# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Death And Taxes is a mono-white Modern disruptive creature deck built around tax effects, Aether Vial timing, flicker triggers, search restriction, and equipment tutoring. The registered list is 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards, matching the supplied Modern validation contract: at least 60 main cards and at most 15 sideboard cards. The active format is Modern, and the provided format-aware result says this registration passes; the remaining validation concern is not deck legality but runtime support for Aether Vial timing, search-restriction choices, and decision-log visibility.

This version is a stock-hybrid Death And Taxes shell rather than a pure rogue brew. The core stock identity is Aether Vial, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Flickerwisp, Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Ghost Quarter, and Field of Ruin. The hybrid pressure package comes from the high density of one-mana creatures, four Esper Sentinel, four Giver of Runes, and a compact Stoneforge Mystic package of Kaldra Compleat and Batterskull. The deck should be piloted as a tempo-prison creature deck: constrain opposing mana and spell sequencing, convert the delay into combat damage, and use equipment or Solitude to stabilize when the board turns hostile.

The registered tags are accurate for agent routing: `tax effects`, `aether vial timing`, `flicker triggers`, `search restriction`, `equipment tutoring`, `edge-case`, and `draft-only`. The `edge-case` and `draft-only` tags should make Veles conservative about assuming every tactical hook is fully supported by the rules wrapper. In particular, Leonin Arbiter plus Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin depends on whether the opponent can legally pay for searching at the relevant moment; the pilot must use visible engine actions and public mana availability rather than assuming the search is always locked.

The mana base is mono-white but resource-denial heavy, so color validation is not the same as curve validation. Plains, Horizon Canopy, Silent Clearing, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Ghost Quarter, and Field of Ruin provide enough white sources for the registered white spells, but Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin can create awkward early turns when Aether Vial is absent. Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing are both mana resources and late-game card-conversion resources; sacrificing them too early can strand Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, or hard-cast equipment lines. Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is a registered nonbasic land and should be treated as both a white source and a conditional interaction resource when rules metadata exposes its alternate use.

The primary role concern is that this deck wins by small edges, not by raw card quantity. Aether Vial converts mana into tempo and instant-speed creature deployment, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxes noncreature spells, Leonin Arbiter punishes searching, and Flickerwisp plus Skyclave Apparition or Stoneforge Mystic creates board-state leverage. The agent should not spend disruption as generic removal without checking whether the disruption piece is currently suppressing the opponent’s best visible line.

Opponent information is currently unknown and should be treated as unavailable until revealed by matchup selection, game actions, public zones, or Veles scouting context. Mulligan, sideboard, and interaction policies must therefore start from open-field Modern assumptions and tighten only when public information identifies the opponent’s plan. Do not infer hidden cards from archetype stereotypes unless the match context supplies that archetype, and do not name absent staples as if they are registered tools.

## Thesis
Death And Taxes assembles layered friction, not a single lock: Aether Vial turns creature deployment into mana-free, instant-speed pressure; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxes noncreature spell chains; Leonin Arbiter turns Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin into punishing mana-denial tools when the opponent cannot or does not pay for searching; Stoneforge Mystic converts one creature into Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull inevitability. The deck wins when those small constraints force the opponent to spend turns inefficiently while mono-white creatures, equipment, and utility lands keep adding damage or cards.

The primary plan is to commit a disruptive permanent early, protect the most relevant one, and use tempo to make every opposing mana decision awkward. Aether Vial starts the strongest games because it lets the pilot deploy Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, or Solitude without tapping mana on the same turn. Giver of Runes should usually protect the permanent that is currently enforcing the opponent’s worst constraint, not automatically the largest attacker.

The deck is not trying to be pure control, pure equipment midrange, or a fast combo deck. It should not spend Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as generic one-for-one tools before checking whether the target or land activation advances the tax plan, preserves lethal pressure, or prevents a visible stabilizing line. It should also avoid sacrificing Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing early unless the extra card is worth more than preserving white mana for Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, hard-cast equipment, or sideboard interaction.

Prioritize board text before damage when the opponent’s next turn is constrained by that text. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is often worth more than an extra attacker against spell-heavy hands; Leonin Arbiter is often worth more than a random body when Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin is available; Stoneforge Mystic becomes a must-preserve threat when Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull is the cleanest path through blockers. Once the opponent is under mana or spell pressure, switch from containment to closing: equip, attack, flicker for tempo, and use Solitude or Skyclave Apparition to clear the blocker or permanent that actually changes the race.

## Role Package
- Threats: Esper Sentinel, Giver of Runes, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, Solitude, Kaldra Compleat, and Batterskull all contribute damage, but their first job differs. Treat disruptive creatures as pressure attached to rules text; do not trade them off casually when their static or triggered role is still constraining the opponent.

- Payoffs: Kaldra Compleat and Batterskull are the Stoneforge Mystic payoff package and the cleanest way to turn a stalled board into a clock. Kaldra Compleat pressures quickly when a living weapon threat is hard to answer; Batterskull stabilizes races and rewards longer games where the pilot can preserve mana. Sword of Fire and Ice is the sideboard equipment payoff for matchups where its protection and combat-trigger profile are more relevant than the main-deck equipment split.

- Engines: Aether Vial is the central tempo engine, letting the pilot spend mana on Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, equipment actions, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Horizon Canopy, or Silent Clearing while still adding creatures. Stoneforge Mystic is the equipment engine. Flickerwisp is the blink engine for reusing Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Solitude timing where legal, or resetting opposing permanents when rules output exposes a legal and useful target.

- Velocity: Esper Sentinel taxes opposing noncreature development and can turn early friction into cards. Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing convert excess lands into cards later, but they are also white sources, so the agent should delay sacrificing them when hand or board still needs white mana. Aether Vial also functions as velocity by converting drawn creatures into battlefield presence without spending mana.

- Interaction: Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Flickerwisp, Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire form the main-deck interaction suite. Sideboard interaction expands with March of Otherworldly Light, Path to Exile, Pithing Needle, Rest in Peace, Kataki, War's Wage, Drannith Magistrate, Sanctifier en-Vec, and Burrenton Forge-Tender. Use the exact legal action and visible target list; do not assume hidden zones, unpaid search restrictions, or unsupported alternate uses.

- Protection: Giver of Runes protects key creatures from many targeted problems and can also force attacks through some blockers, but it does not protect noncreature permanents, lands, Kaldra Compleat as an Equipment object, or Batterskull as an Equipment object unless rules text makes the target legal. Burrenton Forge-Tender is the sideboard protection card for red damage contexts where its legal prevention action matters.

- Recursion: The registered main deck has no true graveyard recursion engine. Batterskull can matter as a repeatable equipment threat if its return action is legal and mana is available, but do not treat the deck as built to rebuy creatures from graveyard. Rest in Peace and Sanctifier en-Vec from the sideboard further push some games away from graveyard resource plans.

- Mana: Plains, Horizon Canopy, Silent Clearing, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Ghost Quarter, and Field of Ruin support a mono-white shell with heavy utility-land pressure. Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin should be treated as tactical mana-denial tools whose strength changes sharply with Leonin Arbiter, visible opposing mana, and the runtime search-payment choices the engine exposes.

- Sideboard modules: Sanctifier en-Vec and Rest in Peace are graveyard and color-pressure tools; Drannith Magistrate constrains casting from non-hand zones when relevant; March of Otherworldly Light and Path to Exile add removal; Pithing Needle answers activated abilities when the named card is known; Kataki, War's Wage pressures artifact-heavy boards; Burrenton Forge-Tender protects against red damage; Sword of Fire and Ice adds an equipment plan for creature combat and attrition matchups.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Equipment clock: Prioritize Stoneforge Mystic into Kaldra Compleat when the opponent is under early tax pressure, has limited visible clean answers, or cannot race a large living-weapon attacker. Setup is Stoneforge Mystic finding Kaldra Compleat, then using the legal put-onto-battlefield action or a hard-cast line only when mana and timing support it. Execution is to protect Stoneforge Mystic or the equipped threat with Giver of Runes when legal, clear the key blocker with Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Flickerwisp, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and attack before the opponent rebuilds. Disruption to respect: visible artifact removal, exile effects, bounce, sacrifice pressure, or blockers that make the attack non-decisive.

- Stabilizing equipment clock: Prioritize Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull when behind on life, facing creature pressure, or expecting a longer game where a reusable threat matters more than raw speed. Setup is the same Stoneforge Mystic package, but execution values mana preservation for equip, redeploy, and any legal return/recast line. Use Batterskull to force races where the opponent must answer the threat twice; do not abandon Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Leonin Arbiter pressure unless life total or board state demands stabilization.

- Tax-and-denial combat: Prioritize Thalia, Guardian of Thraben plus Leonin Arbiter with Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin when the opponent needs mana efficiency, search effects, or multiple spells to stabilize. Setup is a one- or two-drop tax permanent, then utility-land pressure once Leonin Arbiter is active and the engine exposes legal land actions. Execution is to keep attacking with small creatures while spending lands as interaction; choose Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin targets based on visible mana bottlenecks, not generic land destruction. Disruption to respect: the opponent may pay search taxes or already have enough mana, so do not sacrifice a land unless the resulting tempo loss is favorable.

- Vial tempo swarm: Prioritize Aether Vial starts when opening hands contain multiple creatures and enough mana to use utility lands or equipment actions while still deploying threats. Setup is Aether Vial early, then add counters toward the hand’s pressure points: two for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, or Giver of Runes-style sequencing, and three for Skyclave Apparition or Flickerwisp lines when appropriate. Execution is to deploy threats at legal timing that taxes opposing mana, surprises combat, or reuses enter-the-battlefield pressure. Disruption to respect: do not overcommit into visible sweep risk if the current tax board already constrains the opponent.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Protected small-creature pressure: Use Esper Sentinel, Giver of Runes, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, and Solitude as a damage package when equipment is unavailable or too risky. The setup is any disruptive board plus a protected attacker; execution is to attack while preserving the creature whose text matters most. Giver of Runes should usually protect the tax piece, equipment carrier, or lethal attacker, not a random body.

- Flickerwisp tempo conversion: Use Flickerwisp to convert a stalled board into tempo when the rules engine exposes a legal target that reuses Stoneforge Mystic, resets a Skyclave Apparition or Solitude-related line, temporarily removes a blocker, or disrupts an opposing permanent at the right window. Prioritize this path when the current board needs one tempo swing rather than another permanent answer. Do not choose a Flickerwisp target by label alone; confirm legal target, timing, return behavior, and whether the delayed return helps or hurts.

- Attrition through card flow: Use Esper Sentinel, Horizon Canopy, and Silent Clearing to keep pressure alive when the opponent has answered the first equipment or tax creature. Esper Sentinel is strongest before the opponent can pay easily; Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing are strongest after land drops or white-mana needs are less important. Sacrifice those lands only when the extra card is worth more than preserving white mana for Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Flickerwisp, equipment actions, or sideboard interaction.

- Clean-board rebuild: Use Aether Vial, Stoneforge Mystic, Batterskull, and creature-dense hands to rebuild after removal. Aether Vial lets the deck redeploy while keeping mana open; Stoneforge Mystic forces another answer; Batterskull provides the best long-game body if legal return or recast lines become available. Prioritize this plan when both players are low on cards and the opponent’s visible pressure is not immediately lethal.

## Emergency Lines
- Behind on life: Shift from fast Kaldra Compleat pressure to Batterskull stabilization, Solitude interaction, Skyclave Apparition removal, and high-value blocks. Preserve white mana and do not sacrifice Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing if that mana is needed for survival. Giver of Runes should protect the blocker or lifegain equipment carrier that changes combat math.

- Behind on board: Spend Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Flickerwisp, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Path to Exile, or March of Otherworldly Light only on the permanent or attacker that changes the next combat or unlocks lethal. Do not use Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin as desperation plays unless the visible land target blocks the opponent’s immediate line.

- Behind on cards or engines: Convert Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing into cards only after checking white-mana requirements and Aether Vial counters. If Aether Vial is absent or removed, sequence creatures by mana curve and preserve Stoneforge Mystic because it is the cleanest single-card rebuild into Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or sideboard Sword of Fire and Ice.

- Behind against graveyard recursion or non-hand casting: After sideboarding, prioritize Rest in Peace, Sanctifier en-Vec, or Drannith Magistrate when their text matches visible opposing resources or legal casting patterns. Do not assume graveyard hate stops spells already legally cast; use it preemptively when the engine shows the relevant card is still in a zone the hate can affect.

- Win conditions removed: If Kaldra Compleat and Batterskull are answered, win by tax-board combat, protected evasive or unblockable-by-color attacks when Giver of Runes legally enables them, and repeated utility-land pressure. If creature pressure is mostly gone, preserve Aether Vial and card lands for rebuilds rather than spending all interaction on low-impact targets.

## Resource Model
- Tempo is the primary currency: convert Aether Vial, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, and Flickerwisp into turns where the opponent cannot spend mana cleanly. Count a turn won as a real resource when it lets Stoneforge Mystic put Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull into play, lets small creatures attack, or forces the opponent to choose between paying taxes and answering the board.

- Hand size is pressure plus contingency: keep enough creatures to make Aether Vial matter, enough white cards to support emergency Solitude, and enough lands to operate without drawing from Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing too early. Do not spend Solitude by exiling a key white card unless the target changes survival, lethal pressure, or a decisive engine permanent.

- Life total is spendable but not free: Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing convert life and a land into a card after white mana is no longer the bottleneck. Use Batterskull to reverse races; choose Kaldra Compleat when the faster clock is worth more than lifegain and recast resilience.

- Board presence is the deck’s tax engine: Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, and equipment bodies all make later decisions stronger. Preserve the permanent whose text constrains the opponent’s visible line, not simply the highest-power creature.

- Lands are both mana and interaction: Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are best when Leonin Arbiter is active, when the opponent lacks spare mana for search taxes, or when a visible land is enabling a decisive line. Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing are late card-flow valves; sacrificing them before casting Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, Solitude, or sideboard white interaction is often a mistake.

- Graveyard is not a core resource: this list has no main-deck recursion engine. After sideboarding, Rest in Peace and Sanctifier en-Vec can intentionally suppress graveyards; do not protect your own graveyard at the cost of losing the matchup axis those cards answer.

- Exile is a cost and an answer zone: Solitude and March of Otherworldly Light can consume hand resources for emergency interaction, while Skyclave Apparition and Rest in Peace-style effects can move opposing resources out of normal recursion paths. Treat exiling your own white cards as a survival or decisive-tempo payment, not routine value.

- Sacrifice fodder is narrow: this deck does not have disposable artifact or creature fodder. The main sacrifice resources are Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Horizon Canopy, and Silent Clearing; spend them only when the mana loss, card draw, or land-denial exchange is visible and favorable.

- Information comes from legal actions and revealed equipment: Stoneforge Mystic announces the equipment plan, so choose Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or sideboard Sword of Fire and Ice according to the current race, not habit. Sideboard bullets should be treated as matchup-specific conversion cards, not generic upgrades.

## Mana Guide
- White mana is mandatory: most spells require white, and several hands need repeated white sources for Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, Solitude, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and sideboard cards. Keep hands with Aether Vial plus one white source more readily than hands with only colorless utility lands.

- Utility-heavy hands need a deployment plan: Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are interaction, but too many early copies can strand double-spell turns or prevent timely Skyclave Apparition and Flickerwisp. A hand with Leonin Arbiter plus Ghost Quarter can be strong, but it still needs enough white mana or Aether Vial to build pressure.

- Aether Vial changes sequencing: play Aether Vial early when the hand has multiple creatures and enough lands to activate Stoneforge Mystic, Field of Ruin, equipment abilities, or sideboard interaction while deploying threats through Vial. Tick Vial toward two for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, and Giver of Runes sequencing; consider three when Skyclave Apparition or Flickerwisp is the next decisive play.

- Land before draw is context-dependent: play a land before using Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing if the turn needs guaranteed mana for a visible spell, activation, or tax payment. Draw first only when the extra card can change which land to play and the current mana is already sufficient for all required legal actions.

- Do not crack card lands casually: sacrifice Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing after checking Aether Vial counters, equipment activation costs, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire availability, and sideboard interaction. If Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is taxing your own noncreature sideboard spells, leave extra mana before converting lands into cards.

- Sequence Leonin Arbiter with land denial: deploy Leonin Arbiter before Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin when the goal is to restrict searching. If the opponent has open mana to pay the tax or already has enough lands, use those lands as mana until the denial exchange matters.

- Keep/mulligan mana rule: keep hands that can cast or Vial early pressure and have a realistic second turn; mulligan hands with no white source, no Aether Vial, and only utility lands unless the rules engine shows a specific legal plan. One-land Aether Vial hands need multiple cheap creatures and a path if Vial is answered.

- Sideboard mana discipline matters: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Rest in Peace, Drannith Magistrate, Sanctifier en-Vec, Kataki, War's Wage, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Pithing Needle, and Sword of Fire and Ice all compete with main-deck sequencing. When bringing in noncreature spells, account for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxing them before choosing land sacrifices or utility-land activations.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: Aether Vial, Plains, Horizon Canopy, Giver of Runes, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Stoneforge Mystic, and Skyclave Apparition is a premium opener because it has turn-one deployment, Vial scaling, white mana, a tax effect, equipment access, and a clean answer. Lead Aether Vial unless the visible matchup makes immediate Giver of Runes protection more important than mana acceleration.

- Strong keep: Plains, Ghost Quarter, Leonin Arbiter, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Esper Sentinel, Skyclave Apparition, and Flickerwisp is keepable because the hand can cast early pressure and threaten the Leonin Arbiter plus Ghost Quarter search lock. Do not keep this style if the only white source is missing or if the hand cannot cast a turn-one or turn-two spell.

- Medium keep: Plains, Silent Clearing, Field of Ruin, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, and Batterskull is slower but functional, especially on the draw. Keep when the matchup is creature-heavy or attrition-focused; consider a mulligan against fast combo or low-land decks where Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, or Aether Vial is more important.

- Risky keep: Aether Vial, Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Horizon Canopy, Flickerwisp, Solitude, and Kaldra Compleat needs Vial to live and needs white mana to appear or remain available. Keep only on the draw or against slow decks when the rules engine shows a legal turn-one Aether Vial and the hand has multiple Vial payoffs.

- Automatic ship: Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Horizon Canopy, Silent Clearing, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, and Solitude has no reliable early white spell and too much stranded top-end. Also ship zero-land hands, one-land hands without Aether Vial, and hands with only equipment plus Solitude and no expendable white card.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Plains, Plains, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is strong against spell-heavy decks but less punishing against creature decks that ignore noncreature taxes. Against visible creature pressure, prefer hands with Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, Stoneforge Mystic, or sideboard removal after boarding.

- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prioritize Aether Vial, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, or Leonin Arbiter because early tax text can steal the opponent’s first efficient turn. On the draw, value Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, Giver of Runes, and Stoneforge Mystic slightly higher because catching up and stabilizing matter more.

- Trap hand: Plains, Plains, Plains, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, Flickerwisp, and Flickerwisp looks castable but lacks a first-turn play, lacks Stoneforge Mystic, and may spend early turns doing nothing relevant. Trap hand: Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Leonin Arbiter, Leonin Arbiter, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Skyclave Apparition, and Flickerwisp has synergy but no white source unless Aether Vial or Plains is drawn.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 priority: cast Aether Vial when the hand contains multiple creatures, especially Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, or Flickerwisp. If there is no Aether Vial, cast Esper Sentinel into spell-heavy opponents and Giver of Runes when protecting Stoneforge Mystic, Leonin Arbiter, or Thalia, Guardian of Thraben will matter immediately.

- Turn 1 deviation: play Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing only when the life payment is acceptable and it enables a real one-mana spell. Do not treat Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin as a keepable first land unless Aether Vial is legal or the hand already has another white source for turn two.

- Turn 2 priority: deploy Thalia, Guardian of Thraben against noncreature-spell decks, Leonin Arbiter when Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin is ready to punish searching, or Stoneforge Mystic when the race or attrition plan needs Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or post-board Sword of Fire and Ice. Use Aether Vial at one for Giver of Runes or Esper Sentinel before ticking it up only when the extra creature matters this turn.

- Turn 2 deviation: do not fire Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin before Leonin Arbiter if the goal is search restriction and the opponent can otherwise replace the land freely. Hold Solitude unless the visible creature threatens survival, a decisive engine, or a tempo swing that justifies exiling a white card.

- Turn 3 priority: convert the early tax turn into board control with Skyclave Apparition, equipment development with Stoneforge Mystic activation, or a disruptive Flickerwisp line from Aether Vial at three. Prefer Skyclave Apparition when a visible permanent is enabling the opponent’s best legal line; prefer Flickerwisp when blinking Skyclave Apparition, Stoneforge Mystic, a blocker, or an opposing permanent changes the current turn.

- Turn 3 deviation: choose Kaldra Compleat from Stoneforge Mystic when a fast, resilient clock is needed; choose Batterskull when lifegain and recast pressure stabilize the race. If Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxes your own noncreature interaction after sideboarding, sequence Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Rest in Peace, or Pithing Needle before losing the needed mana window.

- Turns 4-5 priority: stack taxes with pressure instead of overextending into unknown sweepers when the current board already constrains the opponent. Use Leonin Arbiter plus Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin to attack key lands only when the opponent cannot pay or when removing that land blocks a visible line.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: flicker Skyclave Apparition only when the new exile target is better than preserving the existing Apparition token risk. Use Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as interaction when the channel action is legal and the target matters more than keeping a land.

- Late game priority: turn excess Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing into cards after confirming mana for equipment activation, Solitude hard-cast or evoke lines, and sideboard interaction. Rebuild through Stoneforge Mystic and equipment bodies; do not sacrifice white sources if doing so strands Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp, Solitude, or post-board white cards.

- Late game deviation: keep Aether Vial counters aligned with the best legal creature band rather than ticking automatically. A Vial on two supports Giver of Runes, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, and Stoneforge Mystic; a Vial on three supports Skyclave Apparition and Flickerwisp when those effects are the game’s pivot.

## Card Roles
- Aether Vial is the deck's best tempo engine because it converts low land counts into uncounterable instant-speed creature deployment. Set counters deliberately: one for Giver of Runes or Esper Sentinel, two for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, or Stoneforge Mystic, and three for Skyclave Apparition or Flickerwisp.
- Giver of Runes turns fragile tax creatures and equipment carriers into persistent threats, but it cannot protect itself. Use it before combat or removal resolution only when the rules engine shows a legal target and the chosen protection color or colorless actually changes damage, blocking, targeting, or lethal math.
- Esper Sentinel pressures spell decks by taxing their first noncreature spell each turn. It is a stronger turn-one play against interaction and can become a real attacker or equipment carrier when the opponent stops paying.
- Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Leonin Arbiter are the main prison bodies. Thalia delays noncreature spells, including this deck's sideboard noncreature cards; Leonin Arbiter makes Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Path to Exile, and opponent fetch effects tactically sensitive.
- Stoneforge Mystic is the equipment tutor and cheat engine. Get Kaldra Compleat when a fast hard-to-answer clock matters; get Batterskull when lifelink, vigilance, and recast resilience stabilize the game; get Sword of Fire and Ice only after boarding and only when protection and card flow matter.
- Skyclave Apparition and Solitude are the cleanest board-control cards. Prioritize visible permanents or creatures that beat the tax plan, unlock combo, or threaten survival; avoid using them as low-impact tempo plays when the opponent's next visible line is not improved by waiting.
- Flickerwisp is the tactical reset card. Use it with Aether Vial at three to blink Skyclave Apparition, Stoneforge Mystic, equipment Germ tokens when legal and useful, blockers, or opposing permanents; do not blink a strong Skyclave Apparition target away unless the replacement exchange is favorable.
- The land suite is disruptive, not just mana. Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin become denial with Leonin Arbiter; Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing turn flood into cards; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is a land until channel removal is worth more than the mana source.

### Card Hover Notes

#### Aether Vial
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core tempo engine.
- Role type: engine piece; mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: converts one early mana into repeated mana-free creature deployment so `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, `Stoneforge Mystic`, `Skyclave Apparition`, `Flickerwisp`, and sometimes `Solitude` can enter while lands are used for `Ghost Quarter`, `Field of Ruin`, equipment actions, or card-land draws.
- Timing: cast on turn one when the hand has multiple creatures; on upkeep, add counters only when the new number matches the next important creature in hand.
- Inputs / outputs: consumes the artifact slot and upkeep counter choices; outputs a tapped artifact activation that puts a creature card from hand with mana value exactly equal to its charge counters onto the battlefield.
- Mode map: one counter puts in `Giver of Runes` or `Esper Sentinel`; two counters puts in `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, `Stoneforge Mystic`, `Sanctifier en-Vec`, `Drannith Magistrate`, `Kataki, War's Wage`, or `Burrenton Forge-Tender`; three counters puts in `Skyclave Apparition` or `Flickerwisp`; five counters is only for `Solitude` and is rarely worth passing the denser bands.
- Partners / packages: enables instant-speed `Flickerwisp`, surprise `Skyclave Apparition`, protected `Stoneforge Mystic` timing, and sideboard hate creatures `Sanctifier en-Vec`, `Drannith Magistrate`, `Kataki, War's Wage`, and `Burrenton Forge-Tender`.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is `Stoneforge Mystic` as a mana-cheating engine for `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, and `Sword of Fire and Ice`.
- Failure modes: ticking past two can strand `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, and `Stoneforge Mystic`; holding it at one too long can miss `Skyclave Apparition` or `Flickerwisp` interaction; `Kataki, War's Wage` taxes it after sideboarding.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against counterspell or tempo decks because Vial activation is not casting a creature spell; weaker when artifact hate is visible or when the hand lacks matching creature mana values.
- Low-skill guidance: cast it early, keep it at two unless a three-mana creature in hand is the next important play, and activate at the last useful moment.

#### Giver of Runes
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core one-mana protection creature.
- Role type: protection/evasion; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: protects another key creature, usually `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, `Stoneforge Mystic`, `Skyclave Apparition`, `Flickerwisp`, a `Kaldra Compleat` Germ, a `Batterskull` Germ, or a `Sword of Fire and Ice` carrier.
- Timing: deploy early when protecting a tax creature or `Stoneforge Mystic` matters more than immediate `Esper Sentinel` card pressure; hold activation for removal, blocks, or a lethal attack rather than using it before the opponent commits.
- Inputs / outputs: taps and targets another creature you control; outputs protection from colorless or one chosen color until end of turn, which can stop targeting, damage, blocking, and enchanting/equipping by sources of that quality when applicable.
- Partners / packages: protects `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` against colored removal, `Leonin Arbiter` during `Ghost Quarter` or `Field of Ruin` pressure, `Stoneforge Mystic` before equipment deployment, and equipped attackers carrying `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, or `Sword of Fire and Ice`.
- Role peers: `Burrenton Forge-Tender` overlaps only against red damage; `Sanctifier en-Vec` protects itself from black and red but does not protect other creatures.
- Failure modes: cannot target itself; does not protect lands, `Aether Vial`, unattached Equipment, or the player; does not stop sacrifice effects, sweepers without targeting, or nonmatching colors.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: prioritize it against visible targeted removal, colored blockers, and combat races; devalue it against edict, sweeper, or colorless/non-targeting plans.
- Low-skill guidance: use the ability only on another creature you control, and protect the creature whose text or equipped attack is winning the current turn.

#### Esper Sentinel
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core one-drop tax threat.
- Role type: engine piece; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: makes the opponent’s first noncreature spell each turn either cost extra mana or give this deck a card, buying time for `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, and `Stoneforge Mystic` pressure.
- Timing: best on turn one against spell-heavy, removal-heavy, or setup decks; less important than `Giver of Runes` when a protected turn-two `Stoneforge Mystic`, `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, or `Leonin Arbiter` is the hand’s real plan.
- Inputs / outputs: triggers only on each opponent’s first noncreature spell each turn; you draw unless that player pays `{X}`, where X is `Esper Sentinel`’s power.
- Partners / packages: `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` compounds the mana squeeze on noncreature spells; `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, and `Sword of Fire and Ice` can make it a better attacker or increase its relevance as an Equipment carrier.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` as another noncreature-spell tax, though Thalia raises costs instead of drawing cards.
- Failure modes: weak when the opponent mostly casts creatures, can pay `{X}` easily, or removes it after it has drawn no cards; protecting it over `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` or `Leonin Arbiter` can lose the actual prison axis.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong into control, combo setup, and removal-heavy starts; sideboard out first when visible games are about creature combat where `Path to Exile`, `March of Otherworldly Light`, or `Sanctifier en-Vec` matters more.
- Low-skill guidance: play it early when legal, but do not spend `Giver of Runes` protection on it if a more important tax creature is threatened.

#### Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core disruptive two-drop and legendary combat body.
- Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: increases the cost of each noncreature spell by `{1}`, slowing opposing removal, combo setup, and card selection while attacking as a 2/1 first striker.
- Timing: cast on turn two against spell-heavy or unknown opponents unless `Leonin Arbiter` plus `Ghost Quarter` or `Field of Ruin` is immediately stronger; deploy before the opponent chains cheap noncreature spells.
- Inputs / outputs: symmetrical static tax affects opposing noncreature spells and your own `Aether Vial`, `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, `Rest in Peace`, `March of Otherworldly Light`, `Path to Exile`, `Sword of Fire and Ice`, and `Pithing Needle`.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Esper Sentinel` to punish noncreature sequencing, with `Giver of Runes` to stay alive, and with `Leonin Arbiter` to turn the game into mana denial plus combat.
- Role peers: `Leonin Arbiter` is the closest hate-creature peer, but Arbiter restricts searching while Thalia taxes noncreature spells.
- Failure modes: can strand your own sideboard noncreature spells if cast before checking mana; legendary copies are redundant on battlefield; first strike does not make her safe against larger blockers with enough toughness or damage.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: premium against control, combo, and big-mana setup; weaker against creature-heavy decks where `Solitude`, `Skyclave Apparition`, `Path to Exile`, or `Batterskull` must stabilize.
- Low-skill guidance: remember the tax is symmetrical, so sequence urgent `Path to Exile`, `March of Otherworldly Light`, `Rest in Peace`, or `Pithing Needle` before Thalia when that mana matters.

#### Leonin Arbiter
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core search-restriction creature.
- Role type: hate piece; role glue; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: turns library searching into a taxed choice, making `Ghost Quarter`, `Field of Ruin`, and sideboard `Path to Exile` more punishing when the opponent cannot afford `{2}`.
- Timing: cast before activating `Ghost Quarter` or `Field of Ruin` when the land-destruction line is meant to deny resources; hold land activations if the opponent has spare mana and losing your land is not favorable.
- Inputs / outputs: each player cannot search libraries unless that player pays `{2}` for that player to ignore Leonin Arbiter’s effect until end of turn.
- Partners / packages: `Ghost Quarter` can destroy any target land and make the controller’s basic search conditional on Arbiter payment; `Field of Ruin` can destroy an opponent’s nonbasic land and forces both players into search decisions; `Path to Exile` gives the creature’s controller a basic-land search that Arbiter can tax.
- Role peers: `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` is the closest hate-creature peer, but she taxes noncreature spells rather than searches.
- Failure modes: your own `Stoneforge Mystic` searches for Equipment and may need you to pay `{2}` if Arbiter is active; `Field of Ruin` may also require your own search payment; firing `Ghost Quarter` too early can fix the opponent’s mana.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against fetchlands, utility lands, big mana, and search-heavy decks; weakest when the opponent has basics, spare mana, or does not need to search.
- Low-skill guidance: do not assume a search is locked; check whether the searching player can pay `{2}` this turn.

#### Stoneforge Mystic
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core Equipment tutor and deployment engine.
- Role type: tutor/search; engine piece; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: finds the exact Equipment needed for the game state, then can put that Equipment from hand onto the battlefield for `{1}{W}` and tapping.
- Timing: cast when the searched Equipment will matter and the 1/2 body can either survive or be protected by `Giver of Runes`; activate at opponent end step when possible so `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, or `Sword of Fire and Ice` is ready for your attack.
- Inputs / outputs: enters trigger may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle; activated ability puts an Equipment card from your hand onto the battlefield.
- Mode map: search `Kaldra Compleat` for the fastest resilient clock; search `Batterskull` when lifelink, vigilance, and the `{3}` return ability matter; search `Sword of Fire and Ice` after sideboarding when protection from red and blue plus combat-damage card flow is the best plan.
- Partners / packages: `Giver of Runes` protects Stoneforge or the carrier; `Aether Vial` can deploy Stoneforge without spending mana; `Flickerwisp` can exile Stoneforge and return it at end step for another Equipment search.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is `Aether Vial` as another way to convert timing and mana into battlefield advantage.
- Failure modes: `Leonin Arbiter` can tax your own search; tutoring an Equipment already in hand wastes the search because `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, and `Sword of Fire and Ice` are singletons; activating Stoneforge can remove it from blocking duty.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: choose `Kaldra Compleat` against slow or unstable boards, `Batterskull` in races, and `Sword of Fire and Ice` when red/blue protection or repeated damage plus cards matters.
- Low-skill guidance: do not always take `Kaldra Compleat`; pick the Equipment that solves the current race or matchup.

#### Skyclave Apparition
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core white permanent answer.
- Role type: interaction-removal; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: exiles a visible nonland, nontoken opposing permanent with mana value 4 or less, then leaves behind a 2/2 body that can attack, block, or carry Equipment.
- Timing: use when the target unlocks the opponent’s engine, blocks the Equipment clock, threatens lethal, or answers your tax plan; avoid spending it on a low-impact permanent if a better legal target is likely soon.
- Inputs / outputs: when it enters, exile up to one target nonland, nontoken permanent you do not control with mana value 4 or less; when Skyclave leaves, the exiled card’s owner creates an X/X blue Illusion creature token where X is the mana value of the exiled card.
- Partners / packages: `Aether Vial` at three can deploy it at instant speed; `Flickerwisp` can reset Skyclave only when the new exile target is worth giving the opponent the Illusion from the old target; `Giver of Runes` can protect Skyclave’s body from targeted colored or colorless interaction.
- Role peers: `Solitude` answers creatures at instant speed but gives life; `March of Otherworldly Light` answers artifacts, creatures, and enchantments after sideboarding; `Path to Exile` answers only creatures after sideboarding.
- Failure modes: cannot target lands, tokens, your permanents, or mana value 5+ permanents; losing or flickering it can give the opponent an Illusion that changes combat.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: best against cheap engines, blockers, and hate permanents; weaker when the opponent’s threats are lands, large permanents, spells on the stack, or tokens.
- Low-skill guidance: check the exact target restriction and remember that killing or blinking Skyclave gives the opponent a token.

#### Solitude
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core instant-speed creature exile and stabilizer.
- Role type: interaction-removal; lifegain/stabilization; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: answers creatures that beat combat, break the tax plan, or threaten lethal, while hard-cast Solitude can also attack or block as a 3/2 flash lifelink creature.
- Timing: hold for decisive creatures unless survival requires immediate action; evoke by exiling a white card only when the target is worth the card disadvantage.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{3}{W}{W}` normally; has flash and lifelink; on entry exiles up to one other target creature and that creature’s controller gains life equal to its power; evoke cost is exiling a white card from your hand.
- Mode map: hard-cast mode keeps a lifelink body and is best when mana is available; evoke mode is emergency interaction that spends another white card and usually sacrifices Solitude after the trigger.
- Partners / packages: `Flickerwisp` can interact with Solitude timing only when rules windows make the exile and return favorable; `Aether Vial` on five can put Solitude in without casting, but reaching five counters is uncommon; `Giver of Runes` can protect a hard-cast Solitude as a lifelink attacker or blocker.
- Role peers: `Skyclave Apparition` handles lower-mana nonland nontoken permanents; `Path to Exile` is cheaper creature exile after sideboarding; `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` damages only attacking or blocking creatures.
- Failure modes: life gain can ruin lethal math; evoke consumes a white card such as `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, `Stoneforge Mystic`, `Sanctifier en-Vec`, `Drannith Magistrate`, `March of Otherworldly Light`, `Path to Exile`, `Kataki, War's Wage`, or `Burrenton Forge-Tender`; cannot target itself because the trigger says another target creature.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: premium against large creatures, creature combo, and lethal attacks; lower priority against spell-light decks with few creatures.
- Low-skill guidance: pitch-cast it only for a creature that changes survival, lethal, or the opponent’s engine.

#### Flickerwisp
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, core blink tempo creature.
- Role type: engine piece; protection/evasion; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: uses a 3/1 flying body plus a temporary exile trigger to reuse your enters abilities, clear a blocker for one turn, save a permanent from targeted interaction, or disrupt an opposing permanent until the next end step.
- Timing: strongest from `Aether Vial` at three during combat, in response to removal, or at opponent end step; main-phase it only when the exile and delayed return are still favorable.
- Inputs / outputs: when it enters, exile another target permanent; return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step.
- Partners / packages: can reset `Stoneforge Mystic` for another `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, or post-board `Sword of Fire and Ice` search; can reset `Skyclave Apparition` when the new target is worth the Illusion risk; can temporarily remove a blocker for an equipped attacker.
- Role peers: `Skyclave Apparition` is the closest three-mana disruptive body, but Skyclave exiles within a restriction until it leaves while Flickerwisp returns the card at end step.
- Failure modes: cannot target itself; flickering your own blocker or tax creature can expose you before it returns; flickering an opponent’s permanent can retrigger their enters ability; resetting Skyclave can hand the opponent an Illusion.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in board stalls, against removal pointed at key permanents, and when a one-turn blocker removal produces lethal; weaker when there is no profitable target and a 3/1 flyer trades down.
- Low-skill guidance: only choose a target if the permanent being gone until the next end step helps you more than its return helps the opponent.

#### Kaldra Compleat
- Deck role: main deck, 1 copy, singleton Stoneforge finisher.
- Role type: threat/clock; reach/finisher; engine payoff.
- Deck-specific job: gives `Stoneforge Mystic` a fast living-weapon closer that attacks immediately with a large indestructible, first strike, trample, haste Equipment threat.
- Timing: choose or deploy it when racing and closing speed matter more than lifegain; use `Stoneforge Mystic` to put it onto the battlefield rather than trying to hard-cast `{7}` unless the game is very late.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{7}` to cast; living weapon creates a 0/0 black Phyrexian Germ and attaches Kaldra to it; equipped creature gets +5/+5, first strike, trample, indestructible, haste, and exiles creatures it deals combat damage to; equip cost is `{7}`.
- Partners / packages: `Stoneforge Mystic` finds and cheats it; `Giver of Runes` can protect the equipped creature from targeted colored or colorless interaction; `Flickerwisp` can clear a blocker for a decisive attack.
- Role peers: `Batterskull` is the stabilizing Equipment peer; `Sword of Fire and Ice` is the sideboard attrition Equipment peer.
- Failure modes: drawing it without `Stoneforge Mystic` can strand a seven-mana card; the Equipment is indestructible but the Germ can be exiled, bounced, sacrificed, or otherwise answered; equip `{7}` is expensive after the Germ dies.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: best against decks that cannot answer a large Equipment carrier quickly; less attractive when lifegain from `Batterskull` is required or artifact removal is visible.
- Low-skill guidance: take it with `Stoneforge Mystic` when a fast clock is the way to win, not when you are about to die in combat.

#### Batterskull
- Deck role: main deck, 1 copy, singleton stabilizing Equipment.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; threat/clock; engine payoff.
- Deck-specific job: gives `Stoneforge Mystic` a lifelink, vigilance living-weapon threat that can stabilize races and be returned to hand for repeat pressure.
- Timing: choose it over `Kaldra Compleat` when life total, blocking, or attrition matters more than a faster clock; deploy with `Stoneforge Mystic` at opponent end step when possible.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{5}` to cast; living weapon creates a 0/0 black Phyrexian Germ and attaches Batterskull to it; equipped creature gets +4/+4, vigilance, and lifelink; `{3}` returns Batterskull to its owner’s hand; equip cost is `{5}`.
- Partners / packages: `Stoneforge Mystic` searches and puts it onto the battlefield; `Giver of Runes` protects the equipped creature; `Aether Vial` frees mana for the `{3}` return or future equip.
- Role peers: `Kaldra Compleat` is the faster main-deck Equipment peer; `Sword of Fire and Ice` is the sideboard peer for protection from red and blue plus combat damage card flow.
- Failure modes: slower than `Kaldra Compleat`; returning it for `{3}` can consume a turn’s mana; the Germ can be removed before lifelink connects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against aggro, burn races, and removal-heavy attrition; weaker against combo or big mana where lifegain does not disrupt the opponent’s decisive line.
- Low-skill guidance: choose Batterskull when surviving combat or gaining life is more important than maximum speed.

#### Ghost Quarter
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, disruptive land and mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; interaction-removal; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: produces colorless mana early and later sacrifices to destroy a key land, with `Leonin Arbiter` turning the controller’s replacement search into a taxed or denied choice.
- Timing: use as mana until the target land matters; activate under `Leonin Arbiter` when the opponent cannot pay `{2}` without losing the turn’s important action or when destroying a utility land is worth allowing a basic search.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for `{C}`; taps and sacrifices to destroy target land; that land’s controller may search their library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
- Partners / packages: `Leonin Arbiter` taxes the controller’s search; `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` can make the opponent’s post-denial turn even tighter; `Path to Exile` shares the same Arbiter pressure on opponent basic searches after sideboarding.
- Role peers: `Field of Ruin` also attacks lands but targets only opponent nonbasic lands and makes each player search; `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` is the interactive land peer for combat creatures instead of lands.
- Failure modes: does not make white mana; early activation can fix the opponent; sacrificing it can strand `Skyclave Apparition`, `Flickerwisp`, `Solitude`, or sideboard white spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: best against utility lands, greedy mana, creature lands, and big-mana pieces; weaker against basic-heavy decks or opponents with spare mana through `Leonin Arbiter`.
- Low-skill guidance: do not crack it just because it is available; wait for `Leonin Arbiter` or a land that truly matters.

#### Field of Ruin
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, disruptive land and colorless mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; interaction-removal; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: destroys an opponent’s nonbasic land while potentially finding your `Plains`, with `Leonin Arbiter` making both players’ searches require payment decisions.
- Timing: activate when you can pay `{2}` and the target nonbasic land enables a visible line; delay if sacrificing a land would cut off white spells or if the opponent can search freely and benefit.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for `{C}`; `{2}`, tap, sacrifice destroys target nonbasic land an opponent controls; each player searches their library for a basic land card, puts it onto the battlefield, then shuffles.
- Partners / packages: `Leonin Arbiter` taxes the opponent’s and your own search; `Plains` is the registered basic target; `Aether Vial` lets you spend mana on Field while still deploying creatures.
- Role peers: `Ghost Quarter` can target any land and costs no mana to activate but only the destroyed land’s controller may search; `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` supplies white mana and combat interaction instead of land denial.
- Failure modes: cannot target basic lands or your own land; may require your own `{2}` Arbiter payment to search; colorless mana can slow double-white `Skyclave Apparition` and `Flickerwisp`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against nonbasic-heavy mana, creature lands, and utility lands; weaker when the opponent has basics and the game is about creature combat rather than land bottlenecks.
- Low-skill guidance: with `Leonin Arbiter` out, check who can pay `{2}` before activating.

#### Horizon Canopy
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, pain-land white source and late card-conversion land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: casts early white spells while giving the deck a way to turn extra lands into cards after the tax board or Equipment plan is established.
- Timing: use for white mana early when the one life is acceptable; sacrifice for a card only after checking that white mana is no longer needed for `Giver of Runes`, `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Stoneforge Mystic`, `Skyclave Apparition`, `Flickerwisp`, `Solitude`, or post-board interaction.
- Inputs / outputs: taps and pays 1 life to add `{G}` or `{W}`; `{1}`, tap, sacrifice draws a card. This deck uses the `{W}` mode for spells and the draw mode for flood recovery; the registered list has no green spell that needs `{G}`.
- Partners / packages: `Aether Vial` reduces the need to spend this land on creature casting; `Batterskull` lifelink can offset repeated pain; `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` makes preserving mana for noncreature sideboard spells more important.
- Role peers: `Silent Clearing` is the closest peer with `{W}` or `{B}` instead of `{G}` or `{W}`; `Plains` is the painless stable white peer.
- Failure modes: repeated life payments matter against burn or aggro; sacrificing too early can strand double-white spells or `Stoneforge Mystic` activations.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: cash it in late against attrition and control; preserve it as mana when racing or when `Solitude`, `March of Otherworldly Light`, or `Path to Exile` must remain available.
- Low-skill guidance: treat it as a white land first and a draw spell only after your mana is safe.

#### Silent Clearing
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, pain-land white source and late card-conversion land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: provides white mana for the mono-white curve and converts to a card in flood states without requiring any spell slot.
- Timing: tap for white early when the life payment is acceptable; sacrifice only when drawing a card is worth losing a land and when enough white mana remains for current-turn and next-turn obligations.
- Inputs / outputs: taps and pays 1 life to add `{W}` or `{B}`; `{1}`, tap, sacrifice draws a card. This registered list uses `{W}` for spells and does not need `{B}` for any registered card.
- Partners / packages: supports `Giver of Runes`, `Esper Sentinel`, `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, and `Stoneforge Mystic` early; later finds more action with `Aether Vial` on board; helps pay for `Path to Exile`, `March of Otherworldly Light`, and `Rest in Peace` after sideboarding.
- Role peers: `Horizon Canopy` is the closest peer with the same draw-sacrifice role; `Plains` is the painless white peer.
- Failure modes: early life loss can make `Batterskull` arrive too late; sacrificing it can cut off `Skyclave Apparition`, `Flickerwisp`, `Solitude`, or sideboard white interaction.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest in attrition games after land drops are covered; weakest against red damage races or fast creature pressure where every life point and untapped white source matters.
- Low-skill guidance: do not sacrifice it just to use mana; first confirm you can still cast the white cards that keep you alive.

#### Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- Deck role: main deck, 2 copies, legendary white land and channel interaction.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; interaction-removal; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: functions as an untapped white source until its channel ability can remove or finish an attacking or blocking creature without using a spell slot.
- Timing: play as a land when white mana is needed; channel only when 4 damage to an attacking or blocking creature changes combat, saves life, clears a key blocker, or preserves `Solitude`, `Skyclave Apparition`, `Path to Exile`, or `March of Otherworldly Light` for a better target.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for `{W}`; channel costs `{2}{W}` and discards Eiganjo to deal 4 damage to target attacking or blocking creature, with the cost reduced by `{1}` for each legendary creature you control.
- Mode map: land aspect supplies white mana and supports the curve; channel aspect is a nonspell combat interaction line that consumes this land card from hand and targets only an attacking or blocking creature.
- Partners / packages: `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` is the main legendary creature that can reduce channel cost; `Aether Vial` can reduce mana pressure so holding Eiganjo in hand for channel is more realistic.
- Role peers: `Solitude` and `Path to Exile` exile creatures; `March of Otherworldly Light` exiles artifact, creature, or enchantment permanents; Eiganjo only deals damage to attacking or blocking creatures.
- Failure modes: legendary duplicates can be awkward as lands; channeling too early costs a white source; 4 damage does not kill creatures with enough toughness or damage prevention.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong in creature combat and against attackers or blockers that dodge sorcery-speed answers; weak against noncreature engines or creatures that never attack or block.
- Low-skill guidance: if you need white mana, play it as a land; channel only for an attacking or blocking creature that matters now.

#### Plains
- Deck role: main deck, 4 copies, basic white mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: supplies painless white mana and is the registered basic land that `Field of Ruin` can find.
- Timing: prioritize early when the hand needs reliable white mana for `Giver of Runes`, `Esper Sentinel`, `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, or `Stoneforge Mystic`; preserve enough basics for `Field of Ruin` searches when that land-denial plan is active.
- Inputs / outputs: taps for `{W}` with no life payment and no sacrifice cost.
- Partners / packages: supports double-white `Skyclave Apparition`, `Flickerwisp`, `Sanctifier en-Vec`, and hard-cast `Solitude`; makes `Horizon Canopy` and `Silent Clearing` life payments less necessary.
- Role peers: `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`, `Horizon Canopy`, and `Silent Clearing` also make white; `Ghost Quarter` and `Field of Ruin` do not.
- Failure modes: only four copies means repeated `Field of Ruin` searches are finite; hands with only `Ghost Quarter` and `Field of Ruin` cannot cast white spells without help.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: especially important against burn, land pressure, and games where life-cost lands would shorten the race.
- Low-skill guidance: treat Plains as the safest early land; it casts the deck’s spells without costing life.

#### Sanctifier en-Vec
- Deck role: sideboard, 3 copies, graveyard and color-protection hate creature.
- Role type: hate piece; protection/evasion; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: attacks red and black graveyard plans while presenting a 2/2 body with protection from black and from red that can carry `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, or `Sword of Fire and Ice`.
- Timing: bring in when red or black cards in graveyards, red or black removal, or red or black combat pressure are central; deploy before the opponent puts more black or red cards into graveyards.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{W}{W}`; protection from black and from red affects targeting, damage, blocking, and attachment legality from those qualities; enters trigger exiles all black or red cards from all graveyards; replacement effect exiles black or red permanents, spells, or cards not on battlefield that would be put into a graveyard.
- Partners / packages: `Aether Vial` on two can deploy it; `Stoneforge Mystic` can find `Sword of Fire and Ice`, `Kaldra Compleat`, or `Batterskull` for Sanctifier to carry; `Rest in Peace` overlaps as broader graveyard hate.
- Role peers: `Rest in Peace` is broader graveyard hate but not a creature; `Burrenton Forge-Tender` overlaps against red damage but does not affect graveyards or black cards.
- Failure modes: does little against nonred, nonblack graveyards or colorless/white/green/blue interaction; double-white can be awkward with `Ghost Quarter` and `Field of Ruin`; protection does not stop sweepers that do not damage or target.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: excellent against red or black graveyard recursion, red damage, and black removal; sideboard out or avoid when the opponent’s key resources are artifacts, lands, or nonred/nonblack spells.
- Low-skill guidance: bring it in for red or black graveyard/removal pressure, not as a generic 2/2.

#### Rest in Peace
- Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, broad graveyard hate enchantment.
- Role type: hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: shuts off graveyards completely so Death And Taxes can win with taxes, Equipment, and combat while the opponent loses graveyard resources.
- Timing: cast before the opponent pays flashback, escape, delve, recursion, or graveyard-count costs; it usually does not undo a spell already legally cast and paid for.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{1}{W}`; when it enters, exiles all graveyards; if a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
- Partners / packages: pairs with `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` and `Leonin Arbiter` to attack different resource axes; `Aether Vial` helps keep creature deployment going while mana is spent on this noncreature spell; `Sanctifier en-Vec` overlaps against black or red graveyard cards.
- Role peers: `Sanctifier en-Vec` is narrower but also a protected creature; `Drannith Magistrate` stops casting from outside hand but does not exile graveyards.
- Failure modes: noncreature spell is taxed by `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`; reduces creature density for `Aether Vial`; does not answer creatures or permanents already on the battlefield.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: bring in against graveyard engines, recursion, escape, flashback, delve, and graveyard-count decks; avoid against decks that win through battlefield permanents without using graveyards.
- Low-skill guidance: cast it before the opponent uses the graveyard, then keep attacking; do not wait until after the graveyard spell is already cast.

#### Drannith Magistrate
- Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, cast-restriction hate creature.
- Role type: hate piece; role glue; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: prevents opponents from casting spells from anywhere other than their hands, adding a two-mana creature hate axis that works with `Aether Vial`.
- Timing: bring in only when the opponent visibly casts or plans to cast from exile, graveyard, library, or another non-hand zone; deploy before that casting window matters.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{1}{W}`; static ability applies to opponents only and stops them from casting spells from zones other than hand.
- Partners / packages: `Aether Vial` on two can deploy it at instant speed; `Giver of Runes` can protect it from targeted colored or colorless removal; `Rest in Peace` overlaps against graveyard-cast plans by removing the graveyard resource instead of restricting the casting permission.
- Role peers: `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` taxes noncreature spells broadly; `Leonin Arbiter` restricts searching; Drannith specifically restricts opponent casting zones.
- Failure modes: poor as a generic 1/3 when the opponent casts normally from hand; does not stop abilities, lands, or permanents already on battlefield; can be removed before the relevant cast attempt.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: high value against cascade-like, graveyard-cast, exile-cast, or adventure/impulse-style plans when visible; low value against ordinary creature decks.
- Low-skill guidance: sideboard it for non-hand casting, not just because it is a two-mana creature.

#### March of Otherworldly Light
- Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, flexible instant exile removal.
- Role type: interaction-removal; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: answers artifact, creature, or enchantment permanents that the main deck cannot efficiently handle, especially when instant speed matters.
- Timing: hold for permanents that threaten lethal, break the tax board, or invalidate Equipment combat; cast earlier only if waiting lets the opponent gain decisive value.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{X}{W}`; as an additional cost you may exile any number of white cards from your hand, reducing the spell cost by `{2}` for each card exiled this way; exiles target artifact, creature, or enchantment with mana value X or less.
- Partners / packages: `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` taxes March because it is a noncreature spell; `Leonin Arbiter` does not affect March because March does not search; white cards such as extra `Giver of Runes`, `Esper Sentinel`, `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, or `Solitude` can pay the alternate cost only when they are less important than the target.
- Role peers: `Skyclave Apparition` hits nonland nontoken opposing permanents with mana value 4 or less; `Path to Exile` hits only creatures; `Solitude` hits creatures and gives life.
- Failure modes: cannot target planeswalkers, lands, or spells on the stack; underpaying X makes the target illegal; exiling white cards can weaken `Solitude` or the tax board.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: bring in against artifact, creature, or enchantment engines; avoid when the opponent’s key cards are lands, planeswalkers, or stack-only spells.
- Low-skill guidance: set X at least to the target’s mana value and preserve white cards unless the permanent is decisive.

#### Path to Exile
- Deck role: sideboard, 2 copies, efficient creature exile.
- Role type: interaction-removal; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: removes a creature for one white mana, with `Leonin Arbiter` sometimes turning the basic-land drawback into a denied or taxed search.
- Timing: use on creatures that must not stay on battlefield: lethal attackers, combo creatures, large blockers stopping `Kaldra Compleat` or `Batterskull`, or threats too big for `Skyclave Apparition`; wait when the opponent’s search would fix their mana and the creature is not urgent.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{W}`; exiles target creature; that creature’s controller may search their library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
- Partners / packages: `Leonin Arbiter` taxes the controller’s search; `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` taxes Path because it is a noncreature spell; `Ghost Quarter` and `Field of Ruin` share the same search-denial pressure with Arbiter.
- Role peers: `Solitude` is main-deck creature exile that can be free by exiling a white card and gives life; `March of Otherworldly Light` can also hit artifacts or enchantments; `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` only damages attacking or blocking creatures.
- Failure modes: without `Leonin Arbiter`, Path can ramp or fix the opponent; cannot hit noncreature permanents or spells on the stack; casting it through Thalia costs extra.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: bring in against large creatures, creature combo, and combat decks; lower value against spell-light decks with few creature targets.
- Low-skill guidance: pair with `Leonin Arbiter` when possible, but still cast it if the creature will otherwise win the game.

#### Sword of Fire and Ice
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, singleton Equipment bullet and attrition payoff.
- Role type: engine payoff; threat/clock; protection/evasion; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: gives `Stoneforge Mystic` a post-board Equipment target that turns a connecting creature into damage plus a card while protecting the equipped creature from red and blue.
- Timing: bring in and tutor when protection from red and blue changes combat or removal, or when repeated combat-damage triggers are better than `Kaldra Compleat` speed or `Batterskull` lifegain.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{3}`; equipped creature gets +2/+2 and protection from red and from blue; whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, Sword deals 2 damage to any target and you draw a card; equip cost is `{2}`.
- Partners / packages: `Stoneforge Mystic` searches or deploys it; `Flickerwisp` is an evasive carrier; `Giver of Runes` can help another carrier connect through a chosen color or colorless blocker; `Sanctifier en-Vec` can be a protected carrier against red or black decks.
- Role peers: `Kaldra Compleat` is faster and bigger; `Batterskull` stabilizes with lifelink; Sword is best for attrition and protection from red/blue.
- Failure modes: does nothing without a creature; protection from red and blue does not stop white, black, green, colorless, sacrifice, or sweeper effects; `Kataki, War's Wage` taxes it.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strong against red or blue removal, creature stalls, and attrition; weak when the opponent answers artifacts cleanly or prevents combat damage to players.
- Low-skill guidance: search it only after sideboarding when red/blue protection or repeated hit triggers matter more than the main-deck Equipment choices.

#### Pithing Needle
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, activated-ability hate artifact.
- Role type: hate piece; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: shuts off activated abilities from a known named card, giving the deck a one-mana answer to specific engines that creature taxes and exile removal may not cover.
- Timing: cast when public information, matchup configuration, or revealed cards identify the correct name; do not guess if the opponent has not shown the card and no matchup data is reliable.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{1}`; as it enters, choose a card name; activated abilities of sources with the chosen name cannot be activated unless they are mana abilities.
- Partners / packages: `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben` taxes it because it is a noncreature spell; `Stoneforge Mystic` does not search for it because Needle is not Equipment; `Kataki, War's Wage` will tax it as an artifact if both are in the post-board game.
- Role peers: `Kataki, War's Wage` attacks artifact boards generally; `March of Otherworldly Light` exiles artifact, creature, or enchantment permanents; Pithing Needle is narrower but can hit activated abilities from card names March cannot profitably answer.
- Failure modes: wrong name wastes the card; does not stop triggered abilities, static abilities, mana abilities, spells, or abilities of differently named sources.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: bring in for known activated engines, creature lands if naming is supported, planeswalker-like activated abilities, or artifact engines with a central name; avoid against redundant threat decks.
- Low-skill guidance: name only a card you know matters from visible or configured information.

#### Kataki, War's Wage
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, artifact-tax hate creature.
- Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: pressures artifact-heavy opponents by forcing each artifact’s controller to pay `{1}` during upkeep or sacrifice that artifact, while adding a two-mana creature body.
- Timing: bring in when opposing artifact density is high enough that the upkeep tax hurts them more than your own artifacts; cast before the opponent untaps with a large artifact board when possible.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{1}{W}`; each artifact gains “At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this artifact unless you pay `{1}`.”
- Partners / packages: your own affected artifacts are `Aether Vial`, `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, `Sword of Fire and Ice`, and `Pithing Needle`; `Aether Vial` on two can deploy Kataki but then may need upkeep payments; `Giver of Runes` can protect Kataki from targeted removal.
- Role peers: `Pithing Needle` stops one named activated ability; `March of Otherworldly Light` exiles specific artifacts; Kataki taxes artifact-heavy boards broadly and can punish wide boards.
- Failure modes: symmetrical tax can force you to sacrifice `Aether Vial` or Equipment; weak when the opponent has few artifacts or enough spare mana; legendary copies are redundant on battlefield.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: strongest against artifact-heavy battlefield engines; avoid when your `Stoneforge Mystic` Equipment plan is more important than the opponent’s artifacts.
- Low-skill guidance: before casting Kataki, count your own `Aether Vial`, `Kaldra Compleat`, `Batterskull`, `Sword of Fire and Ice`, and `Pithing Needle` upkeep payments.

#### Burrenton Forge-Tender
- Deck role: sideboard, 1 copy, one-mana red-damage prevention creature.
- Role type: hate piece; protection/evasion; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: protects a key creature, the player, or the board from one red source’s damage for a turn while also serving as an `Aether Vial` one-counter creature or Equipment carrier in slower games.
- Timing: bring in against red damage, red sweepers, and red combat races; deploy before the turn where a red source can kill `Thalia, Guardian of Thraben`, `Leonin Arbiter`, `Stoneforge Mystic`, an Equipment carrier, or you.
- Inputs / outputs: costs `{W}`; has protection from red; sacrifice it to prevent all damage a red source of your choice would deal this turn.
- Partners / packages: `Aether Vial` on one can deploy it while keeping mana open; `Giver of Runes` overlaps on creature protection but cannot protect the player; `Sanctifier en-Vec` overlaps against red and black cards but does not prevent a red source’s damage to the player.
- Role peers: `Sanctifier en-Vec` is broader against red/black graveyards and red/black interaction; `Batterskull` stabilizes with lifelink after damage happens; Burrenton prevents a red source’s damage before it matters.
- Failure modes: does not stop nonred damage, life loss, exile, sacrifice, destroy effects without damage, or red effects that do not deal damage; using it too early can leave a later sweeper uncovered.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: premium against burn, red sweepers, and red removal pointed at the key tax creature or carrier; low value when red sources are absent.
- Low-skill guidance: save the sacrifice for the red source that would actually kill a creature, sweep the board, or deal lethal damage.

## Interaction Priorities
- Primary removal rule: exile or neutralize the permanent that invalidates the tax board before answering ordinary attackers. Prioritize creatures or artifacts that ignore combat math, produce repeated resources, or remove multiple hate creatures over single bodies that can be raced by Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or protected attacks.
- Exile first: use Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, March of Otherworldly Light, Path to Exile, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire on threats that beat creature combat, threaten lethal, or unlock the opponent through Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Leonin Arbiter. Do not spend Solitude pitch resources on a creature that Giver of Runes, Flickerwisp, or equipment can blank unless life total or tempo makes waiting unsafe.
- Tax first: protect Thalia, Guardian of Thraben against spell-heavy decks and Leonin Arbiter against fetch-heavy or search-heavy decks. A protected tax creature can be worth more than immediate removal if it strands the opponent's visible mana or makes Path to Exile, Ghost Quarter, and Field of Ruin asymmetrical.
- Land interaction rule: Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are interaction, not just mana sources. With Leonin Arbiter on battlefield, prioritize destroying nonbasic lands that produce missing colors, enable big-mana turns, or represent creature-land pressure; without Leonin Arbiter, use them more conservatively because the opponent may search normally.
- Equipment interaction rule: protect Stoneforge Mystic when it is about to put Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull onto the battlefield, but do not overprotect an already-resolved equipment if the carrier is replaceable. Against decks with artifact removal, bait with Aether Vial or Batterskull before committing Kaldra Compleat when the board can afford the delay.
- Stack and hand limitation rule: this deck has no registered counterspell, discard spell, or bounce spell. Do not invent counter, discard, or bounce decisions; interact through taxes, exile effects, protection, Flickerwisp timing, land destruction, and combat.
- Bait sequence: lead with Esper Sentinel, Aether Vial, or a redundant hate creature when the opponent's removal is likely to be forced early. Hold Giver of Runes, Stoneforge Mystic, Skyclave Apparition, or Solitude for the turn where protecting or answering the first decisive permanent changes the game.
- Ignore first: ignore low-impact blockers, mana creatures already taxed out of relevance, and small attackers that Batterskull lifelink or Kaldra Compleat racing can beat. Do not spend Skyclave Apparition on a replaceable small permanent if a planeswalker-like engine, artifact engine, or lock-breaking permanent is likely and within range.
- Archetype shift: against combo and spell decks, interaction priority is Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Esper Sentinel, then fast equipment. Against creature decks, priority becomes Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, Flickerwisp tempo, Giver of Runes protection, and Batterskull stabilization. Against graveyard decks after sideboard, Rest in Peace and Sanctifier en-Vec outrank normal combat development.
- Sideboard interaction rule: bring in March of Otherworldly Light and Path to Exile when exile speed matters more than maintaining density. Bring in Pithing Needle only when the name is known from public information or matchup context; a wrong name is worse than another creature. Bring in Kataki, War's Wage only when opposing artifacts are more punished than your Aether Vial, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, Pithing Needle, and Sword of Fire and Ice.

## Combat And Trading Rules
- Attack rule: attack when the pressure preserves the tax lock or forces the opponent to answer the wrong permanent. A single equipped or protected attacker is often better than exposing multiple hate creatures that are needed to keep Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Drannith Magistrate, or Sanctifier en-Vec active.
- Preserve rule: do not trade Giver of Runes, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, or Drannith Magistrate for a generic attacker unless the trade prevents lethal or protects a more decisive equipment line. These creatures are engines first and attackers second.
- Equipment carrier rule: prefer carriers that are expendable, protected, or evasive. Flickerwisp with Kaldra Compleat or Sword of Fire and Ice can close games quickly; Giver of Runes can carry equipment only when its protection ability is not needed to defend the board.
- Kaldra Compleat rule: race aggressively when Kaldra Compleat is online and the opponent lacks a visible profitable block or exile answer. Do not move all combat resources into Kaldra Compleat if a single removal spell or bounce-like opponent effect shown by rules output would undo the tempo and leave no blocker.
- Batterskull rule: stabilize before racing when life total is under pressure. Batterskull lifelink can justify taking small hits, but do not ignore a board that can assemble lethal before lifelink connects.
- Flickerwisp combat rule: use Flickerwisp to reset blockers, clear a temporary blocker, rebuy Skyclave Apparition-style pressure, or protect a permanent only when the end-step return timing is acceptable. Do not flicker away your own crucial blocker before the opponent's combat if that exposes lethal.
- Protection rule: use Giver of Runes to force damage through, blank targeted removal, or create a safe block, but respect legal target and color restrictions from the rules engine. Protection can make some blocks illegal or prevent damage from selected qualities; it does not stop sacrifice effects, sweepers without targeting, or colorless/nonmatching sources.
- Block rule: block to preserve life-total thresholds against aggressive decks and to protect planeswalker-like pressure if present, but avoid trading hate creatures for damage that Batterskull, Solitude, or a crack-back with equipment can recover. Under visible lethal, keep enough blockers back even if an attack looks favorable.
- Trade rule: trade Skyclave Apparition or Flickerwisp when the trade preserves a tax permanent or buys time for equipment. Avoid trading Esper Sentinel after it has taxed the opponent only if it is still drawing cards or carrying equipment; otherwise it can trade with real pressure.
- Life-total thresholds: above 12 life, prioritize board lock and equipment setup over chump blocks. From 8 to 12, count opponent visible attackers and haste-like or instant-speed damage from public rules output before attacking with blockers. Below 8, favor Batterskull lifelink, Solitude exile, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire channel windows, and leaving blockers over extra chip damage.
- Archetype shift: against control, attack with resilient single threats and protect Aether Vial timing; do not overextend into sweepers. Against combo, shorten the clock while preserving Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Leonin Arbiter. Against creature decks, trade only when it improves the next combat step or enables Batterskull and Kaldra Compleat to dominate.

## Selection And Tutor Rules
- Stoneforge Mystic rule: use Stoneforge Mystic as the only true main-deck tutor and choose equipment by battlefield role. Find Kaldra Compleat when pressure, inevitability, or a fast protected clock matters; find Batterskull when life total, blocking, or resilience against removal matters; after sideboard, find Sword of Fire and Ice when protection from its colors, card flow, or repeat combat damage is more important than lifelink or a single large threat.
- Stoneforge timing rule: cast Stoneforge Mystic when the opponent is least able to remove it before the activated ability matters. If Aether Vial can put Stoneforge Mystic onto the battlefield at instant speed, prefer windows that hide the searched equipment until the opponent has committed mana or removal.
- Equipment hand rule: do not search for an equipment that is already in hand unless a second copy exists, which this registered list does not have. If Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull is drawn naturally, use Stoneforge Mystic to find the other equipment or, post-sideboard, Sword of Fire and Ice if it is in the deck.
- Aether Vial selection rule: treat Aether Vial counters as future selection, not automatic growth. Keep Aether Vial at two counters when hand or matchup values Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Drannith Magistrate, Sanctifier en-Vec, Kataki, War's Wage, or Burrenton Forge-Tender; move toward three counters when Flickerwisp or Skyclave Apparition is the hand's main interaction; four counters is mostly for Solitude only when hard deployment through Aether Vial is realistic.
- Draw-land rule: use Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing as mana first when land drops still matter, then convert them into cards when flooding, when holding excess white sources, or when the extra card is needed before committing an attack, Solitude pitch, March of Otherworldly Light payment, or equipment line. Do not sacrifice the only untapped white source before checking Giver of Runes, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire channel, or hard-cast Solitude legality.
- Land-drop timing rule: play Plains early when the hand needs stable untapped white mana under opposing land pressure. Play Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin early when Leonin Arbiter is present or expected, but avoid exposing too many colorless lands if the hand needs double-spell white turns.
- Search-denial rule: pair Leonin Arbiter with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin when possible, and remember the controller of a search effect may have legal payment choices. Do not assume the opponent fails to search unless the rules engine reports the payment was not made or the search did not happen.
- No-scry rule: this list has no registered scry spell and no registered cantrip besides Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing drawing a card through sacrifice. Do not invent bottoming, surveil, loot, or library-filter decisions.

## Priority And Stack Rules
- Aether Vial window rule: activate Aether Vial at the last useful moment that preserves legal timing and information advantage. Common windows are opponent end step for Stoneforge Mystic or hate creatures, before blockers for Flickerwisp combat tricks, and in response to removal when a vialed Giver of Runes, Flickerwisp, or Skyclave Apparition changes the exchange.
- Aether Vial trigger rule: decide whether to add a counter from the current hand and board, not by habit. Two counters is the deck's densest tactical point, three counters unlocks Flickerwisp and Skyclave Apparition, and moving past three can strand important two-mana interaction in hand.
- Stoneforge Mystic activation rule: put Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull onto the battlefield when the opponent is tapped low, after they spend removal, or at opponent end step before a protected attack. Do not activate into visible artifact removal or bounce-like interaction when waiting keeps the same threat and forces the opponent to act first.
- Flickerwisp stack rule: use Flickerwisp only when the temporary exile and end-step return are beneficial under the current turn structure. Strong targets include your Skyclave Apparition for a reset, your Stoneforge Mystic for another equipment search, your endangered permanent in response to targeted interaction, or an opposing blocker/permanent whose absence matters before it returns.
- Flickerwisp failure rule: do not flicker your own tax creature, equipment carrier, or blocker when its absence gives the opponent a clean main phase, combat step, or lethal attack. The return timing is delayed, so the agent must count the opponent's next relevant window before choosing the target.
- Giver of Runes priority rule: hold up Giver of Runes when a protected attack, protected block, or targeted removal exchange is likely. Use the ability before damage or before the targeted spell resolves, and respect that it does not answer sweepers, sacrifice effects, or sources outside the chosen legal quality.
- Solitude timing rule: use Solitude as emergency exile interaction when a creature threatens lethal, breaks the tax lock, or invalidates equipment combat. Pitch-casting consumes a white card and gives up card economy, so prefer hard-cast Solitude or Skyclave Apparition when time and mana allow.
- Skyclave Apparition timing rule: cast or vial Skyclave Apparition when its exile target is already visible and within legal range from rules output. Avoid firing it at a minor permanent if a higher-impact artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker-like permanent is likely to resolve before the next interaction window.
- Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire channel rule: keep Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire available when combat math depends on an attacking or blocking creature. Channeling is not casting a spell, but it still requires a legal target and enough mana after accounting for taxes and other costs reported by the engine.
- Tax-stack rule: let opposing spells resolve when Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Esper Sentinel, or Leonin Arbiter already taxes the opponent into an inefficient line and the spell is not decisive. Spend exile interaction only when the resolved object or attack changes lethal, unlocks the opponent's engine, or removes a critical hate permanent.
- Graveyard timing rule: after sideboard, deploy Rest in Peace before the opponent can pay graveyard-based costs when possible. Do not treat Rest in Peace as a response to a spell already legally cast from the graveyard unless the rules engine shows a legal priority action that still changes the outcome.

## Sideboard Map
- Sideboarding rule: preserve the deck's functional spine of Aether Vial, white creature density, mana denial, and Stoneforge Mystic equipment access unless the matchup makes a specific package low-impact. Do not overload on noncreature sideboard cards when Aether Vial is needed to deploy threats through taxed mana.
- Sanctifier en-Vec role: bring Sanctifier en-Vec against red or black damage/removal decks, graveyard-leaning red or black decks, and attrition matchups where protection colors make it a stable equipment carrier. It is bad when protection from red and from black do not affect removal, blockers, or graveyard pressure; it changes role from hate creature to evasive carrier when Sword of Fire and Ice, Kaldra Compleat, or Batterskull is the main route to winning.
- Rest in Peace role: bring Rest in Peace when opposing graveyards are a primary resource, not merely incidental. It is bad when the opponent wins through battlefield size, mana, or stack interaction while ignoring graveyards; it also reduces the pressure density of Aether Vial hands because it is not a creature.
- Drannith Magistrate role: bring Drannith Magistrate against decks casting from exile, graveyard, library, or command-like alternate zones when Modern legality and rules output expose that axis. It is bad as a generic bear against battlefield creature decks; it changes role into an Aether Vial two-counter hate piece when instant-speed deployment can interrupt the opponent's planned cast window.
- March of Otherworldly Light role: bring March of Otherworldly Light when cheap exile interaction for artifact, creature, or enchantment permanents matters and pitching extra white cards is acceptable. It is bad when the hand is already card-light, when Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxes make holding mana awkward, or when the opponent's threats are mostly lands, planeswalkers, or spells on the stack.
- Path to Exile role: bring Path to Exile when clean creature exile is more important than denying lands, especially against large creatures that Solitude alone cannot cover efficiently. It is bad with Leonin Arbiter absent against opponents that exploit extra lands, but with Leonin Arbiter it can function as removal plus search pressure if the engine reports the opponent cannot or does not pay.
- Sword of Fire and Ice role: bring Sword of Fire and Ice against red or blue interaction, creature stalls, and matchups where a protected equipment carrier can repeatedly connect. It is bad when the opponent answers equipment cleanly, races before equip matters, or invalidates combat without targeting; it changes Stoneforge Mystic from Kaldra Compleat pressure toward repeatable card/damage advantage.
- Pithing Needle role: bring Pithing Needle when a known activated ability is central and the correct name is available from public information or matchup configuration. It is bad against decks with redundant threats and no single activated permanent; do not guess names from hidden information.
- Kataki, War's Wage role: bring Kataki, War's Wage against artifact-heavy decks where upkeep payments materially constrain battlefield development. It is bad when your own Aether Vial, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or Sword of Fire and Ice would be the more important artifacts and the opponent can pay comfortably; use it as a tax piece, not as removal.
- Burrenton Forge-Tender role: bring Burrenton Forge-Tender against red damage decks, red sweepers, and races where preventing a red source protects a key creature or life total. It is bad when red sources are absent or the opponent's answers are exile, sacrifice, black removal, white removal, or colorless effects; it changes role into a one-mana Aether Vial carrier when protection timing is not immediately needed.

Graveyard-red or graveyard-black pressure
Side in: 3 Sanctifier en-Vec; 2 Rest in Peace; 2 Path to Exile
Cut: 4 Esper Sentinel; 1 Batterskull; 1 Flickerwisp; 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Artifact-heavy battlefield engine
Side in: 1 Kataki, War's Wage; 2 March of Otherworldly Light; 1 Pithing Needle; 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
Cut: 4 Esper Sentinel; 1 Batterskull

Large-creature fair deck
Side in: 2 Path to Exile; 2 March of Otherworldly Light; 1 Sword of Fire and Ice
Cut: 4 Esper Sentinel; 1 Leonin Arbiter

Red damage race
Side in: 3 Sanctifier en-Vec; 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender; 1 Sword of Fire and Ice; 2 Path to Exile
Cut: 4 Esper Sentinel; 1 Batterskull; 1 Flickerwisp; 1 Leonin Arbiter

Alternate-zone or nonhand casting engine
Side in: 2 Drannith Magistrate; 2 Rest in Peace; 1 Pithing Needle
Cut: 4 Solitude; 1 Batterskull

- Against graveyard decks: Add role cards: Rest in Peace, Sanctifier en-Vec, and sometimes Drannith Magistrate when the opponent casts from zones other than hand. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel against decks that can pay later, Batterskull when lifelink is slower than hate, and excess Flickerwisp when there are few profitable battlefield targets.
- Against red removal or red race decks: Add role cards: Sanctifier en-Vec, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Path to Exile for creatures that must leave combat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel when the opponent can ignore the tax, Batterskull when five-mana equipment pacing is too slow, and Leonin Arbiter when search denial is not the pressure point.
- Against artifact decks: Add role cards: Kataki, War's Wage, March of Otherworldly Light, Pithing Needle for a named activated ability, and Sword of Fire and Ice if combat connects. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel first when the opponent empties artifacts instead of casting taxed noncreature spells; keep Aether Vial unless Kataki, War's Wage plus your own artifacts creates an immediate upkeep-payment problem.
- Against creature-heavy fair decks: Add role cards: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, and Sword of Fire and Ice. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel when the opponent's plan is mostly creatures, and one Leonin Arbiter when Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are not central to the game plan.
- Against spell-heavy low-creature decks: Add role cards: Drannith Magistrate only if nonhand casting matters, Pithing Needle only for a known activated ability, and Sword of Fire and Ice when combat can connect. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Solitude when there are too few targets, but keep Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Esper Sentinel because their taxes are the main disruption.
- Against decks with few legal removal targets: Add role cards: Pithing Needle for a visible activated-permanent plan and Sword of Fire and Ice for pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, and Solitude unless the opponent's visible threats justify exile effects.
- Equipment-sideboard rule: when Sword of Fire and Ice enters, Stoneforge Mystic's search priority becomes matchup-dependent. Search Kaldra Compleat for fastest lethal pressure, Batterskull for lifelink stabilization, and Sword of Fire and Ice when protection colors, combat stalls, or repeatable card advantage matter more than raw body size.
- Mana-denial sideboard rule: keep Leonin Arbiter with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin when the opponent relies on searching, greedy mana, or Path to Exile drawback mitigation. Reduce Leonin Arbiter emphasis only when the matchup is decided by immediate board combat and the opponent does not care about search restrictions.
- Thalia tension rule: keep Thalia, Guardian of Thraben against spell decks even when adding March of Otherworldly Light, Path to Exile, Rest in Peace, or Pithing Needle. Reduce Thalia emphasis only when your post-sideboard plan requires multiple noncreature spells early and the opponent is primarily creature-based.
- Aether Vial sideboard rule: keep Aether Vial in most plans because it deploys Giver of Runes, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, Sanctifier en-Vec, Drannith Magistrate, Kataki, War's Wage, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Flickerwisp, and Skyclave Apparition without spending main-phase mana. Reassess only when Kataki, War's Wage is active and your own artifact upkeep payments are more damaging than the tempo gained.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Prioritize surviving the first combat turns, then turn the corner with equipment or protected attacks. Keep hands that produce early Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, or Aether Vial plus lands; do not keep a slow equipment-only hand because Kaldra Compleat and Batterskull need Stoneforge Mystic, Aether Vial pacing, or enough time. Use Solitude and Skyclave Apparition on creatures that determine combat math, not on replaceable early bodies unless life total is already under pressure. Add role cards: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Burrenton Forge-Tender when red damage is central. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel when the opponent is mostly creature-based and can ignore the draw tax, and Batterskull when five-mana pacing is too slow.

- Control: Present staggered must-answer threats and protect the tax engine instead of committing everything into a sweeper. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Esper Sentinel should lead when they make opposing interaction awkward; Aether Vial lets you hold mana for Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Horizon Canopy, Silent Clearing, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire while adding creatures at instant speed. Stoneforge Mystic should choose Kaldra Compleat when fast pressure is needed, Batterskull when lifelink and recursion matter, or Sword of Fire and Ice after sideboard when protection colors and card flow matter. Add role cards: Sword of Fire and Ice and Pithing Needle only for a known activated ability. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Solitude if the opponent has few creatures, but keep enough exile effects for visible finishers.

- Combo: Identify whether the opponent loses to taxes, search denial, battlefield exile, graveyard lock, or alternate-zone restriction, then mulligan toward that axis. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is the broad spell tax; Leonin Arbiter plus Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin punishes search-heavy mana and tutor-like infrastructure only when the engine exposes legal search/payment choices; Drannith Magistrate matters when the opponent casts from places other than hand; Rest in Peace matters when graveyard resources are required. Do not spend Skyclave Apparition or Solitude on low-impact creatures if a visible engine permanent or payoff creature is likely to be the real choke point. Add role cards: Drannith Magistrate, Rest in Peace, Pithing Needle for a public activated-ability name, and March of Otherworldly Light when an artifact, creature, or enchantment permanent must be exiled. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Batterskull and excess creature-removal slots when speed and hate are more important than attrition.

- Tempo: Make land drops, keep mana denial live, and avoid walking Stoneforge Mystic equipment lines into a board where one bounced or removed carrier loses the race. Giver of Runes is high value if it protects Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, Stoneforge Mystic, or a key equipment carrier from targeted interaction, but it does not beat sweepers, sacrifice effects, or non-targeting pressure. Aether Vial is strong because it deploys through permission and lets Flickerwisp or Skyclave Apparition appear around combat and end-step windows. Add role cards: Sword of Fire and Ice when protection colors and repeatable damage matter, Path to Exile for large tempo threats, and Sanctifier en-Vec if red or black card pressure is central. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Batterskull when it is too slow and some Esper Sentinel copies when the opponent can pay after establishing pressure.

- Midrange: Trade resources while preserving the permanent that makes later trades unfair. Skyclave Apparition should answer the permanent that blocks your pressure, unlocks their engine, or blanks equipment; Solitude should be saved for creatures Skyclave Apparition cannot profitably answer or for survival. Flickerwisp is best when it reuses Stoneforge Mystic or Skyclave Apparition, resets your permanent, removes a blocker for a lethal turn, or breaks up an opposing permanent for one turn; do not spend it as a plain 3/1 flyer if a visible blink target is about to matter. Add role cards: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, and Sword of Fire and Ice. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel if both players are trading creatures more than casting noncreature spells.

- Big mana: Attack mana development before attacking life total when the opponent depends on land searching or expensive payoffs. Leonin Arbiter with Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can become real disruption only if the runtime confirms the land ability is legal and the opponent faces the search-payment restriction; do not assume a missed payment from hidden or unsupported state. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben buys time against noncreature setup spells, and Stoneforge Mystic into Kaldra Compleat gives the fastest clock when the opponent’s battlefield is not yet stable. Add role cards: Pithing Needle for a known activated permanent, March of Otherworldly Light for artifact or enchantment accelerants when legal, and Drannith Magistrate only if nonhand casting is part of the opponent’s plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Batterskull if lifelink does not change the race.

- Graveyard: Deploy graveyard hate before the opponent converts the graveyard into mana, cards, or battlefield presence. Rest in Peace is the cleanest static plan; Sanctifier en-Vec is strongest when red or black graveyard pressure and targeted removal overlap. Solitude and Path to Exile answer creatures that have already reached the battlefield, but they do not prevent graveyard costs or recursion already paid unless the rules engine exposes a legal response at the correct time. Add role cards: Rest in Peace, Sanctifier en-Vec, Path to Exile, and Drannith Magistrate when alternate-zone casting matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Batterskull and some Esper Sentinel when hate plus pressure is more important than card-tax attrition.

- Artifact/enchantment: Treat the matchup as a permanent-management puzzle, not a generic creature fight. Skyclave Apparition and March of Otherworldly Light are the primary exile tools for legal targets; Kataki, War's Wage taxes artifact boards but also taxes your Aether Vial, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, and Sword of Fire and Ice, so check your own upkeep burden before relying on it. Pithing Needle should name only a known activated ability from public information. Add role cards: Kataki, War's Wage, March of Otherworldly Light, Pithing Needle, and Sword of Fire and Ice when combat can connect. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel first if the opponent empties permanents quickly instead of casting taxed noncreature spells.

- Go-wide: Keep the board from snowballing and value Flickerwisp as a tempo piece that can remove a blocker or reset your own exile creature. Solitude should hit the creature that changes attacks, pumps the team, or threatens lethal, while Skyclave Apparition handles permanent-based engines when legal. Kaldra Compleat is strong when one large vigilant body stabilizes combat; Batterskull is strong when lifelink races multiple small attackers. Add role cards: Path to Exile and March of Otherworldly Light for extra exile density. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel when the opponent’s pressure is mostly creature deployment.

- Single-threat: Save clean answers for the real threat and avoid diluting the plan with low-impact trades. Solitude and Path to Exile are premium against a large creature; Skyclave Apparition covers legal lower-value permanents and some threat-support pieces; Giver of Runes can force through equipment attacks if the opponent relies on colored blockers or targeted removal. Add role cards: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Pithing Needle if one activated permanent is the threat engine. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess small-tax creatures only if they do not affect the opponent’s actual bottleneck.

- Burn: Protect life total first, then win with lifelink, prevention, or protection from relevant colors. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxes noncreature burn spells; Giver of Runes protects a key creature from targeted colored damage but does not protect the player; Burrenton Forge-Tender can prevent damage from a red source when the legal activation is available. Sanctifier en-Vec and Sword of Fire and Ice are important when their protections line up, while Batterskull is strong only if it arrives before life total is too low. Add role cards: Sanctifier en-Vec, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Path to Exile for must-answer creatures. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel when drawing a card is less important than not taking damage.

- Removal-heavy decks: Make every answer awkward by layering tax, protection, and recursive equipment pressure. Lead with Esper Sentinel or Thalia, Guardian of Thraben when they tax interaction; use Giver of Runes to protect the creature that matters most this turn; prefer Aether Vial lines that add threats without tapping mana into open removal. Stoneforge Mystic should value Batterskull when the game is attrition-based, Kaldra Compleat when the opponent lacks a clean exile answer, and Sword of Fire and Ice when protection colors and combat damage produce repeated advantage. Add role cards: Sword of Fire and Ice, Sanctifier en-Vec against red or black removal, and Burrenton Forge-Tender against red damage. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Path to Exile and March of Otherworldly Light only if the opponent presents few creatures or artifacts/enchantments worth exiling.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only notes: Revealed cards and rules-engine legal actions override these assumptions. Treat unknown opponents as a matchup-identification problem for the first two turns: prioritize whether they are constrained by Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, whether Leonin Arbiter plus Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin can tax land searching, whether Skyclave Apparition has legal engine targets, and whether Solitude must be preserved for a creature that beats Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull.

- Versus fast creature pressure: Stabilize combat before maximizing card-tax value. Prioritize Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, Path to Exile, and March of Otherworldly Light for creatures or permanents that change lethal math, pump attacks, or invalidate blocks. Add role cards: Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Burrenton Forge-Tender against red damage, and Sword of Fire and Ice when protection and combat damage can safely connect. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel when the opponent mostly spends mana on creatures and the extra card is slower than survival.

- Versus spell-heavy tempo or control: Make every noncreature spell cost more and every removal spell line up poorly. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Esper Sentinel are early pressure pieces, Giver of Runes should guard the permanent that carries equipment or keeps taxes active, and Aether Vial is valuable for deploying threats through open mana. Add role cards: Sanctifier en-Vec against red or black interaction, Burrenton Forge-Tender against red sweepers or damage, Sword of Fire and Ice when protection colors matter, and Pithing Needle only for a known activated ability. Reduce main-deck emphasis: some creature removal if the opponent shows few legal targets.

- Versus big mana and land-search decks: Attack mana before life total when Leonin Arbiter is present or when the opponent’s visible plan depends on land searching. Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin are strongest when the search restriction is active and the runtime exposes legal activation windows; do not assume the opponent fails to pay unless the rules engine records that choice. Add role cards: Pithing Needle for a public activated permanent, Drannith Magistrate if the opponent casts from nonhand zones, and March of Otherworldly Light for legal artifact or enchantment accelerants. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Batterskull when lifelink does not alter the clock.

- Versus graveyard decks: Deploy hate before the opponent turns graveyard resources into spells, mana, or creatures. Rest in Peace is the main static graveyard plan; Sanctifier en-Vec is strongest when red or black graveyard cards and red or black removal overlap. Solitude and Path to Exile answer creatures already on the battlefield, but they do not undo costs already paid from the graveyard. Add role cards: Rest in Peace, Sanctifier en-Vec, Path to Exile, and Drannith Magistrate when nonhand casting matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Batterskull or excess Esper Sentinel if hate plus pressure is the better clock.

- Versus artifact or enchantment engines: Preserve exile effects for the permanent that actually converts resources. Skyclave Apparition and March of Otherworldly Light are the cleanest answers to legal targets; Kataki, War's Wage can punish artifact density but also taxes your Aether Vial, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, and Sword of Fire and Ice. Add role cards: Kataki, War's Wage, March of Otherworldly Light, Pithing Needle, and Sword of Fire and Ice when combat connects. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Esper Sentinel if the opponent empties artifacts quickly instead of casting taxed noncreature spells.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: This deck has many colorless or life-costing lands, so opening hands with Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Horizon Canopy, Silent Clearing, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Plains must be judged by whether they cast Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, and Stoneforge Mystic on time. Do not treat Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin as painless white sources.

- Matchup risk: The deck can draw the wrong half when taxes do not touch the opponent’s bottleneck. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is weaker against creature-heavy boards, Leonin Arbiter is weaker when searching is irrelevant, and Giver of Runes is weaker against sweepers or non-targeting effects.

- Draw risk: Aether Vial hands are powerful only when the creature curve and counters line up. Avoid keeping a slow hand that has Aether Vial but no early creature sequence, no white source, or no pressure plan.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Removing too many creatures makes Aether Vial, equipment, and Flickerwisp worse. Keep enough bodies to carry Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or Sword of Fire and Ice and enough pressure to make tax effects matter.

- Graveyard risk: Rest in Peace can shut off opposing graveyard plans but does not answer resolved battlefield threats by itself. Pair it with pressure or exile removal instead of spending a turn on hate that does not affect the current lethal line.

- Sweeper and removal risk: Giver of Runes protects against targeted colored interaction when legal, but it does not stop edicts, sweepers, sacrifice effects, or colorless/non-targeting removal. Aether Vial can rebuild after removal, but only if counters and hand contents match.

- Closer risk: Kaldra Compleat is the fastest equipment closer, Batterskull is the stabilizing lifelink closer, and Sword of Fire and Ice is the attrition closer. Choosing the wrong Stoneforge Mystic target can lose the race even when the tutor resolves.

- Interaction risk: Solitude has a high opportunity cost when cast for its alternate cost, and Skyclave Apparition has target restrictions. Spend them on threats or engines that change the game state, not on replaceable bodies unless survival requires it.

- Sequencing risk: Flickerwisp is easy to underuse as a plain attacker. Prioritize blink lines that reuse Stoneforge Mystic, reset Skyclave Apparition interactions, clear a blocker for a decisive attack, or temporarily disrupt a permanent when the visible board makes that timing matter.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Which permanent or exchange actually decided the game: Aether Vial tempo, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben taxing noncreature spells, Leonin Arbiter constraining search, Stoneforge Mystic finding a closer, Skyclave Apparition or Solitude answering a key threat, or sideboard hate changing the opponent's plan?

- Mulligan check: Did the opener contain a legal white-mana plan for the first two turns, and did it have either pressure plus disruption or Aether Vial plus enough creatures to justify the keep?

- Mana check: Did Ghost Quarter, Field of Ruin, Horizon Canopy, Silent Clearing, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Plains support the intended curve, or did colorless lands and life payments delay Giver of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, or Stoneforge Mystic?

- Velocity check: Did Aether Vial add more mana than it cost, and were its counters aligned with actual hand contents, or did it sit on an unhelpful number while the deck needed castable spells?

- Tax-engine check: Did Esper Sentinel, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Leonin Arbiter tax the opponent's bottleneck, or were they low-impact bodies against a creature-heavy or mana-rich board?

- Search-restriction check: When Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin was available with Leonin Arbiter, did the pilot fire it at a window where the opponent's search payment was constrained, or did it give the opponent time to pay or ignore the tax?

- Removal check: Were Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, and Path to Exile spent on threats or engines that changed lethal math, card flow, or combat access, or were they used on replaceable creatures while a better target was visible?

- Equipment check: Did Stoneforge Mystic choose the right closer: Kaldra Compleat for fast pressure, Batterskull for lifelink stabilization, or Sword of Fire and Ice after sideboarding for protection and attrition?

- Flicker check: Did Flickerwisp reuse Stoneforge Mystic, reset or reposition Skyclave Apparition interactions, clear a blocker, or disrupt a permanent at a meaningful timing point, or was it only used as a three-mana attacker?

- Combat check: Did Giver of Runes change attacks or blocks by protecting the important creature, and did the pilot avoid attacking with needed blockers when the opponent represented lethal on board?

- Sideboard check: Did Rest in Peace, Sanctifier en-Vec, Drannith Magistrate, Kataki, War's Wage, Pithing Needle, Burrenton Forge-Tender, March of Otherworldly Light, Path to Exile, and Sword of Fire and Ice enter only when their text matched the opponent's visible plan?

- Closing check: Did the deck turn tax advantage into a clock before the opponent escaped, or did it keep interacting without presenting Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, Sword of Fire and Ice, Flickerwisp pressure, or protected creature damage?

- Role check: Was the deck correctly assigned as aggressor, prison-tempo deck, stabilizer, or attrition deck after sideboarding, and did that role change after the first key exchange?

- Mistake check: Which legal action looked attractive but failed tactically: early land destruction without Leonin Arbiter pressure, overprotecting Esper Sentinel, overcommitting into a sweeper, wrong Stoneforge Mystic target, or spending Solitude too early?

- Stranded-card check: Which cards stayed unused in hand, and why: Kaldra Compleat or Batterskull without Stoneforge Mystic, Flickerwisp without a target, Solitude without a pitch card, sideboard hate without a matching opponent resource, or lands that did not cast white spells?

- Performance check: Which card overperformed or underperformed in the match, and was that caused by matchup texture, sequencing, sideboard plan, or registered quantity?

## First Tuning Questions

- Aether Vial quantity: If multiple losses involved slow hands, awkward counters, or too few creatures to deploy, should four Aether Vial remain mandatory, or is the issue actually mulligan discipline and counter management?

- One-drop pressure: If the deck failed to tax early, did four Giver of Runes and four Esper Sentinel provide enough turn-one action, or did too many hands rely on Aether Vial without a follow-up creature?

- Tax density: If opponents ignored the disruption, did Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Leonin Arbiter line up poorly against the tested field, or did the pilot fail to pair Leonin Arbiter with Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin at constrained windows?

- Mana balance: If white spells were delayed, should the land mix with four Ghost Quarter, four Field of Ruin, four Horizon Canopy, four Silent Clearing, two Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and four Plains be adjusted toward more reliable white sources?

- Life-total pressure: If Horizon Canopy and Silent Clearing caused race losses, were their draw modes worth the damage, or should the list reduce life-costing lands for matchups where Batterskull is needed just to stabilize?

- Removal mix: If creature decks overwhelmed the board, are four Skyclave Apparition and four Solitude enough main-deck removal, or do sideboard Path to Exile and March of Otherworldly Light need more space or more frequent use?

- Closer split: If Stoneforge Mystic often found the wrong threat, is the one Kaldra Compleat plus one Batterskull package sufficient, or does Sword of Fire and Ice deserve main-deck consideration for attrition-heavy fields?

- Aggro plan: If fast creature matchups remain bad, should the sideboard add more early removal, lifegain, or protection beyond Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Burrenton Forge-Tender, and Sanctifier en-Vec?

- Control plan: If spell-heavy opponents beat the taxes, did the deck need more resilient threats, more equipment pressure, or better protection sequencing around Giver of Runes and Aether Vial?

- Graveyard plan: If Rest in Peace and Sanctifier en-Vec were too slow or too narrow, should the sideboard graveyard package change, or were losses caused by not pairing hate with a fast clock?

- Artifact plan: If artifact decks beat Kataki, War's Wage, was the issue that Kataki, War's Wage conflicted with Aether Vial, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, and Sword of Fire and Ice, or that it entered without enough pressure?

- Role conflict: If sideboarding weakened Aether Vial, Stoneforge Mystic, or Flickerwisp, did the plan cut too many creatures, or is the deck trying to become a control deck without enough card advantage?

- Flex-slot pressure: If specific sideboard cards were repeatedly stranded, should Pithing Needle, Kataki, War's Wage, Burrenton Forge-Tender, or the second copies of Rest in Peace, Drannith Magistrate, March of Otherworldly Light, and Path to Exile be reassigned to broader answers?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Hand Tax Engine
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan
- Cards: Aether Vial; Esper Sentinel; Giver of Runes; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; Leonin Arbiter; Stoneforge Mystic; Plains; Horizon Canopy; Silent Clearing; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- Phase windows: opening hand, mulligan decisions
- Runtime cues: opening_hand; legal_action:mulligan; legal_action:keep
- Use when: choosing whether the hand can cast or deploy a turn-one play and a turn-two tax or Stoneforge Mystic line.
- Avoid when: hand evaluation depends on hidden matchup knowledge not visible from game one.
- Instructions: Keep hands with white access plus Aether Vial or a castable one-drop and a follow-up disruptive creature. Mulligan hands that cannot make white mana early, cannot deploy pressure, or rely only on Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin for development.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Permanent Setup
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; priority
- Cards: Aether Vial; Esper Sentinel; Giver of Runes
- Phase windows: turn one main phase
- Runtime cues: action:cast Aether Vial; action:cast Esper Sentinel; action:cast Giver of Runes
- Use when: multiple turn-one plays are legal from visible mana.
- Avoid when: only one legal turn-one permanent exists.
- Instructions: Prefer Aether Vial when the hand has multiple creatures and can use future uncounterable tempo. Prefer Esper Sentinel when taxing immediate noncreature spells matters. Prefer Giver of Runes when protecting Stoneforge Mystic, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, or Leonin Arbiter is the hand's next turn.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Aether Vial Counter Management
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; selection
- Cards: Aether Vial; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; Leonin Arbiter; Stoneforge Mystic; Skyclave Apparition; Flickerwisp
- Phase windows: upkeep, opponent end step, combat tricks
- Runtime cues: action:put a charge counter on Aether Vial; action:activate Aether Vial
- Use when: Aether Vial trigger or activation is legal and hand contents are visible to the pilot.
- Avoid when: adding a counter strands the current hand off an important creature mana value.
- Instructions: Hold Aether Vial on two when the hand needs Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Leonin Arbiter, or Stoneforge Mystic. Move to three when Skyclave Apparition or Flickerwisp is the next disruptive play. Use opponent-end-step activations to preserve mana and surprise blockers.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Leonin Arbiter Land-Denial Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mana; interaction
- Cards: Leonin Arbiter; Ghost Quarter; Field of Ruin
- Phase windows: opponent upkeep, draw step, main phases, combat when mana is constrained
- Runtime cues: action:activate Ghost Quarter; action:activate Field of Ruin
- Use when: Leonin Arbiter is on battlefield and the opponent does not visibly have enough untapped mana to pay the search tax without losing the turn's key action.
- Avoid when: activating fixes the opponent's mana, unlocks their spell, or sacrifices your own needed land drop.
- Instructions: Pair Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin with Leonin Arbiter as mana denial, not generic land cycling. Target lands that constrain colors, creature lands, or utility lands before basic-looking redundancy.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Ghost Quarter Search Denial
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction
- Cards: Leonin Arbiter; Ghost Quarter
- Phase windows: any legal activation window
- Runtime cues: action:activate Ghost Quarter
- Use when: Leonin Arbiter is on battlefield, the opponent has zero untapped mana, and Ghost Quarter can target an opponent land.
- Avoid when: the only legal target is your own land or the opponent has a replacement effect or visible ability that changes the result.
- Instructions: Activate Ghost Quarter targeting the opponent land selected by the legal action when the search payment is visibly unavailable.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Stoneforge Mystic Search Choice
- Priority: High
- Decision families: selection
- Cards: Stoneforge Mystic; Kaldra Compleat; Batterskull; Sword of Fire and Ice
- Phase windows: Stoneforge Mystic enters-the-battlefield trigger, sideboard games
- Runtime cues: action:search; action:choose Kaldra Compleat; action:choose Batterskull; action:choose Sword of Fire and Ice
- Use when: Stoneforge Mystic search is legal and equipment choices are available from the registered deck after sideboarding.
- Avoid when: legality text does not expose the equipment names.
- Instructions: Choose Kaldra Compleat for fastest closing pressure, Batterskull when lifelink and stabilizing body matter, and Sword of Fire and Ice when it is sideboarded and protection or attrition damage is more important than raw size.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Stoneforge Mystic Put-Into-Play Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; mana
- Cards: Stoneforge Mystic; Kaldra Compleat; Batterskull; Sword of Fire and Ice
- Phase windows: opponent end step, own main phase, combat setup
- Runtime cues: action:activate Stoneforge Mystic
- Use when: Stoneforge Mystic can put an equipment from hand onto the battlefield.
- Avoid when: the equipment is not in hand, Stoneforge Mystic must block to prevent lethal, or the opponent can remove Stoneforge Mystic before activation from visible stack information.
- Instructions: Activate at opponent end step to untap with the Germ or equipment unless immediate combat or survival requires main-phase deployment. Do not tap Stoneforge Mystic away from a required block without lethal or stabilization payoff.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Skyclave Apparition Target Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; selection
- Cards: Skyclave Apparition; Flickerwisp
- Phase windows: main phase, Aether Vial timing, Flickerwisp setup
- Runtime cues: action:target Skyclave Apparition; action:target permanent
- Use when: Skyclave Apparition target choice is legal for an opponent nonland nontoken permanent within its visible restriction.
- Avoid when: the target is replaceable and a more dangerous engine, blocker, or lethal enabler is visible.
- Instructions: Spend Skyclave Apparition on threats that change combat, card flow, mana, or lock escape. Account for the token created if Skyclave Apparition leaves before choosing a low-impact permanent.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Solitude Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Solitude
- Phase windows: opponent combat, end step, own main phase, stack windows with flash
- Runtime cues: action:cast Solitude; action:evoke Solitude; action:target creature
- Use when: a visible creature threatens lethal, breaks the tax plan, or invalidates combat.
- Avoid when: exiling a white card would remove the only tax piece, protection piece, or Stoneforge Mystic payoff needed to win.
- Instructions: Use Solitude as survival removal first and tempo removal second. Remember the controller gains life equal to the exiled creature's power, so do not fire it on a large creature if the life gain prevents your near-term clock without solving a crisis.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Flickerwisp Target Selection
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; priority; interaction
- Cards: Flickerwisp; Stoneforge Mystic; Skyclave Apparition; Aether Vial; Kaldra Compleat; Batterskull; Sword of Fire and Ice
- Phase windows: main phase, end step with Aether Vial, combat disruption
- Runtime cues: action:target Flickerwisp; action:target permanent
- Use when: Flickerwisp enters and multiple legal target permanents exist.
- Avoid when: exiling your own permanent loses an attached equipment, removes a needed blocker through combat, or gives the opponent a better Skyclave Apparition token exchange.
- Instructions: Prefer targets that reuse Stoneforge Mystic, reset or delay an opposing permanent, open a combat step, or create a clean end-step return. Route ambiguous target pairs through light-model.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Giver of Runes Protection Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; combat; priority
- Cards: Giver of Runes; Stoneforge Mystic; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben; Leonin Arbiter; Skyclave Apparition; Flickerwisp
- Phase windows: removal response, combat declare blockers, damage prevention setup
- Runtime cues: action:activate Giver of Runes; action:target another target creature
- Use when: Giver of Runes can protect another target creature from a visible colored or colorless source, blocker, or removal spell.
- Avoid when: the threatened creature is not another creature you control or protection would make your own Aura/equipment action illegal.
- Instructions: Protect the creature that preserves the lock, the Stoneforge Mystic engine, or lethal combat. Do not spend Giver of Runes on Esper Sentinel if Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Leonin Arbiter is the actual bottleneck.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Role Assignment
- Priority: High
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Giver of Runes; Flickerwisp; Kaldra Compleat; Batterskull; Sword of Fire and Ice; Skyclave Apparition; Solitude
- Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers
- Runtime cues: action:attack; action:block
- Use when: combat choices affect lethal race, equipment pressure, or required blockers.
- Avoid when: exactly one legal combat action exists and no tactical choice remains.
- Instructions: Attack when tax pressure must become a clock, especially with Kaldra Compleat or protected evasive damage. Hold back creatures that are required to prevent visible lethal. Trade bodies when equipment, Flickerwisp, or Solitude leaves you ahead afterward.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Esper Sentinel Tax Pressure
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority; combat
- Cards: Esper Sentinel; Giver of Runes; Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- Phase windows: early turns, opponent noncreature spell turns, combat pump-equipment context
- Runtime cues: trigger:Esper Sentinel; action:attack Esper Sentinel
- Use when: Esper Sentinel changes opponent sequencing or draw pressure.
- Avoid when: protecting or attacking with Esper Sentinel exposes a higher-impact tax creature or loses a needed blocker.
- Instructions: Treat Esper Sentinel as card-flow pressure, not the whole lock. Increase its relevance with combat damage when safe, but preserve Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Leonin Arbiter first when the opponent's plan depends on noncreature spells or searching.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Eiganjo Channel Removal
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; mana
- Cards: Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- Phase windows: combat, end step, main phase when channel is legal
- Runtime cues: action:channel Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; action:target attacking creature; action:target blocking creature
- Use when: Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire can remove or shrink a combat problem while preserving spell slots.
- Avoid when: using it as a spell leaves too few lands to cast white interaction or deploy equipment.
- Instructions: Value Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as both white mana and channel interaction. Channel it for combat-critical attacking or blocking creatures, especially when conventional removal is absent or taxed.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Card-Draw Land Cash-In
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: mana; selection
- Cards: Horizon Canopy; Silent Clearing
- Phase windows: opponent end step, flood states, late game
- Runtime cues: action:activate Horizon Canopy; action:activate Silent Clearing
- Use when: extra lands exceed current mana needs and life payment is visible as nonlethal.
- Avoid when: life total is under pressure, white mana is required this turn cycle, or sacrificing the land blocks Stoneforge Mystic, Solitude, or sideboard interaction.
- Instructions: Cash in Horizon Canopy or Silent Clearing after deploying the tax engine or when drawing is more valuable than another land. Preserve them as white sources in opening and midgame development.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Hate Matching
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard; pregame
- Cards: Sanctifier en-Vec; Rest in Peace; Drannith Magistrate; March of Otherworldly Light; Path to Exile; Sword of Fire and Ice; Pithing Needle; Kataki, War's Wage; Burrenton Forge-Tender
- Phase windows: sideboarding, pregame after known opponent cards
- Runtime cues: sideboard; opponent_visible_cards; match_history
- Use when: boarding after seeing opponent colors, card types, graveyard use, activated abilities, artifacts, or red damage pressure.
- Avoid when: the hate card attacks no visible resource or dilutes creature count below Aether Vial and equipment needs.
- Instructions: Add Rest in Peace or Sanctifier en-Vec for graveyard dependence, Drannith Magistrate for cast-from-outside-hand plans, Kataki, War's Wage for artifact boards, Pithing Needle for named activated abilities, and removal when creature pressure demands it.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Path And March Removal Use
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction
- Cards: Path to Exile; March of Otherworldly Light; Leonin Arbiter
- Phase windows: combat, end step, main phase, stack windows when legal
- Runtime cues: action:cast Path to Exile; action:cast March of Otherworldly Light; action:target creature; action:target artifact; action:target enchantment
- Use when: sideboard removal is available and a visible permanent threatens lethal, engine snowball, or combat lock.
- Avoid when: Path to Exile gives the opponent a land through an avoidable window, or March of Otherworldly Light requires exiling a card more important than the target.
- Instructions: Pair Path to Exile with Leonin Arbiter when possible. Use March of Otherworldly Light for targets its legal action text can actually hit, preserving white cards unless the target is decisive.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Artifact-Hate Self-Check
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: sideboard; priority
- Cards: Kataki, War's Wage; Aether Vial; Kaldra Compleat; Batterskull; Sword of Fire and Ice
- Phase windows: sideboarding, main phase deployment, upkeep tax resolution
- Runtime cues: action:cast Kataki, War's Wage; trigger:Kataki, War's Wage
- Use when: opponent artifact density is visible and Kataki, War's Wage is in the post-board plan.
- Avoid when: your own Aether Vial, Kaldra Compleat, Batterskull, or Sword of Fire and Ice is the only path to winning and the opponent has few artifacts.
- Instructions: Cast Kataki, War's Wage when its tax hurts the opponent more than your equipment and Aether Vial. Plan upkeep payments before committing multiple artifacts.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
