# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Ruby Storm is a Historic combo-storm deck registered as 60 main-deck cards and 15 postboard cards, with active validation passing the stated Historic deck-size contract. The registered main deck contains 4 Ral, Monsoon Mage; 4 Pinnacle Monk; 4 Ruby Medallion; 3 Goblin Charbelcher; 4 Manamorphose; 4 Pyretic Ritual; 4 Valakut Awakening; 4 Strike It Rich; 3 Reckless Impulse; 4 Shatterskull Smashing; 3 Wrenn's Resolve; 4 Jeska's Will; 4 Sundering Eruption; 3 Wish; 1 Irencrag Feat; 3 Storm of Memories; and 4 Bloodsoaked Insight. The registered sideboard contains 1 Mox Amber; 2 Lithomantic Barrage; 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Grapeshot; 1 Underworld Breach; 1 Untimely Malfunction; 1 Alchemist's Gambit; 1 Galvanic Relay; 1 Empty the Warrens; 1 Goblin Charbelcher; 2 Irencrag Feat; 1 Tendrils of Agony; and 1 Storm of Memories.

Use the archetype tags `combo` and `storm` as the primary strategy labels, and treat the duplicate supplied tag string `combo,storm` as the same strategic identity rather than a separate plan. This is not a normal midrange or control deck: most decisions should be evaluated by whether they assemble mana, reduce costs, generate storm count, see more cards, or convert a decisive turn into a win through Goblin Charbelcher, Wish access, or sideboard payoffs.

Classify the list as a hybrid Ruby Storm build rather than a purely stock shell unless local testing proves it matches a known exact archetype. Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Storm of Memories, Bloodsoaked Insight, and Wish define the storm-engine posture; Goblin Charbelcher, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, and Pinnacle Monk create a spell-dense mana and payoff structure that requires runtime care. Do not assume a familiar stock sideboard plan from another Ruby Storm list, because this registered sideboard has exact singletons and two-copy packages that constrain legal Wish and sideboarding choices.

Respect the legality boundary at runtime: Veles may choose only engine-enumerated legal actions, and this guide should never override the rules engine on castability, mana payment, timing, target legality, storm count, or whether a modal card can be played as a land or cast as a spell. If the visible legal actions do not offer the expected combo action, the pilot must choose from the available actions instead of inventing a missing ritual, draw spell, Wish target, Goblin Charbelcher activation, or postboard card.

Flag the mana model as a major role concern because this registration appears to rely on spell-lands and nontraditional red sources rather than a conventional land suite. The pilot must track visible land drops, tapped-versus-untapped mana availability, treasure or temporary mana if produced by legal card actions, cost reduction from Ruby Medallion only when the engine confirms it applies, and color conversion through Manamorphose only when Manamorphose is a legal cast. Card text check required for any ambiguous modal-face, discount, storm, exile-cast, or temporary-permission interaction before treating it as deterministic.

Treat the role assignment as proactive combo first and emergency damage-control second. The default seat should mulligan and sequence toward a compact engine of mana plus card flow, then commit only when visible mana, action chain, payoff access, and opponent pressure make going now better than passing. Combat is normally incidental unless Ral, Monsoon Mage or Pinnacle Monk creates a visible creature-action decision, and the pilot should not trade engine pieces in combat without a survival or deterministic win reason from the board state.

Opponent information status is currently unsupplied, so matchup reads must come from public format context, revealed cards, battlefield state, graveyards, exile, stack contents, life totals, and Veles logs. Do not name specific opponent cards in policy `Cards:` fields unless they are registered in Ruby Storm; use prose or `opponent:` prefixes only when a later matchup section needs metagame examples. Hidden hand contents, library contents, counterspell availability, removal, graveyard hate, and speed of the opposing kill remain unknown until revealed by the rules engine or public actions.

## Thesis
Ruby Storm assembles a cost-reduced red spell chain that turns cheap mana, exile-card velocity, and Wish access into a single decisive turn. The deck is trying to begin with a functional mana base from Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, Pinnacle Monk, and temporary mana spells, then convert Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, and Storm of Memories into enough resources to finish through Goblin Charbelcher or a sideboard payoff found by Wish.

Prioritize engine integrity over small battlefield exchanges. Ruby Storm is not trying to win by fair combat, incremental removal, or holding up reactive answers for many turns; it is trying to preserve life total long enough to execute a high-resource turn. Treat every early decision as a question of whether it increases the chance of reaching a legal chain with mana, cards, cost reduction, and a payoff before the opponent's visible clock or disruption makes waiting worse.

Commit only when the visible resources justify the storm turn. The pilot should prefer a delayed combo turn when the hand lacks a payoff, card flow, or mana continuity, but should go now when waiting exposes Goblin Charbelcher, Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or Wish lines to lethal pressure or known interaction. Do not assume a hidden payoff exists; use only visible hand, exile permissions, graveyard, stack, battlefield, and legal actions.

Respect card-text uncertainty in all non-obvious lines. Card text check required for Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pinnacle Monk, Storm of Memories, Bloodsoaked Insight, Untimely Malfunction, Alchemist's Gambit, Galvanic Relay, and any modal-face or temporary-cast interaction before treating a choice as deterministic. If the rules engine presents the legal action, the pilot may use the strategic role in this guide, but the guide must not invent timing, cost, target, storm, recursion, or transformation rules.

## Role Package
- Threats: Goblin Charbelcher is the primary main-deck permanent payoff and should be protected from low-value deployment when activation mana or follow-up access is not visible. Ral, Monsoon Mage is an engine-threat hybrid; use it as a combo enabler or payoff only when legal text and visible board state support that role, and avoid treating it as a normal attacker unless combat is forced by lethal math or pressure. Pinnacle Monk is a spell-land or creature-adjacent resource piece in this registration; Card text check required before assigning it a combat, mana, or spell-chain role.

- Payoffs: Wish converts a live combo turn into access to sideboard win conditions or continuation tools, so preserve Wish when the hand can plausibly produce enough mana and storm count to make the chosen postboard card matter. Sideboard payoff access includes Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, Alchemist's Gambit, Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Irencrag Feat, and Storm of Memories, but choose among them only from legal actions and visible resources.

- Engines: Ruby Medallion is the defining setup permanent because cost reduction increases the density of castable red spells across the combo turn. Ral, Monsoon Mage is a secondary engine if its visible legal actions support cost reduction, copying, transformation, or storm payoff patterns; Card text check required before prioritizing any specific Ral line. Storm of Memories and Bloodsoaked Insight are registered as engine cards, but their exact tactical use depends on confirmed legal text and runtime action labels.

- Velocity: Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Valakut Awakening, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, and Wish should be treated as ways to see or access more cards during the combo turn. Prefer velocity before irreversible payoff commitment when mana remains available and the visible line needs more resources, but avoid exiling cards or consuming Wish access when the current legal line already wins.

- Interaction: Main-deck interaction is limited and largely incidental through Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Ral, Monsoon Mage, and Goblin Charbelcher if legal actions allow damage or removal-like play. Sideboard interaction is concentrated in Lithomantic Barrage, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, and possibly Mox Amber or Alchemist's Gambit depending on confirmed text and matchup role. Use interaction to buy a combo turn, clear a hate piece, or answer lethal pressure; do not drift into a control plan without a visible reason.

- Protection: Protection is mostly structural rather than card-specific: sequence Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Wish, and Goblin Charbelcher to minimize exposure to visible pressure and known disruption. Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, and Lithomantic Barrage can become sideboard protection or anti-interaction tools only when their legal actions match the opposing board or stack context.

- Recursion: Underworld Breach is the sideboard recursion module and should be valued when graveyard density, mana, and payoff access are visible. Do not assume a deterministic loop; choose Underworld Breach lines only when Veles shows legal casts and the graveyard contains enough relevant cards to continue.

- Mana: Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Irencrag Feat, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, Pinnacle Monk, and Mox Amber form the mana package. Track land drops, temporary mana, color conversion, cost reduction, and treasure-like resources exactly as the rules engine exposes them.

- Sideboard modules: Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Alchemist's Gambit, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Goblin Charbelcher, Mox Amber, Lithomantic Barrage, Vexing Bauble, and Untimely Malfunction provide Wish targets and post-board tools. Keep each postboard card in its registered lane, because singletons make careless boarding or Wish selection costly.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Goblin Charbelcher is the cleanest main-deck kill when the battlefield or hand can produce both the permanent and activation mana. Set up with Ruby Medallion, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Manamorphose, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, and Pinnacle Monk as mana or spell-land resources, then cast Goblin Charbelcher only when Veles shows a legal path to activate soon or when delaying risks lethal pressure or known discard/removal. Prioritize this line when the visible deck configuration makes Goblin Charbelcher lethal or near-lethal and the opponent cannot immediately punish a tapped-out artifact deployment.

- Wish is the flexible storm-turn finisher when mana and spell count are already developing but the main hand lacks a direct payoff. Use Wish after rituals, Ruby Medallion reduction, Manamorphose fixing, and impulse effects have clarified available resources, then choose among legal sideboard actions such as Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Alchemist's Gambit, Irencrag Feat, or Storm of Memories from visible mana, storm count, board state, graveyard, and opponent life. Prioritize Wish when the current turn can convert sideboard access into lethal damage, a decisive board, or a protected continuation turn; do not spend Wish early merely because it is castable.

- Ral, Monsoon Mage is an engine-payoff route only when its current legal actions show that it advances the chain or threatens a win. Card text check required before assuming cost reduction, copying, transformation, damage, or storm scaling, but treat visible Ral actions as high-value when they increase mana efficiency with Ruby Medallion, reward repeated spells, or create a payoff without exposing Goblin Charbelcher. Prioritize Ral, Monsoon Mage when the hand has several cheap red spells but lacks a clean Wish or Goblin Charbelcher finish.

- Ruby Medallion chain turns win by converting many small spells into excess mana and cards before selecting the payoff. Set up Ruby Medallion first when safe, then chain Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, and Valakut Awakening until a legal Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, or Ral, Monsoon Mage payoff appears. Prioritize this line when the hand is dense with red spells and card access but short on raw mana.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Empty the Warrens is the backup sideboard payoff when lethal storm damage is not visible but a wide board can beat the opponent's clock. Choose it through Wish when opponent life is high, Grapeshot or Tendrils of Agony is not lethal, and the visible battlefield suggests tokens survive long enough to attack. Do not rely on Empty the Warrens into obvious sweepers or lethal crack-back unless no stronger legal line exists.

- Grapeshot and Tendrils of Agony are sideboard damage or drain payoffs when storm count and mana are already established. Use Grapeshot for precise creature or player damage only when Veles exposes legal targets and count; use Tendrils of Agony when the legal action text and visible storm count indicate enough life swing or lethal pressure. Card text check required if runtime action labels do not expose storm copies, targets, or life-total impact clearly.

- Underworld Breach is the recursion recovery line when the graveyard contains rituals, card flow, or payoff access and the turn has enough mana to recast meaningful spells. Choose it through Wish only after checking visible graveyard contents, available mana, Ruby Medallion, and whether recasting Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, or Wish creates a concrete continuation. Do not assume a loop if the rules engine has not exposed legal graveyard casts.

- Galvanic Relay and Storm of Memories are continuation payoffs when the current turn cannot kill but can stock a next turn. Card text check required for Storm of Memories and Galvanic Relay details, but use them when legal actions show they preserve or expand resources better than passing with no engine. Prioritize continuation over a low-count payoff when the opponent's visible clock is not immediately lethal.

- Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, and Ral, Monsoon Mage can become incidental removal or pressure lines only when legal actions show relevant damage, combat, or board impact. Use these as bridges to the next combo turn, not as the primary plan, unless all direct payoffs are gone and visible life totals make damage-based cleanup realistic.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, shorten the setup window and prefer a legal combo attempt over preserving theoretical value. Use Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Manamorphose, and Ruby Medallion to force a Wish or Goblin Charbelcher line if the opponent's visible board threatens lethal before another draw step.

- When behind on board, spend interaction-like legal actions only if they buy a full combo turn. Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Lithomantic Barrage after sideboarding, Untimely Malfunction after sideboarding, or visible Ral, Monsoon Mage actions should answer lethal attackers, hate permanents, or blockers relevant to Empty the Warrens; otherwise prioritize resources toward winning.

- When behind on cards, treat impulse and recursion as survival tools. Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, Storm of Memories, Galvanic Relay, and Underworld Breach should be chosen when they expose more legal resources before the opponent's clock ends the game, but avoid exiling more cards than the current and next-turn mana can use.

- When behind on mana, play spell-lands and cost reducers before speculative payoffs. Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, Pinnacle Monk, Ruby Medallion, Strike It Rich, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, and Irencrag Feat are the recovery tools; sequence them so color requirements and one-shot mana do not strand Wish or Goblin Charbelcher.

- When engines are removed, pivot to the most concrete remaining payoff rather than rebuilding slowly. A hand without Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage can still win through ritual-heavy Goblin Charbelcher, Wish into sideboard payoff, or Underworld Breach recursion if visible mana and cards support it.

- When graveyard recursion is unavailable, do not choose Underworld Breach or graveyard-dependent continuation out of habit. Prefer direct Goblin Charbelcher, Wish into Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Irencrag Feat, or Storm of Memories only when the legal action text and visible resources justify that route.

- When win conditions are removed or inaccessible, preserve live outs and maximize redraws. Use Valakut Awakening, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, and Manamorphose to find remaining Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or sideboard access; if only combat remains, attack with legal creatures only when it does not reduce survival or a future combo turn.

## Resource Model
- Mana is the primary resource, and every nonlethal choice should increase immediate red mana, reduce spell costs, or expose more castable cards. Ruby Medallion, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Irencrag Feat, Manamorphose, and spell-land sequencing decide whether a turn becomes a real chain or a stranded hand.

- Hand size matters less than castable velocity, so convert low-impact cards into new looks when mana is available. Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, Valakut Awakening, and Manamorphose should be valued by how many same-turn legal spells they create, not by raw card count alone.

- Life is a combo clock buffer, not a resource to spend freely. Take damage when it preserves a faster Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Ruby Medallion, or Ral, Monsoon Mage turn; shift to emergency combo attempts when visible attackers or burn-like pressure threaten to remove another draw step.

- Board presence is mostly engine texture, not a fair combat plan. Ral, Monsoon Mage and Pinnacle Monk can matter as permanents or bodies only when legal actions show relevant cost reduction, mana, spell access, blocking, or pressure; do not trade them casually if they are enabling the next chain.

- Graveyard value is conditional and must be verified by legal actions. Strike It Rich can create later mana from the graveyard if the engine exposes the action, and Underworld Breach from the sideboard can convert the graveyard into a second hand only when visible graveyard spells, escape costs, and available mana support actual recasts.

- Exile is a temporary hand for impulse effects, not a storage zone. Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, and Galvanic Relay should be timed so the deck can cast the exiled cards before permissions expire; avoid impulse lines before land drops or mana setup if they risk wasting revealed resources.

- Lands are spells in this deck, so treat land drops as commitment decisions. Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, and Pinnacle Monk can function as mana sources or spell effects; play them as lands when the hand lacks stable mana, and preserve them as spells only when current mana already supports the combo turn.

- Sacrifice fodder is minimal, so do not assume expendable permanents exist. Treasure or other tokens from Strike It Rich can be spent for mana, but sacrificing or consuming them should advance a defined chain, pay for a key Wish line, or satisfy a visible rules-engine cost.

- Tempo converts into safety windows. A turn spent casting Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage is correct when the opponent's visible board does not punish the delay; under pressure, prefer same-turn rituals, impulse draw, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher lines over slow setup.

- Information is strongest when it narrows payoff selection. Use visible opponent life, blockers, hate permanents, open mana, graveyard state, and known revealed cards to decide whether Wish should find Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Underworld Breach, Irencrag Feat, Galvanic Relay, Storm of Memories, Untimely Malfunction, Vexing Bauble, or Lithomantic Barrage.

- Sideboard bullets are strategic access points, not free value. Wish should spend sideboard access only when the fetched card changes the current turn or the next protected turn; exact sideboarding remains separate from in-game Wish selection.

## Mana Guide
- Prioritize red mana because nearly every engine and payoff path starts red. Keep hands that can cast Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Manamorphose, or Wish on time; mulligan hands that rely on drawing a first red source without meaningful interim action.

- Treat black mana as conditional for Bloodsoaked Insight and Tendrils of Agony lines. Card text check required for Bloodsoaked Insight details; use Manamorphose, Treasure from Strike It Rich, or other engine-exposed fixing when the legal action requires black, and do not strand a combo turn by spending the only fixing before black-dependent actions are resolved.

- Play spell-lands as lands early when the hand needs mana stability. Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, and Pinnacle Monk should usually become land drops in one- or two-source hands, while extra copies can be preserved for spell utility once Ruby Medallion, rituals, and draw effects are live.

- Delay the land drop before impulse draw when legal and safe. If Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, or Valakut Awakening may reveal a better land or spell-land choice, cast the draw first only when current mana can still use the revealed card and the land drop is not needed to cast the draw spell.

- Make the land drop first when the draw spell needs the mana or the turn has strict color requirements. If casting Wish, Jeska's Will, Goblin Charbelcher, Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or a ritual chain depends on the land, play the needed source before draw effects rather than gambling on reveal quality.

- Sequence Ruby Medallion before chains when it reduces multiple following spells. If legal mana allows Ruby Medallion plus at least one follow-up, deploy Ruby Medallion before Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Jeska's Will, Wish, or Storm of Memories unless a same-turn payoff requires immediate ritual mana first.

- Spend rituals after confirming the chain has a destination. Pyretic Ritual, Irencrag Feat, Jeska's Will, and Treasure from Strike It Rich should lead into Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, major card access, or a clear continuation; avoid making mana that empties at step changes with no legal use.

- Use Manamorphose to fix bottlenecks and preserve storm velocity. Choose colors based on visible legal actions, especially black for Bloodsoaked Insight or Tendrils of Agony, red for continuing rituals and Wish, and mixed colors only when the next spells require them.

- Keep mana floating visible and purposeful. Before choosing optional payments, activations, or sideboard bullets, check whether the mana is needed for Goblin Charbelcher activation, Wish follow-up, Underworld Breach recasts, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, Lithomantic Barrage, or a payoff spell.

- Mulligan mana-light hands without a first engine action. A keep should usually contain a red source or spell-land source plus Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Strike It Rich, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, or Valakut Awakening; hands with payoff only and no mana acceleration should be sent back unless the rules-engine context shows a special reason.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: keep hands with a red source from Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, or Pinnacle Monk plus Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage and at least one engine spell such as Manamorphose, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher. These hands have setup, velocity, and a payoff path.

- Strong keep: keep Ruby Medallion plus Pyretic Ritual plus Manamorphose or an impulse spell when the hand can make its first two mana. Ruby Medallion converts ordinary red spells into a chain, so prioritize hands where the reducer enters before the rituals and draw effects.

- Medium keep: keep Ral, Monsoon Mage plus two mana sources plus Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, or Storm of Memories when the opponent is not presenting visible fast pressure. Card text check required for Bloodsoaked Insight and Storm of Memories, but treat them as conditional card-access actions only when the engine exposes useful legal casts.

- Medium keep: keep Goblin Charbelcher plus Ruby Medallion, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, or Jeska's Will when the hand has enough mana to cast or quickly threaten activation. Goblin Charbelcher hands need a mana plan, not just the artifact.

- Risky keep: keep one-source hands only when that source is a red-producing spell-land and the hand has Strike It Rich, Ruby Medallion, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, or Manamorphose. Ship one-source hands that need the first draw step to find both mana and action.

- Risky keep: keep Wish hands only when the hand can reasonably cast Wish and then use the selected postboard card soon. Wish without mana acceleration, cost reduction, or a clear next-turn target is too slow against pressure and too speculative against interaction.

- Automatic ship: ship hands with no red source, no castable spell-land, and no first action. Ruby Storm cannot afford hands that begin by passing and hoping to draw mana.

- Automatic ship: ship hands that are mostly payoffs and expensive engines, such as Goblin Charbelcher, Irencrag Feat, Jeska's Will, Wish, Storm of Memories, and no cheap mana or card access. A hand full of destinations is not a combo hand.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep slower Ruby Medallion plus multiple card-access hands on the play against low-pressure visible starts, but mulligan them on the draw when the opponent's public board or known archetype threatens a short clock. The deck can sculpt, but it must not spend too many turns doing nothing.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep Goblin Charbelcher-heavy hands against opponents with little visible artifact pressure or counterplay, but prefer Ral, Monsoon Mage, Ruby Medallion, and impulse redundancy against opponents representing interaction. Use public information only; do not assume hidden removal or counters.

- Play/draw rule: on the play, prefer hands that deploy Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage before the opponent can pressure the engine. On the draw, prefer hands with immediate velocity such as Strike It Rich, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, or Bloodsoaked Insight so the extra card becomes a faster chain.

- Trap hand: do not keep Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Pinnacle Monk, and expensive spells just because the land count looks high. Spell-lands enter the mana plan, but too many tapped or opportunity-cost land choices can leave no engine.

- Trap hand: do not keep Ruby Medallion with no follow-up spells. Ruby Medallion is an enabler, not a payoff, and it must be paired with rituals, card access, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1: prioritize establishing red mana and preserving future spell density. Play Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, or Pinnacle Monk as a land when needed, cast Strike It Rich when legal and useful, and avoid spending Manamorphose unless it unlocks a same-turn action or fixes a real bottleneck.

- Turn 1 deviation: if the hand has multiple spell-lands and no cheap action, choose the land drop that best supports turn 2 Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Pyretic Ritual, or Wish. Preserve Valakut Awakening as a spell only when mana is already secure and hand quality needs a later reset.

- Turn 2: prefer Ruby Medallion when it will reduce at least one meaningful follow-up on turn 2 or turn 3. If Ruby Medallion is absent, deploy Ral, Monsoon Mage when legal and safe, or use Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, or Manamorphose to keep land drops and action flowing.

- Turn 2 deviation: cast Pyretic Ritual into Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher only when the legal follow-up is already visible. Do not ritual just to float mana before an uncertain draw spell unless passing the turn is clearly worse.

- Turn 3: look for the first real commitment turn. Ruby Medallion plus Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher can become a chain; commit when visible mana and legal actions show continuation or payoff.

- Turn 3 deviation: against visible pressure, favor direct Goblin Charbelcher deployment, Wish for an immediately useful sideboard payoff, or a ritual-supported draw chain over slow sculpting. Against open interaction or hate permanents, use light reasoning before committing Jeska's Will, Irencrag Feat, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher.

- Turns 4-5: treat every turn as a potential combo turn unless the rules engine shows no productive line. Sequence Ruby Medallion before red spells, use Manamorphose for exact colors, convert Strike It Rich Treasure into payoff mana, and choose Wish targets based on visible life totals, storm count, mana, graveyard, and sideboard availability.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: if a chain stalls, preserve resources that matter next turn. Do not exile more cards with Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, or Galvanic Relay unless the deck can cast the revealed cards within their permission window.

- Late game: shift from setup to forced conversion. Prioritize Goblin Charbelcher activation lines, Wish into Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Untimely Malfunction, Vexing Bauble, or Lithomantic Barrage only when legal actions and visible state make that card relevant.

- Late game deviation: when life total, visible attackers, or known public resources imply no safe extra draw step, accept higher-risk ritual and impulse chains. When the opponent is low on pressure and the hand contains Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage plus multiple card-access spells, take the protected setup line instead of firing a weak payoff.

## Card Roles
- Ral, Monsoon Mage is an early engine permanent that turns cheap red spells into a storm chain and can become a deeper payoff if the rules engine exposes transformation or planeswalker actions. Cast Ral, Monsoon Mage before a planned multi-spell turn when the opponent cannot immediately punish the tempo loss, and avoid sending it into combat when its reducer or future trigger matters more than one damage. Card text check required for exact transformation and loyalty behavior.

- Ruby Medallion is the cleanest cost reducer and the most important noncreature setup piece. Cast Ruby Medallion before Manamorphose, Pyretic Ritual, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, Storm of Memories, Bloodsoaked Insight, or spell-land faces whenever the turn can still continue or the next turn becomes decisive. The common mistake is casting card access first, then finding the reducer too late to use the discounted cards before their permission window expires.

- Goblin Charbelcher is the main deterministic-style payoff, but activation decisions must still follow current rules-engine output. Cast Goblin Charbelcher when mana can activate it immediately or soon, when Irencrag Feat can convert into artifact plus activation, or when waiting exposes the hand to pressure. Hold Goblin Charbelcher against visible artifact interaction or open stack pressure if the hand can instead build redundancy through Wish, Storm of Memories, or impulse cards.

- Manamorphose is mana fixing, storm count, and card replacement, not a random cantrip. Use Manamorphose after Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage when it can become mana-positive or unlock exact colors for Bloodsoaked Insight, Wish lines, sideboard Tendrils of Agony, or other nonred costs. Do not spend it early just to draw when the current hand already has a land drop and no color bottleneck.

- Pyretic Ritual is the basic burst-mana spell and should usually be saved for commitment turns. Use Pyretic Ritual to deploy Ruby Medallion plus follow-up, cast Wish with enough mana to use the chosen card, cast Storm of Memories, or bridge into Goblin Charbelcher and activation math. Do not ritual into an impulse spell unless the visible remaining mana can cast likely hits before they expire.

- Strike It Rich is early acceleration, Treasure fixing, storm count, and delayed fuel. Cast Strike It Rich early when it enables turn-two Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, or Wish; preserve the Treasure when it is the only source for black, sideboard costs, Goblin Charbelcher activation, or a post-Wish spell. Graveyard use is conditional on legal actions, so never assume it is available until Veles exposes it.

- Reckless Impulse is short-window card access for setup or combo turns. Cast Reckless Impulse when the deck has mana to use the exiled cards by the allowed window, preferably after Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage. Against fast pressure, use it to find immediate mana, Shatterskull Smashing, Goblin Charbelcher, or Wish; against slower decks, use it before committing scarce rituals so the chain has direction.

- Wrenn's Resolve is redundant Reckless Impulse and should be sequenced with the same discipline. Cast Wrenn's Resolve when the hand needs action and the mana base can play the cards it reveals; hold it when casting it would strand a land drop choice, consume the only red mana before Pyretic Ritual, or expose cards that cannot be used before expiration. Redundant impulse effects are strong, but overlapping expiring piles can create forced mistakes.

- Jeska's Will is a high-ceiling mana or card-access spell whose mode choice must use public information and legal prompts. In Historic, do not assume both modes unless the engine exposes both; normally choose the mana mode when the opponent's visible hand count produces a decisive Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, or Storm of Memories turn, and choose the exile mode when mana is already sufficient but action is missing. Avoid firing it into low hand counts without a reducer.

- Wish is the sideboard access card and should be treated as a commitment or setup spell, not a generic value play. Cast Wish only when the selected postboard card can be used this turn or next turn with a clear purpose, such as Goblin Charbelcher, Irencrag Feat, Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Underworld Breach, Tendrils of Agony, Storm of Memories, Galvanic Relay, Vexing Bauble, Lithomantic Barrage, Untimely Malfunction, Alchemist's Gambit, or Mox Amber. Do not Wish before checking mana after the selection.

- Irencrag Feat is the single-copy main-deck burst that most cleanly supports Goblin Charbelcher. Use Irencrag Feat when the one-more-spell restriction still leaves a winning or decisive line, especially casting Goblin Charbelcher and using remaining mana to activate it. Avoid sequencing Irencrag Feat into Wish if that prevents casting the card Wish finds; Wish before Irencrag Feat is often cleaner when sideboard Irencrag Feat is the chosen bridge.

- Storm of Memories is a major top-end engine or reload spell, but Card text check required for exact card access, storm interaction, and timing. Cast Storm of Memories only when reducers, rituals, or Jeska's Will make it part of a continuing chain, or when the game is slow enough that a five-mana sorcery can rebuild. Do not cast it as the first expensive spell under pressure unless the current hand otherwise fails to act.

- Bloodsoaked Insight is both a land-source option and an expensive card-access spell; Card text check required for exact spell output. Use Bloodsoaked Insight as mana when the hand needs stable development, especially when early red sources are scarce. Cast the spell face only when Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Treasure, or Jeska's Will makes the cost realistic and the deck can use the cards or resources it produces.

- Valakut Awakening is hand repair and mana infrastructure. Play it as a land when the curve needs mana for Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Wish, Storm of Memories, or Goblin Charbelcher; cast it when the hand contains redundant spell-lands, extra payoffs, stranded top-end, or expiring cards that cannot be used. The mistake is cycling away a functional combo hand instead of fixing only the missing category.

- Shatterskull Smashing is usually a red source first and scalable removal second. Preserve it as mana when the combo clock matters more than killing a creature, but cast it when a visible creature, planeswalker, or small board prevents survival through the next setup turn. It is especially important against creature pressure; against control or combo, using it as a spell is often unnecessary unless it clears a hate permanent exposed by legal target text.

- Sundering Eruption is primarily part of the spell-land mana base, with a disruptive spell face only when the target and payoff are visible. Card text check required for exact land-destruction or damage details. Use it as mana in normal hands; cast the spell face when a visible land is constraining the matchup, enabling lethal against you, or preventing a safe combo window. Do not spend an early land drop on speculative disruption.

- Pinnacle Monk is a flexible spell-land and late resource, but Card text check required for exact creature text and card-access timing. Use Pinnacle Monk as mana in hands that need early red development, and cast the creature face only when mana is stable, the body or triggered value matters, and the deck can use any generated cards within the legal window. It is weakest when treated as a five-mana threat before the combo engine is assembled.

### Card Hover Notes

#### Ral, Monsoon Mage
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, core engine-threat hybrid and cost reducer.
- Role type: engine piece; mechanic enabler; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Cast before a multi-spell turn so Manamorphose, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, Storm of Memories, and Bloodsoaked Insight each become easier to chain when Ral's instant-and-sorcery discount applies.
- Timing: Best on turn 2 or before the first committed storm turn; if the hand already has Ruby Medallion plus enough mana to win, Ral is secondary. Keep Ral out of combat unless one damage or blocking changes survival math more than the reducer.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including red; outputs a creature reducer, coin-flip transformation pressure, possible self-damage, and later planeswalker loyalty if transformed.
- Mode map: Creature face reduces instant and sorcery spells and can transform after a won coin flip on a spell cast during your turn; planeswalker face enters with extra loyalty for each instant and sorcery spell cast this turn, +1 gives another reducer, -2 divides 2 damage among one or two targets and draws only if you control a blue permanent other than Ral, and -8 casts instant/sorcery cards exiled from the top eight for free this turn.
- Partners / packages: Discounts Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, Storm of Memories, Bloodsoaked Insight, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, and Valakut Awakening.
- Role peers: Ruby Medallion is the closest reducer; Storm of Memories and Underworld Breach overlap as engine payoff/reload cards, not reducers.
- Failure modes: Full-card Oracle metadata is missing, but both faces are supplied; do not assume copying or nonlisted abilities. Losing coin flips can cost life during a chain, and transforming before using creature discount may reduce same-turn efficiency.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against slower control or midrange starts; fragile against visible removal if the hand depends on Ral as the only reducer.

#### Pinnacle Monk
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, modal mana resource and late spell-recursion body.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; recursion; threat/clock; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Usually play Mystic Peak as a red source in early hands; cast Pinnacle Monk only after mana is stable and returning a specific instant or sorcery such as Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Wish, Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Strike It Rich, Bloodsoaked Insight, or Storm of Memories changes the chain.
- Timing: Land face is highest value in one- or two-source hands. Creature face is a five-mana play for stalled games or post-engine turns, not the default plan before Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage.
- Inputs / outputs: Mystic Peak may cost 3 life to enter untapped and taps for red; Pinnacle Monk costs five mana including two red, gives a 2/2 prowess body, and returns target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to hand.
- Mode map: Pinnacle Monk is the creature side for graveyard spell recovery and incidental prowess pressure; Mystic Peak is the land side for red mana, with the pay-3-life untap choice trading life for tempo.
- Partners / packages: Returns high-impact spells from the current list: Jeska's Will for mana/cards, Wish for sideboard access, Pyretic Ritual for mana, Manamorphose for fixing/draw, or Valakut Awakening for hand repair.
- Role peers: Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, and Bloodsoaked Insight are other modal mana resources; Underworld Breach is the closest graveyard-resource peer.
- Failure modes: Full-card Oracle metadata is missing, but face text is supplied; do not invent extra land abilities or recursion targets. Casting the creature too early can strand the hand without red land development.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Preserve as land against fast pressure; consider creature face against discard or counterspell games where rebuying Wish, Jeska's Will, or Pyretic Ritual creates a second combo attempt.

#### Ruby Medallion
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, core cost reducer.
- Role type: engine piece; mechanic enabler; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Reduces red spells by {1}, turning Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Bloodsoaked Insight, Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Galvanic Relay, Alchemist's Gambit, Lithomantic Barrage, and Untimely Malfunction into denser chain pieces when their costs include red.
- Timing: Cast before card-access spells when the turn can still use exiled cards; cast before rituals when the discount increases follow-up spell count. Do not spend turn 2 on Ruby if visible lethal requires immediate ritual into payoff.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two generic mana; outputs repeated generic cost reduction for red spells, which can convert one-shot red mana into multiple casts.
- Partners / packages: Best with Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Wish, Storm of Memories, and Goblin Charbelcher setup turns.
- Role peers: Ral, Monsoon Mage is the other main reducer, but Ral reduces instant and sorcery spells rather than red spells in this list.
- Failure modes: Does not reduce Goblin Charbelcher, Vexing Bauble, Mox Amber, or Underworld Breach's nonred generic portions unless the spell itself is red and the rules engine applies the reduction. Multiple Medallions without card flow can be air.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against slow decks and interaction when it resolves early; against aggro, only spend the setup turn if it creates a faster payoff than using Pyretic Ritual or Strike It Rich immediately.

#### Goblin Charbelcher
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies, and sideboard, 1 copy; primary permanent payoff and Wish-accessible finisher.
- Role type: combo finisher; reach/finisher; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Converts this spell-land-heavy deck into a lethal or near-lethal reveal because the registered mana base contains modal lands rather than ordinary basic lands; activate targeting the opponent when damage is expected to close the game.
- Timing: Cast when you can activate immediately or survive to untap; Irencrag Feat can cast Charbelcher as the one remaining spell, but the activation still needs legal mana after the spell resolves.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs four generic mana to cast; activation costs {3} and tapping the artifact, reveals until a land card, deals damage equal to nonlands revealed to any target, doubles only if the revealed land was a Mountain, then bottoms revealed cards in any order.
- Partners / packages: Main support comes from Irencrag Feat, Pyretic Ritual, Jeska's Will, Strike It Rich Treasure, Manamorphose fixing, Ruby Medallion chains that free mana for artifact/activation, and Wish for the sideboard copy.
- Role peers: Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, and Alchemist's Gambit are sideboard finishers; Wish is the access peer rather than the payoff.
- Failure modes: This list has no registered Mountain-named land in the provided decklist, so do not count on double damage unless the engine reveals a Mountain from an effect outside the visible list. Passing with unactivated Charbelcher exposes the artifact to removal.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strongest against opponents with low artifact interaction or shields down; against counterspell decks, prefer same-turn activation or redundant Wish/sideboard payoff pressure.

#### Manamorphose
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, core fixing, storm count, and card-neutral velocity.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Converts available mana into the exact colors needed for Bloodsoaked Insight, Tendrils of Agony, Underworld Breach, Wish lines, or continued red chaining while replacing itself with a draw.
- Timing: Cast after Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage when possible because the discount can make it mana-positive or cheaper in the chain. Do not fire it only to cycle if the turn has no color bottleneck and the land drop decision is still unclear.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R/G}; adds two mana in any combination of colors and draws one card. The draw happens after the mana is produced.
- Partners / packages: Fixes black for Bloodsoaked Insight and Tendrils of Agony, red for Pyretic Ritual, Jeska's Will, Wish, Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Irencrag Feat, Galvanic Relay, and Storm of Memories, and generic activation mana for Goblin Charbelcher.
- Role peers: Strike It Rich fixes through Treasure but does not draw; Jeska's Will produces mana or exile access but depends on opponent hand count or mode.
- Failure modes: Choosing black without a visible Bloodsoaked Insight or Tendrils of Agony can strand red spells; choosing only red when Tendrils is the selected payoff can make Wish lines fail.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against disruption, hold until the decisive turn when it hides color choice information; against fast pressure, use it sooner if the draw can find Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, or a needed land.

#### Pyretic Ritual
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, core burst-mana spell.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Turns two mana into {R}{R}{R}, giving the deck the burst needed for Ruby Medallion plus follow-up, Wish plus postboard spell, Storm of Memories, or Goblin Charbelcher deployment.
- Timing: Save for the commitment turn unless it directly enables Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher with a visible follow-up. Avoid ritualing into an unknown draw when no mana remains to cast hits.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}; produces three red mana, increasing storm count while temporarily increasing available mana.
- Partners / packages: Strong with Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Strike It Rich, Wish, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, and Tendrils of Agony.
- Role peers: Irencrag Feat is the larger but restrictive burst; Jeska's Will can be larger depending on target opponent's hand.
- Failure modes: Floating red empties as normal and does not survive a pass. Spending Pyretic Ritual before identifying a payoff can turn a playable hand into no resources.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against aggro or combo, lower the threshold and use Ritual to race; against control, keep it until the turn you can cast multiple relevant spells through interaction.

#### Valakut Awakening
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, modal red source and hand-repair instant.
- Role type: card selection; mana/fixing/ramp; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Use Valakut Stoneforge as early red mana when the hand lacks stable sources; cast Valakut Awakening to put redundant spell-lands, stranded Goblin Charbelcher copies, extra Ruby Medallions, or unusable top-end on the bottom and draw that many plus one.
- Timing: Land face is correct when the next turns need red for Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, or Wish. Spell face is best mid-combo or before passing with a clogged hand.
- Inputs / outputs: Valakut Stoneforge enters tapped and taps for red; Valakut Awakening costs {2}{R}, puts any number of cards from hand on bottom, then draws that many plus one.
- Mode map: Instant face is hand reset and card quantity upgrade; land face is tapped red infrastructure. Choosing the spell face is a mistake if it leaves too few lands to cast the cards drawn.
- Partners / packages: Finds or preserves Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Jeska's Will, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Manamorphose, and Storm of Memories.
- Role peers: Reckless Impulse and Wrenn's Resolve provide exile access; Bloodsoaked Insight provides opponent-library access; Pinnacle Monk, Shatterskull Smashing, and Sundering Eruption are other modal land choices.
- Failure modes: Full-card Oracle metadata is missing, but both faces are supplied. The land enters tapped, so it cannot support turn-one Strike It Rich or same-turn red use after being played.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against discard or slow interaction for rebuilding; against fast pressure, avoid spending three mana to sculpt unless it finds an immediate payoff or survival line.

#### Strike It Rich
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, cheap Treasure acceleration and graveyard fuel.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; mechanic enabler; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Creates a Treasure that banks one mana of any color for Wish follow-ups, Bloodsoaked Insight, Tendrils of Agony, Underworld Breach chains, or Goblin Charbelcher activation.
- Timing: Cast early when it enables turn-two Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, or Wish; preserve Treasure if it is the only black/flexible source or needed for post-Wish payoff mana.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {R}; creates one Treasure token with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color." Flashback costs {2}{R}; when cast from graveyard by flashback, exile it afterward.
- Mode map: Hand-cast Strike It Rich is cheap setup and storm count; flashback is graveyard-based delayed mana that costs three mana including red and should be used only when the Treasure or storm count advances the current line.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Wish, Underworld Breach, Tendrils of Agony, and Goblin Charbelcher.
- Role peers: Pyretic Ritual gives immediate red burst; Manamorphose fixes and draws; Mox Amber can be zero-mana acceleration only with Ral or another qualifying legendary permanent.
- Failure modes: Treasure is not free value if sacrificing it removes the only black source for Bloodsoaked Insight or Tendrils of Agony. Flashback uses the graveyard and is poor into visible graveyard hate.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in opening hands against all pressure types; against control, banked Treasure helps fight through taxed turns or post-Wish costs.

#### Reckless Impulse
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies, short-window exile card access.
- Role type: card selection; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles two cards that can be played through the end of your next turn, helping find missing land faces, Ruby Medallion, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Jeska's Will, or another velocity spell.
- Timing: Cast when you can use the exiled cards before the window expires, preferably after Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage. Cast before land drop only when current mana still lets you play a revealed land or use a revealed spell.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}; consumes mana now for two temporary cards from your library, playable until the end of your next turn.
- Partners / packages: Works with Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Wish, and modal lands Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Pinnacle Monk, and Bloodsoaked Insight.
- Role peers: Wrenn's Resolve is the direct peer with the same provided text; Galvanic Relay is the storm-scaling sideboard peer.
- Failure modes: Multiple exile-window effects can overload available mana and force lost cards. Casting it with no land drop or mana remaining can waste revealed resources.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against aggro, use it only if it finds immediate mana, removal, or payoff; against control/midrange, it is a strong low-commitment way to build redundancy.

#### Shatterskull Smashing
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, modal red source and scalable creature/planeswalker removal.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; interaction-removal; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Usually Shatterskull, the Hammer Pass supplies untapped red at the cost of 3 life; spell face removes blockers, hate creatures, or planeswalkers that stop the combo turn or create lethal pressure.
- Timing: Play as land early when mana is the bottleneck. Cast Shatterskull Smashing only when X damage to up to two target creatures and/or planeswalkers buys a full turn or clears a decisive obstacle.
- Inputs / outputs: Land face may cost 3 life to enter untapped and taps for red; spell face costs {X}{R}{R} and deals X damage divided among up to two target creatures and/or planeswalkers, or twice X divided if X is 6 or more.
- Mode map: Land face is red mana infrastructure; spell face is sorcery-speed removal for creatures/planeswalkers only, not players or artifacts.
- Partners / packages: Red source for Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Wish, Jeska's Will, and Goblin Charbelcher setup.
- Role peers: Sundering Eruption disrupts a land and blocks ground creatures from blocking; Lithomantic Barrage is cheaper sideboard removal for creatures/planeswalkers.
- Failure modes: Full-card Oracle metadata is missing, but both faces are supplied. Paying 3 life against burn or aggro can shorten the combo clock; using spell face can leave too few lands to chain.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Prioritize spell face against creature pressure and planeswalker disruption; default to land face against control, combo, or hands that need red stability.

#### Wrenn's Resolve
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies, short-window exile card access.
- Role type: card selection; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Redundant Reckless Impulse that keeps the chain moving by exiling two cards playable until the end of your next turn, often finding Ruby Medallion, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, or a modal land.
- Timing: Cast when mana and land-drop sequencing can actually use the exiled cards. It is better after a reducer if the discounted cards can be played immediately.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}; converts one card and two mana into access to the top two library cards for a short window.
- Partners / packages: Strong with Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Strike It Rich Treasure, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, and Valakut Awakening for cleaning up stranded cards later.
- Role peers: Reckless Impulse is the direct main-deck peer; Galvanic Relay is the sideboard storm-scaling version.
- Failure modes: Casting Wrenn's Resolve before making the necessary land drop can strand a revealed land if another land has already been played. Do not stack it with Reckless Impulse if available mana cannot use both piles.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Keep in slower matchups for redundancy; trim or deprioritize against very fast pressure when two-mana delayed access does not affect the next combat or kill turn.

#### Jeska's Will
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, high-ceiling mana or exile-access sorcery.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: In this non-Commander Historic deck, usually choose between red mana equal to target opponent's hand size or exiling three cards playable this turn; use the mode that solves the current bottleneck.
- Timing: Cast mana mode when opponent hand count produces enough red to reach Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Storm of Memories, Irencrag Feat, or a payoff chain. Cast exile mode when mana is already sufficient and action is missing.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{R}; mode one adds {R} for each card in target opponent's hand; mode two exiles the top three cards of your library and allows playing them this turn.
- Mode map: Mana mode is burst red and depends on target opponent's hand size; exile mode is same-turn card access; choosing both requires controlling a commander as you cast it, which this registered Historic deck should not assume.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Storm of Memories, Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Tendrils of Agony, and Alchemist's Gambit.
- Role peers: Pyretic Ritual is smaller guaranteed red burst; Reckless Impulse and Wrenn's Resolve provide longer-window card access.
- Failure modes: Low opponent hand size makes mana mode poor; exile mode can waste cards if cast before enough mana is floating. Do not assume both modes unless the engine explicitly permits it.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against control with large hand size; against aggro, exile mode may be weaker if the turn cannot use the cards before lethal pressure arrives.

#### Sundering Eruption
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, modal red source and situational land-disruption/evasion spell.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; interaction-removal; protection/evasion; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Volcanic Fissure is usually early red mana; Sundering Eruption is a sorcery-speed way to destroy target land and make creatures without flying unable to block this turn, which can matter after Empty the Warrens or incidental Ral/Pinnacle Monk pressure.
- Timing: Play land face in normal development. Cast spell face only when the target land materially affects the opponent's clock, interaction, or mana, or when the can't-block clause creates a decisive attack.
- Inputs / outputs: Land face may cost 3 life to enter untapped and taps for red; spell face costs {2}{R}, destroys target land, lets that land's controller search for a basic land onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle, and prevents nonflying creatures from blocking this turn.
- Mode map: Land face is red mana; spell face is land disruption plus ground-blocker denial, not creature removal.
- Partners / packages: Supports Empty the Warrens token attacks, Ral, Monsoon Mage or Pinnacle Monk chip damage, and red starts for Ruby Medallion, Pyretic Ritual, Wish, Jeska's Will, and Goblin Charbelcher.
- Role peers: Shatterskull Smashing is the main modal removal land; Valakut Awakening is the modal hand-repair land.
- Failure modes: Full-card Oracle metadata is missing, but both faces are supplied. Destroying a land may still give the controller a tapped basic, so it is not always true mana denial.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Useful against single key utility lands or when blockers are the only obstacle; weak against decks where spending three mana does not affect the combo window.

#### Wish
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies, sideboard access and flexible payoff selector.
- Role type: tutor/search; combo tutor; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Lets you play one owned card from outside the game this turn, mapping current resources into Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Alchemist's Gambit, Goblin Charbelcher, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Vexing Bauble, Lithomantic Barrage, Untimely Malfunction, or Mox Amber.
- Timing: Cast after mana and storm count are established enough to use the chosen postboard card this turn. Earlier Wish is correct only when it sets up a guaranteed next-turn Goblin Charbelcher, Vexing Bauble, or other visible answer before the opponent can punish.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{R}; consumes a card and mana for same-turn permission to play a chosen outside-game card, still requiring legal timing, costs, colors, and targets.
- Partners / packages: Payoff targets are Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, Alchemist's Gambit; engine targets are Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Storm of Memories, Irencrag Feat; interaction targets are Lithomantic Barrage, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction; acceleration target is Mox Amber.
- Role peers: No direct main-deck peer; closest role overlap is Goblin Charbelcher as a payoff and Valakut Awakening as selection.
- Failure modes: Wish does not pay for the postboard card. Choosing Tendrils without black mana, Charbelcher without activation plan, or Empty the Warrens into a losing board wastes the tutor.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against fast decks, Wish should find lethal or stabilization; against control, it should find resilient reload, protection, or redundant payoff.

#### Irencrag Feat
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, and sideboard, 2 copies; large burst-mana bridge and Wish-accessible speed tool.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; combo enabler; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Adds seven red to power a single decisive follow-up such as Goblin Charbelcher, Storm of Memories, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Galvanic Relay, or Alchemist's Gambit when the one-more-spell restriction still leaves the line effective.
- Timing: Cast only after choosing the next spell. If Wish must find the payoff, cast Wish before Irencrag Feat unless the line can legally use the one remaining spell after Feat.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}{R}{R}; adds seven red; after it resolves, you can cast only one more spell this turn.
- Partners / packages: Strong with Goblin Charbelcher because Charbelcher can be the one spell and its activation is not casting a spell; also supports Storm of Memories, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Alchemist's Gambit, and sideboard Irencrag Feat access through Wish.
- Role peers: Pyretic Ritual is smaller but unrestricted; Jeska's Will can produce variable red without the same one-more-spell restriction.
- Failure modes: The restriction can shut off storm chaining, Wish follow-ups, Underworld Breach recasts, or post-payoff setup. It makes floating seven red dangerous if the chosen spell is countered or insufficient.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best in races and Charbelcher lines; weaker against open counter mana where one all-in spell is likely to fail.

#### Storm of Memories
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies, and sideboard, 1 copy; expensive storm reload and Wish-accessible continuation payoff.
- Role type: engine payoff; mechanic payoff; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Turns a high spell count and stocked graveyard into random free recasts of mana value 3 or less instant or sorcery cards from your graveyard, aiming to hit Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Wish, Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Jeska's Will, or Bloodsoaked Insight if eligible by mana value and card type.
- Timing: Cast after several spells have already been cast this turn and the graveyard contains useful instant/sorcery hits. Do not lead with it as a five-mana sorcery unless the game is slow and the graveyard already matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{R}{R}{R}; storm copies for each spell cast before it; each copy exiles an instant or sorcery card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard at random and may cast it for free, exiling it instead if it would go to graveyard.
- Partners / packages: Fueled by Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Valakut Awakening, Jeska's Will, Wish, Bloodsoaked Insight, and sideboard Grapeshot/Galvanic Relay if in graveyard.
- Role peers: Galvanic Relay is the cheaper storm reload; Underworld Breach is the controlled graveyard-recast peer.
- Failure modes: Random selection can hit a low-value spell instead of the needed one. Full-card Oracle metadata is missing beyond supplied text; do not assume extra target choice or graveyard ordering control.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against attrition if graveyard is intact; poor into graveyard hate or fast clocks where five mana must win immediately.

#### Bloodsoaked Insight
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies, modal tapped mana source and discounted opponent-library card access.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; mechanic payoff; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Sanguine Morass supplies black or red in slower starts; Bloodsoaked Insight becomes a discounted reload after opponent life loss from Ral, Leyline Prodigy damage, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Goblin Charbelcher, Shatterskull Smashing targeting a planeswalker, or combat damage from Ral/Pinnacle Monk/Empty the Warrens.
- Timing: Land face is correct when early mana matters. Spell face needs prior opponent life loss this turn or enough mana reduction from Ruby Medallion/Ral to make seven mana realistic.
- Inputs / outputs: Land face enters tapped and taps for black or red; spell face costs {5}{B/R}{B/R}, costs {1} less for each 1 life opponents lost this turn, targets an opponent, exiles top three of their library, and lets you play those cards until end of your next turn with mana of any type spendable to cast them.
- Mode map: Sanguine Morass is fixing but tapped; Bloodsoaked Insight is delayed card access from target opponent's library, not a draw spell.
- Partners / packages: Uses damage/life-loss from Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Ral's -2 when legal, Empty the Warrens attacks, and incidental creature combat.
- Role peers: Valakut Awakening repairs hand; Reckless Impulse and Wrenn's Resolve access your library; Jeska's Will exiles your top three this turn.
- Failure modes: Full-card Oracle metadata is missing, but faces are supplied. It targets an opponent and depends on their exiled cards being castable and relevant; it does not guarantee red storm pieces.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Better in grindy games and after partial damage; risky against fast decks when tapped land tempo or expensive spell timing loses a turn.

#### Mox Amber
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, Wish-accessible or post-board conditional acceleration.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Produces mana only when you control Ral, Monsoon Mage as a legendary creature or Ral, Leyline Prodigy as a legendary planeswalker; can make red if Ral is present and can support sideboard lines after Wish.
- Timing: Bring in or Wish for Mox Amber when the game plan reliably has Ral on battlefield and the extra zero-mana artifact converts into a same-turn chain. Do not select it as a generic mana source without Ral.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {0}; taps for one mana of any color among legendary creatures and planeswalkers you control.
- Partners / packages: Requires Ral, Monsoon Mage or transformed Ral, Leyline Prodigy in this registered list. Helps cast Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Wish, Grapeshot, Underworld Breach, Empty the Warrens, or Tendrils of Agony if the available legendary colors support them.
- Role peers: Strike It Rich is the flexible one-shot peer; Manamorphose fixes while drawing; Pyretic Ritual produces red without a permanent requirement.
- Failure modes: With no Ral on battlefield, it produces no mana. It does not get powered by Ruby Medallion, Goblin Charbelcher, or Treasure tokens.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against slower disruption where Ral survives; poor against removal-heavy or fast matchups where a conditional zero-mana card is a blank.

#### Lithomantic Barrage
- Deck role: Sideboard, 2 copies, anti-white/blue creature or planeswalker removal.
- Role type: interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Uncounterably kills or damages a visible creature or planeswalker that shortens the clock, protects the opponent, or blocks an Empty the Warrens pivot; deals 5 instead of 1 if the target is white and/or blue.
- Timing: Use before a combo turn only if the target changes survival or resolves a blocker/planeswalker problem. Do not spend Wish on it unless the one-mana sorcery answer matters immediately.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {R}; cannot be countered; deals 1 damage to target creature or planeswalker, or 5 damage if that target is white and/or blue.
- Partners / packages: Wish can access it; Ruby Medallion and Ral reduce it; Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Pyretic Ritual, and Sanguine Morass provide red.
- Role peers: Shatterskull Smashing is scalable main-deck removal; Grapeshot can spread storm damage; Untimely Malfunction can stop blockers or destroy artifacts but not creatures directly.
- Failure modes: Cannot target players, artifacts without creature/planeswalker type, enchantments, lands, or spells on the stack. One damage is low against nonwhite, nonblue targets.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High value versus white or blue creatures/planeswalkers and counterspell-backed threats; low value against creature-light combo or large nonwhite/nonblue threats.

#### Vexing Bauble
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, anti-free-spell hate and redraw artifact.
- Role type: hate piece; sideboard bullet; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Punishes spells cast with no mana spent, protecting decisive turns from free interaction or opposing free combo pieces while offering a sacrifice-to-draw mode when the hate text is irrelevant.
- Timing: Deploy before the opponent's no-mana spell window or before your combo turn if free interaction is visible or strongly represented. Sacrifice only when the matchup no longer cares about no-mana spells and you can spare {1}.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}; triggers whenever any player casts a spell with no mana spent to cast it and counters that spell; activated ability costs {1}, tap, sacrifice Vexing Bauble to draw a card.
- Mode map: Static/triggered hate mode counters no-mana spells from any player; activated mode cashes the artifact in for one card.
- Partners / packages: Wish can access it; Strike It Rich Treasure, Manamorphose, and Sanguine Morass can pay the draw activation; Ruby Medallion does not reduce it because it is not red.
- Role peers: Untimely Malfunction is flexible interaction/protection; Galvanic Relay and Underworld Breach are anti-control continuation tools.
- Failure modes: It can counter your own spells if no mana was spent to cast them, including free casts from Storm of Memories or other effects. It does not counter normally paid counterspells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Use against free-spell combo or free interaction; avoid against creature pressure where spending mana and a card on Bauble does not affect the clock.

#### Grapeshot
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, Wish-accessible storm damage payoff and cleanup spell.
- Role type: combo finisher; reach/finisher; interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Converts storm count into exact one-damage packets to opponent, creatures, or planeswalkers; best when the current chain already cast enough spells for lethal or for clearing multiple small blockers/threats.
- Timing: Cast after cheap spells, rituals, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Wish, and impulse spells have raised storm count. Fire early only to remove a must-answer small target or survive.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}; base spell deals 1 damage to any target; storm creates a copy for each spell cast before it this turn and copies may choose new targets.
- Partners / packages: Wish finds it; Ruby Medallion/Ral reduce it; Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, and Galvanic Relay build count.
- Role peers: Tendrils of Agony drains in two-life chunks but needs black; Empty the Warrens turns storm into creatures; Goblin Charbelcher is non-storm direct damage.
- Failure modes: Low storm count is not a kill. Damage can be divided only through individual spell/copy targets, so protected or illegal targets cannot be assigned.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus small creature boards and low-life opponents; weaker against lifegain or high life totals unless the spell count is large.

#### Underworld Breach
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, graveyard recursion engine and Wish-accessible rebuild tool.
- Role type: recursion; engine piece; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Turns graveyard cards into a temporary second hand, letting Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, Grapeshot, or other nonland cards be cast again if escape costs and mana are available.
- Timing: Commit only when the graveyard has enough other cards to exile and the visible mana supports multiple escaped spells this turn. It is poor as a pass-the-turn setup because it is sacrificed at the beginning of the end step.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}; each nonland card in your graveyard has escape equal to its mana cost plus exiling three other cards from your graveyard; sacrifice Underworld Breach at the beginning of the end step.
- Partners / packages: Best with cheap spells Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Grapeshot, and Wish; Ruby Medallion/Ral may reduce escaped red spells if the engine applies reductions.
- Role peers: Storm of Memories recasts at random; Pinnacle Monk returns one instant/sorcery to hand.
- Failure modes: Escape consumes three other graveyard cards per cast, so low graveyard count collapses the chain. Graveyard hate before casting escaped spells can remove fuel; hate after costs are paid usually does not undo the already-cast spell.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against discard and removal-heavy attrition; risky against graveyard hate or fast decks where a partial reload passes back.

#### Untimely Malfunction
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, flexible artifact answer, target redirection, or blocker denial.
- Role type: modal utility; interaction-removal; protection/evasion; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Use the exact mode that removes a visible obstacle: destroy an artifact hate piece, redirect a single-target spell or ability that threatens a payoff, or make one or two creatures unable to block for Empty the Warrens, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or Pinnacle Monk damage.
- Timing: Hold until a mode has a concrete target. Wish for it only when the current board or stack presents an artifact, single-target spell/ability, or blocker situation that changes the combo turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}; consumes one card for one chosen instant-speed effect.
- Mode map: Destroy target artifact; change the target of target spell or ability with a single target; or one or two target creatures can't block this turn.
- Partners / packages: Wish access; protects Goblin Charbelcher or Ral lines only from single-target spells/abilities when a legal new target exists; helps Empty the Warrens attacks by removing blockers from combat.
- Role peers: Lithomantic Barrage handles creatures/planeswalkers; Vexing Bauble handles no-mana spells; Sundering Eruption blocks ground creatures from blocking for a turn.
- Failure modes: It does not counter a spell by default, does not answer nonartifact enchantments, and cannot redirect multi-target spells or abilities. Hexproof or illegal targeting rules still apply.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High value against artifact hate, targeted disruption, or blocker-based races; low value when the opponent's interaction is sweepers, discard, or untargeted effects.

#### Alchemist's Gambit
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, Wish-accessible extra-turn all-in finisher.
- Role type: combo enabler; reach/finisher; modal utility; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Buys an extra turn when the current turn cannot finish but the next turn with existing permanents, exile cards, or Goblin Charbelcher activation will; in this list, the normal cost is usually the realistic mode because the deck has no registered blue mana source except Manamorphose/Treasure fixing for cleave.
- Timing: Use only when the extra turn creates lethal or prevents a certain loss. Avoid if the follow-up turn lacks mana, payoff, or cards.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{R}{R}, or cleave {4}{U}{U}{R}; takes an extra turn after this one, damage cannot be prevented during that turn, exiles Alchemist's Gambit, and the non-cleave version makes you lose the game at that turn's end step.
- Mode map: Normal cast is cheaper but requires winning before the extra turn ends; cleave removes the lose-the-game bracketed text but needs heavy blue mana that this deck can only reach through explicit fixing.
- Partners / packages: Wish finds it; Manamorphose and Strike It Rich Treasure can help with cleave colors; Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, and Storm of Memories are the payoff follow-ups.
- Role peers: Irencrag Feat is the speed bridge; Galvanic Relay is a safer delayed-resource bridge.
- Failure modes: Normal mode loses the game if the extra turn does not win before its end step. Cleave is usually unrealistic without visible blue fixing.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best in races where one more turn wins; avoid against control if the extra turn just walks the payoff into interaction.

#### Galvanic Relay
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, Wish-accessible storm reload for staged combo turns.
- Role type: engine payoff; mechanic payoff; card selection; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Converts current storm count into cards available during your next turn, letting the deck build a protected second-wave turn after casting rituals, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Wish, and impulse effects.
- Timing: Cast when immediate lethal is unavailable but passing with a large Relay pile is safer than spending payoff into interaction. Do not choose it when the opponent's visible board kills before next turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{R}; exiles the top card of your library for the base spell and for each storm copy; those cards may be played during your next turn.
- Partners / packages: Strong after Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Jeska's Will, Wish, and Ruby Medallion/Ral-reduced spells have increased storm count.
- Role peers: Storm of Memories is an immediate random graveyard reload; Reckless Impulse and Wrenn's Resolve are smaller main-deck exile-access peers.
- Failure modes: Relay cards are not usable until next turn, so it fails against lethal pressure. Exiled lands still obey land-drop limits, and nonlands still require mana next turn.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against control and discard when the opponent cannot punish the pass; poor against fast aggro, combo, or burn if the next turn is not guaranteed.

#### Empty the Warrens
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, Wish-accessible token storm payoff.
- Role type: mechanic payoff; threat/clock; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Turns storm count into a wide board of 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens when Grapeshot or Tendrils of Agony is not lethal and Goblin Charbelcher is too exposed or unavailable.
- Timing: Cast after building storm, but before passing only if the tokens race the visible board or create enough blockers to survive. Avoid if the opponent can untap into a sweeper or the tokens cannot attack profitably.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{R}; creates two 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, plus two more for each storm copy.
- Partners / packages: Wish finds it; Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, and Galvanic Relay build storm count; Sundering Eruption and Untimely Malfunction can make blockers unable to block.
- Role peers: Grapeshot and Tendrils of Agony are spell-damage/drain storm payoffs; Goblin Charbelcher is a permanent-based finisher.
- Failure modes: Tokens do not win immediately unless haste is somehow provided, which this registered list does not show. Weak into sweepers, large lifelinkers, and boards that can attack through 1/1s.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against spot removal and counter-heavy decks after the spell resolves; useful against aggro only if tokens stabilize the next combat.

#### Tendrils of Agony
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, Wish-accessible black storm drain payoff.
- Role type: combo finisher; reach/finisher; lifegain/stabilization; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Converts storm count into two-life drain packets, often stabilizing against burn or creature pressure while threatening lethal; requires black mana from Sanguine Morass, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich Treasure, or another legal fixing source.
- Timing: Cast after building enough storm that 2 life lost per copy plus the original is lethal or creates a decisive life swing. Do not Wish for it before confirming black mana.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{B}{B}; target player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life; storm copies for each spell cast before it and may choose new targets.
- Partners / packages: Wish finds it; Manamorphose, Strike It Rich Treasure, and Bloodsoaked Insight's Sanguine Morass face support black; Pyretic Ritual, Jeska's Will, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, and Strike It Rich build storm.
- Role peers: Grapeshot is easier on colors but only one damage per copy; Empty the Warrens uses storm for board presence.
- Failure modes: No black mana means no Tendrils. Target player wording means choose the opponent for kill or yourself only if an unusual engine/legal reason appears, not by default.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against burn, aggro, and races where lifegain changes survival; lower priority when color fixing is uncertain or opponent life is too high for current storm.

## Interaction Priorities

- Priority: remove or neutralize visible hate that prevents the next committed combo action before spending rituals. Use Shatterskull Smashing, sideboard Lithomantic Barrage, sideboard Grapeshot, sideboard Untimely Malfunction, sideboard Vexing Bauble, or Wish only when Veles exposes a legal action that answers the specific permanent, spell, or trigger; Card text check required for exact postboard interaction modes.

- Priority: answer pressure only when it changes the combo turn count. Shatterskull Smashing should kill a creature or planeswalker when the visible attack step would force a win this turn or next turn; otherwise preserve Shatterskull Smashing as a land or burst spell because Ruby Storm normally wins by assembling mana plus payoff, not by trading resources.

- Priority: counterplay against permission starts with baiting, not fighting. Lead with expendable setup such as Strike It Rich, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, or a second Ruby Medallion when the hand can still function after a counter; commit Goblin Charbelcher, Jeska's Will, Wish, Irencrag Feat, or Storm of Memories only after visible shields are lowered, mana is forced, or waiting is worse.

- Priority: protect Ruby Medallion and Ral, Monsoon Mage when they are the cost engine for the current hand. If the opponent points removal, bounce, exile, or discard at a reducer and the deck has no replacement, route through any legal Untimely Malfunction, Vexing Bauble, or timing response only if the action text clearly interacts; otherwise update the line around fewer discounts instead of assuming protection exists.

- Priority: discard pressure makes redundancy more valuable than perfect timing. Keep hands and sequences that split threats across Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Storm of Memories, and impulse effects; do not expose a single all-in payoff to known discard if casting Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Strike It Rich, or Valakut Awakening can create more live draws.

- Priority: graveyard hate matters mainly for Strike It Rich flashback-style use and sideboard Underworld Breach lines. Ignore graveyard hate when the active line is Ruby Medallion into rituals, Wish into Goblin Charbelcher, or direct Goblin Charbelcher activation; answer or route around it when the visible plan depends on Underworld Breach, replaying Strike It Rich, or other graveyard legal actions.

- Priority: ignore low-impact creatures, tapped utility permanents, and value engines when the current hand can win before they matter. Do not spend Wish, Shatterskull Smashing, Lithomantic Barrage, or Grapeshot on a permanent that neither shortens the opponent clock nor stops Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Jeska's Will, or Storm of Memories from resolving.

- Priority: archetype changes drive interaction thresholds. Against aggro, spend removal to buy exactly the turn needed for Ruby Medallion plus payoff; against control, save interaction for counters, taxing permanents, and end-step windows; against combo, race first and disrupt only a visible must-answer engine; against midrange, treat discard and permanent removal as reasons to diversify engines before the commitment turn.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Priority: Ruby Storm almost never wins by attacking, so combat decisions should preserve life and engine pieces. Attack only when Veles exposes a legal attack that costs no relevant blocker, does not expose Ral, Monsoon Mage or Pinnacle Monk to a bad trade, and does not reduce the next combo turn's mana or spell count.

- Priority: Ral, Monsoon Mage is an engine before it is a creature. Do not trade Ral, Monsoon Mage in combat when its cost reduction, spell trigger, or transformation path is needed for Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Wish, Storm of Memories, or Goblin Charbelcher sequencing; block with it only when the visible damage would otherwise prevent a winning next turn or the copy is redundant.

- Priority: Pinnacle Monk should be treated as a land or resource card first unless already cast and tactically relevant. If Pinnacle Monk is on battlefield, block with it only when life total pressure is the bottleneck or when the body has already delivered its value; do not trade it away just to reduce incidental damage while a combo turn is still being built.

- Priority: life total thresholds decide blocking. Above a two-turn visible clock, prioritize preserving Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pinnacle Monk, Treasures from Strike It Rich, and mana development; at a one-turn visible clock, block with any nonessential creature if the block survives to a known combo turn; at lethal-on-board, accept bad trades unless the only path to win is an immediate no-block kill.

- Priority: do not bluff combat tricks that are not in the registered list. Ruby Storm can interact through visible legal actions such as Shatterskull Smashing, sideboard Lithomantic Barrage, sideboard Grapeshot, sideboard Untimely Malfunction, or sideboard Alchemist's Gambit only when Veles exposes them; do not assume hidden pump, protection, or removal lines.

- Priority: preserve engine permanents against creature decks until the combo turn is secure. A small hit is acceptable if keeping Ral, Monsoon Mage or Pinnacle Monk enables Ruby Medallion discounts, ritual chaining, or Wish access; a block becomes correct when the opponent's next attack would make a safe Storm of Memories, Goblin Charbelcher, or sideboard payoff turn impossible.

- Priority: pressure control and combo opponents only with free attacks. If Ral, Monsoon Mage or Pinnacle Monk can attack without risking a trade, losing a blocker, or tapping out of a relevant postcombat action, damage can matter as a fallback; if attacking creates vulnerability to a counterattack or removal window, keep the creature back and focus on hand sculpting.

- Priority: post-sideboard creature plans remain secondary. Empty the Warrens can create blockers or a lethal board after Wish, and Grapeshot or Tendrils of Agony can finish without combat; choose creature combat lines only when the token board is already visible and legal, the opponent cannot present immediate lethal, and racing through attacks is faster than rebuilding a spell-chain kill.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Selection: treat the deck as a pseudo-tutor combo shell, not a true tutor deck. Wish is the only registered card that reliably converts a decision into a specific outside-game option, while Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Valakut Awakening, Manamorphose, Bloodsoaked Insight, Storm of Memories, and Jeska's Will are velocity or resource-selection tools that must be sequenced around visible mana and the current turn's commitment gate.

- Selection: use impulse effects when the deck can spend the exiled cards before timing expires. Cast Reckless Impulse or Wrenn's Resolve before rituals only if land/spell access is the bottleneck; cast them after Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, or Jeska's Will when extra mana lets the agent immediately convert revealed cards into storm count, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, or Storm of Memories.

- Selection: use Valakut Awakening to repair hands that have too many redundant payoff cards, modal land faces, or uncastable expensive spells. Preserve Valakut Awakening as a land when missing early mana, but cast it as selection when the hand already has enough mana sources and needs Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Jeska's Will, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher.

- Selection: use Manamorphose as a color and information bridge. Delay Manamorphose until the turn's color needs are known when possible; cast it earlier when the hand needs one more draw to decide whether to play a modal land, commit Ruby Medallion, or start the ritual chain.

- Selection: do not spend Wish without a target role. Choose sideboard Goblin Charbelcher when the visible line needs a deterministic Belcher payoff, Grapeshot or Tendrils of Agony when storm count and opponent life make a spell payoff plausible, Empty the Warrens when a token board is safer than a single spell kill, Underworld Breach when graveyard resources and mana are visibly sufficient, and Galvanic Relay or Storm of Memories when the correct play is to extend resources rather than finish immediately; Card text check required for exact timing and restriction details on Storm of Memories and Bloodsoaked Insight.

- Selection: choose postboard interaction only for a named obstacle. Wish for Lithomantic Barrage, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, or Alchemist's Gambit only when Veles shows a legal line and the visible board, stack, or clock makes that card's role necessary; Card text check required for exact modes and legality before assuming any interaction covers a specific permanent or spell.

- Land timing: play modal land faces early only when mana development is the bottleneck. If the hand can already cast Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or a draw spell, delay committing Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, or Pinnacle Monk as lands until after selection reveals whether their spell faces are needed for removal, storm count, mana conversion, or payoff setup.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Priority: pass through low-impact windows unless the visible action advances a combo turn, protects a key engine, or prevents lethal. Ruby Storm should not spend time or cards reacting to ordinary creature combat, value permanents, or end-step tricks unless those objects change the turn count or stop Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Jeska's Will, or Storm of Memories.

- Priority: commit on the main phase when mana and follow-up actions are visible. Start ritual chains with Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage already active when possible, then sequence Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, impulse effects, Wish, and payoff actions so each resolved spell either adds mana, adds cards, or moves directly toward Goblin Charbelcher or storm payoff.

- Priority: let opposing spells resolve when they do not affect the current combo window. If the opponent's stack object does not remove an engine, counter a payoff, tax a spell, present lethal, or alter available mana, preserve actions and continue sculpting; do not fire Wish-accessed interaction or Shatterskull Smashing into irrelevant stack objects.

- Priority: respond to disruption only with legal, visible protection or alternate execution. If Veles exposes Untimely Malfunction, Vexing Bauble, or another sideboard line that clearly interacts with a counter, tax, redirection, or removal effect, evaluate it before passing; otherwise assume the spell may resolve and switch to redundancy rather than inventing protection.

- Priority: activate Goblin Charbelcher only after checking visible mana, summoning/timing restrictions, and whether waiting exposes it to removal. If activation is legal and the opponent is tapped low or forced to answer on board, prefer activating before passing priority; if a known blocker to activation exists, consider Wish, Storm of Memories, impulse draw, or a spell payoff instead.

- Priority: treat optional payments and extra-action effects as commitment decisions. Pay for Strike It Rich flashback-style lines, Underworld Breach lines, Irencrag Feat chains, Alchemist's Gambit, or any optional cost only when Veles shows the legal action and the payment keeps enough mana/cards to finish, stabilize, or build a protected next turn; Card text check required for exact restrictions on Irencrag Feat and Alchemist's Gambit.

- Stack: stack spell payoffs after resource spells unless lethal or survival requires immediate action. Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, and Storm of Memories are payoff or reload cards; cast them after available cheap spells when storm count or resources matter, but cast immediately when the opponent can untap into lethal, discard, counter mana, or permanent removal.

- Graveyard timing: use the graveyard only when the active line explicitly depends on it. Strike It Rich and Underworld Breach can turn graveyard contents into resources if legal, but the main plan can win without graveyard reliance; do not route into graveyard actions through visible hate unless the alternative line fails.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboarding rule: preserve Ruby Storm's density of mana, velocity, and payoffs unless a specific opposing axis forces role cards. The deck should remain a combo deck after sideboarding; do not dilute Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Storm of Memories, and impulse effects unless the matchup makes one axis clearly weak.

- Wish-board rule: keep at least one clean Wish payoff in the sideboard when Wish remains in the main deck. Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Alchemist's Gambit, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Untimely Malfunction, Vexing Bauble, Mox Amber, and Lithomantic Barrage are not just post-board cards; they are also registered Wish options, so bringing in too many singletons can weaken game-one-style Wish flexibility.

Anti-counterspell control
Side in: 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Untimely Malfunction; 1 Galvanic Relay; 1 Goblin Charbelcher; 1 Storm of Memories
Cut: 1 Irencrag Feat; 1 Bloodsoaked Insight; 1 Shatterskull Smashing; 1 Sundering Eruption; 1 Strike It Rich

- Add role cards: Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, Galvanic Relay, Goblin Charbelcher, and Storm of Memories increase threat density and improve resilience when the opponent is trying to counter or trade one-for-one with the first payoff. Card text check required before assuming Vexing Bauble or Untimely Malfunction answers a specific visible stack object; use them only when the engine exposes a legal action that covers the obstruction.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Irencrag Feat and the most conditional mana or modal-damage cards become less attractive when passing with one fragile all-in spell loses to open interaction. Keep enough Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, and Pinnacle Monk to function as mana sources, but favor redundant engines and reloads over narrow removal text.

Creature pressure and small permanent disruption
Side in: 2 Lithomantic Barrage; 1 Empty the Warrens; 1 Goblin Charbelcher; 1 Irencrag Feat
Cut: 1 Bloodsoaked Insight; 1 Storm of Memories; 1 Wrenn's Resolve; 1 Reckless Impulse; 1 Strike It Rich

- Add role cards: Lithomantic Barrage is for visible creatures or planeswalkers that materially shorten the clock, disrupt Ral, Monsoon Mage, or block a token pivot. Empty the Warrens gives a board-based route when the opponent can pressure life totals but is weak to a wide battlefield; Goblin Charbelcher and Irencrag Feat raise the chance of ending the game before combat damage becomes decisive.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow reloads and delayed card access are weaker when the opponent presents lethal pressure or forces early defensive decisions. Do not overload on Lithomantic Barrage when Veles shows no legal targets or when the opponent's threats are too large or nonmatching; Card text check required for exact legal target restrictions.

Fast noninteractive race
Side in: 1 Grapeshot; 1 Tendrils of Agony; 1 Irencrag Feat; 1 Alchemist's Gambit
Cut: 1 Bloodsoaked Insight; 1 Storm of Memories; 1 Reckless Impulse; 1 Shatterskull Smashing

- Add role cards: Grapeshot and Tendrils of Agony are payoff options when storm count and opponent life total make a same-turn spell kill plausible. Irencrag Feat and Alchemist's Gambit are commitment tools only when Veles shows legal sequencing and the current turn requires speed; Card text check required for exact restrictions, extra-turn effects, and post-resolution consequences.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive reloads and damage-modal cards lose value when the game is determined by who executes first. Keep Wish when it can find the missing payoff, but avoid lines that spend a full turn generating delayed resources while the opponent has a visible near-lethal clock.

Graveyard or resource-grind matchup
Side in: 1 Underworld Breach; 1 Galvanic Relay; 1 Storm of Memories; 1 Mox Amber
Cut: 1 Irencrag Feat; 1 Shatterskull Smashing; 1 Sundering Eruption; 1 Strike It Rich

- Add role cards: Underworld Breach is strongest when graveyard contents, mana, and storm count are already visible enough to convert it into immediate resources. Galvanic Relay and Storm of Memories support staged combo turns where the first wave builds future access instead of killing immediately; Card text check required for Storm of Memories and Bloodsoaked Insight interactions before assuming any exact resource loop.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: one-shot mana that commits the turn too hard is weaker against grind plans if it does not lead to a payoff. Mox Amber is good only when Ral, Monsoon Mage or another qualifying visible permanent makes it produce mana under the real rules text; Card text check required before treating it as live mana.

- Grapeshot role: use Grapeshot as a precise storm payoff, cleanup spell, or Wish target when the legal action text and visible storm count make damage assignment clear. Grapeshot is bad when storm count is low, opposing life is high, targets are protected, or the line spends a Wish without creating lethal pressure.

- Tendrils of Agony role: use Tendrils of Agony as the life-swing storm payoff when black mana is legally available and storm count can convert the turn into lethal or stabilization. Tendrils of Agony is bad when color fixing is absent, the opponent can interact with the payoff, or the line requires assuming hidden resources; confirm Manamorphose or other visible mana access before selecting it.

- Empty the Warrens role: use Empty the Warrens when a wide token battlefield is better than exposing one spell payoff or one Goblin Charbelcher. Empty the Warrens is bad against visible sweepers, large lifelinking pressure, instant-speed token punishment, or board states where tokens cannot race.

- Goblin Charbelcher role: bring in the sideboard Goblin Charbelcher when permanent-based payoff redundancy matters or when Wish should remain free for another role. It is bad when the opponent has visible artifact removal pressure, counter mana plus time, or when adding another expensive payoff crowds hands that lack Ruby Medallion, rituals, or land-modal mana.

- Irencrag Feat role: use sideboard Irencrag Feat as speed support for Charbelcher-style or high-cost payoff turns only after checking legal follow-up actions. It is bad when the hand needs multiple colored spells after resolution, when timing restrictions stop the planned sequence, or when the opponent can punish a single all-in spell; Card text check required.

- Lithomantic Barrage role: use Lithomantic Barrage against smeach creature or planeswalkers that directly constrain combo timing. It is bad when there are no legal targets, when removal does not change the clock, or when spending mana breaks the combo turn.

- Vexing Bauble role: use Vexing Bauble against visible counterspell, free-spell, or tax patterns only when its legal text matters. It is bad when the opponent wins on board, when the stack is empty and speed is the priority, or when it slows the decisive Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage turn; Card text check required.

- Untimely Malfunction role: use Untimely Malfunction as flexible protection or interaction only for a visible problem Veles exposes through legal actions. It is bad as speculative insurance when the combo line already wins through known public information; Card text check required for modes and targets.

- Alchemist's Gambit role: use Alchemist's Gambit only when the extra turn or immediate tempo line is legally exposed and the current turn cannot safely wait. It is bad when the drawback can lose the game, when the extra turn lacks resources, or when the same mana could produce lethal now; Card text check required.

- Mox Amber role: use Mox Amber when post-board games emphasize Ral, Monsoon Mage and the engine can verify that it produces mana. It is bad in hands without a qualifying visible permanent, in mulligans that need every card to be live alone, or when Wish access is more valuable than drawing the singleton.

- Storm of Memories role: bring in Storm of Memories when longer games need another large reload or Wish target for rebuilding after disruption. It is bad against fast clocks, graveyard hate if the exact text depends on graveyard resources, or hands that need cheap setup; Card text check required.

- Underworld Breach role: use Underworld Breach when the graveyard already contains enough cheap spells, mana, and payoff access to justify committing. It is bad into visible graveyard hate, low-graveyard openings, or lines that require inventing hidden card access.

- Galvanic Relay role: use Galvanic Relay as a bridge card for staged storm turns against interaction or attrition. It is bad when immediate lethal is available, when exiled-card timing cannot be used, or when passing gives the opponent a decisive untap.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: prioritize hands that produce a fast Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or ritual chain before the opponent's battlefield forces defensive spending. Shatterskull Smashing and Sundering Eruption matter when Veles exposes legal removal or land-mode sequencing that preserves a combo turn; do not spend them merely to look busy if the visible clock still gives time to assemble Jeska's Will, Manamorphose, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher. Add role cards: Grapeshot can convert storm count into creature cleanup or lethal, Empty the Warrens can create blockers plus a clock when one spell payoff is too fragile, Lithomantic Barrage can answer a visible small threat or planeswalker if legal, and Alchemist's Gambit is only for turns where waiting clearly loses; Card text check required for exact restrictions and drawback. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow reloads such as Storm of Memories and some Bloodsoaked Insight lines are lower priority when they do not affect the current turn or next-turn survival.

- Burn: treat life total as a hard resource gate and prefer wins that do not pass back after spending the turn on setup. Manamorphose should fix colors only when the follow-up legal actions are visible; Strike It Rich and Pyretic Ritual should be saved for the turn that converts mana into payoff unless using them now unlocks Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, or a guaranteed next-turn chain. Add role cards: Tendrils of Agony is the best sideboard payoff when Veles shows legal black mana and enough storm for a stabilizing life swing; Grapeshot is a backup when damage math is exact; Alchemist's Gambit is dangerous unless the extra turn wins before its consequence matters, and Card text check required. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Goblin Charbelcher setup that passes with no activation is risky if the opponent can finish from visible resources.

- Control: force the opponent to answer layered threats instead of one fragile all-in spell. Ruby Medallion and Ral, Monsoon Mage are premium early permanents because they make every later Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, and Storm of Memories more punishing; however, do not assume they resolve through hidden interaction. Add role cards: Galvanic Relay and Storm of Memories support staged turns after interaction, Vexing Bauble is relevant only when its exact text interacts with the opponent's visible or strongly represented counterplay, Untimely Malfunction is for a legal mode that protects or redirects a decisive spell, Underworld Breach can punish spent interaction if graveyard contents and mana are visible, and the extra Goblin Charbelcher increases permanent payoff density. Reduce main-deck emphasis: pure speed pieces such as Irencrag Feat are weaker when they create one stack point that loses to a single answer; Card text check required for Irencrag Feat restrictions.

- Tempo: respect the opponent's clock while sequencing around open mana and cheap interaction. Ruby Medallion is still important, but a turn that taps down for it must be judged against visible attackers and the chance that the next turn's payoff is disrupted; Veles should prefer lines that leave multiple follow-up spells after one interaction point. Add role cards: Lithomantic Barrage is useful against a visible threat that both clocks and disrupts, Untimely Malfunction can matter when legal action text answers a stack or combat problem, and Vexing Bauble is conditional protection when the exact text is relevant; Card text check required. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow exile-draw chains from Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, or Bloodsoaked Insight are weaker when passing gives tempo lethal, but they remain correct when the current hand lacks a real payoff.

- Midrange: play for inevitability through repeated resource bursts, not just raw speed. Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Valakut Awakening, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, and Storm of Memories are the tools that rebuild after discard or removal; Goblin Charbelcher and Wish are payoff access, not cards to expose before they can matter. Add role cards: Underworld Breach and Galvanic Relay are strong when public graveyard or exile resources support a second wave, Storm of Memories adds reload density, Mox Amber is playable only when the engine verifies a qualifying visible permanent, and the sideboard Goblin Charbelcher is useful when permanent payoff redundancy beats hand disruption. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Shatterskull Smashing and Sundering Eruption removal modes are lower priority unless they remove a threat that changes the combo clock.

- Removal-heavy decks: make creature and planeswalker removal awkward by leaning on Ruby Medallion, spell chains, Wish, and Goblin Charbelcher. Ral, Monsoon Mage is valuable but should not be treated as the only engine if the opponent has visible removal mana; Pinnacle Monk should be sequenced according to legal text and current role, with Card text check required before assuming recursion, body, or spell-mode details. Add role cards: Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, and Storm of Memories help recover from one-for-one trading; Empty the Warrens can punish opponents overloaded on single-target removal if the token line races visible board states. Reduce main-deck emphasis: spending Shatterskull Smashing or Sundering Eruption defensively is poor when the opponent's removal does not pressure life total or stop the combo.

- Combo: identify whether this deck is faster, more resilient, or forced to interact through Wish. Opening hands should either accelerate into Ruby Medallion plus multiple cheap spells, present Goblin Charbelcher with activation prospects, or use Jeska's Will, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, and Strike It Rich to threaten a same-turn payoff. Add role cards: Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Irencrag Feat, and Alchemist's Gambit increase kill-speed or payoff access when Veles exposes legal mana and storm math; Vexing Bauble is only for opponent combo lines where its exact text matters; Untimely Malfunction is only for a visible legal disruption or protection mode. Reduce main-deck emphasis: grind cards are weaker when the opponent's deterministic line is imminent, but Galvanic Relay can be correct if it creates a protected next-turn kill.

- Big mana: race their payoff turn and avoid over-investing in small interaction. Ruby Medallion into Jeska's Will, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Valakut Awakening, and Wish should be evaluated by whether it produces a kill or a nearly locked next turn before the opponent's visible mana crosses a decisive threshold. Add role cards: Goblin Charbelcher, Irencrag Feat, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, and Alchemist's Gambit are speed tools; Empty the Warrens is acceptable only when tokens race their visible board and expected next turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Lithomantic Barrage-style removal plans are low priority unless a specific legal target blocks the combo.

- Graveyard decks: win quickly unless graveyard interaction is available through a legal Wish or sideboard configuration. Do not assume Underworld Breach is safe if the opponent's public graveyard plan is faster or if visible graveyard hate affects this deck too. Add role cards: Underworld Breach is strongest when this deck's graveyard is already stocked with cheap mana and draw, Grapeshot can clear graveyard-enabling creatures if legal targets exist, Tendrils of Agony can race life totals, and Vexing Bauble is conditional on exact text. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Storm of Memories lines are risky if they pass while the opponent's graveyard already represents a next-turn kill; Card text check required for Storm of Memories.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: race first, interact only with visible permanents that actually stop the combo or create lethal pressure. Goblin Charbelcher is powerful but exposed if the opponent can answer artifacts before activation, so Veles should favor same-turn deployment and activation when legal. Add role cards: Lithomantic Barrage only matters for legal targets under its exact text, Vexing Bauble can fight specific noncreature patterns if text applies, Untimely Malfunction can answer or redirect a visible problem if a legal mode exists, and the sideboard Goblin Charbelcher improves redundancy when artifact removal is not dominant; Card text check required for Lithomantic Barrage, Vexing Bauble, and Untimely Malfunction details. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal-modal lands are poor when they do not touch the relevant permanent.

- Go-wide decks: decide whether the correct answer is racing, sweeping through storm damage, or making a wider board. Grapeshot is the cleanest sideboard tool when storm count and legal targets allow multiple creature damage assignments; Empty the Warrens is a defensive-offensive pivot when tokens can block and then race; Shatterskull Smashing is conditional removal when the rules engine exposes legal targets and enough mana. Add role cards: Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Lithomantic Barrage, and Tendrils of Agony cover cleanup, board presence, spot interaction, and life swing. Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive single payoff setup is weak if it cannot activate before the next attack.

- Single-threat decks: remove or ignore the threat based on the clock math, not the card's reputation. If Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Lithomantic Barrage, or Grapeshot legally answer the only threat and buy a full turn, interaction can be correct; if the combo can win through it now, spend resources on Jeska's Will, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Wish, or Goblin Charbelcher instead. Add role cards: Untimely Malfunction is relevant only when legal modes interact with the single threat or its protection; Tendrils of Agony can undo race pressure if black mana is verified. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Empty the Warrens is worse when one evasive or oversized threat ignores tokens.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: revealed cards, legal actions, public zones, and rules-engine prompts override these assumptions. Treat unknown opponents by pressure type: faster combo demands immediate Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, or Alchemist's Gambit lines; slower decks allow Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Storm of Memories, Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Valakut Awakening, and Bloodsoaked Insight to build a protected chain.

- Aggro and burn: prioritize life-preserving speed over perfect storm size. Use Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Grapeshot, Lithomantic Barrage, or Untimely Malfunction only when the legal target or mode buys a full turn, removes lethal pressure, or keeps Ral, Monsoon Mage alive for a decisive chain. Add role cards: Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, Tendrils of Agony, Lithomantic Barrage, and Untimely Malfunction. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Storm of Memories reloads and speculative Bloodsoaked Insight lines are risky when the next combat step is lethal.

- Countermagic and discard: sequence redundant engines before exposing the single closer. Ruby Medallion is the safest permanent engine when not immediately answered; Ral, Monsoon Mage and Goblin Charbelcher should be committed when the same turn can extract value, activate, or force a decisive answer. Add role cards: Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Storm of Memories, Mox Amber, Vexing Bauble, and the sideboard Goblin Charbelcher. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Irencrag Feat or Jeska's Will into a single payoff is fragile if the opponent has open interaction and no backup card advantage.

- Removal-heavy creature decks: make their removal misalign by leaning on Ruby Medallion, Wish, exile-draw effects, and Goblin Charbelcher. Ral, Monsoon Mage is strong when it survives or immediately contributes, but do not make the whole turn depend on it unless visible pressure requires speed. Add role cards: Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Storm of Memories, Empty the Warrens, and Lithomantic Barrage for exact legal targets. Priority targets: creatures that shorten the clock, creatures that tax or block combo lines under exact text, and permanents preventing spell chains.

- Graveyard pressure or graveyard hate: check public graveyards before choosing Underworld Breach or Storm of Memories. Underworld Breach is a recovery engine only when this deck's graveyard contains enough cheap mana, draw, and payoff access; it is poor into visible graveyard restriction or when the opponent's graveyard clock wins first. Add role cards: Underworld Breach, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Vexing Bauble, and Galvanic Relay. Reduce main-deck emphasis: passing after a low-impact Wrenn's Resolve, Reckless Impulse, or Bloodsoaked Insight is risky if the opponent already represents a faster public graveyard line.

- Big mana and slow noninteractive decks: race with mana density and payoff access. Ruby Medallion plus Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, Irencrag Feat, and Wish should be measured by whether it produces Goblin Charbelcher activation, Tendrils of Agony, Grapeshot, Empty the Warrens, or Alchemist's Gambit before their next large turn. Add role cards: Irencrag Feat, Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Alchemist's Gambit, and Galvanic Relay. Reduce main-deck emphasis: defensive Shatterskull Smashing and Sundering Eruption modes unless they remove the only relevant clock or lock piece.

- Artifact, enchantment, and prison-style boards: answer only permanents that legally stop the combo or create lethal tempo. Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, Lithomantic Barrage, and Grapeshot all require exact legal text and visible targets; Card text check required for Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, Lithomantic Barrage, Pinnacle Monk, Storm of Memories, and Bloodsoaked Insight before assuming a specific mode or restriction.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: the deck can look mana-rich while having too few actual red-producing starts because Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Valakut Awakening, and Pinnacle Monk may present modal land or spell tension. Do not spend Manamorphose, Strike It Rich, Pyretic Ritual, Jeska's Will, or Irencrag Feat until the current legal line has enough colored mana, storm count, and payoff access to justify the conversion.

- Matchup risk: racing the wrong axis loses games. Against fast pressure, prioritize a shorter Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, or removal line; against slow disruption, prioritize Ruby Medallion, Ral, Monsoon Mage, Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Storm of Memories, and redundant Wish access.

- Draw risk: Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Valakut Awakening, Bloodsoaked Insight, and Storm of Memories can create action without solving mana or payoff. If the visible hand already has Goblin Charbelcher or Wish but lacks activation mana, prefer mana-positive lines; if the hand has rituals but no closer, prefer selection and Wish lines before burning the last mana source.

- Over-sideboarding risk: too many narrow postboard cards dilute the chain. Mox Amber, Lithomantic Barrage, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, Empty the Warrens, and the sideboard Goblin Charbelcher should enter plans only for a specific role; keep enough Ruby Medallion, Manamorphose, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, and draw effects to actually combo.

- Graveyard risk: Underworld Breach and graveyard-assisted reload plans are powerful but public and disruptable. Check visible graveyard quantity, available mana, storm count, exile restrictions, and opponent graveyard pressure before committing; when graveyard quality is low, Galvanic Relay or direct Wish payoff access may be safer.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Empty the Warrens exposes a board-based closer to sweepers and blockers, while Ral, Monsoon Mage exposes an engine to removal. Prefer Empty the Warrens when tokens race the visible board or force lethal next turn; prefer Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, or Alchemist's Gambit when permanent or token exposure is punished.

- Closer risk: Wish can access the right sideboard payoff, but only if mana, color, and timing are legal. Do not choose Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Goblin Charbelcher, Irencrag Feat, Alchemist's Gambit, Underworld Breach, or Storm of Memories by reputation; choose the closer that the current rules-engine action set can actually cast, pay for, target, and resolve profitably from visible information.

- Interaction and sequencing risk: passing priority with open combo resources can give the opponent a full turn, but jamming into visible open interaction can waste the only payoff. Build chains in the order that preserves maximum legal information: establish Ruby Medallion when safe, float or filter mana with Manamorphose only when needed, spend rituals when the payoff path is identified, and hold Valakut Awakening until it improves a stalled or redundant hand.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: record whether the game was decided by a resolved Goblin Charbelcher, storm payoff through Wish, Empty the Warrens pressure, Ral, Monsoon Mage engine value, or a stalled chain after spending rituals.
- Mulligan quality: note whether opening hands had a red source, Ruby Medallion or Ral, Monsoon Mage, velocity from Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, or Storm of Memories, and a realistic payoff path.
- Mana execution: track every loss where Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, Irencrag Feat, Shatterskull Smashing, Sundering Eruption, Pinnacle Monk, or Valakut Awakening created modal-land or color tension.
- Engine timing: identify whether Ruby Medallion was deployed early enough, whether Ral, Monsoon Mage survived or immediately mattered, and whether Goblin Charbelcher was committed only when activation or protection from visible pressure was plausible.
- Velocity failures: flag turns where Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, or Storm of Memories produced cards that could not be used before the opponent's next decisive turn.
- Ritual discipline: review whether Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Manamorphose, Jeska's Will, and Irencrag Feat were spent after a payoff line was identified or merely converted resources into a pass.
- Closing accuracy: compare Wish targets and natural payoffs; ask whether Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, Alchemist's Gambit, Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Irencrag Feat, or Storm of Memories would have closed faster or more safely from visible actions.
- Interaction impact: record whether Lithomantic Barrage, Untimely Malfunction, Vexing Bauble, or removal modes from Shatterskull Smashing and Sundering Eruption had exact legal targets and changed the clock or combo access. Card text check required before attributing a specific effect to Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, Lithomantic Barrage, Pinnacle Monk, Storm of Memories, or Bloodsoaked Insight.
- Sideboard performance: note which configured role cards mattered, which postboard cards were stranded, and whether Mox Amber, Underworld Breach, Galvanic Relay, Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Goblin Charbelcher, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Alchemist's Gambit, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, or Lithomantic Barrage matched the opponent's visible plan.
- Role mistakes: mark games where the deck played too slowly against pressure, too all-in against open interaction, or too defensively against a slower opponent.
- Stranded-card audit: count uncastable or low-impact copies of Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Jeska's Will, Irencrag Feat, Storm of Memories, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, Shatterskull Smashing, and Sundering Eruption.
- Overperformer and underperformer notes: tie each card judgment to a visible game state, legal action, and result rather than reputation.

## First Tuning Questions
- Card quantity question: should the main deck remain at 3 Goblin Charbelcher and 3 Wish, or did games show too many payoff-light chains or too many expensive closers stranded before sufficient mana?
- Engine density question: did 4 Ruby Medallion and 4 Ral, Monsoon Mage create enough early engines, or did removal-heavy and counterspell-heavy games require more sideboard reliance on Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Storm of Memories, or the sideboard Goblin Charbelcher?
- Mana base question: did 4 Shatterskull Smashing, 4 Sundering Eruption, 4 Valakut Awakening, and 4 Pinnacle Monk support early red consistently, or did modal-land choices repeatedly block Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, and Manamorphose sequencing?
- Velocity mix question: did Reckless Impulse, Wrenn's Resolve, Bloodsoaked Insight, Valakut Awakening, and Storm of Memories find the right balance between raw cards and immediate mana, or did exile-window pressure make some draw effects worse than additional payoff or ritual density?
- Ritual quantity question: did 4 Pyretic Ritual, 4 Strike It Rich, 4 Manamorphose, 4 Jeska's Will, and 1 Irencrag Feat produce enough deterministic combo turns, or were losses caused by having mana without Wish, Goblin Charbelcher, Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, or Alchemist's Gambit access?
- Aggro plan question: did the deck close before creature pressure mattered, or should sideboard emphasis shift toward Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Lithomantic Barrage, and faster Goblin Charbelcher lines for visible short-clock matchups?
- Control plan question: did the deck lose to single-point disruption, or should sideboard emphasis shift toward Galvanic Relay, Underworld Breach, Storm of Memories, Vexing Bauble, Mox Amber, and redundant Wish targets?
- Graveyard plan question: did Underworld Breach win games with public graveyard quality, or was it too often weakened by visible graveyard pressure, low cheap-spell density, or insufficient mana after the commitment?
- Closer spread question: were Grapeshot, Tendrils of Agony, Empty the Warrens, Goblin Charbelcher, and Alchemist's Gambit each selected in the matchups where their risk profile fit, or is one payoff occupying a sideboard slot without a clear tactical job?
- Sideboard slot question: did two Lithomantic Barrage and two sideboard Irencrag Feat earn their counts, or did the data favor more resilient engines, another closer, or more interaction for exact visible hate pieces?
- Role conflict question: did sideboard plans dilute the main chain by lowering Ruby Medallion, Manamorphose, Pyretic Ritual, Strike It Rich, Jeska's Will, or card-velocity density below the threshold needed to execute Ruby Storm's core plan?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Hand Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Ruby Medallion; Ral, Monsoon Mage; Manamorphose; Pyretic Ritual; Strike It Rich; Reckless Impulse; Wrenn's Resolve; Bloodsoaked Insight; Valakut Awakening; Goblin Charbelcher; Wish
Phase windows: pregame mulligan
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; hand; visible opening hand
Use when: Keep only hands with red access, at least one engine or velocity piece, and a payoff path through Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, Storm of Memories, or chained impulse effects.
Avoid when: Ship hands with no red source, no castable early action, only expensive payoff, or multiple modal lands that cannot support turn-one or turn-two development.
Instructions: Prefer six-card functional hands over seven-card piles that require drawing both mana and action; bottom redundant expensive payoff before cutting red access or the first engine.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Engine Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Ruby Medallion; Ral, Monsoon Mage; Strike It Rich; Pinnacle Monk; Valakut Awakening; Shatterskull Smashing; Sundering Eruption
Phase windows: turns 1-3 main phase
Runtime cues: action:cast Ruby Medallion; action:cast Ral, Monsoon Mage; action:play land
Use when: Establish the first cost reducer or engine before spending rituals if the hand still has follow-up velocity and the opponent is not presenting an immediate lethal clock.
Avoid when: The current turn can already convert rituals into a payoff, or visible interaction/pressure makes a tap-out engine unlikely to matter before the next decision.
Instructions: Sequence modal lands to preserve red; deploy Ruby Medallion before red instants and sorceries when it changes same-turn spell count.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Modal Land Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; selection
Cards: Valakut Awakening; Shatterskull Smashing; Sundering Eruption; Pinnacle Monk
Phase windows: main phase; land play prompt
Runtime cues: action:play Valakut Awakening; action:play Shatterskull Smashing; action:play Sundering Eruption; action:play Pinnacle Monk
Use when: Choose land mode to unlock red mana, hit early land count, or make future Jeska's Will, Goblin Charbelcher, Wish, and ritual chains castable.
Avoid when: The spell side is the only visible removal, velocity, or payoff needed this turn and land count is already sufficient.
Instructions: Treat the first red-producing land as mandatory infrastructure; after enough mana is secured, keep spell-side modal cards if the action text indicates immediate combo or interaction relevance.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Ritual Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Pyretic Ritual; Strike It Rich; Manamorphose; Jeska's Will; Irencrag Feat; Ruby Medallion; Ral, Monsoon Mage
Phase windows: main phase; priority with stack empty
Runtime cues: action:cast Pyretic Ritual; action:cast Strike It Rich; action:cast Jeska's Will; action:cast Irencrag Feat
Use when: Start ritual chaining only when visible hand, exile cards, graveyard permissions, or Wish access show a realistic route to payoff or a protected reload.
Avoid when: Rituals only produce floating mana into pass, or spending them reduces the ability to cast the next visible engine after interruption.
Instructions: Count exact floating mana, discounts, storm count, exile windows, and remaining red sources before the first non-reversible ritual.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Manamorphose Color Fix
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana; selection
Cards: Manamorphose; Wish; Tendrils of Agony; Underworld Breach; Grapeshot
Phase windows: main phase; mana choice prompt
Runtime cues: action:choose red Manamorphose; action:choose black Manamorphose; action:choose mana Manamorphose
Use when: Select colors that cast the next visible spell in hand, exile, graveyard permission, or sideboard access this turn.
Avoid when: The needed color is unknown because the payoff line has not been chosen.
Instructions: Favor red for ongoing chain spells; choose black only when a visible Tendrils of Agony or Bloodsoaked Insight line requires it and legal mana text supports that choice.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Velocity Before Payoff
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Reckless Impulse; Wrenn's Resolve; Bloodsoaked Insight; Valakut Awakening; Storm of Memories; Ruby Medallion
Phase windows: main phase; stack empty
Runtime cues: action:cast Reckless Impulse; action:cast Wrenn's Resolve; action:cast Bloodsoaked Insight; action:cast Storm of Memories
Use when: Cast velocity before payoff when mana remains to use the revealed cards and the chain needs more rituals, discount pieces, or a closer.
Avoid when: The current visible line already has lethal payoff, or exile timing would strand high-impact cards before they can be cast.
Instructions: Use Ruby Medallion discounts before low-cost velocity when possible; Card text check required for Bloodsoaked Insight and Storm of Memories, so follow only legal action text and visible generated options.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Goblin Charbelcher Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; mana
Cards: Goblin Charbelcher; Irencrag Feat; Jeska's Will; Pyretic Ritual; Strike It Rich; Manamorphose
Phase windows: main phase; priority with stack empty
Runtime cues: action:cast Goblin Charbelcher; action:activate Goblin Charbelcher
Use when: Commit Goblin Charbelcher when the deck can cast and activate it soon, or when waiting exposes the hand to a faster visible loss.
Avoid when: Casting it consumes all mana with no activation path and the opponent has visible pressure or open interaction that makes another engine line safer.
Instructions: Prefer same-turn activation when available; otherwise ensure the board state permits surviving to untap.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Goblin Charbelcher Opponent Target
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Goblin Charbelcher
Phase windows: target prompt after activation
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Goblin Charbelcher
Use when: The pending prompt is for Goblin Charbelcher target selection and exactly one opponent player target is listed by the legal actions.
Avoid when: Multiple non-opponent targets are listed and the action text does not identify an opponent player target.
Instructions: Select the opponent player target for the deterministic kill attempt after activation has already been chosen.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Wish Payoff Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: selection; priority
Cards: Wish; Grapeshot; Tendrils of Agony; Empty the Warrens; Underworld Breach; Galvanic Relay; Alchemist's Gambit; Goblin Charbelcher; Irencrag Feat; Storm of Memories
Phase windows: main phase; Wish resolution
Runtime cues: action:choose Grapeshot; action:choose Tendrils of Agony; action:choose Empty the Warrens; action:choose Underworld Breach; action:choose Goblin Charbelcher
Use when: Choose the postboard card that converts the current mana, storm count, graveyard, and opponent life/board state into a win or a durable reload.
Avoid when: A target is attractive by name but cannot be cast, cannot matter before the next opponent turn, or depends on unverified card text.
Instructions: Prefer deterministic lethal over delayed pressure; use Empty the Warrens when tokens are enough against visible interaction and life totals; Card text check required for Alchemist's Gambit, Galvanic Relay, Vexing Bauble, Untimely Malfunction, and Lithomantic Barrage.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Grapeshot Opponent Target
Priority: High
Decision families: selection; interaction
Cards: Grapeshot; Wish
Phase windows: target prompt during payoff resolution
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Grapeshot
Use when: The pending Grapeshot or copied Grapeshot action lists an opponent player target and the line selected Grapeshot as the payoff.
Avoid when: The prompt asks for divided or multiple targets and opponent lethal is not determined from visible copy count and life total.
Instructions: Target the opponent player with each deterministic lethal copy when legal action text exposes that target.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tendrils Opponent Target
Priority: High
Decision families: selection; interaction
Cards: Tendrils of Agony; Wish
Phase windows: target prompt during payoff resolution
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Tendrils of Agony
Use when: The pending Tendrils of Agony or copied Tendrils of Agony action lists an opponent player target and visible storm copies are the selected payoff line.
Avoid when: The legal action text does not identify the opponent player target.
Instructions: Target the opponent player with deterministic drain copies after choosing the Tendrils line.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Underworld Breach Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Underworld Breach; Wish; Pyretic Ritual; Manamorphose; Strike It Rich; Jeska's Will; Grapeshot; Tendrils of Agony
Phase windows: main phase; graveyard permission windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Underworld Breach; action:cast card from graveyard
Use when: Commit to Underworld Breach only when public graveyard, mana, and visible payoff access can sustain repeated casts this turn.
Avoid when: Graveyard count is too small, required colors are missing, or visible hate/pressure makes a partial reload insufficient.
Instructions: Recalculate escape costs and remaining graveyard cards after every cast; never assume hidden cards or unlisted graveyard access.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Storm Payoff Threshold
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Grapeshot; Tendrils of Agony; Empty the Warrens; Storm of Memories; Wish
Phase windows: main phase; payoff casting window
Runtime cues: action:cast Grapeshot; action:cast Tendrils of Agony; action:cast Empty the Warrens; action:cast Storm of Memories
Use when: Fire a storm payoff when visible storm count, mana, and opponent life or board state make the result immediately decisive or clearly safer than waiting.
Avoid when: The payoff creates nonlethal damage or tokens while the hand can still increase storm without exposing a new vulnerability.
Instructions: Count copies from rules-engine output, not memory; use Empty the Warrens as pressure only when it beats the visible clock or interaction profile.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Shatterskull And Sundering Interaction
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; mana
Cards: Shatterskull Smashing; Sundering Eruption; Lithomantic Barrage; Untimely Malfunction
Phase windows: main phase; combat-adjacent priority; removal target prompts
Runtime cues: action:cast Shatterskull Smashing; action:cast Sundering Eruption; action:cast Lithomantic Barrage; action:cast Untimely Malfunction
Use when: Use interaction only when it removes a visible blocker, hate piece, planeswalker, or lethal-clock source that prevents the combo from resolving or surviving.
Avoid when: Removal consumes mana needed for a same-turn combo and the target does not change the current clock or legality of the planned line.
Instructions: Card text check required for Lithomantic Barrage, Untimely Malfunction, and Sundering Eruption; obey exact legal targets and damage modes shown by Forge.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Minimalism
Priority: Low
Decision families: combat
Cards: Ral, Monsoon Mage; Pinnacle Monk; Empty the Warrens
Phase windows: beginning of combat; declare attackers; declare blockers
Runtime cues: action:attack; action:block
Use when: Attack only when damage advances a visible lethal plan without risking an engine creature or needed blocker; block only to preserve life against a short clock.
Avoid when: Combat trades away Ral, Monsoon Mage or Pinnacle Monk before their mana/engine role is exhausted, or when token pressure from Empty the Warrens already wins by staying wide.
Instructions: Treat combat as secondary to spell-chain execution; route any multi-attacker, multi-blocker, or lethal-race choice through light-model.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Pass Priority Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; interaction
Cards: none
Phase windows: opponent turn; end step; stack interaction window
Runtime cues: action:pass priority; action:pass turn
Use when: Pass only after confirming no legal action improves mana, preserves survival, protects a selected line, or converts floating mana before it empties.
Avoid when: Floating mana, exile-window cards, pending storm count, or visible opponent lethal pressure makes a current legal action time-sensitive.
Instructions: Passing with interaction available requires a reason tied to visible stack, mana, or clock; never assume the opponent lacks follow-up.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Mana Payment After Line Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Ruby Medallion; Manamorphose; Pyretic Ritual; Strike It Rich; Jeska's Will; Irencrag Feat; Mox Amber
Phase windows: mana payment prompts
Runtime cues: action:pay mana; action:activate mana ability; action:choose mana source
Use when: The spell or ability to cast has already been selected and the legal prompt lists exact mana-source or color choices.
Avoid when: Multiple payment choices affect future colors, floating mana, or whether another visible spell remains castable.
Instructions: Preserve red first, preserve black only for visible Tendrils of Agony or Bloodsoaked Insight requirements, and use temporary mana before permanent sources when legal text makes that distinction visible.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Mox Amber; Lithomantic Barrage; Vexing Bauble; Grapeshot; Underworld Breach; Untimely Malfunction; Alchemist's Gambit; Galvanic Relay; Empty the Warrens; Goblin Charbelcher; Irencrag Feat; Tendrils of Agony; Storm of Memories
Phase windows: between games; sideboard submission
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; match_stage:post-board
Use when: Adjust only within registered 75, matching sideboard roles to visible opponent speed, disruption, hate permanents, and whether the maindeck combo was too slow or too fragile.
Avoid when: Changes reduce red source access, Ruby Medallion density, ritual density, or payoff access below a functional combo threshold without a matchup-specific reason.
Instructions: Follow exact Sideboard Map plans when available; otherwise add role cards conservatively and preserve the core chain of Ruby Medallion, rituals, velocity, Wish, and Goblin Charbelcher.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
