# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Dimir Aggro is an Explorer blue-black aggro-tempo deck built to convert cheap evasive or utility creatures into repeated pressure while using discard, removal, planeswalker pressure, creature-lands, and a small high-impact top end to keep the opponent from stabilizing. The registered identity is not a pure control deck and not a pure all-in aggro deck; pilot decisions should treat the deck as a disruptive pressure deck whose default plan is to establish a threat, attack early, and spend interaction to preserve tempo rather than to answer every opposing card.

- Validation: The registered list contains 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards, matching the active Explorer validation contract. The supplied format-aware validation result passes, so Veles should not treat the deck as provisional for count or format reasons unless the runtime deck object differs from this registration.

- Tags: The active archetype tags are aggro and tempo. Duplicate tag input should be normalized conceptually to `aggro, tempo`; runtime guidance should not infer a separate combo, control, midrange, or tribal-only identity unless visible game texture forces a role shift.

- Stock status: Treat this as a hybrid or tuned rogue Dimir Aggro configuration rather than a fully stock netdeck. The shell combines Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mutavault, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares with Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Brazen Borrower, and Enduring Curiosity. Decisions should therefore follow the registered-card plan, not generic Dimir Control, Rogues, Ninjas, Faeries, or Midrange assumptions.

- Main role concern: The deck needs early board presence to make its tempo cards matter. A hand with only removal, discard, and expensive cards may interact but can fail to pressure; a hand with only creatures and no disruption may fail against faster linear starts. Favor opening sequences that pair one early creature or Mutavault pressure with either Thoughtseize or cheap removal when the visible matchup does not demand a narrower answer.

- Mana concern: The deck is fundamentally blue-black but includes four Mutavault, one Otawara, Soaring City, one Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, three Multiversal Passage, and a small basic package of two Island and one Swamp. The pilot should protect access to both colors early, especially black for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and blue for Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mockingbird, Brazen Borrower, Enduring Curiosity, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Mutavault is part of the pressure plan, but colorless mana can create real sequencing costs.

- Legality concern: The guide assumes only engine-enumerated legal actions are selectable. Veles must not choose a line because this guide says a card is tactically desirable if the rules engine does not expose that cast, activation, attack, block, channel, target, payment, or sideboard action as legal at that decision point.

- Card-text certainty: This specification should not invent card text for newer or less familiar cards. For Floodpits Drowner, Multiversal Passage, Gloomlake Verge, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Mockingbird, Enduring Curiosity, and Nowhere to Run, tactical use should be checked against Forge-visible legal actions and public game state when exact text matters. Card text check required for any claim that depends on a non-obvious mode, restriction, trigger, or timing permission.

- Opponent info status: No specific opponent decklist, matchup label, play/draw status, or metagame target was supplied for this batch. Runtime policy must derive opposing role from visible lands, permanents, revealed cards, graveyards, exile, stack objects, life totals, sideboarded game number, and legal actions. Do not name absent opponent cards inside policy `Cards:` fields; if later matchup sections use examples, cards not registered in this Dimir Aggro list must be prose-only or prefixed as `opponent:` where policy syntax permits.

- Pilot baseline: Start from a proactive tempo posture, then shift roles only when visible pressure, life totals, hand resources, or known opponent threats make racing unsafe. The deck wins most cleanly when an early creature, Mutavault, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse forces the opponent to spend mana defensively while Thoughtseize and removal keep their strongest stabilizing play off balance.

## Thesis
Dimir Aggro assembles early evasive or utility pressure, cheap disruption, and resilient follow-up threats so the opponent is forced to spend mana reacting while the deck keeps attacking. The preferred texture is one early attacker from Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, or Mutavault, backed by Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, or Nowhere to Run, then reinforced by Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse before the opponent can stabilize.

The deck wins by converting small damage into a tempo snowball, not by answering every card or waiting for inevitability. Prioritize preserving a clock, using discard to clear the opponent's best stabilizer, and spending removal on blockers, haste pressure, snowball engines, or threats that race your board. A hand or line that trades resources but never attacks is usually off-plan unless the visible opponent is faster and survival is the only path to a later Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Mutavault, or recursion finish.

The deck is not trying to be Dimir Control, a pure tribal deck, or a tap-out midrange pile. Do not overvalue holding interaction forever, do not keep creature-light hands solely because they contain Thoughtseize and removal, and do not cash in tempo cards for low-impact exchanges when visible life totals and board state reward forcing the opponent to respond. If a card's exact text matters for Floodpits Drowner, Multiversal Passage, Gloomlake Verge, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Mockingbird, Enduring Curiosity, or Nowhere to Run, use Forge-visible legal actions and public text context; Card text check required for any non-obvious timing, trigger, restriction, or mode.

## Role Package
- Threats: Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mutavault, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, Brazen Borrower, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse are the pressure package. Lead with cheap bodies when they enable immediate attacks, ninjutsu-style pressure, copy pressure, or later planeswalker protection; shift to Mutavault and larger threats when sweepers or spot removal make ordinary creature commitment risky.

- Payoffs: Moon-Circuit Hacker rewards connecting with early creatures and should be treated as a pressure-plus-card-flow payoff when the legal action text supports that line. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is a premium snowball card and should be protected when it is already generating material advantage or damage. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is the strongest stabilizing threat and should be prioritized when life totals, draw triggers, or board stalls make a single large permanent more valuable than another small attacker. Enduring Curiosity is a payoff only when the board can attack or the legal text makes its value engine active; Card text check required for exact trigger and timing details.

- Engines: Faerie Miscreant can provide early material when multiples or relevant text are present, but should still be valued first as a cheap enabler for attacks. Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, and Mutavault are the repeatable-resource engines that let the deck continue after the first exchange. Takenuma, Abandoned Mire provides late recursion only when the engine exposes a legal channel or recursion action and the visible graveyard contains a target worth returning.

- Velocity: Thoughtseize is proactive velocity because it converts hidden uncertainty into a cleared attack path or a protected threat window. Faerie Miscreant and Moon-Circuit Hacker are board-based velocity when they turn early creatures into additional cards or selection. Multiversal Passage may be a setup or smoothing card, but Card text check required; treat it as mana or tactical utility only according to the legal action and visible text exposed at runtime.

- Interaction: Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, Anoint with Affliction, Duress, Disdainful Stroke, Spell Pierce, Languish, and Path of Peril form the disruption suite across main deck and sideboard. Use discard before committing a key threat when the opponent could have a visible or revealed stabilizer, and use removal to protect attacks rather than to maximize one-for-one trading by default.

- Protection: The deck protects threats by sequencing Thoughtseize before high-value commitments, holding cheap removal for blockers or counter-pressure, using Mutavault after sorcery-speed sweepers, and deploying Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse when the opponent's known answer window is constrained. Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Duress, and Graveyard Trespasser become protection tools after sideboarding in matchups where noncreature interaction, expensive stabilizers, or graveyard engines are central.

- Recursion: Takenuma, Abandoned Mire is the main recursion-like registered card and should be saved when a visible graveyard target is meaningfully better than a normal land or mana use. Graveyard Trespasser is a sideboard card that can pressure while interacting with graveyards; Card text check required for exact daybound/nightbound, ward, and graveyard-trigger details if the runtime decision depends on them.

- Mana: Darkslick Shores, Gloomlake Verge, Watery Grave, Island, Swamp, Mutavault, Otawara, Soaring City, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, and Multiversal Passage support a two-color deck with real colorless pressure costs. Prioritize untapped blue-black access for early spells, but value Mutavault as a threat once colored requirements are covered.

- Sideboard modules: Leyline of the Void and Graveyard Trespasser attack graveyard plans; Duress, Disdainful Stroke, and Spell Pierce attack noncreature or expensive spells; Anoint with Affliction, Path of Peril, and Languish adjust removal density against creature decks. Sideboard plans should preserve the proactive pressure core unless the visible matchup makes survival more important than speed.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Tempo creature snowball: Use Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, and Mutavault to establish early damage, then use Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Brazen Borrower, and Otawara, Soaring City to remove the opponent's best stabilizer or blocker. Set up by keeping hands with an early attacker plus either disruption or follow-up pressure; execute by attacking first, spending mana to keep the attack profitable, and turning Moon-Circuit Hacker or other legal attack-trigger/value text into extra material. Prioritize this path against slower hands, taplands, planeswalkers, creature-light decks, and opponents whose visible board cannot punish small attackers. Disruption should clear sweepers, lifegain engines, large blockers, cheap removal for Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or a spell that races faster than the current clock.

- Protected Kaito snowball: Use Kaito, Bane of Nightmares as the main midgame engine when one or more creatures, Mutavault, or removal spells can protect it. Set up by leading with a body and using Thoughtseize before committing Kaito, Bane of Nightmares if the opponent could have a known answer; execute by choosing Forge-legal Kaito actions that add damage, cards, or board control without exposing it to an obvious crack-back. Prioritize this path when the opponent is answering creatures one-for-one, when the board is stable enough to protect a planeswalker, or when a single removal spell opens safe attacks. Card text check required for exact Kaito, Bane of Nightmares modes, loyalty changes, and creature/combat permissions.

- Sheoldred stabilizing close: Use Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as the high-impact threat when the game is becoming about life totals, draw steps, or stalled combat. Set up by trading early resources, preserving enough black mana, and using Thoughtseize or removal to reduce the chance Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is immediately answered. Execute by making attacks only when they improve the race and by using Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, or Nowhere to Run to stop creatures that can ignore or overwhelm Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Prioritize this path when behind on life but not dead on board, when both players are low on cards, or when small creatures no longer attack profitably.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Mutavault pressure: Use Mutavault as a resilient attacker after removal, sweepers, or stalled creature exchanges have reduced the board. Prioritize colored mana first, then turn excess lands into damage once Darkslick Shores, Gloomlake Verge, Watery Grave, Island, Swamp, Multiversal Passage, Otawara, Soaring City, or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire already cover current spell needs. Do not animate Mutavault into open damage, removal, or combat loss unless the legal line meaningfully improves lethal pressure or planeswalker pressure.

- Value recovery: Use Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire to rebuild after the first wave is answered. Prioritize this path when both players are exchanging cards, when attacking is still possible, or when the graveyard contains a visible threat worth returning through a legal Takenuma, Abandoned Mire action. Card text check required for Enduring Curiosity and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire details if the exact trigger, timing, or target restriction matters.

- Bounce and tempo finish: Use Brazen Borrower and Otawara, Soaring City as temporary answers that convert one turn of access into lethal damage, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares protection, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse survival. Prefer bounce on expensive permanents, blockers carrying combat importance, or engines that cost the opponent a full turn to redeploy. Do not spend bounce as a low-impact answer if Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, or Nowhere to Run can permanently solve the same visible problem and the tempo gain is not needed.

- Discard-backed attrition: Use Thoughtseize to strip the card that beats the current board rather than the generically strongest card. When the deck has pressure, take the answer or stabilizer; when behind, take the card that produces the fastest loss or prevents Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or removal from stabilizing.

## Emergency Lines
- Behind on life: Shift from maximum pressure to survival when the opponent's visible attack threatens a short clock. Trade Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, or Mutavault when the trade preserves enough life to resolve Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Languish, or Path of Peril in post-board games.

- Behind on board: Spend removal on the creature that changes combat math most, not automatically on the largest creature. Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Brazen Borrower, and Otawara, Soaring City should buy attacks only if racing is still realistic; otherwise they should buy time for Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or a planeswalker recovery.

- Behind on cards: Preserve repeatable sources and avoid low-impact exchanges. Prioritize Moon-Circuit Hacker connections, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares actions, Enduring Curiosity lines, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire recursion, and Mutavault pressure over trading the last threat for a nonessential blocker.

- Behind on mana: Keep colored sources functional and avoid overusing Mutavault activation or channel-style utility if it prevents casting Thoughtseize plus removal, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse on curve. Multiversal Passage and Gloomlake Verge require Card text check required if the exact mana or timing changes the line.

- Opponent engine or graveyard plan ahead: Use Thoughtseize on the engine piece before it resolves when possible, then use sideboard Leyline of the Void, Graveyard Trespasser, Duress, Disdainful Stroke, Spell Pierce, Anoint with Affliction, Languish, or Path of Peril according to the legal post-board plan and visible threat type.

- Win conditions removed: Convert to creature-land and topdeck pressure instead of conceding tempo. Mutavault, remaining cheap creatures, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, and any surviving Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse can still close if removal is saved for blockers and Thoughtseize is aimed at the opponent's last stabilizer.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable tempo resource until the opponent's visible attack creates a short clock. Thoughtseize and Watery Grave can cost life to create the first profitable attack or clear the answer to Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, but stop paying life freely when Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Languish, or Path of Peril must buy survival.

- Hand size converts into pressure plus disruption, not raw card hoarding. Keep hands that pair a cheap creature such as Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, or Moon-Circuit Hacker with Thoughtseize or removal; avoid spending the last interactive card on a low-impact target if Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is the planned stabilizer.

- Mana converts into double-spell turns after the first threat is established. The best midgame turns often attack first, then use Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Thoughtseize, Brazen Borrower, Moon-Circuit Hacker, or a Mutavault activation according to the legal actions Forge exposes. Card text check required for Floodpits Drowner, Multiversal Passage, Gloomlake Verge, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Mockingbird, and Nowhere to Run whenever exact cost, timing, or mode text decides the line.

- Board presence is the deck's main currency. One evasive or hard-to-block body can unlock Moon-Circuit Hacker, protect Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, pressure planeswalkers, and make Thoughtseize stronger by turning the opponent's future stabilizer into the priority discard target. Do not trade Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, or Mutavault merely for parity when the current board needs an attacker to keep tempo.

- Graveyard access is mostly a recovery resource, not a primary engine. Treat Takenuma, Abandoned Mire and Graveyard Trespasser as conditional value tools once card text and legal targets are visible; preserve important creatures in graveyard-aware games only when the runtime state shows a legal recursion or graveyard-pressure line.

- Exile matters mainly through sideboard bullets and opposing resource denial. Leyline of the Void, Anoint with Affliction, and any Forge-visible exile text should be valued higher when the opponent's graveyard is part of its visible plan; otherwise do not overvalue exile effects over removing attackers or maintaining pressure.

- Lands are both spell access and threat access. Mutavault is a threat only after colored requirements are covered; Otawara, Soaring City and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire are utility lands only when their legal channel or land-use choice is better than making a normal land drop. Multiversal Passage and Gloomlake Verge require Card text check required before treating them as untapped, fixing, or utility resources.

- Sacrifice fodder is not a planned resource in this registered list. If Forge exposes sacrifice decisions from opposing effects, choose based on preserving pressure, protecting Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and keeping Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or a uniquely functional attacker when visible board state supports it.

- Tempo is the deck's default exchange rate. Spend a card to gain a turn when that turn produces damage, a protected Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, a Moon-Circuit Hacker connection, or a safe Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; avoid tempo-only plays when the opponent can replay the permanent and the deck cannot capitalize immediately.

- Information is strongest before commitment turns. Use Thoughtseize and Duress in post-board games to identify the card that beats the current plan, then sequence Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Enduring Curiosity, Mutavault pressure, or removal around the revealed hand without inventing unknown cards.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow mana into matchup-specific leverage. Leyline of the Void is a starting-hand or early-game graveyard pressure tool, Duress and Spell Pierce protect tempo against noncreature spells, Disdainful Stroke checks expensive threats, Anoint with Affliction and Path of Peril reshape creature exchanges, Languish resets wide boards, and Graveyard Trespasser adds pressure plus graveyard interaction when legal text supports it.

## Mana Guide
- Prioritize black on turn one when Thoughtseize or Fatal Push is in hand, and prioritize blue when the opener needs Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, or Brazen Borrower access. Keep only mana that casts the hand's first two relevant spells; a Mutavault-heavy hand without colored access is a pressure illusion.

- Sequence Darkslick Shores and Watery Grave to support early double-spell turns. Use Watery Grave untapped when the life payment creates a clear tempo gain or prevents falling behind; use it tapped when the turn has no black or blue one-mana play and life is already under pressure.

- Treat Gloomlake Verge and Multiversal Passage as conditional until exact runtime text is visible. Card text check required before assuming either land enters untapped, produces both colors immediately, fixes a missing color, or supports a specific curve.

- Hold Mutavault as a land first and a creature second. Do not activate Mutavault if doing so prevents casting Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Brazen Borrower, or a post-board interactive spell that matters this turn.

- Use Otawara, Soaring City and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire as lands when colored development is short. Consider their utility text only when Forge exposes a legal action and the immediate effect is worth more than future blue or black mana; Card text check required for exact costs, targets, and timing.

- Keep two-land hands when they cast an early creature plus interaction and have a meaningful draw step path to Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Mulligan one-land hands unless the legal format context and visible opener show multiple one-mana plays, a reliable draw/filter path, and a low risk of missing the second land; do not keep colorless-only openers.

- Value third and fourth lands because this deck wants Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Mutavault activation, and double-spell turns. Extra lands after functional mana become attack damage through Mutavault or utility through Otawara, Soaring City and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire.

- Play lands before draw effects when the turn already needs maximum mana, when a legal Moon-Circuit Hacker or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares line requires spending mana after combat, or when holding the land cannot change the decision. Delay the land drop until after a draw or selection action when both colors are already available and the drawn card could change which land should be played.

- In post-board games, preserve mana for bullets at the right window. Duress and Spell Pierce reward early untapped sources, Disdainful Stroke requires leaving mana during the opponent's high-impact turn, Anoint with Affliction and Go for the Throat reward black availability, and Path of Peril or Languish asks the pilot to avoid unnecessary Mutavault activation before a reset turn.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: keep two or three colored lands plus Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird or Floodpits Drowner, Thoughtseize or Fatal Push, and a follow-up Moon-Circuit Hacker or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. This hand starts pressure, disrupts the opponent, and has a real turn-three or turn-four payoff.

- Medium keep: keep two lands, one early creature, one cheap interaction spell, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse only when both colors are covered or the hand already functions without drawing land three immediately. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is a stabilizer and closer, not a reason to keep a slow opener alone.

- Risky keep: keep one-land hands only on the draw with Darkslick Shores or Watery Grave, multiple one-mana plays, and at least one early creature plus Thoughtseize or Fatal Push. Ship one-land hands with Mutavault as the only land, with only Gloomlake Verge or Multiversal Passage if their visible runtime text does not guarantee the needed colored mana, or with multiple four-mana cards.

- Automatic ship: mulligan hands with no colored land, no early creature, no turn-one or turn-two interaction, or only Mutavault plus expensive cards. Ship hands that depend on drawing both a colored land and a creature before Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Enduring Curiosity can matter.

- Trap hand: do not keep removal-heavy hands with Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, and no creature unless the matchup visibly demands creature control and the mana is excellent. This deck loses agency when it answers early plays but never presents an attacker.

- Matchup-dependent keep: against fast creature decks, value Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Path of Peril, Anoint with Affliction, or Languish higher than Thoughtseize-only disruption. Against slower spell decks, value Thoughtseize, Duress, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, an early attacker, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares higher than creature-only removal.

- Graveyard-matchup keep: keep Leyline of the Void only when the matchup or public game context makes graveyard denial important; do not keep a weak Leyline of the Void hand that lacks pressure or functional mana. Graveyard Trespasser is keepable post-board when the hand also has lands and interaction, with Card text check required for exact graveyard impact.

- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prefer proactive one-drop into disruption into payoff; on the draw, require either cheap interaction or a hand that can recover tempo after the opponent's first two turns. Thoughtseize is stronger on the play when it clears the first stabilizer, while Fatal Push is stronger on the draw against early pressure.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 priority: play an untapped black or blue source that casts the hand's first spell, then choose Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Floodpits Drowner, Thoughtseize, or Fatal Push based on legal actions and visible matchup pressure. Lead creature when pressure enables Moon-Circuit Hacker or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; lead Thoughtseize when the opponent is likely to have a single stabilizer, sweeper, or combo piece.

- Turn 1 deviation: hold Fatal Push when no legal target exists, and avoid firing Thoughtseize into an empty strategic window if the visible matchup rewards preserving life or information. Do not play Mutavault first when it prevents a colored one-mana spell unless no colored action is legal.

- Turn 2 priority: connect with an evasive or available attacker, then use Moon-Circuit Hacker if Forge exposes a legal line that preserves tempo and improves cards. If combat is poor, deploy Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, Nowhere to Run, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, or Thoughtseize to reopen attacks or protect the next payoff.

- Turn 2 deviation: use removal before combat only when the blocker or threat changes the attack math immediately. Save interaction when attacking is already profitable and the opponent's next turn presents a higher-value target.

- Turn 3 priority: establish Kaito, Bane of Nightmares when the board can protect it or when Thoughtseize/removal has cleared the main answer. If Kaito is unsafe, double-spell with creature plus interaction, activate Mutavault only when it does not block a relevant spell, or hold mana for Spell Pierce or post-board interaction when that is the tactical role.

- Turn 3 deviation: prioritize killing a snowballing creature over casting Kaito, Bane of Nightmares into a board that can immediately punish it. Use Brazen Borrower or Otawara, Soaring City only when Forge shows a legal tempo action worth more than normal board development; Card text check required for exact timing and targets.

- Turns 4-5 priority: convert early disruption into a hard closing plan with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Enduring Curiosity, Moon-Circuit Hacker value, and Mutavault attacks. Protect the strongest permanent with Thoughtseize, Duress, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, or Anoint with Affliction according to visible legal actions.

- Turns 4-5 reset rule: against wide boards, consider Path of Peril or Languish before committing more creatures or animating Mutavault. If a sweeper is legal and favorable, preserve Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or a key post-reset threat when possible, but do not assume survival without rules-engine confirmation.

- Late-game priority: turn every land into pressure, interaction, or utility while avoiding low-impact passes. Mutavault attacks, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Otawara, Soaring City, and any remaining discard or counters should be aimed at ending the game or preventing the opponent's best visible comeback.

- Late-game deviation: stop trading damage for cards when the opponent is at a low life total and the current board can close through removal. If behind, shift from chip damage to survival, using removal, sideboard sweepers, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as stabilizing bridges before resuming attacks.

## Card Roles
- Faerie Miscreant is the cleanest pressure starter because it attacks early, enables Moon-Circuit Hacker, pressures planeswalkers, and makes Kaito, Bane of Nightmares safer when the opponent cannot block flyers. Prioritize casting it on turn one when the hand needs a combat connection; hold extra copies only when visible removal or sweeper pressure makes overextension costly, or when drawing from a later copy is legally supported by card text.

- Floodpits Drowner is an early tempo creature and board-shaping piece, but Card text check required for exact abilities, timing, and targets. Use it as a cheap body when the hand needs a creature for Moon-Circuit Hacker or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; use any Forge-exposed ability only when it improves the immediate attack, blocks a threatening attacker, or prevents the opponent from stabilizing.

- Mockingbird is a flexible cheap creature slot, but Card text check required before assuming copy rules, flying, X costs, or target restrictions. Treat it as early pressure when the legal action text is simple; when it offers copy or scaling choices, prefer visible targets that advance the current role: evasive pressure while ahead, defensive body while behind, or duplicated payoff only when the rules engine confirms legality.

- Moon-Circuit Hacker is the deck's main low-curve card-advantage payoff, so prioritize it after a creature can connect safely. Avoid forcing it into combat where the bounce or attack exposes the only pressure source to a bad trade; against removal-heavy decks, use discard or removal first to clear the path, then convert one successful hit into enough cards to keep double-spelling.

- Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is the primary midgame snowball threat, but Card text check required for exact loyalty, creature status, attack triggers, and modes. Cast it when the board can protect it, when the opponent's best answer has been stripped by Thoughtseize, or when a removal spell opens a safe turn; do not tap out for it into a visible board that can immediately remove it in combat unless waiting is worse.

- Thoughtseize is proactive protection and matchup identification, not just disruption. Cast it early when the opponent likely has a sweeper, combo piece, removal spell, or stabilizer that beats the current curve; delay it when the immediate board requires Fatal Push or when life total pressure makes a nonessential discard spell risky. In sideboard games, use it to confirm whether counterspells, sweepers, graveyard plans, or large threats are the actual fight.

- Fatal Push is the cheapest tempo removal and should usually protect attacks or stop snowballing creatures. Use it before combat when a blocker changes the attack, after combat when the opponent may commit a better target, and defensively when life total or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares protection matters more than damage. Do not spend it on low-impact creatures if Go for the Throat or Nowhere to Run can answer the larger threat later.

- Go for the Throat is the heavier creature answer for threats Fatal Push cannot cleanly cover, with Card text check required only for runtime legality against specific permanent types. Hold it for creatures that stabilize, race Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or threaten Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; spend it earlier only when the visible board will otherwise invalidate attacks or force bad blocks.

- Nowhere to Run is an interaction slot whose exact tactical role depends on confirmed card text, so Card text check required for target restrictions, static effects, and removal timing. Use it when Forge exposes a legal action that removes or neutralizes a blocker, punishes protected threats, or creates a clean attack; avoid treating it as generic removal until runtime text confirms what it can hit.

- Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is the stabilizer and closing threat, not the deck's default turn-four play. Cast it when the opponent is pressured enough that life swings matter, when the board is stable enough to survive a tap-out, or when discard/removal has reduced the chance of an immediate answer. Against fast decks, value Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as a bridge from defense to racing; against control, protect it with Thoughtseize, Duress, Spell Pierce, or Disdainful Stroke after sideboard.

- Brazen Borrower is a one-copy tempo release valve, but Card text check required for exact adventure timing and target limits. Use it to reopen attacks, break up a large blocker or token, protect Kaito, Bane of Nightmares from an on-board threat, or buy one turn against a permanent the deck cannot kill cleanly; do not spend it as low-impact bounce when a permanent will simply be recast and the deck has no pressure.

- Enduring Curiosity is a one-copy card-flow threat, but Card text check required for flash, creature type, trigger conditions, and enchantment implications. Deploy it when the deck has evasive or repeated attackers and can convert combat damage into cards; avoid committing it into a turn where the opponent can remove the only attacker and leave the card stranded.

- Mutavault is both land and threat, so count it as pressure but not as colored mana. Activate it to push damage, pressure planeswalkers, enable combat payoffs if legal, or survive sweepers as a post-reset attacker; avoid activating it when the mana is needed for Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Thoughtseize, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or sideboard interaction.

- Otawara, Soaring City and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire are utility lands with Card text check required for exact channel costs, timing, and targets. Use Otawara, Soaring City as a tempo answer when a bounce effect is worth more than a land drop or spell, and use Takenuma, Abandoned Mire when a graveyard-to-hand line is legally exposed and the returned threat matters more than preserving mana.

- Darkslick Shores, Watery Grave, Gloomlake Verge, Multiversal Passage, Island, and Swamp define whether the deck can double-spell on time. Prioritize untapped blue-black access for early creature plus interaction turns; treat Gloomlake Verge and Multiversal Passage conservatively if runtime text does not confirm they cast the spell in hand. Manage Watery Grave life loss against aggro, but pay life when tempo or Thoughtseize into one-drop pressure is the path to winning.

## Interaction Priorities

- Priority: Use Thoughtseize to take the card that stops the current attack plan, not the card with the highest abstract power. Against control or ramp, take sweepers, planeswalkers, large stabilizers, or counterspells that answer Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; against aggro, take the threat or removal spell that most changes the next combat step. Respect life loss when already racing.

- Removal: Spend Fatal Push first when a cheap creature blocks Faerie Miscreant, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mockingbird, Mutavault, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares pressure. Hold Go for the Throat for larger creatures, lifelink threats, recursive stabilizers, or creatures Fatal Push cannot legally answer. Use Nowhere to Run only after runtime text confirms the exact target and effect; Card text check required.

- Bounce: Use Brazen Borrower or Otawara, Soaring City to remove a blocker for a lethal or high-value attack, reset a large temporary threat, protect Kaito, Bane of Nightmares from combat pressure, or buy one turn against a permanent this deck cannot kill. Do not bounce a low-impact permanent when the opponent can simply recast it and you have no pressure.

- Counter: After sideboard, use Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, and Duress to protect a board lead or stop expensive catch-up spells. Prioritize sweepers, large card-advantage spells, planeswalkers, graveyard payoffs, and top-end creatures over minor removal if your battlefield already contains multiple threats.

- Exile: Use Anoint with Affliction and Leyline of the Void as graveyard and recursion pressure tools when the matchup makes the graveyard a real resource. Do not overvalue graveyard hate while dying to visible battlefield damage unless the graveyard action is the opponent's immediate winning line.

- Bait: Lead with Faerie Miscreant, Floodpits Drowner, Mockingbird, or Mutavault activations to draw removal before committing Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Thoughtseize should identify whether the opponent has the exact answer before you expose a key threat.

- Ignore: Let small non-evasive creatures live when they do not block profitably, do not threaten Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and do not race your evasive clock. Save interaction for creatures that gain life, blank attacks, snowball cards, enable sacrifice engines, or force your Mutavault to stay home.

- Archetype shift: Against aggro, become removal-first tempo and protect life total before greedily drawing cards. Against control, become discard-backed pressure and preserve threat density. Against graveyard decks, prioritize Leyline of the Void and exile effects only when they affect the opponent's visible engine. Against creature-light combo, Thoughtseize, Duress, Spell Pierce, and Disdainful Stroke matter more than Fatal Push.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack first: Pressure life totals and planeswalkers whenever a creature can connect without losing the only engine piece. Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, and Mutavault are valuable because they convert small openings into damage, card flow, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares protection.

- Protect engines: Do not trade away the only evasive attacker if Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares needs that attacker to function. Accept smaller damage now when preserving a repeatable attacker will generate more cards or planeswalker pressure next turn.

- Trade when behind: Trade cheap creatures for opposing attackers when your life total is under real pressure or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse can take over after one stabilized turn. Against red or go-wide aggro, blocking early is correct if it preserves life for Watery Grave, Thoughtseize, or a later double-spell turn.

- Race with Sheoldred: Once Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is stable on board, favor attacks and blocks that extend the game and force draw-step life swings to matter. Do not expose Sheoldred, the Apocalypse to a bad double block or obvious removal setup unless the attack is lethal or prevents a worse crack-back.

- Mutavault discipline: Activate Mutavault to attack planeswalkers, push lethal, pressure after sweepers, or create a surprise blocker when mana is otherwise unused. Keep it untapped when Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Brazen Borrower, or a Kaito, Bane of Nightmares turn matters more than two damage.

- Kaito defense: Attack opposing planeswalkers or remove attackers before combat when Kaito, Bane of Nightmares would otherwise be lost. If Kaito is already generating advantage, trade creatures to preserve it; if Kaito would not survive the visible board, delay casting it or use it only when the legal mode immediately changes the game.

- Hacker timing: Do not force Moon-Circuit Hacker through a block that trades away your only pressure source unless the legal action text confirms a high-value exchange. Clear blockers first with Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Brazen Borrower, or Otawara, Soaring City when that creates a safer connection.

- Life thresholds: Treat life below 8 as defensive against aggro, especially after Thoughtseize or Watery Grave damage. Treat life above 12 with a board lead as a resource that can be spent to keep attacking, double-spell, and protect tempo.

- Archetype differences: Against control, attack with everything that pressures life or planeswalkers while keeping post-sweeper Mutavault pressure in mind. Against midrange, trade only when it protects Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or prevents a larger threat from dominating combat. Against combo, maximize clock unless a block prevents an immediate visible kill.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- No true tutor rule: Treat this list as a pressure deck with pseudo-selection, not a deck that can reliably find one named card. Make decisions from visible legal actions, current hand, known graveyards, and public board texture instead of assuming access to a future Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

- Draw sequencing: Convert evasive combat damage into cards before spending speculative interaction when the attack is safe. Faerie Miscreant, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Mutavault all reward having a creature that connects; preserve the attacker that unlocks the draw engine unless trading is required for survival.

- Faerie Miscreant: Play Faerie Miscreant early when it enables pressure, Mockingbird copying, or future Faerie Miscreant draw text. If a later Faerie Miscreant legal action would draw because another Faerie Miscreant is visible, prioritize it when hand size or threat density is low.

- Moon-Circuit Hacker: Use Moon-Circuit Hacker when the legal action preserves tempo and turns an unblocked attacker into card flow. If runtime offers discard or filtering after combat damage, discard redundant lands after land drops are secure, dead removal in creature-light matchups, or extra expensive legends when the current board needs cheap plays.

- Kaito selection: Use Kaito, Bane of Nightmares modes according to the visible board and exact legal text. Card text check required for mode details; when runtime offers draw, token, removal, or protection choices, prefer the mode that either protects Kaito from the next attack or converts an already-safe board into more cards.

- Takenuma timing: Use Takenuma, Abandoned Mire as a late-game recovery or selection action only when the legal text confirms the available targets and cost. Favor returning Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, or the creature that restores pressure; do not spend Takenuma early if it is needed as a black source.

- Otawara timing: Use Otawara, Soaring City as interaction more than selection. Hold it until the bounce target changes combat, clears a blocker, protects a key permanent, answers a resolved hate piece temporarily, or buys a lethal turn; do not cycle it into a low-impact permanent if a land drop or blue source matters.

- Land-drop timing: Make land drops before selection when extra mana unlocks double-spelling, Mutavault activation, Thoughtseize plus removal, or sideboard countermagic. Delay committing Mutavault as an attacker when leaving mana open could represent Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, or a relevant Kaito, Bane of Nightmares line.

- Bottom/filter choices: Bottom or discard cards that do not match the matchup role. Against aggro, reduce slow card-advantage emphasis before cutting removal or blockers; against control, reduce dead creature removal before cutting discard, threats, or protection; against graveyard decks, preserve Leyline of the Void and Anoint with Affliction only when they answer the visible or likely engine.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Default priority rule: Pass when no legal instant-speed action improves the current exchange. This deck wins by spending mana efficiently; do not fire Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, or Anoint with Affliction into a low-impact spell just because priority is available.

- Precombat window: Act before attackers when removing or bouncing a blocker creates a safe Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Mutavault, or lethal attack. Wait until after blocks only when the opponent may make a worse block, expose a creature, or spend mana first.

- Opponent combat window: Kill or bounce attackers before damage when life total, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse would otherwise be lost. Let damage happen when preserving removal for a stronger target is safe and the visible attack does not change the race.

- Stack interaction: Counter or discard-protect around spells that reset the board, remove the only engine, stabilize with lifegain, or overpower Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. After sideboard, Spell Pierce and Disdainful Stroke should protect pressure and stop catch-up spells, not trade for low-impact cantrips or small creatures unless that spell is the opponent's visible winning line.

- Removal timing: Use Fatal Push and Go for the Throat at the last safe moment unless mana efficiency, revolt-like runtime text, combat damage, or planeswalker protection demands acting now. Respect legal targeting from the engine; do not assume an artifact creature or large creature is killable without the displayed action.

- Thoughtseize timing: Cast Thoughtseize before committing Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse when the opponent likely has removal, sweeper, or counterplay. Cast it after deploying a one-drop when the curve requires pressure first and there is no immediate must-answer threat.

- Optional payments and triggers: Accept optional card-flow triggers when life, mana, and tempo allow the extra card to matter. Decline optional costs or payments when they consume mana needed for Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Mutavault, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Brazen Borrower, or an exposed Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.

- Graveyard timing: Deploy Leyline of the Void only through legal pregame or cast actions shown by the engine. Use Anoint with Affliction or Graveyard Trespasser timing to interrupt visible recursion or graveyard payoffs; avoid spending graveyard interaction while a battlefield creature is already killing you.

- Sweeper timing: After sideboard, cast Path of Peril or Languish only when the visible battlefield exchange is favorable or necessary for survival. Do not sweep away your own pressure if Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, or a bounce line handles the specific threat and keeps the clock intact.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard posture: Preserve Dimir Aggro as a pressure-plus-disruption deck after sideboarding. Add narrow answers only when they improve the visible matchup role; do not dilute Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Mutavault so far that the deck stops presenting a clock.

- Anoint with Affliction: Add Anoint with Affliction against cheap creature decks, graveyard-recursion creature decks, and threats where exile matters. It is strongest when Fatal Push and Go for the Throat need help answering small creatures, recursive bodies, death triggers, or graveyard-linked permanents; it is weak against control, ramp, planeswalker-heavy decks, and creature-light combo.

- Graveyard Trespasser: Add Graveyard Trespasser when graveyards matter but the matchup still rewards a body. It pressures control while taxing removal, checks graveyard engines incrementally, and stabilizes races through incidental life movement; it is weaker when the opponent goes far over three-mana creatures, ignores combat, or can profitably punish a mid-speed creature plan.

- Duress: Add Duress against control, combo, ramp, sweepers, planeswalkers, and removal-dense midrange. Duress role changes from generic discard to protection: use it before Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Enduring Curiosity, or a wide creature commitment. It is poor against creature-heavy aggro where Thoughtseize already taxes life and noncreature targets may be scarce.

- Leyline of the Void: Add Leyline of the Void only when graveyard access is a central opposing engine, not merely incidental value. It is strongest as a pregame action when legal, and weakest when drawn late against fair creature decks, control decks using graveyard as a minor resource, or matchups where the first turns must answer the battlefield.

- Disdainful Stroke: Add Disdainful Stroke against ramp, big midrange, control finishers, expensive sweepers, and large stabilizing spells. It protects early pressure from catch-up plays and should be held for spells that change the game, not spent on low-impact spells just because a counter action appears.

- Spell Pierce: Add Spell Pierce against cheap noncreature interaction, sweepers, planeswalkers, combo setup, and control decks that fight on the stack early. It is best while the deck is ahead or developing pressure; it loses value when the game goes long and the opponent has excess mana.

- Path of Peril: Add Path of Peril against small-creature aggro, tokens, go-wide boards, and low-toughness pressure that races Faerie Miscreant and Moon-Circuit Hacker. It is bad when your own one- and two-mana creatures are the primary path to victory and the opponent has few small creatures; cast it only when the visible exchange preserves survival or creates a stronger rebuild.

- Languish: Add Languish against midrange creature boards, large aggro boards, and battlefields where Path of Peril is too small. It is a reset button, not a default plan; it is weak against control, combo, creature-light ramp, and positions where Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or active Mutavault pressure is already controlling combat.

Creature aggro / go-wide low-curve plan
Side in: 2 Anoint with Affliction; 2 Path of Peril; 1 Languish
Cut: 4 Thoughtseize; 1 Enduring Curiosity

- Creature aggro rule: Reduce life-cost discard first when the opponent is trying to shorten the race with creatures. Keep Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Floodpits Drowner, and cheap blockers high priority; Kaito, Bane of Nightmares becomes a stabilizing engine only after the board is contained.

Control / tap-out ramp plan
Side in: 2 Duress; 2 Disdainful Stroke; 1 Spell Pierce
Cut: 4 Fatal Push; 1 Nowhere to Run

- Control and ramp rule: Add discard and counters while keeping enough threats to punish stumbles. Thoughtseize plus Duress should clear the way for Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Enduring Curiosity, or a Mutavault clock; Disdainful Stroke should answer the large spell that beats the current board.

Graveyard-engine plan
Side in: 3 Leyline of the Void; 2 Graveyard Trespasser; 2 Anoint with Affliction
Cut: 2 Nowhere to Run; 1 Brazen Borrower; 1 Enduring Curiosity; 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; 2 Go for the Throat

- Graveyard-engine rule: Add Leyline of the Void when the opponent needs the graveyard for recursion, escape, reanimation, delve-like pressure, or death-loop value. Add Graveyard Trespasser when a creature clock also matters; Add Anoint with Affliction when exiling the creature itself is tactically important. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card-advantage permanents, bounce-only interaction, and removal that fails against the visible graveyard engine.

Midrange creature plan
Side in: 2 Graveyard Trespasser; 2 Anoint with Affliction; 1 Languish
Cut: 1 Enduring Curiosity; 1 Brazen Borrower; 1 Mockingbird; 2 Thoughtseize

- Midrange rule: Keep Thoughtseize effects when the opponent has planeswalkers, sweepers, or removal for Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, but reduce discard when life total and board presence are under pressure. Graveyard Trespasser improves attrition; Languish is for boards where spot removal no longer keeps pace.

- Creature-light combo rule: Add role cards: Duress, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, and sometimes Leyline of the Void if the combo uses the graveyard. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, and creature-combat tools that do not disrupt the combo. Keep the fastest creature starts because every discard spell is stronger when the opponent is under a clock.

- Removal-heavy midrange rule: Add role cards: Duress and Graveyard Trespasser when removal density is visible or expected. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile card-draw enchantment-style pressure and redundant small copies that do not survive combat. Preserve Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and Mutavault because they punish one-for-one removal.

- Big-mana rule: Add role cards: Disdainful Stroke, Duress, and Spell Pierce. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Nowhere to Run unless the opponent presents must-kill mana creatures or early blockers. The post-board aim is to deploy a one- or two-mana threat, take or counter the stabilizer, and avoid tapping low before the decisive large spell.

- Artifact or black-creature removal caution: Keep Go for the Throat only when runtime legal targets matter in the matchup. If the opponent's visible threats make Go for the Throat unreliable, prioritize Fatal Push, Nowhere to Run, Anoint with Affliction, bounce, discard, or counters according to legal actions.

- Leyline mulligan caution: Do not mulligan functional pressure hands solely to find Leyline of the Void unless the matchup is graveyard-centric enough that normal interaction cannot compete. A hand with Leyline of the Void but no pressure can still lose if the opponent pivots to fair creatures or hard-cast threats.

- Sweeper self-damage caution: Path of Peril and Languish can erase Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Floodpits Drowner, and Mutavault if animated. Use sweepers after extracting damage, after forcing poor attacks, or when rebuilding with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Graveyard Trespasser, or manlands is clearly better than preserving the current board.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Stabilize first with Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Floodpits Drowner, and combat trades before spending life on Thoughtseize. Add role cards: Anoint with Affliction, Path of Peril, and Languish when the opponent's board grows wider or taller than Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, and Moon-Circuit Hacker can race. Reduce main-deck emphasis: life-cost discard and slow curiosity engines when the visible board already threatens a short clock. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is strongest after removal has created an attackable lane or protected loyalty turn.

- Go-wide: Preserve sweepers until they change the race, not merely to answer the first two creatures. Path of Peril is the clean low-curve reset, while Languish is for boards where small sweepers do not clear enough attackers. Avoid animating Mutavault into your own sweeper unless the extra damage matters immediately or the legal action text shows it will not be swept. After a reset, rebuild with Mutavault, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, or Graveyard Trespasser rather than flooding the board back into another mass-removal exchange.

- Burn: Treat life total as the primary resource and cast Thoughtseize only when the target prevents more damage than the life paid or clears a lethal blocker/race piece. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is a major stabilizer if it can survive the current legal interaction; do not tap out for it into obvious lethal burn unless waiting is worse. Add role cards: Duress and Spell Pierce for noncreature burn or planeswalker pressure, and Anoint with Affliction only when exiling creatures matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card-draw setup and unnecessary shock-land sequencing with Watery Grave.

- Tempo mirrors: Fight over mana efficiency and board initiative rather than raw card count. Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mutavault, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares pressure planeswalkers and punish tapped-out turns, while Fatal Push and Nowhere to Run keep cheap threats from snowballing. Add role cards: Spell Pierce, Duress, Anoint with Affliction, and Graveyard Trespasser depending on whether the opponent leans spells, creatures, or graveyard value. Hold Brazen Borrower-style bounce effects only when the tempo swing beats killing the permanent; Card text check required for exact adventure/card-face handling at runtime.

- Control: Deploy early pressure, then use Thoughtseize, Duress, Spell Pierce, and Disdainful Stroke to protect the clock from sweepers, planeswalkers, and expensive stabilizers. Mutavault is a high-value threat because it dodges many sorcery-speed answers and keeps pressure without committing extra creatures. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse are commitment gates: cast them when discard/counter backup, opponent tap-out, or a forced race makes the window favorable. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, and Nowhere to Run when there are few legal creature targets.

- Combo: Clock plus disruption is mandatory; a hand with only answers and no pressure gives the opponent too many draw steps. Thoughtseize and Duress should take the card that enables the deterministic kill or protects it, while Spell Pierce and Disdainful Stroke cover stack-based setup and expensive payoff turns. Add role cards: Leyline of the Void only if the combo materially depends on graveyard access, not just incidental recursion. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal that cannot interact with the visible combo pieces.

- Big mana: Present a fast evasive or manland clock and reserve Disdainful Stroke for the large spell that stabilizes or wins, not the first castable target. Thoughtseize and Duress should remove ramp payoff, sweeper, or protection according to revealed information and current pressure. Spell Pierce is best before the opponent has surplus mana, so prioritize early windows where it counters a setup spell or protects Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Nowhere to Run unless visible mana creatures or early blockers are central to the opponent's plan.

- Midrange: Trade resources while preserving a durable threat source. Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, and Anoint with Affliction should answer the creature that dominates combat or invalidates your current clock, not simply the first legal target. Graveyard Trespasser improves attrition and pressures graveyards; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse can end stalled games if protected from known removal. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and Mutavault punish one-for-one removal, so avoid overcommitting Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, and Moon-Circuit Hacker into visible sweepers.

- Removal-heavy decks: Lead with redundant cheap threats and force removal before committing Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Enduring Curiosity, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Add role cards: Duress, Spell Pierce, and Graveyard Trespasser when the opponent's plan is mostly one-for-one answers. Mutavault should pressure after sorcery-speed removal, but do not animate into open instant-speed removal if preserving a land is more important than the damage. Mockingbird copy decisions require visible target quality; Card text check required for exact copy legality and mana scaling.

- Graveyard decks: Leyline of the Void is the highest-impact pregame card when the opposing engine needs graveyard access for recursion, escape-like casting, reanimation, or death triggers. Graveyard Trespasser adds a clock plus repeated graveyard pressure, while Anoint with Affliction matters when exiling the creature itself changes the board. Keep Thoughtseize when it can take graveyard payoff, enabler, or answer to Leyline of the Void. Do not keep a slow Leyline-only hand if the opponent can win through fair creature pressure and your hand lacks Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, or blockers.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: Identify whether the permanent type is an engine, a creature threat, or only support before choosing the interaction axis. Go for the Throat may be unreliable against artifact creatures, so prioritize Fatal Push, Anoint with Affliction, bounce from Brazen Borrower if legal, discard, Spell Pierce, or Disdainful Stroke according to visible action text. Enchantment-heavy boards make creature removal worse; Add role cards: Duress, Spell Pierce, and Disdainful Stroke when the important cards are noncreature spells. Race engines aggressively with evasive creatures and Mutavault if no clean answer exists.

- Single-threat decks: Save unconditional or exile-based answers for the threat that actually wins the game. Go for the Throat and Fatal Push should not be spent on minor blockers if the opponent's plan clearly revolves around one creature, aura target, or protected finisher. Thoughtseize and Duress should break up protection before removal when public information shows the removal spell would otherwise fail. Floodpits Drowner and Brazen Borrower can create tempo windows when killing is unavailable; Card text check required for exact activated or adventure modes.

- Creature-light planeswalker or spell decks: Pressure planeswalkers immediately with Faerie Miscreant, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mockingbird, Mutavault, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares. Add role cards: Duress, Spell Pierce, and Disdainful Stroke. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal without visible targets. Thoughtseize should take the card that stops the current clock or creates an unbeatable engine, while counters should be held for the spell that changes the battlefield or hand economy most sharply.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: Exact opponent decklists are absent, so revealed cards, legal actions, public zones, and rules-engine prompts override every archetype assumption here. Use these notes as default retrieval slices until Thoughtseize, Duress, visible lands, graveyards, or cast spells identify the opponent's real plan.

- Fast creature aggro: Stabilize the first three turns before protecting card-advantage engines. Prioritize Fatal Push, Nowhere to Run, Go for the Throat, Floodpits Drowner, and legal blocks from Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, or Mutavault against the creature creating the shortest clock. Add role cards: Path of Peril, Anoint with Affliction, and Languish. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Thoughtseize on low life totals when the opponent is already emptying hand quickly.

- Red spell-pressure decks: Preserve life and avoid unnecessary Watery Grave shock damage unless the untapped mana changes a legal removal, discard, or threat deployment this turn. Thoughtseize is strongest before damage snowballs, but later decisions should favor board impact and mana-efficient interaction. Add role cards: Duress, Spell Pierce, Anoint with Affliction, and Path of Peril when the opponent shows cheap creatures plus burn-like reach. Priority targets are prowess-style creatures, haste threats, and spells that convert one creature into lethal damage.

- Graveyard recursion decks: Treat Leyline of the Void as a pregame commitment card only when the opponent's revealed plan depends on graveyard access. Graveyard Trespasser is both pressure and disruption, while Anoint with Affliction matters when exiling a creature prevents recursion or death-value. Keep Thoughtseize for payoff, enabler, or answer to Leyline of the Void. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card-draw setup when the graveyard engine is already active and racing is required.

- Control and sweepers: Attack from multiple angles without flooding the battlefield. Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mutavault, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse pressure different answer types, but do not commit every threat into visible sweeper mana. Add role cards: Duress, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, and Graveyard Trespasser. Priority targets are sweepers, planeswalkers, expensive stabilizers, and removal that cleanly answers Kaito, Bane of Nightmares or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

- Midrange attrition: Win by making each exchange leave behind pressure, a manland, or a planeswalker. Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, and Anoint with Affliction should answer the creature that dominates combat or invalidates Mutavault attacks. Add role cards: Graveyard Trespasser, Duress, and Anoint with Affliction. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess one-toughness pressure if the opponent reveals repeatable sweepers or efficient blockers.

- Big mana and expensive-spell decks: Clock them quickly and reserve disruption for the spell that stabilizes or wins. Disdainful Stroke, Duress, Spell Pierce, and Thoughtseize should focus on sweepers, expensive payoffs, and protection rather than low-impact setup unless the setup is the only way they reach the payoff. Mutavault pressure is valuable after sorcery-speed answers. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Nowhere to Run when no early creature or blocker is visible.

- Tempo mirrors: Protect initiative and do not spend removal into open mana if the opponent can punish the exchange. Cheap threats, Mutavault, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares force action; Fatal Push, Nowhere to Run, Anoint with Affliction, Spell Pierce, and Duress decide the efficient turns. Priority targets are evasive creatures carrying card advantage, planeswalkers, and spells that reset your best threat.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: Gloomlake Verge, Darkslick Shores, Watery Grave, Mutavault, Multiversal Passage, Island, Swamp, Otawara, Soaring City, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire can produce awkward curves if a hand has threats but not the right early colors. Prefer hands that cast Thoughtseize or Fatal Push on turn one and still support Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, or Floodpits Drowner on curve.

- Matchup risk: Dimir Aggro can draw the wrong half against polarized opponents. Creature removal is weak against control or combo, while discard and counters can be too slow against fast boards; sideboard decisions must follow revealed cards rather than archetype labels.

- Draw risk: Faerie Miscreant, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares reward early creatures surviving. Hands with only reactive spells can fail to pressure, while hands with only small creatures can fold to one sweeper or larger blocker.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Adding too many Duress, Disdainful Stroke, Spell Pierce, Leyline of the Void, Languish, Path of Peril, Anoint with Affliction, or Graveyard Trespasser can dilute the low-curve threat density. Preserve enough Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Mutavault, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares to end the game.

- Graveyard risk: Leyline of the Void is powerful but can be a low-impact draw if the opponent wins through battlefield pressure. Do not keep slow Leyline of the Void hands without removal, blockers, or a clock unless revealed matchup evidence makes graveyard denial decisive.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, and Mutavault can overextend into sweepers or instant-speed removal. Sequence Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Enduring Curiosity, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse after discard, counter backup, opponent tap-out, or forced pressure makes the commitment acceptable.

- Closer risk: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares are high-impact but expensive relative to the deck's cheap tempo shell. Casting them into known removal without immediate value can strand the game in topdeck mode.

- Interaction risk: Thoughtseize and Duress require choosing from revealed information, not guessed hidden cards. Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Anoint with Affliction, Spell Pierce, and Disdainful Stroke should be held for the threat or spell that changes the current race, board, or engine math.

- Sequencing risk: Mutavault activations compete with casting spells, and Watery Grave life payment matters against pressure. Use lands and manlands so the turn preserves legal interaction windows, avoids unnecessary life loss, and keeps post-combat or end-step options available when they matter.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: Record whether the game was won or lost by early pressure, discard tempo, removal efficiency, Mutavault reach, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares staying relevant, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse closing, or the opponent stabilizing before pressure converted.

- Mulligans: Note whether opening hands had an early threat, correct early color, and at least one meaningful interaction piece; flag keeps that had Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, or Floodpits Drowner but failed because Gloomlake Verge, Darkslick Shores, Watery Grave, Island, Swamp, Mutavault, Multiversal Passage, Otawara, Soaring City, or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire did not support the first two turns.

- Mana: Track every missed one-mana interaction window for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, Duress, and Anoint with Affliction, plus every turn where Mutavault activation blocked casting Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Graveyard Trespasser, Languish, Path of Peril, Disdainful Stroke, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

- Velocity: Ask whether Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares produced enough cards or pressure before the opponent stabilized. Mark games where the deck spent too many turns reacting without advancing a clock.

- Engines: Identify whether Moon-Circuit Hacker, Enduring Curiosity, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Mutavault forced profitable decisions from the opponent, or whether those cards were stranded by removal, blockers, sweepers, or poor sequencing.

- Removal: Review each Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Anoint with Affliction, Path of Peril, and Languish decision for whether it answered the creature that changed the race, protected an attack, enabled a planeswalker, or merely traded for a low-impact body.

- Disruption: Review Thoughtseize, Duress, Spell Pierce, and Disdainful Stroke decisions against revealed hands and stack states only. Flag choices that took a card by reputation rather than the card that most affected the next two turns.

- Sideboard: Check whether Leyline of the Void, Graveyard Trespasser, Duress, Disdainful Stroke, Spell Pierce, Anoint with Affliction, Path of Peril, or Languish addressed the opponent's proven plan without diluting Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Floodpits Drowner, Mutavault, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares pressure too far.

- Closing: Count games where Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Mutavault, Brazen Borrower, or evasive small creatures had lethal setup but the pilot passed, held back too much pressure, or spent mana on lower-impact plays.

- Role: After each match, label whether Dimir Aggro should have been beatdown, tempo-control, or attrition. Flag turns where the pilot changed roles because of fear rather than visible board state, known cards, or legal action quality.

- Mistakes: Record missed attacks, missed Mutavault activations, unnecessary Watery Grave life loss, premature Thoughtseize on low life, poor Kaito, Bane of Nightmares timing, and removal fired before the opponent committed the creature that mattered.

- Stranded cards: List cards left unusable in hand at game end, especially Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Duress, Disdainful Stroke, Spell Pierce, Languish, Path of Peril, Leyline of the Void, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and Enduring Curiosity.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Separate performance by matchup and stage so Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Floodpits Drowner, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, and sideboard cards are judged by the role they were asked to play.

## First Tuning Questions
- Threat count: Does the deck need all four Faerie Miscreant, four Mockingbird, four Floodpits Drowner, and four Moon-Circuit Hacker to keep pressure reliable, or are some draws too low-impact against removal-heavy and sweeper-heavy opponents?

- Card advantage: Is one Enduring Curiosity enough as a supplemental engine, or do games show that Moon-Circuit Hacker and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares cannot carry long attrition battles by themselves?

- Closers: Are two Sheoldred, the Apocalypse correct, or do losses show the deck needs more high-impact closing power, fewer expensive cards, or a closer that better fits holding up interaction?

- Removal mix: Are four Fatal Push, two Go for the Throat, and two Nowhere to Run aligned with the metagame, or are too many answers dead against control, combo, big mana, planeswalkers, or artifact-heavy threats?

- Mana base: Do four Mutavault and three Multiversal Passage create too many colored-mana failures for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Floodpits Drowner, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse?

- Life total: Does Watery Grave entering untapped cost too many games against red spell-pressure or creature pressure, or is the speed worth the damage because early interaction prevents more loss?

- Aggro plan: Does the deck win enough games by curving cheap threat into interaction, or does it often need to become tempo-control before the opponent is under a short clock?

- Control plan: Are Duress, Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Graveyard Trespasser, Mutavault, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse enough against sweepers and expensive stabilizers?

- Graveyard slots: Is Leyline of the Void decisive often enough to justify three sideboard slots, or would more flexible graveyard pressure from Graveyard Trespasser-style effects better preserve threat density?

- Sweeper slots: Are Languish and Path of Peril necessary stabilizers, or do they conflict too often with Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Moon-Circuit Hacker, Floodpits Drowner, and Mutavault pressure?

- Role conflict: Does post-board configuration accidentally become half aggro and half control, leaving hands with too few threats to close and too few answers to stabilize?

- Interaction upgrades: Does Anoint with Affliction answer the creatures and recursion patterns that Go for the Throat and Fatal Push miss, or is it too conditional in the matchups where exile matters?

- Utility lands: Do Otawara, Soaring City and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire justify their color and timing costs, or are games being lost because the deck needs simpler early untapped sources?

- Pilot policy: Should the decision agent be more willing to attack with Mutavault, commit Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and use Thoughtseize aggressively, or are losses mainly from overextension into visible sweepers and removal?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Hand Role Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan
- Cards: Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Floodpits Drowner; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Thoughtseize; Fatal Push; Darkslick Shores; Watery Grave; Gloomlake Verge; Mutavault
- Phase windows: opening hand; mulligan decisions
- Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; action:keep; action:mulligan
- Use when: choose keep only with castable early pressure or interaction plus lands that support the first two turns.
- Avoid when: hand cannot cast any one- or two-mana spell before turn three, or relies only on Mutavault plus off-color lands.
- Instructions: Keep hands that can present a creature and still disrupt or remove; ship slow hands that merely contain strong cards.
- Pilot skill floor: basic
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Threat Setup
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority; mana
- Cards: Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Floodpits Drowner; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Mutavault
- Phase windows: turns one to three; precombat main phase
- Runtime cues: action:cast Faerie Miscreant; action:cast Mockingbird; action:cast Floodpits Drowner; action:activate Mutavault
- Use when: legal actions show a castable early creature and the board does not already supply pressure for Moon-Circuit Hacker or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares follow-up.
- Avoid when: holding up Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, or Anoint with Affliction is required by visible lethal pressure or known stack risk.
- Instructions: Establish one evasive or utility body before spending turns only answering; the deck needs a clock to make disruption matter.
- Pilot skill floor: basic
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Shockland Life Check
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: Watery Grave; Darkslick Shores; Gloomlake Verge; Island; Swamp; Mutavault; Multiversal Passage
- Phase windows: land play decisions; turns one to four
- Runtime cues: action:play Watery Grave; action:pay 2 life; action:play Darkslick Shores; action:play Gloomlake Verge
- Use when: selecting a land entry mode or land play determines whether Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, or Floodpits Drowner can be used this turn.
- Avoid when: life total is under visible pressure and the untapped Watery Grave does not unlock a same-turn spell.
- Instructions: Pay life for Watery Grave only when the tempo gained this turn is concrete; preserve life when passing with no one-mana action.
- Pilot skill floor: basic
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mutavault Pressure Commitment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; combat; priority
- Cards: Mutavault; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; Fatal Push; Go for the Throat; Nowhere to Run
- Phase windows: combat; end step; turns three plus
- Runtime cues: action:activate Mutavault; action:attack with Mutavault
- Use when: Mutavault activation adds damage, enables a combat plan, or preserves pressure after removal and the required colored mana remains available.
- Avoid when: activation prevents casting visible needed interaction, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Languish, Path of Peril, or Disdainful Stroke.
- Instructions: Treat Mutavault as a threat, not a free land; count colored mana before activating.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Thoughtseize Target Opponent
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: interaction
- Cards: Thoughtseize
- Phase windows: casting target prompt
- Runtime cues: action:target opponent Thoughtseize
- Use when: the only legal Thoughtseize target action names the opponent.
- Avoid when: multiple legal player targets are exposed by the rules engine.
- Instructions: Select the opponent target exactly; card selection from the revealed hand still requires reasoning from visible revealed choices.
- Pilot skill floor: basic
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Hand Disruption Selection
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; selection
- Cards: Thoughtseize; Duress
- Phase windows: main phase; revealed-hand choice prompt
- Runtime cues: prompt:choose card; action:choose; revealed hand
- Use when: resolving Thoughtseize or Duress with revealed legal choices.
- Avoid when: no revealed choices are available or the action list does not identify card names.
- Instructions: Take the card that changes the next two turns: sweeper, removal for the only threat, combo piece, planeswalker answer, or stabilizer over raw card reputation.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Fatal Push; Go for the Throat; Nowhere to Run; Anoint with Affliction
- Phase windows: opponent combat; end step; own main phase; stack response
- Runtime cues: action:cast Fatal Push; action:cast Go for the Throat; action:cast Nowhere to Run; action:cast Anoint with Affliction
- Use when: a legal removal spell can answer a visible creature that affects lethal math, blocks the main attack, enables opponent engine play, or threatens Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.
- Avoid when: target text is ambiguous, a lower-impact creature is the only visible target, or the removal must be held for a known card from Thoughtseize or Duress.
- Instructions: Spend removal to protect tempo or survival; do not fire it only because mana is available.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Spell Pierce; Disdainful Stroke
- Phase windows: opponent spell on stack; priority response
- Runtime cues: action:cast Spell Pierce; action:cast Disdainful Stroke
- Use when: countering a visible stack spell protects lethal pressure, stops a sweeper, prevents a stabilizer, or answers a card known from hand disruption.
- Avoid when: the spell is low impact, the opponent can pay for Spell Pierce with visible mana, or holding permission covers a stronger known threat.
- Instructions: Counter the spell that breaks the tempo plan; let expendable spells resolve when pressure remains favorable.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Moon-Circuit Hacker Attack Setup
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat; priority; mana
- Cards: Moon-Circuit Hacker; Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Mutavault; Brazen Borrower
- Phase windows: declare attackers; postcombat main; ninjutsu or cast windows if exposed
- Runtime cues: action:attack; action:cast Moon-Circuit Hacker
- Use when: a small creature can connect or a legal Moon-Circuit Hacker line is exposed by Forge.
- Avoid when: attacking sacrifices the only blocker against visible lethal pressure or walks into a known removal spell that strands the follow-up.
- Instructions: Prioritize safe damage that converts into cards or tempo; do not miss attacks with evasive creatures just to preserve trivial blockers.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Kaito Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; combat; mana
- Cards: Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Floodpits Drowner; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Fatal Push
- Phase windows: own main phase; postcombat main phase
- Runtime cues: action:cast Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; action:activate Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
- Use when: legal action text exposes Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and visible board state can protect it or immediately convert pressure into advantage.
- Avoid when: tapping out lets a known sweeper, combo piece, or lethal attack resolve, or visible attackers can remove Kaito without costing the opponent meaningful resources.
- Instructions: Commit Kaito when it compounds an existing board; delay when it becomes a fragile four-mana tempo loss. Card text check required for exact ability selection.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sheoldred Stabilizer Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority; mana
- Cards: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; Thoughtseize; Fatal Push; Go for the Throat; Spell Pierce; Disdainful Stroke
- Phase windows: own main phase; postcombat main phase
- Runtime cues: action:cast Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Use when: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is legal and the visible race, hand sizes, or removal exchange makes a large stabilizing threat decisive.
- Avoid when: tapping out loses to a known spell, visible board demands immediate removal, or the opponent has revealed a clean answer that should be stripped first.
- Instructions: Cast Sheoldred as a stabilizer or closer, not as a reflexive curve play into known interaction.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Enduring Curiosity Engine Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority; combat; mana
- Cards: Enduring Curiosity; Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Mutavault
- Phase windows: combat-adjacent priority; own main phase; opponent end step if legal
- Runtime cues: action:cast Enduring Curiosity
- Use when: legal action text shows Enduring Curiosity and visible attackers or evasive bodies can convert it into immediate or protected card advantage.
- Avoid when: the board lacks creatures, the opponent can punish a tap-out from revealed information, or the life race requires interaction first.
- Instructions: Treat Enduring Curiosity as a fragile engine commitment; Card text check required for exact timing and trigger use.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Brazen Borrower Tempo Use
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; priority; combat
- Cards: Brazen Borrower
- Phase windows: opponent combat; opponent end step; stack response; own attack setup
- Runtime cues: action:cast Brazen Borrower; action:target
- Use when: the legal action can remove a blocker, answer a temporary large threat, protect Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or create lethal tempo from visible board state.
- Avoid when: bouncing a low-impact permanent gives up removal or permission needed for a stronger visible threat.
- Instructions: Use Brazen Borrower for tempo swings, not as generic interaction. Card text check required for exact adventure or creature mode text.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Hate Pregame
- Priority: High
- Decision families: pregame; sideboard
- Cards: Leyline of the Void
- Phase windows: opening hand; pregame action
- Runtime cues: action:put Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield
- Use when: the legal pregame action names Leyline of the Void from opening hand.
- Avoid when: no legal Leyline of the Void pregame action exists.
- Instructions: Put Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield when Forge offers the legal pregame action; sideboarding already decided whether the card belongs in the matchup.
- Pilot skill floor: basic
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sweeper Survival Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Languish; Path of Peril
- Phase windows: own main phase; emergency stabilization turns
- Runtime cues: action:cast Languish; action:cast Path of Peril
- Use when: visible opposing creatures threaten lethal or overwhelm combat and sweeping improves survival more than preserving Faerie Miscreant, Mockingbird, Floodpits Drowner, Moon-Circuit Hacker, or Mutavault.
- Avoid when: the deck is ahead on board, lethal pressure is available, or a single Fatal Push, Go for the Throat, Nowhere to Run, or Anoint with Affliction solves the threat.
- Instructions: Use sweepers as reset buttons when behind; do not erase your own clock while ahead.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Attack Discipline
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Floodpits Drowner; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Mutavault; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; Graveyard Trespasser
- Phase windows: declare attackers
- Runtime cues: action:attack
- Use when: legal attackers are available and visible blockers, life totals, and crack-back damage must be evaluated.
- Avoid when: exactly one forced attack action is not present and combat requires no strategic judgment.
- Instructions: Attack to shorten the game when disruption has bought tempo; hold creatures back only when blocking changes lethal math or protects Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Block Survival
- Priority: High
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Floodpits Drowner; Moon-Circuit Hacker; Mutavault; Graveyard Trespasser; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
- Phase windows: declare blockers
- Runtime cues: action:block
- Use when: opponent attacks and visible damage, trades, and follow-up interaction determine survival or planeswalker protection.
- Avoid when: no legal blockers exist or Forge exposes only a deterministic no-block action.
- Instructions: Preserve life against lethal or short-clock pressure; trade small creatures when card engines are offline and the race is unfavorable.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Utility Land Channel Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; selection; mana
- Cards: Otawara, Soaring City; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- Phase windows: priority windows where legal channel actions appear
- Runtime cues: action:channel Otawara, Soaring City; action:channel Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- Use when: the legal land ability changes a visible race, recovers a specific needed card, or answers a permanent that normal spells cannot handle this turn.
- Avoid when: using the land ability cuts off required mana or the target choice is uncertain from visible information.
- Instructions: Treat utility lands as spells only when their legal action is worth more than the land drop or mana source.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Anoint with Affliction; Disdainful Stroke; Duress; Graveyard Trespasser; Languish; Leyline of the Void; Path of Peril; Spell Pierce; Fatal Push; Go for the Throat; Nowhere to Run; Thoughtseize; Faerie Miscreant; Mockingbird; Floodpits Drowner; Moon-Circuit Hacker
- Phase windows: between games; sideboard submission
- Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; action:submit sideboard plan
- Use when: choosing a legal post-board configuration from registered sideboard cards.
- Avoid when: requested plan adds non-sideboard names, cuts non-main names, or exceeds registered copy counts.
- Instructions: Add cards that answer the opponent's proven axis while preserving enough cheap threats and Mutavault pressure to close the game.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Trespasser Attrition Role
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority; combat; interaction
- Cards: Graveyard Trespasser; Leyline of the Void
- Phase windows: own main phase; combat; graveyard-selection prompts if exposed
- Runtime cues: action:cast Graveyard Trespasser; action:choose card from graveyard
- Use when: post-board games show graveyard pressure, attrition, or creature combat where Graveyard Trespasser is legal and advances both clock and disruption.
- Avoid when: the matchup requires holding mana for Spell Pierce, Disdainful Stroke, Fatal Push, or Anoint with Affliction this turn.
- Instructions: Use Graveyard Trespasser as pressure with incidental graveyard control; select graveyard cards based only on visible public zones and legal choices.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
