisman of Creativity
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-red artifact mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: fixes `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Timing: cast early when it lets you deploy an engine while keeping blue or red interaction open.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}; taps for {C}, or taps for {U} or {R} and deals 1 damage to you.
- Mode map: choose {C} for generic costs; choose {U} or {R} only when the spell or activation requires it.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Cascade Bluffs`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Swan Song`, `Rhystic Study`, `Court of Cunning`, and `Court of Ire`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Arcane Signet`, `Fellwar Stone`, `Steam Vents`, `Volcanic Island`, and `Sulfur Falls`.
- Failure modes: paying life for color when generic mana would work; assuming it produces black.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: important against spell combo because it keeps blue interaction available.
- Low-skill guidance: play it before three- and four-mana engines, but track the 1 damage when life is under pressure.

#### Arcane Signet
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, commander-color artifact mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: produces one mana of any color in Obeka’s UBR color identity, smoothing early commander, Court, tutor, and interaction sequencing.
- Timing: cast as early as possible unless passing with `Swan Song` or `An Offer You Can't Refuse` is clearly required.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}; taps for {U}, {B}, or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fixes `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Counterspell`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Terminate`, `Court of Ire`, and `Cyclonic Rift`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Command Tower`, `Path of Ancestry`, `Fellwar Stone`, and the three Talismans.
- Failure modes: sequencing colorless sources first and delaying this when colored mana is the bottleneck.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in every matchup; especially important against tempo because it rebuilds through soft permission.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early; it casts any of your blue, black, or red spells but still produces only one mana.

#### Sol Ring
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, colorless acceleration core piece.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: accelerates artifacts, equipment, copy engines, `Smokestack`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, and generic portions of Court costs.
- Timing: cast turn one when possible; pair with colored sources before assuming it casts Obeka.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}; taps for {C}{C}.
- Partners / packages: powers `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, `Roaming Throne`, `Smokestack`, and `Blasphemous Act`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Ancient Tomb` for two colorless mana and `Arcane Signet` for early acceleration.
- Failure modes: keeping colorless-only hands that cannot cast `Counterspell`, `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, or `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against slower tables; still needs colored sources against combo and tempo.
- Low-skill guidance: Sol Ring is powerful, but it does not make blue, black, or red mana.

#### Fellwar Stone
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, opponent-dependent artifact mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: accelerates while borrowing colors that opponents’ lands could produce, often covering missing UBR access in multiplayer.
- Timing: cast early, then verify actual available opponent colors before relying on it for a spell.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}; taps for one mana of any color a land an opponent controls could produce.
- Partners / packages: helps cast `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Rhystic Study`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Terminate`, and `Court of Ire` when opponents supply the needed color.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Arcane Signet`, `Exotic Orchard`, and the three Talismans.
- Failure modes: assuming it produces red, blue, or black before an opponent controls an appropriate land.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: better at multicolor tables; weaker against colorless-heavy or mono-color boards that do not supply the missing color.
- Low-skill guidance: look at opponents’ lands before tapping Fellwar Stone; it may not make the color you want.

#### Lightning Greaves
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, commander protection and haste core piece.
- Role type: protection/evasion; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: gives equipped creature haste and shroud, enabling immediate Obeka attacks and shielding key creatures from targeted spells or abilities.
- Timing: deploy before Obeka when possible; equip after Obeka resolves if no targeting conflict is created.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}; equip costs {0}; outputs haste and shroud on the equipped creature.
- Partners / packages: highest-priority carrier is `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`; secondary carriers are `Etali, Primal Storm`, `The Scarab God`, `Keeper of Keys`, and `Professional Face-Breaker` when their attack or survival matters.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Swiftfoot Boots`; `Fierce Guardianship`, `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse` protect on the stack instead.
- Failure modes: shroud prevents your own later targeting from `Swiftfoot Boots` equip, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` blink, or other targeted abilities.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against spot removal; weaker against sweepers, sacrifice effects, and non-targeting edicts.
- Low-skill guidance: put Greaves on Obeka to attack quickly, but move it off before you need to target Obeka with your own effect.

#### Swiftfoot Boots
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, commander protection and haste core piece.
- Role type: protection/evasion; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: gives equipped creature hexproof and haste, protecting Obeka from opponents’ targeted spells while still allowing your own targeted effects.
- Timing: deploy before Obeka when possible; keep {1} available to equip at sorcery speed after she resolves.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2} to cast and {1} to equip; outputs haste and hexproof.
- Partners / packages: strongest with `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`; also protects `Etali, Primal Storm`, `The Scarab God`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Keeper of Keys`, and `Professional Face-Breaker`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Lightning Greaves`, with less targeting conflict but a real equip cost.
- Failure modes: leaving no mana to equip; assuming hexproof stops sweepers, sacrifice effects, or your own bad attacks.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against targeted removal and tempo; weaker against `Blasphemous Act` style sweepers.
- Low-skill guidance: if Obeka can attack this turn, Boots usually belongs on Obeka unless another creature must survive lethal removal.

#### Reconnaissance Mission
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, combat-damage draw engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: draws a card whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, turning Obeka, Faerie tokens, Ragavan, and evasive creatures into cards.
- Timing: cast before a turn where at least one creature is likely to connect; cycle when four mana is too slow or the board cannot attack.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{U}; outputs optional card draw from player combat damage, or consumes {2} and discards itself to draw one card.
- Mode map: cast as an enchantment for repeated combat-damage draw; cycle for {2} only when digging for mana, protection, or removal is better than waiting.
- Partners / packages: works with `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Bitterblossom`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Likeness Looter`, `Baleful Strix`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, and `Keeper of Keys`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Coastal Piracy` and `Bident of Thassa`.
- Failure modes: tapping out for it when no attacks are safe; cycling when the next turn can draw multiple cards.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature-light boards; weak against flyers, reach blockers, pillowfort, and sweepers.
- Low-skill guidance: cast it when you can attack safely soon; cycle only when you need a card now or cannot connect.

#### Coastal Piracy
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, combat-damage draw engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: draws a card whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, rewarding evasive and token attacks.
- Timing: deploy before a safe multi-creature attack; delay if blockers or crackback make attacks bad.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{U}; outputs card draw from combat damage to opponents.
- Partners / packages: works with `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Bitterblossom`, `Baleful Strix`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Likeness Looter`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, and `Keeper of Keys`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Reconnaissance Mission` and `Bident of Thassa`.
- Failure modes: playing it before creatures or into a board where attacks tap needed blockers.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against slow control with few blockers; weak against creature swarms and flying blockers.
- Low-skill guidance: do not attack just to draw if the attack loses monarch, Obeka, or a needed blocker.

#### Bident of Thassa
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, combat-draw artifact enchantment with attack-forcing utility.
- Role type: engine piece; modal utility; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: draws when your creatures deal combat damage to a player and can force opponents’ creatures to attack this turn if able.
- Timing: cast when attacks are already plausible; use the activated ability when forcing attacks opens defenses, redirects pressure, or makes monarch easier to reclaim.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{U}; trigger outputs cards from player combat damage; activated ability consumes {1}{U} and tap to force opponents’ creatures to attack if able.
- Mode map: passive trigger rewards your combat damage to players; activated ability does not target and affects creatures your opponents control for that turn.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Bitterblossom`, `Baleful Strix`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Likeness Looter`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, and `Kardur, Doomscourge`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Reconnaissance Mission` and `Coastal Piracy`.
- Failure modes: forcing attacks that kill you or steal monarch; treating it as removal.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against stalled creature boards when opponents can be made to attack elsewhere; risky against haste or go-wide boards.
- Low-skill guidance: use Bident to draw from safe hits first; force attacks only when the attacks mostly hurt opponents or open Obeka’s path.

#### Professional Face-Breaker
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, combat Treasure and card-access engine.
- Role type: engine piece; mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: creates Treasure when one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player and converts Treasures into temporary top-card access.
- Timing: cast before a turn where multiple players can be attacked safely; use Treasure sacrifices when the exiled card can be played this turn without dropping defenses.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{R}; outputs Treasure tokens from combat damage and exiles top cards from your library by sacrificing Treasures.
- Partners / packages: works with `Bitterblossom`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, and `Mechanized Production`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer` for Treasure and `Prosper, Tome-Bound` for exile-resource conversion.
- Failure modes: sacrificing Treasures needed for `Mechanized Production`, `Counterspell`, `Cyclonic Rift`, or commander recast; attacking into bad blocks.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against open boards; weaker against first-strike blockers and removal before combat.
- Low-skill guidance: make Treasures by safe attacks, then spend them only when the exiled card can be used profitably this turn.

#### Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, early pressure and Treasure resource body.
- Role type: threat/clock; mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: rewards combat damage to a player with a Treasure and temporary access to that player’s top card.
- Timing: best on turn one into open attacks; use dash later when haste matters or sorcery-speed removal would punish a normal cast.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {R} normally or {1}{R} for dash; outputs Treasure and temporary opponent-card access on player combat damage.
- Mode map: normal cast keeps Ragavan on battlefield; dash gives haste and returns it to owner’s hand at the beginning of the next end step.
- Partners / packages: supports `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, and `Mechanized Production`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Professional Face-Breaker` for Treasure and `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser` for opponent-card access.
- Failure modes: running Ragavan into a blocker for no trigger; spending stolen cards over holding interaction.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against slow starts; weak against early blockers, pingers, and creature-heavy boards.
- Low-skill guidance: attack only if Ragavan is likely to hit; dash when you need one safe hit without leaving it exposed.

#### Faerie Mastermind
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, flash evasive draw-punisher.
- Role type: engine piece; protection/evasion; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: flashes in as a flyer, draws when an opponent draws their second card each turn, and can make each player draw a card.
- Timing: hold for an opponent’s second draw, end-step pressure, or a surprise blocker; activate {3}{U} when your draw-punish cards make the symmetrical draw favorable.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{U}; outputs a 2/1 flying body, cards from opponents’ second draws, and optional table-wide draw.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Notion Thief`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, and `Bident of Thassa`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Orcish Bowmasters` and `Notion Thief` for punishing opponent draws.
- Failure modes: activating into opponents’ answers when `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, or `Notion Thief` is absent; trading away a needed flyer.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against blue draw engines and wheels; useful as evasive pressure against empty skies.
- Low-skill guidance: flash it in when an opponent is about to draw extra cards, and do not activate it just to give the table cards.

#### Likeness Looter
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, evasive looter and graveyard-copy flex slot.
- Role type: card selection; mechanic enabler; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: filters cards with draw-then-discard and can become a flying copy of a target creature card in your graveyard with matching mana value.
- Timing: deploy early when filtering is needed; use the copy ability at sorcery speed only when the graveyard target is worth the mana and the original body.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {U}{B}; tap ability draws then discards; {X} ability consumes mana to copy a target creature card in your graveyard with mana value X.
- Mode map: tap-loot improves hand quality; sorcery-speed copy mode can become `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `The Scarab God`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Hostage Taker`, or `Keeper of Keys` if that card is in your graveyard and X matches its mana value.
- Partners / packages: works with `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Ledger Shredder`, and graveyard creatures created by removal or discard.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Ledger Shredder` for filtering and `The Scarab God` for graveyard use.
- Failure modes: Card Reference omits printed power/toughness, so combat-size claims should follow live engine output; copying a creature at the wrong sorcery-speed window can leave interaction down.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in grindy games with stocked graveyards; weaker against graveyard exile and instant-speed removal.
- Low-skill guidance: loot early to fix hands, but use the copy ability only for a clearly stronger graveyard creature.

#### Orcish Bowmasters
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, flash draw-punisher and token maker.
- Role type: interaction-removal; engine piece; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: deals 1 damage to any target when it enters and whenever an opponent draws beyond the first card in each of their draw steps, then amasses Orcs 1.
- Timing: flash in during an opponent’s draw spell, before a second draw resolves if legal, or to pick off a one-toughness creature.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{B}; outputs damage, an Orc Army counter/token through amass Orcs 1, and pressure against extra draws.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Faerie Mastermind`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Notion Thief`, `Bitterblossom`, `Court of Embereth`, and `Smokestack`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Faerie Mastermind` and `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse` for draw punishment.
- Failure modes: firing it for one damage when a visible draw burst is imminent; targeting low-impact objects while a commander or utility creature matters more.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against draw-heavy decks and one-toughness engines; less important against creature combat with no extra draws.
- Low-skill guidance: save Bowmasters for a visible extra draw unless you must kill a small creature immediately.

#### Prosper, Tome-Bound
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, exile-casting and Treasure engine.
- Role type: engine piece; mana/fixing/ramp; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: exiles your top card at end step until your next turn and creates Treasures whenever you play a card from exile.
- Timing: cast before turns involving `Stolen Strategy`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Hostage Taker`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, or `Professional Face-Breaker`.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}{R}; outputs temporary card access and Treasures from exile plays.
- Partners / packages: strongest with `Stolen Strategy`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Hostage Taker`, and `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Professional Face-Breaker` for Treasure and `Stolen Strategy` for exile access.
- Failure modes: exiling cards you cannot play because mana was spent first; chasing exile value while a visible threat requires interaction.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in midrange and control; slower against fast combo unless the Treasure supports interaction.
- Low-skill guidance: play Prosper before exile-access cards, then use the Treasures to keep protection or removal available.

#### Kardur, Doomscourge
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, combat redirection and drain role player.
- Role type: protection/evasion; lifegain/stabilization; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: forces opponents’ creatures to attack each combat and attack players other than you if able until your next turn, then drains each opponent and gains you life when attacking creatures die.
- Timing: cast when opposing boards can be turned sideways away from you, monarch needs defense, or combat deaths will stabilize life.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}{R}; outputs attack redirection and drain/lifegain from attacking creature deaths.
- Partners / packages: protects monarch from `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, and `Court of Embereth`; works with `Blasphemous Act`, `Bident of Thassa`, and `Bitterblossom` blockers.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bident of Thassa` for forcing attacks and `Court of Ambition` for life pressure.
- Failure modes: casting after attackers are declared; forcing attacks that still leave you dead to noncombat damage.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature boards and monarch races; weak against spell combo and low-creature control.
- Low-skill guidance: use Kardur before opponents attack, not after; it buys a turn by sending creatures away from you.

#### Notion Thief
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, flash draw-replacement threat.
- Role type: interaction-discard; card selection; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: replaces opponents’ extra draws with skipped draws for them and draws for you instead, punishing draw bursts and symmetrical draw effects.
- Timing: hold for a visible draw spell, activated draw, or end-step surprise; avoid tapping out for it with no draw event likely.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{B}; outputs draw denial for opponents and cards for you.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Faerie Mastermind` activation, opposing draw spells, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, and `Orcish Bowmasters` as a draw-punishment package with different effects.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Orcish Bowmasters` and `Faerie Mastermind`.
- Failure modes: exposing a fragile creature before it replaces a draw; forgetting it does not stop the first card an opponent draws in each draw step.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against wheels and extra-card engines; weak against battlefield-only creature decks.
- Low-skill guidance: keep it hidden until an opponent is about to draw extra cards, then flash it in.

#### Hostage Taker
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, temporary removal and stolen-card value creature.
- Role type: interaction-removal; card selection; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: exiles another target creature or artifact until Hostage Taker leaves the battlefield, then lets you cast that card while it remains exiled using mana of any type.
- Timing: cast when the target matters and you can either cast the exiled card soon or accept the risk of it returning.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{B}; outputs temporary exile removal and possible stolen spell access.
- Partners / packages: blink with `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` only when returning the old exiled card is acceptable; `Prosper, Tome-Bound` rewards casting from exile.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Chaos Warp`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Terminate`, and `The Scarab God`.
- Failure modes: targeting into instant removal that frees the card; blinking Hostage Taker and returning a dangerous exiled permanent at the wrong time.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against artifact engines and creature commanders; weaker against decks with many instant-speed answers.
- Low-skill guidance: target a creature or artifact you can beat if it comes back, unless casting it immediately is likely.

#### Baleful Strix
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, defensive cantrip body.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; card selection; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: draws a card on entry and deters attacks with flying and deathtouch while also carrying combat-draw triggers when safe.
- Timing: cast early to stabilize or later as a low-cost blink target with `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {U}{B}; outputs one card and a 1/1 flying deathtouch artifact creature.
- Partners / packages: works with `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Court of Embereth`, `Smokestack`, and `Mechanized Production`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Faerie Mastermind` for flying and `Orcish Bowmasters` for small defensive presence.
- Failure modes: attacking with it when deathtouch blocking is needed to protect monarch or life.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against single large attackers; less useful against noncombat combo.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early, draw the card, and usually keep it back if a dangerous attacker exists.

#### Ledger Shredder
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, evasive filter threat.
- Role type: card selection; threat/clock; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: connives whenever any player casts their second spell each turn, filtering hands and growing if you discard a nonland card.
- Timing: deploy early before multi-spell turns; keep interaction over speculative growth when opponents represent combo or sweepers.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{U}; outputs flying pressure, draw-then-discard filtering, and +1/+1 counters when nonland cards are discarded.
- Partners / packages: filters toward `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, Courts, `Counterspell`, and `Cyclonic Rift`; discarded creatures can matter for `Likeness Looter`, `The Scarab God`, or `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Likeness Looter` for filtering and `Faerie Mastermind` for cheap flying pressure.
- Failure modes: discarding needed lands before commander tax or high-end spells; growing it while losing to a visible board.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong at spell-heavy tables; weaker against low-spell creature combat.
- Low-skill guidance: discard excess cards, not essential interaction or the land needed for Obeka.

#### Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, combat-damage choice engine.
- Role type: modal utility; card selection; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: turns each creature’s combat damage to a player into either goading a target creature that player controls or exiling that player’s top card for cast access until end of turn.
- Timing: cast before wide or evasive attacks; choose the mode by whether defense or card access matters more this turn.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {R}{R}; outputs goad on target creatures or temporary opponent-card access with any-color spending permission.
- Mode map: choose goad to redirect a dangerous blocker or attacker; choose exile access when you have mana and can use the card before end of turn.
- Partners / packages: works with `Bitterblossom`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer` for exile access and `Kardur, Doomscourge` for combat redirection.
- Failure modes: choosing exile when mana is unavailable; choosing goad on a creature that cannot profitably attack elsewhere.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in creature stalls and against exposed libraries; weak when attacks cannot connect.
- Low-skill guidance: if you need safety, goad; if you have spare mana and a clean hit, exile the top card.

#### Curse of Opulence
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, early Treasure-political Aura.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; mechanic enabler; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: enchants a player so you and each opponent attacking that player create Gold tokens, funding engines and incentivizing attacks away from you.
- Timing: cast early on the player most likely to be attacked or the player whose life total you want pressured.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {R} and an enchant-player target; outputs Gold artifact tokens when enchanted player is attacked.
- Partners / packages: Gold supports `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Court of Ire`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Mechanized Production`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, and `Descent into Avernus` for Treasure-like mana.
- Failure modes: enchanting a player nobody can attack; feeding an opponent’s combat plan more than yours.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in multiplayer politics and creature-heavy pods; weak in spell-combo pods that ignore combat.
- Low-skill guidance: put the Curse on the opponent the table can attack safely, then use the Gold for Obeka or interaction.

#### Cunning Rhetoric
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, attack-deterrent exile-access engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: exiles the top card of an attacking opponent’s library whenever they attack you or your planeswalkers, letting you play that card for as long as it remains exiled with any-color spending.
- Timing: deploy before becoming monarch or before a combat-heavy opponent turns toward you.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}; outputs deterrence and long-duration opponent-card access.
- Partners / packages: `Prosper, Tome-Bound` rewards playing exiled cards; `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Bident of Thassa`, and Courts shape attacks around it.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Stolen Strategy`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, and `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`.
- Failure modes: expecting it to trigger when opponents attack someone else; relying on it against combo decks that do not attack.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against combat and monarch pressure; weak against spell-only combo.
- Low-skill guidance: play it before you look attackable; it punishes attacks at you, not attacks around the table.

#### Stolen Strategy
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, upkeep opponent-card access engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: at each upkeep, exiles the top card of each opponent’s library and lets you cast spells from among those cards until end of turn using mana as though it were any color.
- Timing: cast when you have mana to use exiled spells and enough life/board stability to survive a turn cycle.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {4}{R}; outputs temporary spell access from each opponent’s library at upkeep.
- Partners / packages: `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` create more upkeep triggers; `Prosper, Tome-Bound` creates Treasures when you play exiled cards.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Court of Locthwain`, `Cunning Rhetoric`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, and `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Failure modes: exiling cards you cannot cast because mana was spent first; assuming it lets you play lands, when the text says cast spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against high-card-quality opponents; slow against fast combo and creature swarms.
- Low-skill guidance: cast the best exiled spell that affects this turn; do not spend mana on cute stolen cards while dying.

#### Etali, Primal Storm
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, top-end attack-trigger finisher.
- Role type: threat/clock; engine payoff; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: when Etali attacks, exiles the top card of each player’s library and lets you cast any number of spells from among them without paying mana costs.
- Timing: cast when haste, protection, or low removal makes an attack likely; equipment is high value because the trigger is on attack, not combat damage.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {4}{R}{R}; outputs a 6/6 attacker and free spell access from each player’s top card on attack.
- Partners / packages: `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound` improve attack access or exile-cast payoff.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Stolen Strategy` for opponent-card access and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` for high-end closing.
- Failure modes: casting into open removal with no haste; attacking into bad blocks after the trigger if Etali’s body must survive.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against battlecruiser and control when protected; weak against instant removal and fog effects.
- Low-skill guidance: give Etali haste if possible, attack once safely, and let the free spells justify the six-mana investment.

#### Blasphemous Act
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, emergency creature sweeper.
- Role type: interaction-sweeper.
- Deck-specific job: deals 13 damage to each creature and costs {1} less for each creature on the battlefield, resetting boards that threaten monarch, Obeka, or life total.
- Timing: cast when creature pressure is the problem and losing your own creatures is acceptable or necessary.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {8}{R} reduced by the number of creatures on the battlefield; outputs 13 damage marked on each creature.
- Partners / packages: protects slow engines such as `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, and `Stolen Strategy`; `Kardur, Doomscourge` drains when attacking creatures die.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Cyclonic Rift` for mass reset and `Rakdos Charm` for creature-count punishment from the sideboard.
- Failure modes: killing your own `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `The Scarab God`, or needed blockers when a spot answer would work; damage does not reduce power/toughness.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against go-wide and creature swarms; poor against spell combo and indestructible boards.
- Low-skill guidance: use it when creatures are beating you, not when your engines are already safe.

#### Cyclonic Rift
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, premium instant tempo and reset spell.
- Role type: modal utility; interaction-removal; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: bounces one target nonland permanent you do not control, or with overload bounces each nonland permanent you do not control.
- Timing: use single-target mode to clear lethal or open Obeka combat; save overload for end-step resets, precombat kills, or survival against multiple developed boards.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{U} normally or {6}{U} for overload; outputs owner-hand bounce without destroying.
- Mode map: normal mode targets one nonland permanent you do not control; overload changes “target” to “each” and removes targeting.
- Partners / packages: opens attacks for `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, and combat-draw cards.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Chaos Warp` for broad permanent answers and `Blasphemous Act` for mass reset.
- Failure modes: using it too early on a low-impact permanent; forgetting bounced threats can be recast.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against token, stax, and pillowfort boards; less decisive against stack-only combo.
- Low-skill guidance: if overloaded Rift wins or prevents death, wait for that; otherwise use the cheap mode only for urgent targets.

#### Feed the Swarm
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, sorcery creature/enchantment interaction; sideboard, 1 copy, extra creature/enchantment interaction sideboard bullet.
- Role type: interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: destroys target creature or enchantment an opponent controls and costs life equal to that permanent’s mana value.
- Timing: use in your main phase before the target blocks, locks combat, stops an engine, or kills you; bring in the sideboard copy when resolved enchantments or creature commanders matter.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{B} and life equal to the destroyed permanent’s mana value; outputs sorcery-speed destruction of an opponent-controlled creature or enchantment.
- Partners / packages: complements `Terminate` for creatures, `Chaos Warp` for any permanent, `Cyclonic Rift` for bounce, and `Bedevil` from the sideboard for artifacts/creatures/planeswalkers.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Bedevil`, and `Abrade`.
- Failure modes: paying lethal life; trying to destroy your own permanent or an opponent’s noncreature artifact; waiting past the sorcery-speed window.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against enchantment prisons and creature commanders; weak against stack combo and artifact-only engines.
- Low-skill guidance: cast it before combat if the target blocks Obeka or threatens lethal, but check the life payment first.

#### Terminate
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, efficient instant creature answer.
- Role type: interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: destroys target creature and prevents regeneration, clearing blockers, commanders, and combo creatures that stop the upkeep plan.
- Timing: hold until the creature threatens lethal, blocks Obeka profitably, steals monarch, or enables a combo.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B}{R}; outputs instant-speed destruction of one target creature.
- Partners / packages: protects `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` attacks and Court monarch defense; pairs with `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse` by covering resolved creatures.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Feed the Swarm`, `Chaos Warp`, `Hostage Taker`, and sideboard `Bedevil`.
- Failure modes: spending it on a replaceable creature while a commander or combo creature is visible; trying to hit artifacts, enchantments, or planeswalkers.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature commanders and must-kill blockers; weak against spell combo.
- Low-skill guidance: save Terminate for the creature that stops your plan or kills you.

#### Chaos Warp
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, broad instant permanent answer.
- Role type: interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: answers target permanent by having its owner shuffle it into their library, then reveal the top card and put it onto the battlefield if it is a permanent card.
- Timing: save for permanents this deck otherwise cannot beat, including enchantments, planeswalkers, indestructible creatures, or lock pieces.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{R}; outputs shuffle-away removal with replacement risk.
- Partners / packages: covers permanent types that `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Swan Song`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse` cannot cover after resolution.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Cyclonic Rift`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Bedevil`, and `Otawara, Soaring City`.
- Failure modes: using it on low-value targets and revealing a better permanent for the opponent; forgetting the owner, not controller, shuffles and reveals.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against stax, pillowfort, and commander permanents; less efficient against low-impact creatures such as mana dorks or token blockers that `Blasphemous Act`, `Terminate`, or `Bedevil` can answer more cleanly.
- Low-skill guidance: use Chaos Warp for the permanent you truly cannot beat, not the first annoying permanent.

#### Counterspell
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, hard stack interaction.
- Role type: interaction-stack.
- Deck-specific job: counters target spell on the stack, protecting Obeka, Courts, and engines or stopping a decisive opposing spell before it resolves.
- Timing: hold for combo, sweepers, commander answers, or engine-breaking spells; do not save it for a resolved permanent.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {U}{U}; outputs countering one target spell.
- Partners / packages: protects `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `Mechanized Production`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, and sideboard `Mindbreak Trap`.
- Failure modes: holding it while tapping out of double blue; countering low-impact value while a game-winning spell is likely.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: essential against combo and control; less useful after threats resolve.
- Low-skill guidance: Counterspell only hits a spell on the stack; once a permanent resolves, use removal instead.

#### Swan Song
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, cheap stack protection and disruption.
- Role type: interaction-stack.
- Deck-specific job: counters target enchantment, instant, or sorcery spell, then gives that spell’s controller a 2/2 blue Bird creature token with flying.
- Timing: use for sweepers, combo instants/sorceries, key enchantments on the stack, or removal aimed at Obeka when the Bird is acceptable.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {U}; outputs a countered legal spell and an opposing flying Bird token.
- Partners / packages: protects `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, Courts, `Mechanized Production`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Counterspell`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, and `Mindbreak Trap`.
- Failure modes: giving a flyer that steals monarch, blocks `Bitterblossom` tokens, or pressures life; trying to counter creature, artifact, or planeswalker spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against spell combo and board wipes; risky against monarch races with flying combat.
- Low-skill guidance: counter only enchantment, instant, or sorcery spells, and remember the opponent gets a flying Bird.

#### Fierce Guardianship
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, commander-enabled free stack protection.
- Role type: interaction-stack.
- Deck-specific job: counters target noncreature spell, and can be cast for no mana if you control your commander.
- Timing: hold for board wipes, combo pieces, removal aimed at Obeka, or lock pieces on the stack; without Obeka, treat it as a normal {2}{U} counterspell.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U} or no mana while you control `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`; outputs countering one target noncreature spell.
- Partners / packages: protects `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, Courts, `Paradox Haze`, `Mechanized Production`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, and `Mindbreak Trap`.
- Failure modes: assuming it is free when Obeka is not on your battlefield; trying to counter a creature spell.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against control, combo, and sweepers; weaker against creature-heavy pressure.
- Low-skill guidance: if Obeka is on board, save this for the spell that would stop your engine or kill you.

#### An Offer You Can't Refuse
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, cheap noncreature stack interaction with Treasure drawback.
- Role type: interaction-stack.
- Deck-specific job: counters target noncreature spell, then gives that spell’s controller two Treasure tokens.
- Timing: use only when the noncreature spell matters more than the opponent receiving two Treasures.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {U}; outputs a countered noncreature spell and two opposing Treasures.
- Partners / packages: protects `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, Courts, `Mechanized Production`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`; pairs with `Rhystic Study` and `Mystic Remora` by keeping shields cheap.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Swan Song`, `Counterspell`, `Fierce Guardianship`, and `Mindbreak Trap`.
- Failure modes: countering ramp or small value and funding the opponent’s winning turn; trying to counter creature spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against combo and sweepers; risky against artifact, storm, and Treasure-synergy opponents.
- Low-skill guidance: use it for must-stop noncreature spells, not routine value spells.

#### Demonic Tutor
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, unrestricted sorcery tutor core piece.
- Role type: tutor/search.
- Deck-specific job: searches any card to hand, selecting the missing role for the current board instead of defaulting to a favorite card.
- Timing: cast when you know whether you need protection, engine, removal, reset, mana, or a closer.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{B} and sorcery tempo; outputs any library card into hand, then shuffles.
- Partners / packages: find `Lightning Greaves` or `Swiftfoot Boots` for Obeka protection; `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `Paradox Haze`, or `Sphinx of the Second Sun` for engine pressure; `Cyclonic Rift`, `Blasphemous Act`, `Counterspell`, or `Feed the Swarm` for survival.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Vampiric Tutor`.
- Failure modes: tutoring before draw engines reveal what is missing; finding a payoff when the board requires interaction.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: against combo, prioritize `Counterspell`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `Thoughtseize`, or `Mindbreak Trap` if boarded; against swarms, prioritize `Cyclonic Rift` or `Blasphemous Act`.
- Low-skill guidance: name the problem first, then tutor the card that solves that problem.

#### Vampiric Tutor
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, instant topdeck tutor core piece.
- Role type: tutor/search.
- Deck-specific job: searches any card, shuffles, puts it on top, and costs 2 life, setting up the next draw or an immediate draw effect.
- Timing: usually cast at the last safe end step before your turn; use upkeep only when the next draw must be controlled before upkeep choices.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B} and 2 life; outputs any library card on top after shuffle.
- Partners / packages: set up draws from `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Baleful Strix`, `Ledger Shredder`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, or `Bident of Thassa`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Demonic Tutor`.
- Failure modes: cracking `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, or `Marsh Flats` after tutoring and shuffling away the card; paying 2 life under lethal pressure.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent for emergency interaction and protected engine turns; risky against burn.
- Low-skill guidance: tutor at the end step before your turn, then avoid shuffling unless the tutored card is no longer wanted.

#### Rhystic Study
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, opponent-spell tax draw engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: taxes each opponent’s spell with {1} or lets you draw, keeping cards flowing while opponents develop.
- Timing: cast early when opponents still need to cast many spells; protect it when it is drawing multiple cards per turn cycle.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}; outputs optional card draw unless the spell’s controller pays {1}.
- Partners / packages: feeds `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, finds `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, and fuels engine density.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, and `Black Market Connections`.
- Failure modes: tapping out for it while a visible combo spell must be countered; forgetting each trigger is optional.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against spell-heavy decks; weaker when opponents can pay or win through combat already on board.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early and draw when opponents do not pay, but do not ignore lethal board states.

#### Mystic Remora
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, cumulative-upkeep noncreature tax draw engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: taxes opponents’ noncreature spells by {4} or draws cards, but its cumulative upkeep grows at each of your upkeeps.
- Timing: play early before spell-heavy turns; sacrifice it when the upkeep payment blocks stronger plays or extra upkeep triggers make the cost too high.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {U}; each upkeep adds an age counter and requires {1} per age counter or sacrifice; outputs draws from opponents’ noncreature spells unless they pay {4}.
- Partners / packages: extra upkeeps from `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun` increase upkeep burden; `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse` rewards the draws.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Rhystic Study`.
- Failure modes: paying cumulative upkeep when opponents are no longer casting noncreature spells; letting it consume mana needed for protection.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against combo and artifact/enchantment-heavy starts; poor against creature-heavy combat.
- Low-skill guidance: pay for Remora only while it is likely to draw more cards than the mana costs you.

#### Keeper of Keys
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, monarch and unblockable-turn finisher.
- Role type: protection/evasion; engine payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: makes you the monarch on entry and, at your upkeep while you are monarch, makes creatures you control unable to be blocked this turn.
- Timing: cast when monarch can be defended or when the next precombat upkeep will make Obeka and attackers connect.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {3}{U}{U}; outputs monarch status and a precombat unblockable effect if you remain monarch.
- Partners / packages: enables `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, and `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Cyclonic Rift` for opening attacks and `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, and `Court of Embereth` for monarch.
- Failure modes: losing monarch before upkeep; Obeka-created postcombat upkeep steps are too late to make that combat unblockable.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against stalled boards; weak when opponents have evasive attackers that steal monarch.
- Low-skill guidance: protect monarch before your upkeep; the unblockable trigger matters before combat, not after combat.

#### Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blink value and tap-utility support.
- Role type: engine piece; protection/evasion; recursion.
- Deck-specific job: blinks up to one other target creature you control at end step and can tap another target creature, while becoming a creature only if devotion to blue is five or more.
- Timing: cast when ETB creatures or blocker-tapping matter; activate tap ability before combat when it opens Obeka or protects monarch.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {3}{U}; blink trigger uses a target other creature you control; tap ability consumes {3}{U}.
- Mode map: end-step blink reuses `Hostage Taker`, `Baleful Strix`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, or `Keeper of Keys`; activated ability taps another target creature; devotion clause controls whether Thassa is a creature.
- Partners / packages: best with `Hostage Taker`, `Baleful Strix`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Keeper of Keys`, and `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` for recovery and `Cyclonic Rift` for opening attacks.
- Failure modes: blinking `Hostage Taker` can return the old exiled card; shroud from `Lightning Greaves` can make a creature illegal to target.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against midrange ETB games and blocker-heavy boards; weak against exile removal and low-creature combo.
- Low-skill guidance: blink only a creature whose enter trigger or protection matters, and do not blink Hostage Taker if releasing its captive is bad.

#### Sphinx of the Second Sun
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, high-end beginning-phase engine.
- Role type: engine payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: creates an additional beginning phase after each of your postcombat main phases, including untap, upkeep, and draw steps.
- Timing: cast when it can survive and the extra beginning phase will immediately multiply upkeep triggers or untap mana for protection.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes `{6}{U}{U}`; outputs a 6/6 flying body and postcombat untap/upkeep/draw sequencing.
- Partners / packages: multiplies `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Locthwain`, `Court of Embereth`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Bitterblossom`, `Mechanized Production`, `As Foretold`, `Smokestack`, `Mystic Remora`, `The Scarab God`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Paradox Haze` and `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`.
- Failure modes: tapping out for an eight-mana creature into removal; forgetting the extra beginning phase happens after the postcombat main phase.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in battlecruiser and midrange games; too slow against fast combo unless protected by permission.
- Low-skill guidance: cast it only when the extra untap, upkeep, and draw will matter right away or you can protect it.

#### Command Tower
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, painless commander-color mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U}, {B}, or {R} for Obeka, interaction, tutors, and Courts without life loss.
- Timing: play early when the hand needs flexible colors; do not hide it behind tapped sources if the next turn needs double blue or black-red.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes the land play and tap; outputs one mana in Obeka’s color identity.
- Partners / packages: fixes `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Counterspell`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Terminate`, and `Court of Ire`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Arcane Signet`, `Path of Ancestry`, `Xander's Lounge`, and `Exotic Orchard`.
- Failure modes: sequencing colorless sources first and stranding colored spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: prioritize against tempo and combo so `Swan Song` or `An Offer You Can't Refuse` remains available.
- Low-skill guidance: lead with Command Tower when unsure; it casts any commander-color spell but only makes one mana.

#### Exotic Orchard
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, opponent-dependent mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: taps for any color that an opponent’s land could produce, often acting as flexible UBR fixing.
- Timing: play early in multiplayer, but check opponents’ visible lands before relying on a specific color.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes the land play and tap; outputs one mana from an opponent-land color.
- Partners / packages: helps cast `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Counterspell`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Terminate`, and `Chaos Warp` when opponents provide colors.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Fellwar Stone`, `Command Tower`, and `Path of Ancestry`.
- Failure modes: assuming access to a color no opponent land can produce.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: better at multicolor tables; weaker against colorless or mono-color opponents that do not supply missing colors.
- Low-skill guidance: look at opponents’ lands first; Exotic Orchard may not make the color you need.

#### Path of Ancestry
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, tapped commander-color mana resource with narrow scry.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: fixes UBR and scries 1 only when its mana is spent to cast a creature spell sharing a type with Obeka, which means `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` as Ogre Warlock or `Prosper, Tome-Bound` as Warlock.
- Timing: play early when a tapped source is acceptable; avoid when you need turn-one `Swan Song`, `Sol Ring`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, or `Mystic Remora`.
- Inputs / outputs: enters tapped; taps for one commander-color mana; may scry 1 on the exact shared-type creature cast.
- Partners / packages: fixes `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Counterspell`, `Demonic Tutor`, and `Terminate`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Command Tower`, `Arcane Signet`, and `Xander's Lounge`.
- Failure modes: expecting scry on non-Warlock, non-Ogre creatures; losing tempo from the tapped entry.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: safer in slow matchups; awkward against fast combo or tempo.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early if you can afford tapped mana, and only expect scry when casting Obeka or Prosper with it.

#### Xander's Lounge
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, tapped UBR typed mana resource and cycling card.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; modal utility; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: provides Island, Swamp, and Mountain types for fetches and fixes any Grixis color, while cycling later when mana is flooded.
- Timing: play tapped when early fixing matters; cycle only when land count is already sufficient and a new card is better.
- Inputs / outputs: enters tapped; taps for {U}, {B}, or {R}; cycling consumes {3} and discards Xander's Lounge to draw a card.
- Mode map: battlefield mode fixes all three colors and enables checklands; cycling mode draws one card but gives up a land and does not provide mana.
- Partners / packages: fetchable by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`; enables `Drowned Catacomb`, `Dragonskull Summit`, and `Sulfur Falls`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Command Tower` for UBR fixing and typed duals for fetch targets.
- Failure modes: cycling when the deck still needs mana for commander tax, `Cyclonic Rift` overload, `Etali, Primal Storm`, or `Sphinx of the Second Sun`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: play tapped in slow games; fetch untapped duals instead when interaction is urgent.
- Low-skill guidance: use it as a land early and cycle it only when you clearly have enough mana.

#### Morphic Pool
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-black multiplayer mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: provides {U} or {B}, usually untapped in Commander when you have two or more opponents.
- Timing: play early for `Counterspell`, `Rhystic Study`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, or `Court of Cunning`.
- Inputs / outputs: enters tapped unless you have two or more opponents; taps for {U} or {B}.
- Partners / packages: fixes `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Rhystic Study`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Court of Ambition`, and `The Scarab God`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Watery Grave`, `Underground Sea`, `Drowned Catacomb`, and `Shipwreck Marsh`.
- Failure modes: entering tapped in a one-on-one or reduced-player context when interaction is needed.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: valuable against spell combo for early blue; less complete when red is missing.
- Low-skill guidance: treat it as an untapped UB source in normal multiplayer, but verify opponent count.

#### Luxury Suite
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, black-red multiplayer mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: provides {B} or {R}, usually untapped in Commander when you have two or more opponents.
- Timing: play when the next turns need `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, or `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Inputs / outputs: enters tapped unless you have two or more opponents; taps for {B} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fixes `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Court of Embereth`, and `Blasphemous Act`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Blood Crypt`, `Badlands`, `Dragonskull Summit`, and `Haunted Ridge`.
- Failure modes: failing to supply blue for `Counterspell`, `Cyclonic Rift`, or `Rhystic Study`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature decks where black-red removal matters.
- Low-skill guidance: use it for removal colors, but plan another source for blue.

#### Training Center
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-red multiplayer mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: provides {U} or {R}, usually untapped in Commander when you have two or more opponents.
- Timing: play early when you need `Swan Song`, `Counterspell`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, or `Stolen Strategy`.
- Inputs / outputs: enters tapped unless you have two or more opponents; taps for {U} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fixes `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Rhystic Study`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Ire`, and `Cyclonic Rift`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Steam Vents`, `Volcanic Island`, `Sulfur Falls`, and `Stormcarved Coast`.
- Failure modes: failing to supply black for `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, or `Court of Ambition`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against spell combo when blue interaction is needed.
- Low-skill guidance: keep black covered elsewhere; this is blue-red, not full Grixis fixing.

#### Watery Grave
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Island Swamp shock mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} or {B}, turns on Island/Swamp checks, and is fetchable by Island or Swamp searches.
- Timing: pay 2 life for untapped entry when it enables interaction or a key early spell; otherwise preserve life and let it enter tapped.
- Inputs / outputs: may cost 2 life as it enters; taps for {U} or {B}.
- Partners / packages: fetched by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`; supports `Counterspell`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Court of Cunning`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Underground Sea`, `Morphic Pool`, `Drowned Catacomb`, and `Shipwreck Marsh`.
- Failure modes: paying 2 life when no immediate untapped mana is needed.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: shock it in against combo or tempo; play tapped against burn when possible.
- Low-skill guidance: pay 2 life only if the untapped mana changes this turn or next turn.

#### Blood Crypt
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Swamp Mountain shock mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {B} or {R}, turns on Swamp/Mountain checks, and is fetchable by Swamp or Mountain searches.
- Timing: pay 2 life when `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Chaos Warp`, or a red Court must be available.
- Inputs / outputs: may cost 2 life as it enters; taps for {B} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fetched by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`; supports `Terminate`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Badlands`, `Luxury Suite`, `Dragonskull Summit`, and `Haunted Ridge`.
- Failure modes: paying life for untapped mana when black-red is not needed; failing to cover blue.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: important against creature decks for removal; painful against burn.
- Low-skill guidance: use it to fix black-red, but do not shock yourself without a reason.

#### Steam Vents
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Island Mountain shock mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} or {R}, turns on Island/Mountain checks, and is fetchable by Island or Mountain searches.
- Timing: pay 2 life when blue interaction or red removal must be available untapped.
- Inputs / outputs: may cost 2 life as it enters; taps for {U} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fetched by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, and `Scalding Tarn`; supports `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, and `Court of Ire`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Volcanic Island`, `Training Center`, `Sulfur Falls`, and `Stormcarved Coast`.
- Failure modes: paying life without a near-term blue or red need; failing to supply black.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against combo when `Swan Song` or `An Offer You Can't Refuse` must stay up.
- Low-skill guidance: shock it in for urgent blue/red mana; otherwise save life.

#### Underground Sea
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Island Swamp painless dual mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} or {B}, enables Island/Swamp checks, and is fetchable by Island or Swamp searches without life loss on entry.
- Timing: fetch or play early when blue-black is the needed pair.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {U} or {B}.
- Partners / packages: fetched by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`; supports `Counterspell`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Court of Cunning`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Watery Grave`, `Morphic Pool`, `Drowned Catacomb`, and `Shipwreck Marsh`.
- Failure modes: not supplying red for `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, or `Court of Ire`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: premium against spell decks because it keeps blue up without life cost.
- Low-skill guidance: fetch this when you need blue-black and do not need red immediately.

#### Badlands
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Swamp Mountain painless dual mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {B} or {R}, enables Swamp/Mountain checks, and is fetchable by Swamp or Mountain searches.
- Timing: fetch or play when black-red interaction or Court costs are the bottleneck.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {B} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fetched by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`; supports `Terminate`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Blood Crypt`, `Luxury Suite`, `Dragonskull Summit`, and `Haunted Ridge`.
- Failure modes: not producing blue for counters or blue engines.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: premium against creature decks when removal colors matter.
- Low-skill guidance: fetch Badlands for black-red, but plan a separate blue source.

#### Volcanic Island
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Island Mountain painless dual mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} or {R}, enables Island/Mountain checks, and is fetchable by Island or Mountain searches.
- Timing: fetch or play when blue interaction and red removal/engines are the needed pair.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {U} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: fetched by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, and `Scalding Tarn`; supports `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, and `Court of Ire`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Steam Vents`, `Training Center`, `Sulfur Falls`, and `Stormcarved Coast`.
- Failure modes: not producing black for tutors, `Feed the Swarm`, or `Court of Ambition`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: premium against stack decks because blue remains untapped without life cost.
- Low-skill guidance: use this for blue-red turns; do not forget black requirements.

#### Polluted Delta
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Island/Swamp search mana resource.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: pays 1 life and sacrifices to find an Island or Swamp card, fixing the exact colors needed for early interaction or engines.
- Timing: crack when color choice is known, before a spell needs mana, or after `Vampiric Tutor` only if shuffling away the tutored card is intended.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes tap, 1 life, and itself; searches for an Island or Swamp card onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
- Partners / packages: legal registered targets are `Island`, `Swamp`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Volcanic Island`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Badlands`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bloodstained Mire`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`.
- Failure modes: fetching tapped `Xander's Lounge` when `Swan Song`, `Counterspell`, or `Feed the Swarm` must be available; shuffling after `Vampiric Tutor`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: fetch untapped blue against combo and untapped black against discard/removal needs.
- Low-skill guidance: choose the dual that gives missing colors now; do not crack after Vampiric Tutor unless you want a shuffle.

#### Bloodstained Mire
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Swamp/Mountain search mana resource.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: pays 1 life and sacrifices to find a Swamp or Mountain card, usually securing black-red or a missing typed blue source through duals.
- Timing: crack when you know whether black, red, or a typed dual is needed; avoid unnecessary life loss under pressure.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes tap, 1 life, and itself; searches for a Swamp or Mountain card onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
- Partners / packages: legal registered targets are `Swamp`, `Mountain`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Blood Crypt`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Badlands`, and `Volcanic Island`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Polluted Delta`, `Scalding Tarn`, and `Marsh Flats`.
- Failure modes: fetching a source that leaves `Counterspell` or `Cyclonic Rift` stranded; shuffling away `Vampiric Tutor` setup.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: fetch `Blood Crypt` or `Badlands` for removal-heavy games, or `Steam Vents`/`Volcanic Island` when blue-red is urgent.
- Low-skill guidance: fetch the color pair your hand is missing, not automatically a basic.

#### Scalding Tarn
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Island/Mountain search mana resource.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: pays 1 life and sacrifices to find an Island or Mountain card, securing blue-red or a typed black source through duals.
- Timing: crack when blue interaction, red removal, or a tri-color tapped source is clearly needed.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes tap, 1 life, and itself; searches for an Island or Mountain card onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
- Partners / packages: legal registered targets are `Island`, `Mountain`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Volcanic Island`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Badlands`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, and `Marsh Flats`.
- Failure modes: fetching red when black is the real bottleneck; shuffling after `Vampiric Tutor`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: fetch untapped blue sources against combo; fetch red sources when `Chaos Warp` or `Court of Ire` matters.
- Low-skill guidance: Scalding Tarn can find black through typed duals like `Watery Grave`, `Underground Sea`, `Blood Crypt`, `Badlands`, or `Xander's Lounge`.

#### Marsh Flats
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, Plains/Swamp search mana resource with no registered Plains target.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: pays 1 life and sacrifices to find a Swamp card in this deck, because no registered Plains-type card is present.
- Timing: crack when black access or a typed dual is needed; hold if life matters and mana is already solved.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes tap, 1 life, and itself; searches for a Plains or Swamp card onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
- Partners / packages: legal relevant registered targets are `Swamp`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Blood Crypt`, `Underground Sea`, and `Badlands`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Polluted Delta` and `Bloodstained Mire` for Swamp access.
- Failure modes: assuming it can find `Island`, `Mountain`, `Steam Vents`, or `Volcanic Island`; shuffling away `Vampiric Tutor`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: good for black-heavy hands with `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Court of Ambition`, or `Terminate`.
- Low-skill guidance: in this deck Marsh Flats is a Swamp-search card, not a white source.

#### Drowned Catacomb
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, conditional blue-black mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: enters untapped if you control an Island or Swamp and then supplies {U} or {B}.
- Timing: sequence after `Island`, `Swamp`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Volcanic Island`, `Blood Crypt`, or `Badlands` when untapped mana matters.
- Inputs / outputs: may enter tapped without Island/Swamp control; taps for {U} or {B}.
- Partners / packages: supports `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Court of Cunning`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Morphic Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Underground Sea`, and `Shipwreck Marsh`.
- Failure modes: playing it turn one tapped when an untapped spell was available elsewhere.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong when typed lands are already present; awkward in one-land openers.
- Low-skill guidance: play a typed Island or Swamp source first if you need Drowned Catacomb untapped.

#### Dragonskull Summit
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, conditional black-red mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: enters untapped if you control a Swamp or Mountain and then supplies {B} or {R}.
- Timing: sequence after `Swamp`, `Mountain`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Blood Crypt`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Badlands`, or `Volcanic Island`.
- Inputs / outputs: may enter tapped without Swamp/Mountain control; taps for {B} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: supports `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Luxury Suite`, `Blood Crypt`, `Badlands`, and `Haunted Ridge`.
- Failure modes: keeping it as the only early source when the first spell needs blue.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature decks when black-red removal is needed.
- Low-skill guidance: make sure a Swamp or Mountain type is already present if you need it untapped.

#### Sulfur Falls
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, conditional blue-red mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: enters untapped if you control an Island or Mountain and then supplies {U} or {R}.
- Timing: sequence after `Island`, `Mountain`, `Xander's Lounge`, `Watery Grave`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Volcanic Island`, `Blood Crypt`, or `Badlands`.
- Inputs / outputs: may enter tapped without Island/Mountain control; taps for {U} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: supports `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Training Center`, `Steam Vents`, `Volcanic Island`, and `Stormcarved Coast`.
- Failure modes: not producing black for tutors or black Courts.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against spell decks when blue interaction matters.
- Low-skill guidance: set up an Island or Mountain type first if untapped Sulfur Falls is important.

#### Shipwreck Marsh
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-black slow mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} or {B} and enters untapped once you control two or more other lands.
- Timing: best from turn three onward; awkward as the only early source for one- or two-mana interaction.
- Inputs / outputs: may enter tapped before the two-other-land condition; taps for {U} or {B}.
- Partners / packages: supports `Counterspell`, `Rhystic Study`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, and `Court of Locthwain`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Morphic Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Underground Sea`, and `Drowned Catacomb`.
- Failure modes: relying on it for early untapped blue or black before the condition is met.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: fine in midrange; slower against fast combo.
- Low-skill guidance: play it after you already have two other lands if you need it untapped.

#### Haunted Ridge
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, black-red slow mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {B} or {R} and enters untapped once you control two or more other lands.
- Timing: best after early setup; plan another source for turn-one and turn-two black-red interaction.
- Inputs / outputs: may enter tapped before the two-other-land condition; taps for {B} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: supports `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Embereth`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Luxury Suite`, `Blood Crypt`, `Badlands`, and `Dragonskull Summit`.
- Failure modes: early tapped entry can delay removal or tutor sequencing.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: solid in midrange; risky against fast creature starts if it delays `Terminate`.
- Low-skill guidance: do not count on it untapped until you already control two other lands.

#### Stormcarved Coast
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-red slow mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} or {R} and enters untapped once you control two or more other lands.
- Timing: best from turn three onward, especially when holding `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Cyclonic Rift`, or `Chaos Warp`.
- Inputs / outputs: may enter tapped before the two-other-land condition; taps for {U} or {R}.
- Partners / packages: supports `Counterspell`, `Rhystic Study`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Training Center`, `Steam Vents`, `Volcanic Island`, and `Sulfur Falls`.
- Failure modes: leaving black spells stranded; entering tapped too early.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: useful against control and combo after early mana is established.
- Low-skill guidance: count your other lands before relying on Stormcarved Coast as untapped interaction mana.

#### Clearwater Pathway
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-or-black modal DFC mana resource.
- Role type: modal utility; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: enters as either Clearwater Pathway for {U} or Murkwater Pathway for {B}, locking in the chosen face for battlefield use.
- Timing: choose the side that fixes the next several turns, not just the current spell.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes the land play; outputs either repeatable {U} or repeatable {B}.
- Mode map: play Clearwater Pathway face for blue; play Murkwater Pathway face for black; the battlefield face does not casually switch later.
- Partners / packages: blue supports `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Rhystic Study`, and `Cyclonic Rift`; black supports `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Court of Ambition`, and `The Scarab God`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Riverglide Pathway` for blue and `Blightstep Pathway` for black.
- Failure modes: choosing blue and stranding black tutors/removal, or choosing black and stranding counterspells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: choose blue more often against combo; choose black when removal or tutors are the plan.
- Low-skill guidance: pick the color your hand is missing for turns two through four.

#### Blightstep Pathway
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, black-or-red modal DFC mana resource.
- Role type: modal utility; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: enters as either Blightstep Pathway for {B} or Searstep Pathway for {R}, locking in the chosen face.
- Timing: choose black for tutors, Feed, and black Courts; choose red for Obeka’s red pip, red removal, and red Courts.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes the land play; outputs either repeatable {B} or repeatable {R}.
- Mode map: play Blightstep Pathway face for black; play Searstep Pathway face for red; the battlefield face is fixed after play.
- Partners / packages: black supports `Demonic Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Court of Ambition`, and `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`; red supports `Terminate`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, and `Blasphemous Act`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Clearwater Pathway` for black and `Riverglide Pathway` for red.
- Failure modes: choosing red too early and losing black interaction; choosing black while red spells pile up.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: choose black against combo setup and red against creature boards needing damage/removal.
- Low-skill guidance: choose the color that lets you cast the highest-impact card already in hand.

#### Riverglide Pathway
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-or-red modal DFC mana resource.
- Role type: modal utility; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: enters as either Riverglide Pathway for {U} or Lavaglide Pathway for {R}, locking in the chosen face.
- Timing: choose blue when stack interaction or blue engines matter; choose red when `Chaos Warp`, red Courts, or `Blasphemous Act` are bottlenecked.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes the land play; outputs either repeatable {U} or repeatable {R}.
- Mode map: play Riverglide Pathway face for blue; play Lavaglide Pathway face for red; the battlefield face is fixed after play.
- Partners / packages: blue supports `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Rhystic Study`, and `Cyclonic Rift`; red supports `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Embereth`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Clearwater Pathway` for blue and `Blightstep Pathway` for red.
- Failure modes: choosing red and losing blue protection for Obeka; choosing blue and delaying red removal.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: choose blue against combo/control, red against creature or artifact pressure.
- Low-skill guidance: when unsure, preserve blue for interaction unless red is already required.

#### Sunken Ruins
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-black filter mana resource.
- Role type: modal utility; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: produces {C} alone or filters {U/B} into double-blue, blue-black, or double-black costs.
- Timing: play when double-blue `Counterspell` or double-black `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`/black Court costs are likely.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {C}, or consumes {U} or {B} plus tap to add {U}{U}, {U}{B}, or {B}{B}.
- Mode map: colorless mode pays generic costs; filter mode requires an input blue or black mana and outputs two blue/black mana.
- Partners / packages: supports `Counterspell`, `Court of Cunning`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Locthwain`, `The Scarab God`, and `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Talisman of Dominance`, `Watery Grave`, `Underground Sea`, and `Morphic Pool`.
- Failure modes: keeping it with no blue or black source and expecting colored mana; filter lands need input color.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: valuable against control and combo where double blue matters.
- Low-skill guidance: it can make colorless by itself, but colored filtering needs a blue or black mana to start.

#### Graven Cairns
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, black-red filter mana resource.
- Role type: modal utility; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: produces {C} alone or filters {B/R} into double-black, black-red, or double-red costs.
- Timing: play when `Terminate`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Embereth`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, or black Courts require exact colors.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {C}, or consumes {B} or {R} plus tap to add {B}{B}, {B}{R}, or {R}{R}.
- Mode map: colorless mode pays generic costs; filter mode requires an input black or red mana and outputs two black/red mana.
- Partners / packages: supports `Terminate`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Ire`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Talisman of Indulgence`, `Blood Crypt`, `Badlands`, and `Luxury Suite`.
- Failure modes: keeping it without a black or red source and expecting colored mana.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: useful against creature-heavy games where black-red interaction must be cast on time.
- Low-skill guidance: it filters black/red mana; it does not create colored mana by itself except through another black/red input.

#### Cascade Bluffs
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue-red filter mana resource.
- Role type: modal utility; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: produces {C} alone or filters {U/R} into double-blue, blue-red, or double-red costs.
- Timing: play when double-blue stack interaction or red Court/removal sequencing is important.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {C}, or consumes {U} or {R} plus tap to add {U}{U}, {U}{R}, or {R}{R}.
- Mode map: colorless mode pays generic costs; filter mode requires an input blue or red mana and outputs two blue/red mana.
- Partners / packages: supports `Counterspell`, `Court of Cunning`, `Cyclonic Rift`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, and `Stolen Strategy`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Talisman of Creativity`, `Steam Vents`, `Volcanic Island`, and `Training Center`.
- Failure modes: assuming it casts blue/red spells without another blue or red input.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: valuable against stack decks where double-blue must stay available.
- Low-skill guidance: use it to turn one blue or red mana into the exact blue-red pair you need.

#### Otawara, Soaring City
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, blue mana resource and channel bounce utility.
- Role type: modal utility; interaction-removal; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: taps for {U} or can be discarded to return target artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker to its owner’s hand.
- Timing: play as a land when blue mana is short; hold for channel when a bounce effect will stop lethal, clear Obeka’s path, or answer a lock piece.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {U}; channel consumes {3}{U} and discards Otawara, reduced by {1} for each legendary creature you control.
- Mode map: land mode supplies blue; channel mode is an ability, not a spell, and targets artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker.
- Partners / packages: legendary creatures that reduce channel cost include `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `The Scarab God`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Kardur, Doomscourge`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Cyclonic Rift` and `Chaos Warp`.
- Failure modes: playing it too early when the bounce mode is the only answer; holding it too long when blue mana is missing.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against uncounterable or protected permanents because channel is not a spell.
- Low-skill guidance: use it as blue mana if you are mana short; save it if you already have enough mana and need an emergency bounce.

#### Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, black mana resource and channel recovery utility.
- Role type: modal utility; recursion; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: taps for {B} or can be discarded to mill three cards, then return a creature or planeswalker card from your graveyard to your hand.
- Timing: play as a land when black mana is needed; hold when `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `The Scarab God`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, or `Etali, Primal Storm` is likely to need recovery.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {B}; channel consumes {3}{B} and discards Takenuma, reduced by {1} for each legendary creature you control; outputs mill three and creature/planeswalker return to hand.
- Mode map: land mode supplies black; channel mode mills three, then returns a legal creature or planeswalker card from your graveyard to hand.
- Partners / packages: recovers `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds` only if she is actually in graveyard, plus `The Scarab God`, `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, `Notion Thief`, or `Hostage Taker`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `The Scarab God` for graveyard use and `Likeness Looter` for graveyard-based creature value.
- Failure modes: milling important noncreature engines; holding it while black mana is the bottleneck.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in removal-heavy matchups; weaker against graveyard exile.
- Low-skill guidance: if you need black mana now, play it; if a key creature is likely to die, consider holding it.

#### Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, red mana resource and channel token utility.
- Role type: modal utility; engine fuel/material; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: taps for {R} or can be discarded to create two 1/1 colorless Spirit creature tokens with haste until end of turn.
- Timing: play as a land when red mana is needed; hold for channel when bodies enable monarch defense, combat-draw triggers, `Court of Embereth`, or `Smokestack`.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {R}; channel consumes {3}{R} and discards Sokenzan, reduced by {1} for each legendary creature you control; outputs two hasty Spirit tokens.
- Mode map: land mode supplies red; channel mode creates two temporary-haste bodies without casting a spell.
- Partners / packages: tokens support `Court of Embereth`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, and `Smokestack`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bitterblossom` and `Court of Embereth` for bodies.
- Failure modes: holding it for tokens while red mana is missing; making tokens into a sweeper.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: useful against edicts, monarch races, and stalled combat; weaker against sweepers.
- Low-skill guidance: use it as a red land unless two surprise bodies will clearly matter.

#### Ancient Tomb
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, colorless acceleration mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {C}{C} at the cost of 2 life, powering artifacts, equipment, copy engines, and expensive spells ahead of curve.
- Timing: use when the two colorless mana changes the turn; avoid unnecessary activations under burn or combat pressure.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {C}{C} and deals 2 damage to you.
- Partners / packages: powers `Sol Ring`, `Arcane Signet`, `Lightning Greaves`, `Swiftfoot Boots`, `Strionic Resonator`, `Lithoform Engine`, `Roaming Throne`, `Smokestack`, `Etali, Primal Storm`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Sol Ring`.
- Failure modes: keeping colorless-heavy hands that cannot cast UBR spells; using it when life is the limiting resource.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against slow decks; dangerous against burn, go-wide combat, and commander damage.
- Low-skill guidance: Ancient Tomb is acceleration, not fixing; do not pay 2 life unless the mana matters.

#### Reliquary Tower
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, colorless hand-size utility mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: removes maximum hand size while producing {C}, letting large draw turns from `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, or `Bident of Thassa` be kept.
- Timing: play after colored mana is stable; avoid early if it prevents UBR access.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {C}; static ability removes your maximum hand size.
- Partners / packages: best with `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, `Phyrexian Arena`, `Black Market Connections`, `Reconnaissance Mission`, `Coastal Piracy`, `Bident of Thassa`, and `Court of Locthwain`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Ancient Tomb` for colorless mana, but no other registered card removes maximum hand size.
- Failure modes: keeping hands where Reliquary Tower is the only or second mana source and colored spells cannot be cast.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: useful in grindy control games; poor against fast pressure when colored mana is needed.
- Low-skill guidance: play it when you already have colors covered; it does not help cast colored spells.

#### Island
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, basic blue mana resource and fetch target.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {U} safely for stack interaction and blue engines while giving fetches a non-shock blue option.
- Timing: fetch or play when blue is needed and life or nonbasic pressure matters.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {U}.
- Partners / packages: found by `Polluted Delta` and `Scalding Tarn`; casts `Swan Song`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, `Counterspell`, `Rhystic Study`, `Mystic Remora`, and `Cyclonic Rift`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Watery Grave`, `Steam Vents`, `Underground Sea`, `Volcanic Island`, and `Xander's Lounge`.
- Failure modes: fetching Island when black or red is the actual missing color.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against nonbasic punishment and burn when blue is needed without life loss.
- Low-skill guidance: fetch Island when you need blue and do not need the fetch to fix another color.

#### Swamp
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, basic black mana resource and fetch target.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {B} safely for tutors, black removal, and black Courts while giving fetches a non-shock black option.
- Timing: fetch or play when black is needed and life or nonbasic pressure matters.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {B}.
- Partners / packages: found by `Polluted Delta`, `Bloodstained Mire`, and `Marsh Flats`; casts `Demonic Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Court of Ambition`, `Court of Locthwain`, and `Sheoldred, the Apocalypse`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Watery Grave`, `Blood Crypt`, `Underground Sea`, `Badlands`, and `Xander's Lounge`.
- Failure modes: fetching Swamp when blue interaction or red removal is the immediate bottleneck.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against burn when black spells matter without shock damage.
- Low-skill guidance: fetch Swamp for black spells, but make sure you still have blue for counters if needed.

#### Mountain
- Deck role: main, 1 copy, basic red mana resource and fetch target.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies {R} safely for red interaction, red Courts, and top-end red threats while giving fetches a non-shock red option.
- Timing: fetch or play when red is needed and life or nonbasic pressure matters.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for {R}.
- Partners / packages: found by `Bloodstained Mire` and `Scalding Tarn`; casts `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Curse of Opulence`, `Chaos Warp`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Embereth`, and `Blasphemous Act`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Blood Crypt`, `Steam Vents`, `Badlands`, `Volcanic Island`, and `Xander's Lounge`.
- Failure modes: fetching Mountain when black or blue requirements are heavier.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: useful against burn or nonbasic punishment when red removal is needed.
- Low-skill guidance: fetch Mountain only when red is the missing color and your blue-black needs are already covered.

#### Abrade
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, artifact or small-creature interaction bullet.
- Role type: modal utility; interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: gives cheap instant-speed choice between 3 damage to target creature and destroying target artifact.
- Timing: board in when artifact engines or early creatures matter; cast before combat if clearing a blocker lets Obeka connect.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{R}; outputs either creature damage or artifact destruction.
- Mode map: damage mode deals 3 damage to target creature; artifact mode destroys target artifact.
- Partners / packages: complements `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Chaos Warp`, `Cyclonic Rift`, and `Bedevil`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bedevil` for artifacts/creatures and `Terminate` for creatures.
- Failure modes: boarding it against enchantment, planeswalker, or stack-only decks; using 3 damage on a creature that will not die.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against mana rocks, artifact combo, and low-toughness commanders.
- Low-skill guidance: choose artifact mode for artifact engines, damage mode for creatures with 3 or less toughness or enough damage already marked.

#### Bedevil
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, broad resolved-permanent interaction bullet.
- Role type: interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: destroys target artifact, creature, or planeswalker at instant speed.
- Timing: board in when those permanent types decide the matchup and three mana is fast enough.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B}{B}{R}; outputs destruction of one artifact, creature, or planeswalker.
- Partners / packages: complements `Terminate`, `Feed the Swarm`, `Chaos Warp`, `Cyclonic Rift`, and `Abrade`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Chaos Warp` for broad permanents and `Terminate` for creatures.
- Failure modes: boarding it against enchantment locks or stack-only combo; missing double black.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature commanders, artifact engines, and planeswalkers.
- Low-skill guidance: save Bedevil for a resolved artifact, creature, or planeswalker that actually matters.

#### Rakdos Charm
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, graveyard/artifact/creature-count punishment bullet.
- Role type: modal utility; hate piece; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: provides instant-speed graveyard exile, artifact destruction, or a damage burst where each creature deals 1 damage to its controller.
- Timing: board in when graveyards, artifacts, or wide creature counts are visible; use before graveyard costs are paid, not after the spell is already cast.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B}{R}; outputs one chosen mode.
- Mode map: exile target player’s graveyard; destroy target artifact; or each creature deals 1 damage to its controller.
- Partners / packages: complements `Dauthi Voidwalker`, `Grafdigger's Cage`, `Abrade`, `Bedevil`, `Blasphemous Act`, and `Cyclonic Rift`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Dauthi Voidwalker` and `Grafdigger's Cage` for graveyards, `Abrade` for artifacts, and `Blasphemous Act` for creature-board punishment.
- Failure modes: using graveyard exile after flashback/delve/escape costs are already paid; choosing creature-damage mode when your own creature count makes you die.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against reanimator, artifact combo, and token swarms.
- Low-skill guidance: pick the mode for the visible problem: graveyard, artifact, or huge creature count.

#### Dauthi Voidwalker
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, graveyard replacement hate and evasive threat.
- Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; card selection; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: exiles opponents’ would-be graveyard cards with void counters, attacks with shadow, and can sacrifice to play one exiled opponent-owned card without paying its mana cost.
- Timing: board in before graveyard engines start; deploy early enough to replace graveyard movement.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B}{B}; outputs replacement exile, a 3/2 shadow attacker, and one sacrifice-cast payoff.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Thoughtseize`, `Rakdos Charm`, `Grafdigger's Cage`, `Opposition Agent`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Grafdigger's Cage` and `Rakdos Charm` for graveyard pressure.
- Failure modes: it can reduce `Bloodchief Ascension` triggers by replacing opponent graveyard entries; sacrificing it too early may reopen the graveyard.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against reanimator, flashback, escape, and graveyard-cost decks; weaker against graveyard-light creature decks.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early against graveyard decks, and sacrifice it only for a card that changes the game.

#### Opposition Agent
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, flash search-punisher bullet.
- Role type: hate piece; interaction-stack; card selection; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: flashes in to control opponents while they search libraries, exiling found cards and letting you play them with any-color spending.
- Timing: hold for a visible tutor, fetchland activation, ramp search, or combo search; do not expose it as a random 3/2 unless pressure matters.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{B}; outputs search control, exile access, and possible stolen cards.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Thoughtseize`, `Mindbreak Trap`, `Dauthi Voidwalker`, and `Prosper, Tome-Bound`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Thoughtseize` for proactive combo disruption and `Ashiok`-style effects are absent from this list.
- Failure modes: casting after the search has resolved; holding three mana up in matchups with no searches.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against tutor-heavy, fetch-heavy, and combo decks; weak against low-search creature combat.
- Low-skill guidance: keep it hidden until an opponent starts searching their library.

#### Dress Down
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, flash creature-ability suppression cantrip.
- Role type: interaction-removal; hate piece; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: flashes in, draws a card, makes creatures lose all abilities until end step, then sacrifices itself at the beginning of the end step.
- Timing: board in when creature text boxes decide combat or combo; cast at the precise turn where blanking abilities matters.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}{U}; outputs one card and temporary removal of creature abilities.
- Partners / packages: protects against creature-combo turns but can blank your own `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Professional Face-Breaker`, `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Faerie Mastermind`, `Orcish Bowmasters`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Notion Thief`, `Hostage Taker`, `Baleful Strix`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Keeper of Keys`, `The Scarab God`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, and `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Bedevil`, `Abrade`, and `Terminate` for creature problems, but Dress Down answers abilities rather than bodies.
- Failure modes: casting before your Obeka combat-damage trigger or Etali attack trigger matters; forgetting it affects your creatures too.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against creature-combo, ETB reliance, and keyword-based combat; weak against noncreature combo.
- Low-skill guidance: use it to stop an opponent’s creature ability this turn, not during your own Obeka attack turn unless preventing a loss.

#### Grafdigger's Cage
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, graveyard/library cast and creature-entry hate artifact.
- Role type: hate piece; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: stops creature cards in graveyards and libraries from entering the battlefield and stops players from casting spells from graveyards or libraries.
- Timing: board in and deploy before the opponent reaches the graveyard/library-cast turn.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {1}; outputs static restrictions on graveyard/library casting and creature-card entry from graveyards/libraries.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Dauthi Voidwalker`, `Rakdos Charm`, `Thoughtseize`, and `Mindbreak Trap`; it does not stop `Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer`, `Grenzo, Havoc Raiser`, `Prosper, Tome-Bound`, `Stolen Strategy`, `Court of Locthwain`, or `Etali, Primal Storm` from casting cards from exile.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Dauthi Voidwalker` and `Rakdos Charm`.
- Failure modes: boarding it against graveyard lines it does not cover; assuming it exiles graveyards or stops cards cast from exile.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against reanimation from graveyard/library and graveyard-cast decks.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early against graveyard or library-cast decks, and remember it is prevention, not graveyard exile.

#### Mindbreak Trap
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, anti-storm stack exile bullet.
- Role type: interaction-stack; modal utility; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: exiles any number of target spells and may be cast for {0} if an opponent cast three or more spells this turn.
- Timing: board in against storm-like or multi-spell combo; hold for the commitment spell chain.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {2}{U}{U} or {0} under its trap condition; outputs exile of any number of target spells on the stack.
- Mode map: normal cost is {2}{U}{U}; trap cost is {0} only if an opponent cast three or more spells this turn; target one or more spells currently on the stack.
- Partners / packages: complements `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, `Thoughtseize`, and `Opposition Agent`.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Counterspell`, but Mindbreak Trap exiles spells and can hit multiple stack objects.
- Failure modes: boarding it against permanent-heavy midrange; trying to answer resolved permanents.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against storm, cascade-like spell chains, and counter wars with many spells.
- Low-skill guidance: count opponent spells this turn; if the third spell happens, keep Trap for the spell that wins the game.

#### Thoughtseize
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, proactive hand-disruption bullet.
- Role type: interaction-discard; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: target player reveals their hand, you choose a nonland card from it, that player discards it, and you lose 2 life.
- Timing: board in against combo, sweepers, permission, or fragile commander engines; cast before tapping out for Obeka, a Court, `Paradox Haze`, `Sphinx of the Second Sun`, or `Etali, Primal Storm`.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes {B} and 2 life; outputs hand information and one chosen nonland discard.
- Partners / packages: clears the way for `Obeka, Splitter of Seconds`, `Paradox Haze`, `Court of Ire`, `Court of Ambition`, `Mechanized Production`, and `Sphinx of the Second Sun`; pairs with `Opposition Agent` and `Mindbreak Trap` against combo.
- Role peers: closest role overlap is `Counterspell`, `Swan Song`, `Fierce Guardianship`, and `An Offer You Can't Refuse`, but Thoughtseize acts before the spell is cast.
- Failure modes: taking a low-impact card while a sweeper, combo piece, or commander answer remains; paying 2 life under lethal pressure.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against combo and control; weak against redundant creature swarms.
- Low-skill guidance: take the card that stops your next plan or wins for the opponent, not the scariest-looking expensive card.

## Interaction Priorities

- Protect Obeka, Splitter of Seconds first when extra upkeep engines are present. Spend Fierce Guardianship, Counterspell, Swan Song, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, or bounce from Otawara, Soaring City to keep Obeka attacking through removal only when at least one of Paradox Haze, Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, Court of Embereth, Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Bitterblossom, Bloodchief Ascension, Descent into Avernus, Mechanized Production, As Foretold, Smokestack, Mystic Remora, or The Scarab God will convert extra upkeeps into material advantage.

- Counter or remove opponent engines that outscale upkeep value before answering ordinary attackers. Priority targets are combo pieces, stax pieces that stop attacks or triggers, graveyard engines that beat The Scarab God, and permanents that prevent Obeka, Splitter of Seconds from connecting; use Chaos Warp or Feed the Swarm on resolved enchantments that block the deck’s trigger plan, and reserve Cyclonic Rift for multi-permanent resets or a combat-opening bounce line.

- Kill creatures that stop combat damage before killing generic value bodies. Terminate, Chaos Warp, Hostage Taker, The Scarab God activations, Blasphemous Act, Cyclonic Rift, and Otawara, Soaring City should prioritize deathtouch blockers, reach/flying blockers relevant to current attackers, monarch-stealing evasive threats, and creatures that threaten lethal crackback after Obeka, Splitter of Seconds attacks.

- Save stack interaction for spells that break the table position, not every value spell. Counter board wipes, exile effects, extra-combat kills, deterministic combo spells, and removal aimed at Obeka, Splitter of Seconds while the deck has a live upkeep payoff; ignore small card draw or ramp when Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Phyrexian Arena, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, Reconnaissance Mission, Coastal Piracy, or Bident of Thassa is already winning the resource exchange.

- Use bait cards before committing the decisive engine when opponents have untapped interaction. Lead with Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Bitterblossom, Curse of Opulence, Baleful Strix, Ledger Shredder, or a mana rock before exposing Paradox Haze, Black Market Connections, Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Mechanized Production, Smokestack, Sphinx of the Second Sun, or The Scarab God.

- Change removal priorities by archetype. Against creature swarms, preserve Blasphemous Act and Cyclonic Rift, then rebuild with Courts and upkeep triggers; against spell combo, hold Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Notion Thief, Orcish Bowmasters, and sideboard Mindbreak Trap or Thoughtseize; against graveyards, value The Scarab God while boarding toward Dauthi Voidwalker, Grafdigger's Cage, and Rakdos Charm; against artifact/enchantment prisons, prioritize Chaos Warp, Feed the Swarm, Abrade, and Bedevil.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack with Obeka, Splitter of Seconds only when combat damage is plausible or the attack forces a favorable block. Menace matters, but do not send Obeka into visible double blocks that trade her away unless commander tax is affordable, protection is available, or extra upkeep triggers will immediately win the exchange.

- Choose the easiest damage player, not the most threatening player, when Obeka, Splitter of Seconds has upkeep payoffs waiting. A single clean hit that adds upkeep triggers can outvalue a politically correct attack into blockers; redirect pressure later with Court triggers, The Scarab God, Etali, Primal Storm, or stolen cards from Prosper, Tome-Bound and Stolen Strategy.

- Preserve monarch and Court access when combat decisions are close. Keeper of Keys, Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, and Court of Embereth reward staying monarch or reclaiming monarch, so block evasive monarch thieves higher than ordinary chip damage and attack the monarch holder when a safe hit is available.

- Treat evasive and token bodies as trigger infrastructure. Bitterblossom tokens, Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance tokens, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Faerie Mastermind, Professional Face-Breaker, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Baleful Strix, and Likeness Looter can enable Reconnaissance Mission, Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa, Curse of Opulence, and combat-damage theft triggers; do not trade them for low-impact blockers unless life total or monarch defense requires it.

- Block to protect engine time, not to preserve a high life total blindly. Above roughly 20 life, accept chip damage if it keeps Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, Notion Thief, Orcish Bowmasters, Professional Face-Breaker, Faerie Mastermind, Ledger Shredder, or Prosper, Tome-Bound available for the next turn cycle; below roughly 12 life, start trading expendable tokens and value creatures to prevent lethal setup, especially when Ancient Tomb, Black Market Connections, Bitterblossom, Phyrexian Arena, Descent into Avernus, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse life swings are affecting totals.

- Do not trade commander protection for minor combat wins. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots should usually stay on Obeka, Splitter of Seconds before attacks; move equipment only when another creature creates immediate decisive value, such as Etali, Primal Storm attacking safely, Keeper of Keys keeping monarch pressure, or The Scarab God needing haste-like urgency only if legal equipment timing supports the move.

- Use goad and pressure pieces to make opponents spend combat resources sideways. Kardur, Doomscourge, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Curse of Opulence, Court of Embereth, and Bident of Thassa can make attacks profitable without overcommitting; prefer attacks that generate Treasure, card draw, exiled-card access, or monarch pressure over attacks that only deal small damage.

- Adjust trading by matchup speed. Against fast creature decks, trade early with Baleful Strix and tokens, then reset with Blasphemous Act or Cyclonic Rift; against control, avoid exposing every creature to sweepers and prioritize one protected Obeka, Splitter of Seconds hit; against combo, combat damage matters mainly when it turns on Bloodchief Ascension, steals resources with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer or Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, or shortens the clock without tapping down interaction.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Treat Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor as commitment gates, not generic value clicks. Use them to find the missing class for the current board: commander access/protection, extra-upkeep multiplier, upkeep payoff, stack defense, or emergency reset.

- Tutor for Obeka, Splitter of Seconds support before redundant payoffs when Obeka is castable and combat damage is plausible. If the commander is exposed, find Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots; if protection is present but payoffs are missing, find Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, Court of Embereth, Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena, Bitterblossom, Bloodchief Ascension, Descent into Avernus, Mechanized Production, As Foretold, Smokestack, or Mystic Remora according to the visible clock and mana.

- Tutor for interaction when the table can stop the next upkeep turn cycle. Demonic Tutor may find Cyclonic Rift, Blasphemous Act, Counterspell, Fierce Guardianship, Swan Song, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Chaos Warp, Feed the Swarm, Terminate, or The Scarab God only when a visible permanent, spell-combo posture, lethal board, or commander-removal window makes survival more important than adding another engine.

- Cast Vampiric Tutor at the last safe instant-speed window before the draw that will access the searched card. Prefer the opponent end step before your turn when shields can stay up; use your upkeep before the draw step only when no opponent end-step window was safe or when upkeep triggers require knowing the top card before choices are made.

- Do not crack Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Scalding Tarn, or Marsh Flats before resolving Vampiric Tutor unless the shuffle is needed for mana. After Vampiric Tutor resolves, avoid any shuffle effect unless the tutored card is no longer wanted or a forced effect makes the top card inaccessible.

- Use Path of Ancestry scry only when Obeka, Splitter of Seconds or another creature sharing a relevant creature type was cast through it and the rules engine presents the scry. Bottom lands when colors are already solved and an upkeep payoff or interaction piece is needed; keep lands when commander tax, Sphinx of the Second Sun, Etali, Primal Storm, Blasphemous Act, Cyclonic Rift overload, or multiple engine spells are the next plan.

- Use Ledger Shredder connive as hand-shaping, not as proof of hidden-card quality. Discard excess lands after mana is stable, redundant rocks after the engine is online, or expensive top-end when under pressure; keep interaction over speculative payoff when opponents are representing a board wipe or combo.

- Sequence draw engines before selection when mana and shields allow. Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Reconnaissance Mission, Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, Faerie Mastermind, and Notion Thief can change what Demonic Tutor should find, so avoid tutoring first unless the target is deterministic for survival or the next combat-damage trigger.

- Use exile-access cards as temporary selection with legality checks. Prosper, Tome-Bound, Stolen Strategy, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Etali, Primal Storm, and Hostage Taker only provide actions the engine exposes as legal; spend those cards when they advance mana, protection, interaction, or pressure before committing hand resources.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Hold priority discipline around Obeka, Splitter of Seconds combat damage and beginning-phase triggers. Let the rules engine create legal trigger choices, then stack upkeep, Court, monarch, Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena, Bitterblossom, Bloodchief Ascension, Descent into Avernus, As Foretold, Smokestack, Mechanized Production, Mystic Remora, and The Scarab God triggers so survival payments and sacrifice choices do not consume resources needed for decisive triggers.

- Use Strionic Resonator and Lithoform Engine only on triggers that materially change the turn. Copy Obeka, Splitter of Seconds damage triggers, Court triggers, The Scarab God upkeep triggers, Mechanized Production upkeep triggers, Etali, Primal Storm attack triggers, or high-impact draw/treasure triggers when mana remains for protection or the copy is likely to resolve.

- Protect Obeka, Splitter of Seconds on the stack and in combat when extra upkeeps are already set up. Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, and An Offer You Can't Refuse should answer removal, bounce, exile, theft, fog-like combat prevention, or board wipes that stop the next commander hit; let low-impact value spells resolve when the upkeep engine is ahead.

- Respect stack-only limits for counterspells. Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, and sideboard Mindbreak Trap answer spells or stack objects the engine marks legal, not already resolved permanents; use Chaos Warp, Feed the Swarm, Terminate, Cyclonic Rift, Blasphemous Act, Hostage Taker, The Scarab God, or Otawara, Soaring City for resolved threats.

- Make optional upkeep payments only when the next turn cycle can use them. Pay Mystic Remora cumulative upkeep when the table still has spell volume and mana is not needed for commander protection; choose Black Market Connections modes with life total, blockers, and card access in mind; manage Bitterblossom, Phyrexian Arena, Ancient Tomb, and Descent into Avernus life loss so the engine does not self-race.

- Fire instant-speed removal at the last responsible window. Use Terminate, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, Otawara, Soaring City, and The Scarab God activations before blockers, before a lethal trigger resolves, before a combo permanent untaps, or after an opponent commits protection; do not spend them during a main phase merely because a legal target exists.

- Use Cyclonic Rift as either precise tempo or a reset, not a reflex. Single-target bounce is acceptable to open Obeka, Splitter of Seconds combat damage or stop a lethal permanent; overloaded Cyclonic Rift should be saved for precombat alpha openings, end-step resets before an upkeep burst, or survival against multiple developed opponents.

- Treat Smokestack, Descent into Avernus, Bloodchief Ascension, and Court triggers as table-warping choices. If the rules engine asks for targets, counters, sacrifices, or ordering, choose lines that preserve Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, mana, protection, and one active payoff before sacrificing expendable tokens or redundant rocks.

- Use Thassa, Deep-Dwelling end-step blink only on legal targets with a clear output. Prefer Hostage Taker, Baleful Strix, Kardur, Doomscourge, or other exposed legal value creatures when the blink improves the next turn; decline or choose a harmless legal line if blinking would release an important exiled card, remove protection at a bad time, or reset a creature needed to block.

## Sideboard Map

- Role rule: treat the 10-card sideboard as matchup tuning, not as a second engine package. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds still wants early mana, protection, combat access, and beginning-phase payoffs; sideboard cards should either buy time for that engine, stop a faster table, or answer hate that blocks Court and upkeep triggers.

- Abrade comes in against artifact acceleration, artifact combo, and creature decks where a cheap instant answer is more valuable than a slow value enchantment. Abrade is bad when opponents present mostly enchantments, planeswalkers, large nonartifact threats, or stack-based combo; in those games it is not a replacement for Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, or An Offer You Can't Refuse. Its role changes from generic interaction to tempo protection when it clears a blocker before Obeka, Splitter of Seconds combat damage.

- Bedevil comes in against creature-commanders, artifact engines, and planeswalkers that must die after resolving. Bedevil is bad when the matchup is mostly stack-only, graveyard-only, or too fast for three-mana reactive spells. Use it as a clean resolved-permanent answer, not as permission; preserve counterspells for spells that Bedevil cannot touch once they resolve.

- Rakdos Charm comes in against graveyard decks, artifact decks, and creature-swarm tables where its legal modes can punish the current board. Rakdos Charm is bad when none of graveyards, artifacts, or large creature counts matter, and it should not be brought in merely because it is flexible. Against graveyard combo, its role is preemptive graveyard pressure before costs or recursion are paid; against artifact boards, its role is instant-speed artifact removal; against token swarms, its role can become a lethal or survival damage check only when the rules engine exposes that mode as legal and the visible creature count supports it.

- Dauthi Voidwalker comes in against graveyard recursion, graveyard cost engines, and decks where a shadow attacker helps reconnect Obeka, Splitter of Seconds-style combat pressure through clogged boards. Dauthi Voidwalker is bad when opponents do not use graveyards and the table is heavy on sweepers or edicts. Its role changes from hate piece to evasive pressure when the graveyard text is secondary but monarch/Court pressure and combat damage still matter.

- Opposition Agent comes in against search-heavy decks, tutor commanders, fetch-heavy manabases, and opponents whose key turns require library search. Opposition Agent is bad against low-search creature combat decks and against tables where holding three mana open will prevent Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, or Court of Embereth from developing. Its role is ambush disruption first; the body is secondary unless it can safely attack for draw/combat triggers.

- Dress Down comes in against creature-combo turns, enter-the-battlefield reliance, static creature text, and combat steps where removing abilities changes lethal math. Dress Down is bad when your own creature text is central that turn, especially Obeka, Splitter of Seconds combat-damage triggers, Professional Face-Breaker, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Faerie Mastermind, Orcish Bowmasters, Prosper, Tome-Bound, Notion Thief, Hostage Taker, Baleful Strix, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Keeper of Keys, The Scarab God, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling, Sphinx of the Second Sun, and Etali, Primal Storm. If card-reference metadata for layers or trigger timing is missing, route Dress Down timing through a light-model decision.

- Grafdigger's Cage comes in against graveyard-cast, library-cast, and creature-enter-from-library or graveyard plans when its exact card-reference text applies. Grafdigger's Cage is bad when your own exile-access plan is the priority and the opposing deck is not relying on those zones; check whether Prosper, Tome-Bound, Stolen Strategy, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Etali, Primal Storm, or Hostage Taker lines are restricted by current rules metadata before committing. Its role is a prison piece, so deploy it before the opponent reaches the critical turn rather than after the spell is already cast.

- Mindbreak Trap comes in against storm-like stack volume, uncounterable-adjacent pressure where exile-on-stack matters, and fast combo turns that cast multiple spells before the kill. Mindbreak Trap is bad against permanent-heavy midrange, creature combat, and games where opponents commit one must-answer spell per turn. Its role is stack containment, not battlefield interaction; do not board it as a replacement for Chaos Warp, Feed the Swarm, Terminate, Abrade, Bedevil, Cyclonic Rift, or Blasphemous Act.

- Thoughtseize comes in against fast combo, fragile commander engines, sweepers, and interaction-heavy decks where one known card can stop the Obeka, Splitter of Seconds setup turn. Thoughtseize is bad when life total is under heavy pressure from Bitterblossom, Phyrexian Arena, Ancient Tomb, Black Market Connections, Descent into Avernus, or combat, and when opponents are mostly redundant creature threats. Its role changes from disruption to information when deciding whether to tap out for Paradox Haze, a Court, Sphinx of the Second Sun, or Etali, Primal Storm.

- Feed the Swarm comes in as the second copy against enchantment hate, creature-commanders, and resolved enchantments that block combat, card access, or upkeep engines. Feed the Swarm is bad against stack-combo, artifact-only engines, and games where sorcery speed cannot answer the relevant threat before it wins. Respect the life-loss cost and sorcery timing; do not spend it into a board where the life payment plus Bitterblossom, Phyrexian Arena, Ancient Tomb, Black Market Connections, or Descent into Avernus creates a visible lethal crackback.

Fast graveyard or recursion combo
Side in: Dauthi Voidwalker; Grafdigger's Cage; Rakdos Charm; Thoughtseize; Mindbreak Trap
Cut: Court of Embereth; Coastal Piracy; Reconnaissance Mission; Etali, Primal Storm; Descent into Avernus

- Plan rule: lower the curve and add graveyard/stack disruption while reducing slow combat-damage draw and delayed table-damage engines. Keep Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, fast mana, protection, and one high-value upkeep payoff; do not dilute into pure control unless the opening hand already has mana and disruption.

Artifact engine or artifact-combo table
Side in: Abrade; Bedevil; Rakdos Charm; Opposition Agent
Cut: Court of Embereth; Cunning Rhetoric; Stolen Strategy; Keeper of Keys

- Plan rule: increase instant artifact answers and search punishment while reducing slower value cards that require full turn cycles. Keep Cyclonic Rift, Chaos Warp, Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, and An Offer You Can't Refuse because artifact decks often present both resolved permanents and stack-based payoff turns.

Creature-combo or ability-centric commander table
Side in: Dress Down; Bedevil; Thoughtseize; Abrade
Cut: Stolen Strategy; Court of Cunning; Cunning Rhetoric; Descent into Avernus

- Plan rule: add creature-text disruption and direct removal while reducing engines that do not affect the decisive turn. Do not cast Dress Down before your own Obeka, Splitter of Seconds damage trigger or other creature text matters unless preventing an opponent win is worth blanking your turn.

Enchantments, stax, or pillowfort effects blocking attacks and upkeep payoffs
Side in: Feed the Swarm; Thoughtseize; Bedevil
Cut: Court of Embereth; Grenzo, Havoc Raiser; Professional Face-Breaker

- Plan rule: add the second Feed the Swarm and proactive hand disruption when resolved enchantments or lock pieces stop combat connection, Court pressure, or engine casting. Reduce main-deck emphasis on combat-hit rewards when the matchup is specifically configured to prevent attacks from connecting.

Creature swarm or go-wide pressure
Side in: Rakdos Charm; Abrade; Bedevil; Dress Down
Cut: Mystic Remora; Cunning Rhetoric; Stolen Strategy; Court of Locthwain

- Plan rule: prioritize survival and instant interaction over slow card advantage when multiple opponents can reclaim monarch or kill through life-payment engines. Keep Blasphemous Act and Cyclonic Rift as primary resets; sideboard interaction should bridge to those effects rather than encourage racing from a low life total.

Control, sweepers, and heavy permission
Add role cards: Thoughtseize; Opposition Agent; Mindbreak Trap.
Reduce main-deck emphasis: Blasphemous Act, Terminate, and Feed the Swarm are less important when opponents present few resolved creatures or enchantments.

- Archetype rule: fight over the turn that establishes Paradox Haze, Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, a Court, The Scarab God, Sphinx of the Second Sun, or protected Obeka, Splitter of Seconds. Thoughtseize should clear the safest path before tapping out; Opposition Agent punishes search windows; Mindbreak Trap protects against spell-heavy counter wars only when stack volume is visible.

Low-interaction battlecruiser or midrange tables
Add role cards: Bedevil; Abrade only if artifacts or must-kill utility creatures are visible.
Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mindbreak Trap, Grafdigger's Cage, and Thoughtseize are lower priority unless the opponent list or game-one information shows combo, graveyard, or search reliance.

- Archetype rule: do not over-sideboard away from the upkeep engine. Against slower decks, Obeka, Splitter of Seconds plus Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, Court of Embereth, Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, and copied triggers is the stronger plan than filling the deck with narrow answers.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: keep the opening hand only if it can cast early mana, an early blocker, or interaction before life-payment engines compound pressure. Baleful Strix, Orcish Bowmasters, Bitterblossom, Terminate, Feed the Swarm, Cyclonic Rift, and Blasphemous Act matter more than slow three-plus-turn engines; Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Descent into Avernus, Ancient Tomb, and Bitterblossom must be life-total checked every turn. Add role cards: Abrade; Bedevil; Dress Down; Rakdos Charm when wide boards are expected. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cunning Rhetoric, Stolen Strategy, Etali, Primal Storm, and slow Court plans when they do not stabilize monarch or combat.

- Control: make one protected engine stick, then force opponents to answer repeated beginning-phase value instead of fighting every spell. Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Paradox Haze, Court of Ambition, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, The Scarab God, Sphinx of the Second Sun, and Obeka, Splitter of Seconds are the key pressure points; do not spend Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, or An Offer You Can't Refuse on low-impact cantrips when a sweeper, lock piece, or commander answer is the real fight. Add role cards: Thoughtseize; Opposition Agent; Mindbreak Trap. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Blasphemous Act, Terminate, and Feed the Swarm if opponents show few resolved creature or enchantment threats.

- Combo: prioritize information, stack interaction, and hate before extra-upkeep greed. Thoughtseize should clear the commitment turn for Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, or a Court only when the revealed hand makes that line safe enough; Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Mindbreak Trap, Opposition Agent, Dauthi Voidwalker, Grafdigger's Cage, Rakdos Charm, and Dress Down are the cards that stop decisive turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Court of Embereth, Coastal Piracy, Reconnaissance Mission, Descent into Avernus, and Etali, Primal Storm when the game will end before combat-damage engines pay off.

- Tempo: trade early mana efficiency for keeping Obeka, Splitter of Seconds alive and connecting once the board is clear. Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are high-value only when they enable a safe attack or force awkward removal timing; do not run Obeka into open blockers, bounce, or removal just because commander damage triggers are central. Baleful Strix, Faerie Mastermind, Orcish Bowmasters, Ledger Shredder, and Bitterblossom buy time while Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Creativity, Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, and Fellwar Stone rebuild after soft permission. Add role cards: Thoughtseize; Abrade; Bedevil. Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive tap-out threats when the opponent is holding mana every turn.

- Midrange: win by making ordinary removal bad against recurring upkeep triggers and multiple independent draw engines. A single Court is useful, but the best midrange posture is layered pressure from Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Court of Locthwain, Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena, Reconnaissance Mission, Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa, Professional Face-Breaker, Prosper, Tome-Bound, and Stolen Strategy. Protect monarch when possible, but do not overblock with Obeka, Splitter of Seconds if recasting through commander tax would delay the next engine by multiple turns. Add role cards: Bedevil; Abrade if artifacts or utility creatures matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow stack-only cards when opponents are mostly battlefield permanents.

- Big mana: pressure setup turns while holding interaction for the first payoff, not the first ramp spell unless that ramp uniquely unlocks a visible kill. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds plus Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Court of Cunning, Descent into Avernus, Sphinx of the Second Sun, As Foretold, and copied triggers can punish slow starts, but only if Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, or Bedevil remains available for the payoff permanent or spell. Add role cards: Opposition Agent; Thoughtseize; Mindbreak Trap if the payoff turn casts many spells. Reduce main-deck emphasis: small creature removal that does not answer mana engines or finishers.

- Graveyard: deploy hate before the graveyard card becomes a paid cost or already-cast spell. Dauthi Voidwalker, Grafdigger's Cage, Rakdos Charm, and The Scarab God are the matchup-specific pressure cards; Counterspell and Swan Song should stop enablers or payoffs when hate is absent. Do not assume Grafdigger's Cage covers every graveyard line until rules metadata confirms the exact interaction, and do not let your own Hostage Taker, Prosper, Tome-Bound, Stolen Strategy, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, or Etali, Primal Storm plan become worse than the hate effect you added. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow combat-damage draw when the opponent can win from the graveyard before attacks matter.

- Artifact/enchantment: split answers by permanent type instead of treating every hate card as interchangeable. Abrade and Bedevil answer important artifacts or creatures; Rakdos Charm pressures artifact-heavy boards and graveyards when its exact mode applies; Feed the Swarm is sorcery-speed enchantment or creature interaction and must be scheduled before combat or before a lock piece denies attacks; Chaos Warp and Cyclonic Rift are broad emergency outs. Mechanized Production, Strionic Resonator, Lithoform Engine, Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Creativity, Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, and Fellwar Stone make opposing artifact sweepers more costly, so avoid committing every artifact when one engine already wins.

- Go-wide: stabilize first, then convert repeated upkeeps into inevitability. Blasphemous Act and Cyclonic Rift are primary reset cards; Rakdos Charm, Abrade, Bedevil, Dress Down, Baleful Strix, Bitterblossom, Orcish Bowmasters, and Court of Embereth help bridge to them. Do not chase monarch with unsafe attacks if multiple opponents can immediately take it back; Obeka, Splitter of Seconds should attack only when connecting is likely or when the extra upkeep trigger is worth the crackback risk. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mystic Remora, Cunning Rhetoric, Stolen Strategy, and Court of Locthwain when they do not affect the board fast enough.

- Single-threat: answer the one permanent cleanly and keep Court pressure aimed at the same seat. Terminate, Feed the Swarm, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, Hostage Taker, The Scarab God, Bedevil, Abrade, Dress Down, Counterspell, and Fierce Guardianship should be saved for the commander, protected creature, or lock piece that actually wins. Do not spend edgeless value removal on small support creatures if Court of Ambition, Court of Ire, Bloodchief Ascension, or repeated Obeka, Splitter of Seconds triggers can force the opponent to act.

- Burn: treat life total as a hard resource cap, not an abstract buffer. Avoid unnecessary Ancient Tomb, Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Bitterblossom, Descent into Avernus, Thoughtseize, and Feed the Swarm costs when the opponent can finish with visible cards or commander damage. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Baleful Strix, Orcish Bowmasters, Bitterblossom blockers, Cyclonic Rift tempo, and fast Court of Ambition pressure are better than slow card draw that loses life. Add role cards: Abrade; Bedevil only for must-kill creatures or artifacts. Reduce main-deck emphasis: greedy extra-upkeep stacks that accelerate your own life loss.

- Removal-heavy: diversify threats and avoid making Obeka, Splitter of Seconds the only card that matters. Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Fierce Guardianship, Counterspell, Swan Song, and An Offer You Can't Refuse protect key turns, but Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Courts, The Scarab God, Bitterblossom, Mechanized Production, and Sphinx of the Second Sun are the cards that punish one-for-one removal. Recast Obeka only when commander tax still leaves mana to protect or profit from the next attack; otherwise build a noncombat engine and wait for a safer window.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- Scope: these notes are general/archetype-only because no exact opposing decklists were supplied; revealed cards, commander identity, open mana, and rules-engine legal actions override assumptions. Use sideboard role cards only when their text and the opponent's visible plan line up; do not dilute Obeka, Splitter of Seconds pressure, Court triggers, draw engines, or protection just to add narrow answers.

- Commander-centric creature decks: prioritize keeping the commander from converting combat or activated abilities into repeated advantage. Terminate, Feed the Swarm, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, Hostage Taker, The Scarab God, Bedevil, Abrade, Dress Down, Counterspell, and Fierce Guardianship are the cleanest answer classes depending on whether the threat is on stack, on battlefield, or relying on text that Dress Down can affect. Add role cards: Bedevil; Abrade; Dress Down; Thoughtseize. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow theft/value engines when a single protected attacker decides the game.

- Fast spell-combo: hold interaction for the commitment spell or engine turn, not the first cantrip-equivalent action. Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Mindbreak Trap, Thoughtseize, Notion Thief, Opposition Agent, and Rhystic Study are the most important cards, while Obeka, Splitter of Seconds should pressure only when attacking does not tap down required mana or expose the commander for no extra-upkeep payoff. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap; Thoughtseize; Opposition Agent; Dauthi Voidwalker if the graveyard is part of the route. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Blasphemous Act, Terminate, and other creature-only posture unless the combo uses creatures.

- Graveyard recursion or cast-from-library decks: put hate onto the battlefield before the opponent can pay a graveyard or library-access cost. Dauthi Voidwalker, Grafdigger's Cage, Rakdos Charm, Opposition Agent, Counterspell, Swan Song, and The Scarab God are priority tools, but check rules-engine metadata before assuming a hate piece covers a specific replacement, cast, or search event. Add role cards: Dauthi Voidwalker; Grafdigger's Cage; Rakdos Charm; Opposition Agent; Thoughtseize. Reduce main-deck emphasis: combat-damage draw engines when the opponent can win before attacks matter.

- Artifact or enchantment engines: identify whether the must-answer permanent is an artifact, enchantment, creature, or stack object before spending the answer. Abrade and Bedevil cover artifact or creature pressure, Feed the Swarm covers a sorcery-speed creature or enchantment answer, Chaos Warp and Cyclonic Rift handle broad emergency permanents, and Counterspell or Swan Song can stop key noncreature spells before they resolve. Add role cards: Abrade; Bedevil; Rakdos Charm; Feed the Swarm. Reduce main-deck emphasis: redundant high-cost closers if the opponent's lock piece must be answered immediately.

- Combat swarms and token decks: survive the first wide board, then let repeated upkeep triggers win. Blasphemous Act, Cyclonic Rift, Rakdos Charm, Orcish Bowmasters, Bitterblossom, Baleful Strix, Court of Embereth, and Bident of Thassa matter most when attacks decide monarch or life totals; Obeka, Splitter of Seconds should not attack into obvious crackback if the extra upkeep trigger does not stabilize the next turn. Add role cards: Rakdos Charm; Abrade; Bedevil; Dress Down. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mystic Remora and Stolen Strategy when they do not affect the board quickly.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: this deck is color-hungry and timing-sensitive, so hands with Ancient Tomb, Reliquary Tower, or only off-color lands must prove they can cast early protection, mana rocks, or Obeka, Splitter of Seconds on time. Fetch and shock decisions should preserve blue for Counterspell, Swan Song, Cyclonic Rift, Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, and Notion Thief while also keeping black and red available for Terminate, Feed the Swarm, Chaos Warp, Court of Ambition, and Court of Ire.

- Matchup risk: creature decks can steal monarch or punish unsafe Obeka attacks before extra upkeeps matter. Do not value an extra trigger above survival when visible blockers, haste pressure, or multiple opponents can immediately take back monarch.

- Draw risk: Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Bitterblossom, Descent into Avernus, Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Reconnaissance Mission, Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa, and Court of Locthwain can bury the table, but they also create upkeep-payment, life-total, and sequencing pressure. Decline or delay life-costing options when burn, commander damage, or your own Descent into Avernus clock makes life the limiting resource.

- Over-sideboarding risk: adding Abrade, Bedevil, Rakdos Charm, Dauthi Voidwalker, Opposition Agent, Dress Down, Grafdigger's Cage, Mindbreak Trap, Thoughtseize, or Feed the Swarm can weaken the deck's core if too many Courts, draw engines, protection pieces, or evasive attackers leave. Keep enough engines for Obeka, Splitter of Seconds to multiply.

- Graveyard risk: The Scarab God, Hostage Taker, Prosper, Tome-Bound, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Stolen Strategy, and Etali, Primal Storm all want access to cards outside ordinary hand flow, so symmetrical or broad hate must be checked against your own current plan. Use Dauthi Voidwalker, Grafdigger's Cage, and Rakdos Charm only when their disruption is worth the self-impact.

- Sweeper and removal risk: Obeka, Splitter of Seconds is not the only threat, but losing the commander after investing Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Roaming Throne, Strionic Resonator, Lithoform Engine, or extra-upkeep setup can cost a full turn cycle. Recast through commander tax only when the next attack, protection, or upkeep engine is realistically available.

- Closer risk: Court triggers and incremental theft can feel inevitable while failing to end the game before combo or big mana stabilizes. Shift to lethal pressure with Obeka, Splitter of Seconds, Court of Ire, Court of Ambition, Bloodchief Ascension, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Etali, Primal Storm, Sphinx of the Second Sun, or copied triggers once shields are down.

- Interaction risk: stack-only cards cannot answer resolved permanents, and sorcery-speed Feed the Swarm cannot rescue a missed instant-speed window. Preserve Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, and An Offer You Can't Refuse for stack threats while scheduling Terminate, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, Blasphemous Act, Hostage Taker, and Feed the Swarm around visible board pressure.

- Sequencing risk: beginning-phase triggers can stack in ways that matter for monarch, Court rewards, Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, Black Market Connections, Mystic Remora, Phyrexian Arena, Bitterblossom, Descent into Avernus, and Smokestack. Choose trigger order from visible outcomes instead of autopassing through upkeep, especially when life loss, sacrifices, draw timing, or Obeka-triggered extra upkeeps change the turn.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: identify whether the game was decided by extra upkeep multiplication, monarch/Court control, commander damage pressure, card-advantage engines, a protected finisher, or failure to interact on the right turn. Record the exact cards that converted advantage into a win or let the opponent stabilize.

- Mulligan result: note whether the opener cast early mana or protection before Obeka, Splitter of Seconds needed to attack. Flag hands that kept Ancient Tomb, Reliquary Tower, Path of Ancestry, or slow lands without enough colored access for Counterspell, Swan Song, Terminate, Feed the Swarm, or early engines.

- Mana performance: track whether blue, black, or red was missing at the moment a legal action mattered. Record fetch choices from Polluted Delta, Bloodstained Mire, Scalding Tarn, and Marsh Flats when they affected Watery Grave, Blood Crypt, Steam Vents, Underground Sea, Badlands, Volcanic Island, Island, Swamp, or Mountain access.

- Velocity check: ask whether Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, Reconnaissance Mission, Coastal Piracy, Bident of Thassa, Court of Locthwain, Stolen Strategy, or Prosper, Tome-Bound produced enough cards before life, tempo, or table pressure became limiting.

- Engine timing: review whether Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, Strionic Resonator, Lithoform Engine, Roaming Throne, Mechanized Production, Smokestack, and the Courts were deployed before protection, interaction, or board stability was ready.

- Commander use: check whether Obeka, Splitter of Seconds attacked only when damage was likely to connect and extra upkeeps mattered. Record commander-tax decisions, protection timing with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots, and any recast that failed to create a near-term trigger payoff.

- Removal discipline: identify whether Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Terminate, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, Feed the Swarm, Blasphemous Act, Hostage Taker, or sideboard interaction answered the highest-impact legal threat instead of a convenient one.

- Sideboard impact: after sideboarded games, record whether Abrade, Bedevil, Rakdos Charm, Dauthi Voidwalker, Opposition Agent, Dress Down, Grafdigger's Cage, Mindbreak Trap, Thoughtseize, or Feed the Swarm appeared in time and whether the cuts left enough engines to win.

- Closing quality: ask whether Court of Ire, Court of Ambition, Bloodchief Ascension, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, The Scarab God, Etali, Primal Storm, Sphinx of the Second Sun, copied triggers, or commander damage actually ended the game once the deck was ahead.

- Role accuracy: record whether the pilot correctly became control against faster decks, pressure against combo, or engine-first against midrange. Flag games where the deck tried to draw cards while dead on board or spent removal while already safe.

- Mistake review: mark any missed beginning-phase trigger choice, unsafe monarch attack, unnecessary life payment, wrong trigger order, wasted tutor, stack-only answer held for a resolved permanent, or sorcery-speed answer delayed past its usable window.

- Stranded card review: list cards stuck in hand because of mana, timing, board state, target restrictions, or self-conflict. Give special attention to high-impact but awkward cards such as Etali, Primal Storm, Blasphemous Act, Smokestack, Mechanized Production, Notion Thief, Kardur, Doomscourge, and Hostage Taker.

- Overperformer and underperformer review: name the exact cards that exceeded or missed expectations in each matchup. Separate engine strength from win conversion so a card-draw piece is not credited as a closer unless it directly enabled the kill.

## First Tuning Questions

- Mana tuning: does the deck need more early untapped colored access, fewer colorless-only starts, or a different basic count to support fetch sequencing under Blood Moon-like pressure from the opponent without weakening Commander color needs?

- Ramp balance: are Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Talisman of Creativity, and Ancient Tomb enough to cast Obeka, Splitter of Seconds plus protection, or are expensive engines stranding too often?

- Engine density: are there too many upkeep and draw engines competing for the same setup turn, or does the deck need more redundancy for Paradox Haze, Court triggers, and Sphinx of the Second Sun style turns?

- Protection quantity: do Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots sufficiently protect commander-attack turns, or is the deck losing too many games after Obeka, Splitter of Seconds is removed before connecting?

- Aggro plan: does the main deck need more early blockers or sweepers if Bitterblossom, Baleful Strix, Orcish Bowmasters, Kardur, Doomscourge, Blasphemous Act, and Cyclonic Rift are not stabilizing against creature swarms?

- Control plan: are Counterspell, Swan Song, Fierce Guardianship, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Chaos Warp, Cyclonic Rift, Feed the Swarm, and Terminate enough against must-answer permanents and stack threats, or should sideboard slots shift toward more interaction?

- Closing package: are Court of Ire, Court of Ambition, Bloodchief Ascension, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, The Scarab God, Etali, Primal Storm, and Sphinx of the Second Sun ending games fast enough after advantage is established?

- Tutor usage: are Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor finding the same small set of cards every game, and if so should the list increase redundancy around that role rather than relying on singleton search?

- Sideboard allocation: is the 10-card Veles sideboard overweighted toward graveyard and combo hate with Dauthi Voidwalker, Grafdigger's Cage, Rakdos Charm, Mindbreak Trap, Opposition Agent, and Thoughtseize, or does the expected field require more creature, artifact, or enchantment answers?

- Role conflict: do Smokestack, Descent into Avernus, Black Market Connections, Bitterblossom, and Phyrexian Arena create too much self-pressure when the deck is supposed to defend monarch and conserve life?

- Theft package: do Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Grenzo, Havoc Raiser, Prosper, Tome-Bound, Cunning Rhetoric, Stolen Strategy, Hostage Taker, and Etali, Primal Storm provide actionable resources, or are they too dependent on opponent deck texture?

- Trigger complexity: should low-skill guidance compress trigger ordering for Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, Courts, Mystic Remora, Black Market Connections, Bitterblossom, Descent into Avernus, and Smokestack because too many legal upkeep choices are producing mistakes?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Mulligan For Mana Plus Engine
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Obeka, Splitter of Seconds; Sol Ring; Arcane Signet; Fellwar Stone; Talisman of Dominance; Talisman of Indulgence; Talisman of Creativity; Mystic Remora; Rhystic Study; Phyrexian Arena; Black Market Connections; Paradox Haze
Phase windows: opening hand, first mulligan decisions
Runtime cues: opening_hand; commander=Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
Use when: the hand has at least two mana sources or one land plus Sol Ring, and has either acceleration, early card flow, or a protected route to Obeka, Splitter of Seconds.
Avoid when: the hand cannot produce blue and black by turn three, has only colorless acceleration, or contains expensive upkeep engines without early mana.
Instructions: keep hands that cast early draw or rocks and curve toward Obeka plus a trigger payoff; ship hands that ask topdecks to fix both mana and action.
Pilot skill floor: Level 1
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Setup Permanent
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Mystic Remora; Rhystic Study; Phyrexian Arena; Black Market Connections; Bitterblossom; Sol Ring; Arcane Signet; Fellwar Stone; Talisman of Dominance; Talisman of Indulgence; Talisman of Creativity
Phase windows: turns 1-3 main phases
Runtime cues: legal cast actions; available mana
Use when: multiple early permanents are legal and the deck must choose the first enabling piece.
Avoid when: an opponent has a must-answer stack or battlefield threat that changes survival this turn.
Instructions: prefer mana that accelerates Obeka or engines, then Mystic Remora or Rhystic Study against spell-heavy starts, then Phyrexian Arena, Black Market Connections, or Bitterblossom when life total and blockers allow.
Pilot skill floor: Level 1
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Commander Return To Command Zone
Priority: High
Decision families: priority
Cards: Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
Phase windows: commander replacement or state-based command-zone prompt
Runtime cues: action:commander_zone:yes Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
Use when: a visible legal prompt offers moving Obeka, Splitter of Seconds from graveyard or exile to the command zone.
Avoid when: a visible resolving effect already names Obeka, Splitter of Seconds as the object it will immediately return to battlefield or hand.
Instructions: choose the command-zone return and accept future commander tax; this deck is not built to leave Obeka stranded in graveyard or exile.
Pilot skill floor: Level 1
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Obeka Attack Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: combat; priority
Cards: Obeka, Splitter of Seconds; Lightning Greaves; Swiftfoot Boots; Reconnaissance Mission; Coastal Piracy; Bident of Thassa; Court of Ambition; Court of Ire; Court of Cunning; Court of Locthwain; Court of Embereth
Phase windows: precombat main, declare attackers, combat damage
Runtime cues: legal attack actions for Obeka, Splitter of Seconds; damage trigger preview
Use when: Obeka can connect or pressure a vulnerable opponent and extra upkeeps will materially multiply Courts, Paradox Haze, Sphinx of the Second Sun, or upkeep engines.
Avoid when: attacking exposes Obeka to obvious profitable blocks, loses monarch defense, or produces no meaningful upkeep payoff.
Instructions: treat commander damage as an engine trigger first and damage plan second; protect or clear the path before committing attacks.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Beginning-Phase Trigger Ordering
Priority: High
Decision families: priority
Cards: Paradox Haze; Sphinx of the Second Sun; Court of Ambition; Court of Ire; Court of Cunning; Court of Locthwain; Court of Embereth; Mystic Remora; Black Market Connections; Bitterblossom; Descent into Avernus; Smokestack
Phase windows: upkeep, extra upkeep, beginning phase
Runtime cues: triggered abilities waiting to be ordered
Use when: multiple upkeep or beginning-phase triggers are controlled by this deck.
Avoid when: the rules engine exposes only mandatory single-trigger resolution.
Instructions: order information and payment decisions before resource-consuming punishment when legal; preserve life against aggro, preserve material under Smokestack, and maximize Court triggers when monarch is secured.
Pilot skill floor: Level 3
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Monarch And Court Defense
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat; priority
Cards: Court of Ambition; Court of Ire; Court of Cunning; Court of Locthwain; Court of Embereth; Keeper of Keys; Kardur, Doomscourge; Bitterblossom; Baleful Strix
Phase windows: combat, end step, upkeep
Runtime cues: monarch status; legal attack and block actions
Use when: this deck is monarch or can become monarch with a Court or Keeper of Keys.
Avoid when: preserving monarch is less important than stopping lethal damage or removing a combo piece.
Instructions: keep enough blockers to defend monarch, attack only when the trigger snowball outweighs the risk, and use Kardur, Doomscourge or expendable tokens to redirect pressure.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Counterspell; Swan Song; Fierce Guardianship; An Offer You Can't Refuse
Phase windows: stack interaction windows
Runtime cues: opponent spell on stack; legal counterspell actions
Use when: the spell on stack threatens lethal, removes the active engine, wins the game, or invalidates the next Obeka trigger turn.
Avoid when: the spell is low-impact, already answered by board state, or a stack-only counter is being considered after the permanent has resolved.
Instructions: spend permission on game-changing stack objects, not convenience trades; remember Swan Song and An Offer You Can't Refuse leave the opponent compensation.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal Target Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Terminate; Chaos Warp; Feed the Swarm; Cyclonic Rift; Blasphemous Act; Hostage Taker; Abrade; Bedevil; Rakdos Charm
Phase windows: main phase, combat, end step, stack windows for instants
Runtime cues: legal target actions for removal
Use when: a resolved permanent threatens lethal, shuts off Obeka combat, breaks the upkeep engine, or must be removed before a sorcery-speed window closes.
Avoid when: the target is merely annoying while a higher-impact visible threat remains.
Instructions: match answer to threat type: Terminate for creatures, Feed the Swarm for creatures or enchantments at sorcery speed, Chaos Warp or Bedevil for broad permanent coverage, Cyclonic Rift for tempo or reset, and Blasphemous Act when the creature board must be swept.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tutor Commitment Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Demonic Tutor; Vampiric Tutor
Phase windows: main phase, upkeep, end step, pre-combat setup
Runtime cues: legal search actions; library search prompt
Use when: the deck needs a specific role: protection for Obeka, an engine payoff, interaction, mana fixing, or a closer.
Avoid when: the current hand already contains a sufficient role card and tutoring would spend tempo without changing the next two turns.
Instructions: choose the card by game state, not default hierarchy; Paradox Haze and Courts are engine pieces, Counterspell or Cyclonic Rift are survival tools, and Court of Ire, The Scarab God, Etali, Primal Storm, or Sphinx of the Second Sun are closers.
Pilot skill floor: Level 3
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Trigger Copy Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Strionic Resonator; Lithoform Engine; Roaming Throne
Phase windows: triggered ability windows, main phase setup
Runtime cues: legal copy trigger actions; triggered ability on stack
Use when: copying an Obeka, Court, draw, theft, or upkeep trigger changes the resource race or accelerates a win.
Avoid when: the copied trigger is low-impact, mana must stay open for interaction, or the target trigger may fizzle or fail to matter.
Instructions: copy scarce high-impact triggers over routine draw when pressure is low, and keep mana open when a must-counter threat is likely.
Pilot skill floor: Level 3
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Theft And Opponent-Resource Casting
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; mana
Cards: Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer; Grenzo, Havoc Raiser; Prosper, Tome-Bound; Cunning Rhetoric; Stolen Strategy; Hostage Taker; Etali, Primal Storm
Phase windows: combat damage, main phase, exile-cast windows
Runtime cues: playable cards exiled by this deck; legal cast actions from exile
Use when: exiled opponent cards are legally playable and improve mana, interaction, board presence, or closing speed.
Avoid when: spending mana on stolen cards delays Obeka, leaves no interaction against a visible threat, or uses colors/mana needed for this deck's own engine.
Instructions: convert stolen resources into immediate board or stack impact; do not chase off-plan value while Court or commander pressure is already winning.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Blink And Recursion Target Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; priority
Cards: Thassa, Deep-Dwelling; The Scarab God; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire; Hostage Taker; Baleful Strix; Kardur, Doomscourge; Keeper of Keys; Etali, Primal Storm
Phase windows: end step, upkeep, main phase activated ability windows
Runtime cues: legal target actions from Thassa, Deep-Dwelling; The Scarab God; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
Use when: a legal target choice is available for blink, graveyard recursion, or channel-style recovery.
Avoid when: the target would remove protection, return an opponent's stolen card at the wrong time, or consume mana needed for survival interaction.
Instructions: route target choice through visible board reasoning; prefer concrete ETB, monarch, goad, theft, draw, or closing impact and avoid vague value assumptions.
Pilot skill floor: Level 3
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Life-Payment Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; mana
Cards: Black Market Connections; Phyrexian Arena; Bitterblossom; Ancient Tomb; Watery Grave; Blood Crypt; Steam Vents; Bloodchief Ascension; Descent into Avernus
Phase windows: upkeep, land entry, mana activation, draw step
Runtime cues: life payment prompt; shock land entry choice; Ancient Tomb mana action
Use when: paying life unlocks a decisive spell, engine trigger, or survival answer.
Avoid when: life total is under visible combat or burn pressure and the payment does not change the current or next turn.
Instructions: spend life aggressively only when the extra card, Treasure, mana, or tempo is needed; against pressure, preserve life over marginal engine growth.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mana Sequencing And Fetch Targets
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Polluted Delta; Bloodstained Mire; Scalding Tarn; Marsh Flats; Watery Grave; Blood Crypt; Steam Vents; Underground Sea; Badlands; Volcanic Island; Island; Swamp; Mountain; Xander's Lounge
Phase windows: land play, fetch activation, pre-spell mana payment
Runtime cues: legal land play; legal fetch activation; mana payment prompt
Use when: a land or fetch choice affects access to blue, black, or red for current hand actions.
Avoid when: fetching or shocking would reduce survival and the needed colors are already available untapped.
Instructions: prioritize blue-black early for Counterspell, tutors, and draw engines, add red before red removal or Court of Ire lines, and fetch basics only when nonbasic punishment or life pressure makes that safer.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Commander Equip After Cast
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: Lightning Greaves; Swiftfoot Boots; Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
Phase windows: main phase after Obeka resolves
Runtime cues: action:equip Lightning Greaves to Obeka, Splitter of Seconds; action:equip Swiftfoot Boots to Obeka, Splitter of Seconds
Use when: Obeka, Splitter of Seconds is on this deck's battlefield, the equipment is untapped/usable, the legal equip action names Obeka, and no other creature must keep that equipment to survive an already visible lethal attack.
Avoid when: moving equipment exposes a required blocker or removes protection from a creature currently targeted by a resolving spell or ability.
Instructions: equip Obeka to enable protected attack turns; choose Lightning Greaves first when haste matters and no targeting conflict is created.
Pilot skill floor: Level 1
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Against Graveyard And Combo
Priority: Medium
Decision families: sideboard; pregame
Cards: Dauthi Voidwalker; Grafdigger's Cage; Rakdos Charm; Mindbreak Trap; Opposition Agent; Thoughtseize; Feed the Swarm; Mystic Remora; Stolen Strategy; Blasphemous Act; Court of Embereth
Phase windows: sideboarding, pregame
Runtime cues: opponent archetype tags include graveyard, tutor, storm, cascade, combo, reanimator
Use when: the opponent relies on graveyard casting, library search, explosive stack turns, or a small number of noncreature engines.
Avoid when: the opponent wins through ordinary combat and the hate card does not affect visible or expected threats.
Instructions: add the exact sideboard hate that intersects the opponent's plan, and reduce slower theft, sweepers, or low-impact Court pressure without cutting all engines.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Against Artifacts, Creatures, And Enchantments
Priority: Medium
Decision families: sideboard; pregame
Cards: Abrade; Bedevil; Feed the Swarm; Dress Down; Blasphemous Act; Terminate; Chaos Warp; Court of Cunning; Stolen Strategy
Phase windows: sideboarding, pregame
Runtime cues: opponent archetype tags include artifact, creature swarm, enchantment, commander-combat, activated abilities
Use when: the opponent presents artifact engines, creature-combat pressure, enchantment engines, or creature text boxes that must be blanked for a turn.
Avoid when: the matchup is decided on the stack or graveyard and extra permanent removal is too narrow.
Instructions: add Abrade for artifacts or small creatures, Bedevil for creatures/artifacts/planeswalkers, Feed the Swarm for enchantments or creatures, and Dress Down when a one-turn text-box reset changes combat or combo math.
Pilot skill floor: Level 2
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tap-Out Engine Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Paradox Haze; Mechanized Production; Smokestack; Sphinx of the Second Sun; Etali, Primal Storm; The Scarab God; Court of Ambition; Court of Ire; Court of Cunning; Court of Locthwain; Court of Embereth
Phase windows: main phase before passing with shields down
Runtime cues: legal cast actions for expensive engine or finisher; available opponent mana
Use when: resolving the engine will dominate the next turn cycle and the deck can survive the shields-down window.
Avoid when: opponents have visible lethal pressure, open interaction likely to punish the tap-out, or the engine is symmetrical and worse for this deck.
Instructions: commit fragile or expensive engines only when board, life, and interaction context support it; waiting with Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, or removal can be stronger than tapping out.
Pilot skill floor: Level 3
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
