# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Beseech Storm is a Vintage 60-card main deck with a 15-card sideboard, and the active validation contract reports the list as passing Vintage deck-count requirements. The registered strategy is a black-blue storm combo deck with artifact acceleration, restricted-power singletons, tutor density, and a secondary artifact-combo/Karn package; its current tags are combo, storm, spells, and those tags should remain the primary runtime identity unless later testing proves the deck should be reclassified.

The deck is a hybrid of established Vintage storm shells and bespoke Beseech the Mirror construction rather than a stock archetype guide. Treat it as a high-velocity combo deck built around Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Emerald, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, and Tendrils of Agony, with Time Vault plus Manifold Key and Karn, the Great Creator acting as alternative pressure points. Do not pilot it as generic control just because it has Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Chain of Vapor, and blue card draw; those cards mostly protect or clear the path for decisive combo turns.

The primary role concern is commitment timing: the deck can produce explosive turns, but many winning lines spend restricted mana, tutor access, life total, graveyard resources, or the only Tendrils of Agony. Runtime decisions must respect the legal action list first, visible mana and stack state second, and only then the plan to assemble storm count, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key. A decision agent must not assume hidden opposing interaction, but it should treat open mana, known revealed cards, public graveyards, and visible permanents as reasons to preserve protection or wait when waiting is not lethal.

The mana base is constrained but explosive: Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Flooded Strand, Island, Swamp, Undercity Sewers, Tolarian Academy, and Urza's Saga support blue-black spell sequencing, while the artifact package can create outsized single-turn mana. The main operational risk is color and timing mismatch, especially when black mana for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Will, and Tendrils of Agony competes with blue interaction or selection. Tolarian Academy is a major visible-resource card when artifacts are present, but the agent must only count mana sources and colors as exposed by the rules engine.

The role package is combo-first with protected execution, not a fair midrange deck. Stock Up and Flow State are registered as four and three copies respectively, but exact tactical use requires card-text confirmation from runtime action labels or an external card database; Card text check required before asserting their exact selection, draw, or storm-contribution behavior. Until text is verified, treat legal actions involving Stock Up or Flow State as conditional card-flow decisions that must be evaluated from visible cost, timing, and action text.

The sideboard confirms a flexible Vintage storm plan rather than a transformational creature deck. Virtue's Ruin, Opposition Agent, Portal to Phyrexia, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, the second Chain of Vapor, Snuff Out, Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, Yixlid Jailer, Hurkyl's Recall, and Mindbreak Trap cover creature pressure, graveyard strategies, artifact pressure, opposing combo, and Karn, the Great Creator access. Exact sideboarding must use only registered sideboard cards as `Sideboard entry:` names and only registered main-deck cards as `Maindeck trim:` names.

Opponent information status is currently unspecified: no metagame enemy decklists, revealed opposing cards, or matchup labels were supplied with this request. Runtime guidance should therefore avoid naming unregistered opposing staples inside policy card fields, should prefix any specific opponent card examples as `opponent:` when policy syntax requires it, and should otherwise reason from visible archetype cues, public zones, revealed information, and legal actions produced by Veles.

## Thesis
Beseech Storm assembles a protected single-turn combo by converting explosive artifact and black mana into tutor chains, recursion, storm count, and a finishing Tendrils of Agony. The deck’s strongest wins come from sequencing Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Emerald, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, and restricted blue draw into a decisive turn where the opponent is either unable to interact or forced to fight through Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Chain of Vapor, and visible mana.

Beseech the Mirror is the deck’s defining commitment card, but it should not be treated as an automatic cast whenever legal. Prioritize Beseech the Mirror when it converts current mana, storm count, and available follow-up into Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Time Walk, Necropotence, or another game-winning resource line. Delay it when visible stack pressure, insufficient black mana, no meaningful follow-up, or a known opposing answer would turn the spell into a low-impact tutor.

The deck wins primarily with Tendrils of Agony after a high-spell turn, secondarily by resolving Bolas's Citadel or Yawgmoth's Will as an engine, and incidentally through Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator pressure, Tinker into a sideboard artifact creature or artifact payoff when available, or legal Urza's Saga pressure. It is not trying to trade one-for-one until both players run out of cards, protect life total at all costs, or spend restricted acceleration on medium card flow without a plan to convert that mana into a decisive resource advantage.

The highest tactical priority is commitment timing: decide whether this turn can win, create a locked or nearly locked position, or must pass with protection. The second priority is mana discipline, especially preserving black mana for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Will, and Tendrils of Agony while keeping blue interaction available when the visible matchup or stack requires it. The third priority is information quality: use Gitaxian Probe, revealed cards, public graveyards, visible permanents, and legal action text to choose whether to jam, sculpt, bounce, counter, or wait.

## Role Package
- Threats: Tendrils of Agony is the clean primary kill, Time Vault plus Manifold Key is the compact artifact-combo threat, Karn, the Great Creator is a standalone pressure and access card, Bolas's Citadel is an engine threat, Tinker is a high-commitment conversion spell, and Urza's Saga can become a board-plan threat only when Veles exposes legal actions that support that line.

- Payoffs: Tendrils of Agony converts storm count and mana into lethal or stabilizing life swing, Yawgmoth's Will converts the graveyard into a second hand, Bolas's Citadel converts life total and library order into spell volume, Time Walk converts a resolved setup or pressure position into tempo, and Necropotence converts life into a future hand when the deck can survive the tempo cost. Treat each payoff as a commitment gate, not a generic value spell.

- Engines: Beseech the Mirror is the central tutor-conversion engine, Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor are precision access pieces, Yawgmoth's Will is the graveyard engine, Bolas's Citadel is the library engine, Karn, the Great Creator is the sideboard-access and artifact-pressure engine, and Tolarian Academy is a mana engine when visible artifacts support it. Stock Up and Flow State are registered multi-copy card-flow pieces; Card text check required before asserting exact selection, draw, discard, or storm behavior from them.

- Velocity: Ancestral Recall, Gitaxian Probe, Time Walk, Lorien Revealed, Stock Up, Flow State, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Beseech the Mirror move the deck toward a critical turn. Use velocity to find mana, protection, payoff, or missing combo pieces; avoid spending the last mana on uncertain card flow when a legal protected win or must-answer setup is already available.

- Interaction: Chain of Vapor is the main-deck answer to problematic permanents and can open a combo window when a visible obstacle blocks the kill. Flusterstorm and Mental Misstep answer narrow stack fights efficiently. Force of Will is the broad emergency shield and should be reserved for opposing actions that stop the win, win the game first, or remove an irreplaceable engine unless the visible game state demands survival.

- Protection: Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Gitaxian Probe information, and disciplined mana sequencing are the protection package. Protect the decisive spell or engine rather than every setup spell. When the opponent has visible mana, known cards, or public effects that threaten the line, prefer keeping protection live over adding marginal storm count.

- Recursion: Yawgmoth's Will is the primary recursion plan and becomes strongest after Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, artifact mana, tutors, or interaction are in the graveyard. Do not cast it as a low-resource value spell unless the legal action list and visible pressure show that waiting is worse.

- Mana: Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Emerald, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, Tolarian Academy, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, Island, Swamp, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Flooded Strand, and Urza's Saga form an explosive but color-sensitive base. Prioritize black production for ritual and payoff turns, blue access for protection and draw, and artifact count for Tolarian Academy and artifact-combo lines.

- Sideboard modules: Virtue's Ruin and Snuff Out address creature pressure; Chain of Vapor and Hurkyl's Recall address obstructive permanents and artifact-heavy positions; Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, and Yixlid Jailer address graveyard reliance; Mindbreak Trap addresses opposing spell-chain combo; Opposition Agent attacks search-heavy opponents; Portal to Phyrexia and Sphinx of the Steel Wind are high-impact artifact-sideboard threats or Tinker/Karn considerations when legal actions expose access.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Tendrils of Agony is the clean primary kill when the current turn can generate enough spell count, black mana, and protection to make the life-drain line decisive. Build this path with Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Emerald, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, Ancestral Recall, Gitaxian Probe, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, and any legal card-flow actions from Stock Up or Flow State. Prioritize Tendrils of Agony when the opponent is low enough, storm count is already high, Yawgmoth's Will can replay acceleration, or a protected Beseech the Mirror can find the final payoff. Protect this path with Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and Chain of Vapor only when the visible opposing action would stop the kill or create a faster kill against you.

- Beseech the Mirror is the primary conversion spell when it can turn available mana and board resources into Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Time Walk, Necropotence, or a missing combo piece. Prioritize Beseech the Mirror when the legal action text and visible mana show that the found spell can be cast or immediately sets up a protected win. Defer it when it would only find card flow without enough mana, when the opponent has known interaction and you cannot protect the decisive follow-up, or when waiting preserves Force of Will or Flusterstorm for the actual commitment turn.

- Yawgmoth's Will is the strongest graveyard-engine win when the graveyard already contains acceleration, tutors, restricted draw, interaction, or Tendrils of Agony lines. Execute by floating mana first where legal, replaying Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, artifact mana, Ancestral Recall, Gitaxian Probe, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, or interaction as exposed by the rules engine, then converting the expanded storm count into Tendrils of Agony or a locked board. Prioritize this line after an early exchange, after a discarded or countered payoff, or when the graveyard is rich enough that a single resolved spell becomes a decisive turn.

- Bolas's Citadel is the primary engine-board win when life total, mana, and visible top-library actions permit a spell chain. Use it when the deck cannot immediately count a Tendrils of Agony kill but can resolve a high-impact engine that threatens to cast multiple spells and find Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, or Time Walk. Treat low life, visible pressure, or an obstructive permanent as reasons to prefer a direct Tendrils of Agony, Chain of Vapor setup, or defensive line instead.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Time Vault plus Manifold Key is the compact backup combo when both pieces are visible, findable, or accessible through Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Urza's Saga, Tinker, or Karn, the Great Creator legal actions. Prioritize this path when storm resources are thin, graveyard recursion is unreliable, or the opponent is presenting stack interaction but not a visible permanent answer. Do not assume the combo is assembled unless the rules engine exposes the exact legal actions and the pieces are in the appropriate zones.

- Tinker is a high-commitment artifact conversion line when sacrificing an expendable artifact can produce a decisive artifact threat or engine. Main-deck candidates and sideboard access depend on visible legal actions; Portal to Phyrexia and Sphinx of the Steel Wind are sideboard cards and should only be treated as Tinker outcomes when the rules engine presents them as legal. Prioritize Tinker when a resolved artifact threat beats the current board faster than sculpting a storm turn, and delay when losing the sacrificed artifact would strand black mana, Tolarian Academy mana, or Beseech the Mirror sequencing.

- Karn, the Great Creator is a slower secondary win and access engine when the game is about artifacts, locked resources, or sideboard tools rather than immediate storm. Use Karn, the Great Creator to pressure the opponent, find legal sideboard artifacts, or support Time Vault lines only when the visible board allows a planeswalker to matter. Avoid tapping out for Karn, the Great Creator when a protected Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, or Bolas's Citadel line is already available.

- Urza's Saga is a fallback pressure and artifact-access plan when the game slows down and land-based actions are legal. Use it to develop material, locate small artifact combo or mana pieces when exposed by legal actions, and force the opponent to answer a non-stack threat. Do not overcommit to Urza's Saga if the current hand can win faster through rituals and tutors.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, prefer lines that immediately stabilize or end the game over speculative card flow. Tendrils of Agony can be a survival spell as well as a kill if the life swing buys enough time, while Bolas's Citadel and Necropotence become dangerous commitments at low life unless the visible legal sequence wins or prevents lethal pressure.

- When behind on board, prioritize Chain of Vapor, Tinker into a legal stabilizing artifact threat, Karn, the Great Creator access, or a fast Tendrils of Agony over slow sculpting. Sideboard cards such as Virtue's Ruin, Snuff Out, Portal to Phyrexia, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind matter only in post-board games or through legal access actions.

- When behind on cards, use Ancestral Recall, Necropotence, Stock Up, Flow State, Lorien Revealed, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Beseech the Mirror to rebuild toward a defined payoff, not to spend mana aimlessly. Card text check required for Stock Up and Flow State; follow only the choices and outcomes exposed by Veles.

- When behind on mana, preserve black sources for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Necropotence, and Tendrils of Agony while using artifact mana to unlock Tolarian Academy and explosive catch-up turns. Do not spend Black Lotus or Dark Ritual on a low-impact spell unless waiting risks losing immediately or the spell finds the missing payoff.

- When graveyard recursion is blocked or weak, shift away from Yawgmoth's Will and toward direct Beseech the Mirror, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, or Urza's Saga lines. When Tendrils of Agony is inaccessible or removed, win through Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator pressure/access, Tinker targets exposed by legal actions, Bolas's Citadel advantage, or Urza's Saga pressure rather than assuming another storm payoff exists.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable combo resource until visible pressure makes it a survival constraint. Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Gitaxian Probe, Mana Crypt, fetch lands, and Snuff Out can all trade life for velocity or tempo when legal, but preserve enough life to survive the opponent's next visible attack plus known damage sources before choosing a nonlethal engine line.

- Hand size is the deck's main protection and conversion buffer. Keep Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Chain of Vapor, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Dark Ritual, and payoff access in roles rather than treating every cantrip or tutor as interchangeable; a hand with mana plus payoff but no protection plays differently from a hand with protection plus Stock Up or Flow State. Card text check required for Stock Up and Flow State; use their Veles-exposed choices only as card-flow or selection actions until verified.

- Mana is the bottleneck on decisive turns, especially black mana. Dark Ritual, Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Underground Sea, Swamp, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, the other Moxen, and Tolarian Academy convert one turn into a storm turn, but careless spending can leave Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Necropotence, or Tendrils of Agony stranded.

- Board resources matter because this deck converts permanents into engines. Artifacts increase Tolarian Academy output, enable Tinker sacrifice, support Time Vault plus Manifold Key, and can become Karn, the Great Creator or Urza's Saga leverage; do not sacrifice the only artifact that makes the current mana plan work unless the resulting legal action is decisive.

- Graveyard resources are future mana, storm, interaction, and payoff access. Yawgmoth's Will becomes stronger after Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, artifact mana, Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, tutors, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony have gone to the graveyard, while Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, and Yixlid Jailer are post-board bullets that can shift graveyard leverage or deny the opponent when legally available.

- Exile is normally a cost and tracking zone, not a resource to assume you can reuse. Force of Will, possible Yawgmoth's Will restrictions, resolved effects, and opponent interaction can move key cards out of future lines, so re-evaluate win conditions whenever Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or Bolas's Citadel is exiled.

- Lands are both mana and strategic access. Underground Sea, Island, Swamp, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Undercity Sewers, Tolarian Academy, and Urza's Saga should be sequenced around immediate color needs, artifact count, shuffle needs after Vampiric Tutor, and whether Urza's Saga is a slower board plan rather than a pure mana land.

- Tempo is spent when tapping out for Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, Tinker, or a large draw spell instead of holding interaction. Spend tempo when the legal line wins, creates a protected engine, or beats the opponent's visible clock; conserve tempo when passing with Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or Chain of Vapor prevents a faster opposing kill.

- Information changes commitment gates. Gitaxian Probe, visible revealed cards, public graveyards, known sideboard bullets, and Veles action text should decide whether to jam Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, or Bolas's Citadel now, while unknown hidden cards should be treated as archetype risk rather than exact certainty.

## Mana Guide
- Utility-land sequencing: explicitly track `Bolas's Citadel`, `Flooded Strand` as the deck's named nonbasic or utility-land decisions. Use these lands to satisfy the next visible color or utility requirement before taking speculative lines: play or fetch colored sources before cantrips and discard that need exact mana, keep utility lands when their activated or disruptive text is part of the current plan, and delay utility-land sacrifices until the follow-up spell or ability is already legal. When choosing between a stable colored source and a utility land, choose the source that casts the current hand under visible pressure, then use the utility land once the required colors are secure.

- Prioritize black mana before generic acceleration on combo turns. Beseech the Mirror, Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils of Agony, Opposition Agent, Virtue's Ruin, Snuff Out, and Yixlid Jailer all pull toward black access, so hands without Underground Sea, Swamp, Mox Jet, Black Lotus, or a fetch land that can produce black need strong compensating mana and selection.

- Preserve blue mana when interaction or draw is the reason to keep the hand. Force of Will may use an alternate cost when legal, but Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Chain of Vapor, Hurkyl's Recall, Stock Up, Flow State, and Lorien Revealed can require blue timing or blue sources; do not spend the only blue source on a low-impact action if a stack fight is likely.

- Use artifact mana to bridge colorless costs and multiply Tolarian Academy. Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, Black Lotus, Time Vault, and Manifold Key all raise Tolarian Academy output, but the colored Moxen also solve color requirements; sequence them so Veles can expose the widest legal action set before committing to a tutor or payoff.

- Play lands before draw when the land unlocks immediate legal mana or protects against missing a color. Lead with Underground Sea, Swamp, Island, or a fetch land when it enables Dark Ritual, Ancestral Recall, Flusterstorm, Chain of Vapor, Beseech the Mirror, or Necropotence this turn; delay a fetch land when Vampiric Tutor, top-card information, Bolas's Citadel, or a visible shuffle decision makes the timing strategically relevant.

- Delay land play when additional information can choose the correct land. Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, Stock Up, Flow State, Lorien Revealed, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, or a legal Urza's Saga decision can change whether the turn needs black, blue, Tolarian Academy, or a fetchable source; use post-draw land play only when the current legal actions do not require mana first.

- Treat Undercity Sewers and Lorien Revealed as text-dependent setup pieces. Card text check required if Veles exposes tapped-land, surveil, cycling, or land-search choices; choose them when the legal action solves color, improves a future draw, or supports a slower sculpting hand without sacrificing an immediate protected kill.

- Keep hands with at least one real mana plan, not just restricted power. A keepable hand should normally have black access or a credible path to it, a payoff or card-flow path, and either protection or speed; hands relying only on Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, and off-color Moxen need Ancestral Recall, Stock Up, Flow State, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, or Urza's Saga to justify the color gap.

- Mulligan hands that cannot convert mana into a legal plan. Too many expensive engines, no black source for Dark Ritual or Beseech the Mirror, no blue card/protection for Force of Will lines, or artifact mana with no payoff should be treated as risky unless the visible opening hand contains a deterministic tutor, draw, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key route.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: keep hands with black mana, acceleration, a payoff, and protection or information. Underground Sea or Mox Jet plus Dark Ritual plus Beseech the Mirror, Demonic Tutor, Necropotence, Yawgmoth's Will, or Bolas's Citadel is the cleanest shell, especially when Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Gitaxian Probe, or Ancestral Recall supplies cover or clarity.

- Strong keep: keep fast artifact hands when they produce a real engine rather than only mana. Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Emerald, Tolarian Academy, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or Bolas's Citadel can justify a low land count if the visible legal actions convert mana into pressure this turn or next turn.

- Medium keep: keep sculpting hands with stable mana, Force of Will or Flusterstorm, and Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Gitaxian Probe, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, or Lorien Revealed. Card text check required for Stock Up and Flow State; treat them as selection/card-flow actions until verified, and avoid keeping a slow hand that has no black mana path.

- Risky keep: keep Necropotence or Karn, the Great Creator hands only when the mana can cast them before the opponent's visible clock or known archetype pressure matters. Necropotence without black stability, or Karn, the Great Creator without artifact acceleration, is a speculative keep rather than a storm plan.

- Automatic ship: mulligan hands with no mana source, no black access or route to black, only reactive cards, or only expensive cards with no acceleration. Examples include Force of Will plus Flusterstorm plus Tendrils of Agony plus Yawgmoth's Will with no blue card or mana, or Mana Vault plus Sol Ring plus off-color Moxen with no Stock Up, Flow State, tutor, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, or Time Vault plan.

- Trap hand: do not overvalue Tendrils of Agony in the opener without storm generation. Tendrils of Agony is a payoff, not a setup card; it becomes keep-worthy with Dark Ritual, Black Lotus, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, or enough cheap actions to make lethal plausible.

- Trap hand: do not keep Force of Will hands that cannot pitch a blue card unless the rest of the hand is independently fast. Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Stock Up, Flow State, Lorien Revealed, Gitaxian Probe, Chain of Vapor, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Tinker, and Force of Will can support the alternate cost when legal, but count actual visible cards.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep more protection against fast combo and more engine density against fair pressure. Against graveyard or stack-heavy opponents after sideboarding, hands with Mindbreak Trap, Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, Yixlid Jailer, Flusterstorm, Force of Will, or Mental Misstep improve; against artifact-heavy boards, Hurkyl's Recall and Chain of Vapor raise slow-hand quality.

- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prefer speed plus one protection piece; on the draw, prefer hands that can absorb an opposing first-turn action with Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Flusterstorm, Mindbreak Trap, Snuff Out, Chain of Vapor, or relevant graveyard hate after sideboarding. Mulligan slower draw hands that require two clean turns before producing a meaningful legal action.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1: lead with information, black access, and a protected engine. Preferred starts are Gitaxian Probe before commitment, Ancestral Recall when blue is available and stack risk is acceptable, Dark Ritual into Necropotence or Beseech the Mirror when protected, Tinker for a visible artifact payoff when sacrificing an artifact does not break the mana plan, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key when both are legal and mana supports follow-through.

- Turn 1 deviation: jam when waiting loses more than it gains. If Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, artifact mana, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor setup, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, or Tendrils of Agony creates a legal kill or near-lock, prioritize the decisive line over holding up marginal interaction.

- Turn 1 deviation: pass with protection when the hand is reactive by design. If the hand contains Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Chain of Vapor, Stock Up, Flow State, or Ancestral Recall but no safe payoff, preserve mana and cards for the opponent's first critical spell or for end-step selection.

- Turn 2: convert sculpting into a commitment gate. Use Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, or Lorien Revealed to find black mana, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or Tendrils of Agony; choose the line that is legal, protected, and least exposed to visible opposing resources.

- Turn 2 deviation: deploy Karn, the Great Creator or Urza's Saga when storm is not ready. Karn, the Great Creator pressures artifact plans and may access sideboard artifacts when legal; Urza's Saga is a slower artifact board plan, so choose it when immediate storm is unavailable and the opponent's clock permits setup.

- Turn 3: expect to either win, lock, or reload. Preferred plays are Beseech the Mirror into the missing payoff, Yawgmoth's Will after cheap mana and spells are in the graveyard, Bolas's Citadel with enough life and mana context, Time Walk to buy a protected untap, or Tendrils of Agony when storm and life totals make the action decisive.

- Turn 3 deviation: spend interaction aggressively when it protects the next-turn kill. Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Chain of Vapor, and post-board Mindbreak Trap, Snuff Out, Hurkyl's Recall, or graveyard hate should stop only the visible action that beats the current plan or prevents the next legal combo turn.

- Turns 4-5: shift from pure speed to resource accounting. Track graveyard for Yawgmoth's Will, artifact count for Tolarian Academy and Tinker, life total for Necropotence or Bolas's Citadel, and whether Tendrils of Agony is still in library, hand, graveyard, or exile before committing.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: use Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Urza's Saga, or protected card draw as backup if storm density is disrupted. Do not fire Beseech the Mirror or Demonic Tutor for a flashy card when the visible board requires Chain of Vapor, Force of Will, Flusterstorm, or a sideboard answer first.

- Late game: prioritize deterministic access over raw storm count. Rebuild with Yawgmoth's Will, Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and fetch-land shuffles, then choose Tendrils of Agony only when Veles shows enough legal actions and life-drain math to matter.

- Late game deviation: abandon storm if a lock or board plan is safer. Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Tinker, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Portal to Phyrexia, or Urza's Saga can win games where graveyard hate, life pressure, or exhausted resources make Tendrils of Agony unreliable.

## Card Roles
- Beseech the Mirror is the deck's main conversion spell: treat it as a four-mana black tutor that becomes explosive when bargain is legal. Prefer Beseech the Mirror for Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Time Vault, Manifold Key, Necropotence, or protection according to visible mana and stack context; do not cast it just to spend mana if the target choice does not create a win, lock, reload, or survival line.

- Beseech the Mirror bargain material is real cost, not flavor text. Sacrifice spare artifact mana, a spent Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, Black Lotus if already used, Urza's Saga artifact tokens when expendable, or other legal nonessential permanents only when the bargained card is worth losing that permanent. Avoid sacrificing Time Vault, Manifold Key, Bolas's Citadel, or the only artifact needed for Tolarian Academy or Tinker unless the legal line wins immediately.

- Dark Ritual is the primary black burst and should be saved for commitment turns unless it casts Necropotence or Beseech the Mirror ahead of schedule. Use Dark Ritual to bridge into Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Necropotence, Tendrils of Agony, or multiple black spells in one turn; avoid spending it on a low-impact Stock Up or Flow State line unless the rules engine shows no better path and the hand needs immediate mana conversion.

- Force of Will is protection first and emergency interaction second. Pitch a blue card only for a visible spell or ability that stops the current combo turn, invalidates a protected setup permanent, wins before the next decision window, or prevents the deck from accessing mana; do not trade Force of Will for a minor value spell when Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, or Tendrils of Agony needs cover.

- Flusterstorm is the efficient stack shield for storm mirrors and counter fights. Hold Flusterstorm for opposing interaction during a go-turn, for fast opposing combo, or for a critical noncreature spell; cast it proactively only when the storm count visible in the rules engine makes it decisive. Remember that Flusterstorm can also defend Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, Yawgmoth's Will, Ancestral Recall, or Tendrils of Agony after several spells have already been cast.

- Stock Up is a major card-flow spell, but Card text check required for exact selection depth and card movement. Use Stock Up when the turn can afford setup and the hand is missing a defined category: black mana, artifact acceleration, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils of Agony, Tinker, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or protection. Do not treat Stock Up as guaranteed card advantage or graveyard setup unless the engine's legal choices confirm that function.

- Flow State is cheap velocity, but Card text check required for exact rules text, timing, and whether it changes graveyard, exile, or hand count. Cast Flow State before committing if it can find missing mana, protection, or a payoff without spending critical Dark Ritual mana; during a storm turn, use it as legal action density only when the visible mana and follow-up actions can still reach the payoff.

- Necropotence is a black engine for games where life can be converted into a protected next turn. Cast Necropotence early off Dark Ritual or Black Lotus when the opponent's visible pressure is low or when a large hand will beat stack interaction; avoid overpaying life if Bolas's Citadel, Mana Crypt, fetchlands, or opposing attackers make the life total a real constraint.

- Yawgmoth's Will is the graveyard payoff and should usually be the decisive spell, not a casual value play. Fire Yawgmoth's Will after Black Lotus, Moxen, Dark Ritual, Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, tutors, and fetchlands create enough replayable resources; delay it if the graveyard is thin, graveyard hate is visible, or the available mana cannot convert the recast spells into Tendrils of Agony, Beseech the Mirror, Time Walk, Tinker, or a lock.

- Tendrils of Agony is the clean kill and should be counted from current storm, visible life totals, and all legal follow-up spells. Do not expose Tendrils of Agony into open interaction unless protection, lethal redundancy, or Flusterstorm math supports the line; do not tutor for it before checking whether the current storm count plus copies actually ends the game.

- Bolas's Citadel is the high-ceiling engine for hands with artifact mana, life buffer, and enough top-deck access. Tinker or Beseech the Mirror can set it up when the visible stack is safe; once it resolves, preserve life carefully and use cheap artifacts, Dark Ritual, Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, and tutors to chain legal casts. Stop if the engine presents a lethal life-cost risk or a top card that cannot be legally cast.

- Tinker is a commitment spell that converts expendable artifacts into Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault support, or a sideboard artifact only when legal. Sacrifice the least important artifact for the chosen line; avoid sacrificing Manifold Key when Time Vault is the plan, avoid sacrificing the only large mana source needed after resolution, and protect Tinker with Force of Will or Flusterstorm when the target is central to winning.

- Karn, the Great Creator is a backup engine and artifact-pressure plan. Use Karn, the Great Creator when immediate storm is not available, when artifact abilities matter, or when the sideboard artifact toolbox is legally accessible; do not tap out for Karn, the Great Creator against a faster visible clock if Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, Chain of Vapor, or interaction is required first.

- Time Vault and Manifold Key form the main non-storm lock. Deploy either half when doing so does not strand a more urgent combo line, and tutor for the missing half with Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Urza's Saga, or Karn, the Great Creator only when the rules engine confirms the action is legal and the opponent cannot immediately punish the tempo loss.

- Ancestral Recall and Time Walk are restricted power cards that should be treated as combo accelerants, not generic value. Cast Ancestral Recall when it finds missing categories or baits stack interaction before a stronger commitment; cast Time Walk when the extra turn meaningfully unlocks mana, a land drop, Necropotence cards, Urza's Saga progress, Time Vault setup, or a protected storm turn.

- Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor must search for the missing role, not the flashiest card. Find Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Underground Sea, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tendrils of Agony, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, Manifold Key, Chain of Vapor, Force of Will, or Flusterstorm according to the immediate constraint. Vampiric Tutor costs tempo and life, so prefer it before a draw step, before Ancestral Recall, or when the next legal draw effect is available.

- Gitaxian Probe is information plus storm count. Cast Gitaxian Probe before a major commitment when legal, especially before spending Dark Ritual, Black Lotus, Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, or Yawgmoth's Will; hold it only if life is too low, if it must add storm later, or if the rules engine presents a better draw sequence first.

- Chain of Vapor is the maindeck escape valve. Use Chain of Vapor to remove hate permanents, reset a risky permanent, build storm with disposable permanents when legal, or clear the path for Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, or Tendrils of Agony; do not bounce casually if the opponent can use the copied effect better than this deck can.

- Mental Misstep is narrow but vital in Vintage pacing. Use Mental Misstep on visible one-mana interaction, opposing fast setup, or hate that stops the current plan; avoid firing it at low-impact cantrips if Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Beseech the Mirror, or Tinker will need stack cover later.

- Lorien Revealed is primarily blue card density and mana smoothing. Use its land-search mode when the hand needs Underground Sea, Island, or Undercity Sewers access and the engine presents a legal Island choice; cast it as a draw spell only in slower games where five mana is available and the hand needs a reload rather than immediate storm count.

- Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, and the five Moxen are both acceleration and storm inventory. Spend them to enable decisive Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, or Yawgmoth's Will turns; keep track of which artifacts remain for Tolarian Academy, Tinker, bargain, Urza's Saga, and Time Vault plus Manifold Key.

- Tolarian Academy, Urza's Saga, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, Island, Swamp, Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, and Misty Rainforest are not interchangeable. Prioritize black access for Dark Ritual and Beseech the Mirror, blue access for Force of Will hard casts and card flow, artifact count for Tolarian Academy, and fetch timing for deck thinning, shuffle effects, and known-top-card plans from Vampiric Tutor or other visible selection.

## Interaction Priorities

- Protect the commitment spell first when Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Necropotence, Tendrils of Agony, or Karn, the Great Creator is the active route. Use Gitaxian Probe information, visible mana, storm count, and known stack interaction before spending Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or Mindbreak Trap.

- Counter effects that stop the current engine before countering generic card flow. Prioritize opposing lock pieces, discard aimed at the only payoff, graveyard hate against Yawgmoth's Will, artifact shutdown against Time Vault, Manifold Key, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, or Tolarian Academy, and stack interaction that would break a lethal Tendrils of Agony line.

- Use Force of Will for decisive stack fights, not routine friction. Pitch extra blue cards such as Stock Up, Flow State, Gitaxian Probe, Lorien Revealed, Chain of Vapor, Flusterstorm, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, or Tinker only after checking whether that card is still needed as the draw engine, storm count, protection, or win enabler.

- Use Flusterstorm to win counter wars around rituals, tutors, Tinker, Yawgmoth's Will, Beseech the Mirror, Bolas's Citadel, and Tendrils of Agony. Flusterstorm is weaker against noninstant permanent hate already on board, so preserve Chain of Vapor, Hurkyl's Recall, Karn, the Great Creator, or sideboard removal for resolved problems.

- Use Mental Misstep on one-mana disruption or one-mana acceleration that changes the race. Do not spend Mental Misstep on a low-impact cantrip if the visible hand needs it for opposing discard, protection, hate, or a critical stack exchange.

- Bounce resolved hate before beginning the all-in sequence. Chain of Vapor should clear the permanent that actually blocks the chosen line, and sideboard Chain of Vapor or Hurkyl's Recall should be saved for artifact-heavy lock boards unless bouncing a single permanent immediately unlocks lethal storm or Time Vault plus Manifold Key.

- Remove creatures only when they attack the combo, kill on clock, or represent active disruption. Snuff Out, Virtue's Ruin, Opposition Agent, Yixlid Jailer, Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, and Mindbreak Trap are sideboard tools for specific pressure points; do not dilute the main storm plan by answering creatures that do not shorten the clock or interfere with tutors, graveyard, artifacts, or stack resolution.

- Bait interaction with lower-commitment spells when the hand has redundancy. Gitaxian Probe, Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, or a nonlethal tutor can test the opponent's response before Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, or Tendrils of Agony, but do not bait with the only card that fills a missing role.

- Ignore damage that does not change the combo turn. Against slow creature pressure, life is a resource for Necropotence, Gitaxian Probe, Vampiric Tutor, Bolas's Citadel, Mana Crypt, fetchlands, and Snuff Out; against fast combat decks, stop paying life once the next attack plus visible burn or combat growth could make Bolas's Citadel or Necropotence unsafe.

- Change interaction posture by archetype. Against stack-combo and blue decks, value Gitaxian Probe, Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mindbreak Trap, and bait sequencing; against artifact prison or Workshop-style boards, value Chain of Vapor, Hurkyl's Recall, Karn, the Great Creator, Tinker, and mana conservation; against graveyard decks, value Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, Yixlid Jailer, and fast kills; against creature pressure, value Snuff Out, Virtue's Ruin, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, and life discipline.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Treat combat as a clock-management problem because the main deck has almost no natural blockers. Do not plan to win through creature combat unless Karn, the Great Creator, Urza's Saga, Tinker, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Portal to Phyrexia, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key has moved the game into a non-storm route.

- Preserve engine permanents over incidental damage. Do not expose Manifold Key, Time Vault, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, or a critical artifact token to removal or combat-related loss if it is required for the next turn's deterministic route; accept small life loss when the visible next turn can win.

- Use Urza's Saga constructs defensively when time matters more than artifact count. Block only if the block preserves enough life for Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Mana Crypt, Gitaxian Probe, Vampiric Tutor, fetchlands, or Snuff Out decisions; avoid trading away an artifact body if Tolarian Academy mana, Tinker fodder, or lethal pressure next turn matters more.

- Attack with constructs only when the attack shortens the clock without weakening a required block. Against control or combo, construct attacks pressure life totals and planeswalkers while the hand rebuilds; against creature decks, hold back if the opponent's visible attack threatens the life buffer needed to complete a storm or Citadel turn.

- Protect Karn, the Great Creator when Karn is the active win route. Block for Karn only if the blocker is expendable and Karn will immediately find or lock with a relevant artifact line; let Karn take damage if preserving life, mana, or combo material is more important than a low-loyalty continuation.

- Use Sphinx of the Steel Wind as a stabilizing Tinker or sideboard plan when combat decks force a life-total game. Card text check required for exact combat keywords and protection details, so rely on rules-engine legal actions and visible combat outcomes before assuming it wins every race.

- Use Portal to Phyrexia as a board-reset or inevitability plan when Karn, the Great Creator or Tinker legally supports it. Card text check required for exact trigger timing and target constraints, so do not assume a creature returns or dies unless the engine exposes that event or legal choice.

- Avoid sacrificing blockers to Chain of Vapor copies unless the copied bounce wins the game or unlocks a lethal line. Chain loops can increase storm with artifacts, but against combat pressure each sacrificed permanent must be measured against the next visible attack and the mana or artifact count lost.

- Set life thresholds before choosing pain. Above roughly 15 life, this deck can often pay for Gitaxian Probe, Vampiric Tutor, fetchlands, Mana Crypt risk, Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, or Snuff Out if the payoff is immediate; below roughly 10 life, every payment must be tied to winning, stabilizing with Sphinx of the Steel Wind or Portal to Phyrexia, or preventing lethal pressure.

- Change combat posture by opponent speed. Against combo, ignore nonlethal attacks and race with protection; against blue control, pressure with Urza's Saga while preserving Force of Will and Flusterstorm; against creature aggro, prioritize life, blockers, Snuff Out, Virtue's Ruin, and fast Tinker stabilization; against artifact prison, combat matters less than freeing mana and artifacts with Chain of Vapor or Hurkyl's Recall.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Select by missing role, not by raw card power. Find mana when the hand has payoff but cannot cast it, find protection when the opponent can interact on stack, find an engine when mana is abundant, and find Tendrils of Agony only when storm, mana, and protection are already visible enough for a kill attempt.

- Treat Beseech the Mirror as the main commitment tutor. Before casting it, confirm whether bargain is legal, which permanent can be sacrificed, whether the sacrificed object is needed for Tolarian Academy, Tinker, Urza's Saga, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or storm count, and whether waiting one turn exposes the hand to a worse clock or discard.

- Use Demonic Tutor as the cleanest role-filler. Get Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, or Mox Jet when mana is the bottleneck; get Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or Tendrils of Agony when the missing card is the only barrier to the line.

- Use Vampiric Tutor only when the top-deck placement matters less than getting the exact card. Prefer end-step Vampiric Tutor when possible, but cast it in upkeep or main phase if the visible line needs the card immediately through Ancestral Recall, Stock Up, Flow State, Bolas's Citadel, or a draw step after Time Walk.

- Use Tinker as a high-risk selection spell, not a generic value play. Sacrifice an artifact only after deciding whether the target should be Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, or Portal to Phyrexia; Card text check required for sideboard artifact target availability and exact battlefield impact, so follow Forge's legal target list.

- Use Karn, the Great Creator to convert mana into the exact sideboard artifact plan. Prioritize Time Vault-style lock completion, Tormod's Crypt or Soul-Guide Lantern against graveyard dependence, Hurkyl's Recall or Chain of Vapor-adjacent bounce plans when artifacts or hate block the turn, and Portal to Phyrexia or Sphinx of the Steel Wind when the board demands stabilization.

- Use Urza's Saga search as a plan component. Card text check required for the exact chapter timing and legal search range, but if the engine offers artifact search, choose the missing zero- or one-mana artifact that advances mana, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, storm count, graveyard hate, or construct pressure.

- Sequence Stock Up and Flow State before narrow tutors when the hand lacks a defined role. Card text check required for exact selection, cost, and timing, so choose cards that preserve mana, protection, engine access, or lethal density instead of taking redundant payoff with no acceleration.

- Delay land drops when fetchland information or Tolarian Academy math matters. Lead with Underground Sea, Island, Swamp, Undercity Sewers, or fetchlands only after checking whether black mana for Dark Ritual and Beseech the Mirror, blue mana for Ancestral Recall and protection, or artifact count for Tolarian Academy is the actual constraint.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Pass priority only after checking whether the current window is a commitment point. If a protected Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or Tendrils of Agony line is available, reason about the stack and visible mana before choosing a routine pass.

- Protect the spell that wins or creates the winning engine. Use Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or Mindbreak Trap for opposing interaction that stops a committed tutor, engine, graveyard turn, Time Vault combo, or Tendrils of Agony, and avoid spending them on low-impact spells unless the hand cannot otherwise race.

- Let harmless spells resolve when storm turn resources matter more than trading. If the opponent's spell does not attack mana, hand, graveyard, artifacts, life total, or the stack fight around the chosen line, preserve Force of Will and Flusterstorm for the decisive exchange.

- Use Gitaxian Probe before all-in priority sequences when legal and life permits. Perfect information changes whether to lead with bait, tutor for protection, hold Force of Will, or move directly into Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, or Tendrils of Agony.

- Resolve mana in the least revealing useful order. Play zero-mana artifacts and Dark Ritual when they are required for storm or threshold math, but avoid exposing Black Lotus, Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Mox Jet, or Tolarian Academy mana before the line is selected and protected.

- Use Chain of Vapor at the last safe window before the blocked action. Bounce resolved hate, a lock piece, or a permanent that prevents the chosen line, and copy Chain of Vapor only when sacrificing the permanent produces lethal storm, removes multiple blockers, or no longer matters to mana or artifact count.

- Treat Yawgmoth's Will as a graveyard commitment gate. Before casting it, count usable mana after resolution, check whether Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, tutors, protection, and Tendrils of Agony are actually in the graveyard, and protect it from counterspells or graveyard interaction when it is the turn's central engine.

- Treat Bolas's Citadel priority as life-total management. After Citadel resolves, cast from the top only while life payments preserve survival or immediately advance mana, storm, protection, tutor access, or Tendrils of Agony; stop when the visible top card or life total makes continuing unsafe.

- Activate Manifold Key and Time Vault only when the engine exposes legal actions that complete an extra-turn loop or force the opponent to answer. Do not tap a key piece into open interaction unless the current turn is protected or waiting loses to the visible board.

- Respect optional payments and triggered choices as resource decisions. Pay life, sacrifice permanents, or spend mana on optional effects only when the immediate line gains protection, mana, storm count, card access, stabilization, or lethal certainty from the rules-engine output.

## Sideboard Map

- Default sideboarding keeps Beseech Storm as a fast protected combo deck. Change the mix only to answer a specific axis that is visible or strongly implied by archetype: stack combo, graveyard combo, artifact prison, creature pressure, white creature boards, or resolved hate permanents. Preserve enough black mana, Dark Ritual density, blue card count for Force of Will, and tutor payoff density to still end the game quickly.

- Karn, the Great Creator changes sideboard card value during games. Treat Portal to Phyrexia, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, and sometimes other artifacts as live Karn-accessible tools when Forge presents legal wish actions. Do not over-board artifacts into the main deck when keeping them as Karn targets is strategically more important than drawing them naturally.

Blue storm or spell-combo pressure
Role cards: 2 Mindbreak Trap; 1 Opposition Agent; 2 Soul-Guide Lantern
Trim roles: 1 Chain of Vapor; 1 Manifold Key; 1 Time Vault; 1 Bolas's Citadel; 1 Karn, the Great Creator

- Role: Mindbreak Trap protects the decisive stack turn without requiring mana. Opposition Agent attacks search-heavy combo and tutor setup. Soul-Guide Lantern pressures Yawgmoth's Will, graveyard recursion, and opposing graveyard storm lines while adding cheap artifact storm count.

- Poor when: Soul-Guide Lantern and Tormod's Crypt lose value if the opponent is purely stack-based with little graveyard dependence. Opposition Agent is weaker when the opponent can win without searching or can remove creatures before tutoring.

Artifact prison or heavy artifact mana
Role cards: 2 Hurkyl's Recall; 1 Chain of Vapor; 2 Snuff Out
Trim roles: 1 Necropotence; 1 Gitaxian Probe; 1 Mental Misstep; 2 Flusterstorm

- Role: Hurkyl's Recall is the cleanest reset against artifact boards, taxing artifacts, and artifact mana clusters before a storm turn. Chain of Vapor increases bounce density against single hate permanents. Snuff Out answers disruptive creatures while preserving mana for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, or a protected follow-up.

- Poor when: Hurkyl's Recall is narrow against low-artifact creature decks, and Snuff Out is dangerous when life total is already under pressure from Mana Crypt, fetchlands, Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, or attacks.

Graveyard combo or graveyard engine
Role cards: 2 Soul-Guide Lantern; 1 Tormod's Crypt; 1 Yixlid Jailer; 2 Mindbreak Trap
Trim roles: 1 Chain of Vapor; 1 Manifold Key; 1 Time Vault; 1 Bolas's Citadel; 1 Karn, the Great Creator; 1 Flow State

- Role: Soul-Guide Lantern and Tormod's Crypt give fast graveyard interaction that can also support storm count and Tolarian Academy. Yixlid Jailer changes the axis by denying graveyard text. Mindbreak Trap covers explosive turns that try to win through the stack before permanent hate matters.

- Poor when: Yixlid Jailer is fragile against removal and can be too slow on the draw. Tormod's Crypt is strongest against one graveyard commitment and weaker when the opponent can rebuild easily or force its activation before the key spell.

Creature pressure with disruptive bodies
Role cards: 2 Snuff Out; 1 Virtue's Ruin; 1 Chain of Vapor; 1 Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Trim roles: 1 Gitaxian Probe; 1 Mental Misstep; 1 Flow State; 1 Necropotence; 1 Mana Vault

- Role: Snuff Out buys tempo without spending mana. Virtue's Ruin is for white creature-heavy boards only; Card text check required for exact color and destruction details. Chain of Vapor handles noncreature hate or a creature that cannot be handled profitably by Snuff Out. Sphinx of the Steel Wind is a Tinker or Karn stabilization target when life total and board state matter more than the fastest Tendrils of Agony line.

- Poor when: Virtue's Ruin is narrow outside white creature boards. Sphinx of the Steel Wind is poor when the opponent ignores combat, answers artifacts cleanly, or the hand needs a compact storm kill rather than a battlefield stabilizer.

- Add role cards: Portal to Phyrexia is a high-mana artifact stabilization target for Karn, the Great Creator or Tinker lines when the opponent's battlefield is the primary problem. Card text check required for exact entry effect and recursion text, so select it only when Forge exposes it as legal and the visible board calls for a large artifact answer.

- Add role cards: Opposition Agent belongs against tutors, fetchland-heavy setup, and decks where interrupting a search creates a time window for Beseech the Mirror or Yawgmoth's Will. It is not a generic creature plan, and it should not slow the deck when the opponent's relevant actions are mostly spells from hand.

- Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap is for opposing storm, uncounterable-looking stack sequences, or turns where mana-efficient protection is mandatory. It becomes less important when the opponent wins through permanents already on the battlefield and does not cast multiple spells into the decisive exchange.

- Add role cards: Hurkyl's Recall is for artifact prison, artifact mana bursts, and positions where bouncing several artifacts creates a single-turn opening. It is not a normal removal spell, so use it near the combo turn unless survival requires an immediate reset.

- Add role cards: Chain of Vapor is the flexible answer to a single hate permanent, creature, or lock object blocking the current line. Use the sideboard copy when the matchup reliably presents permanents that must be cleared before Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Time Vault, or Tendrils of Agony can function.

- Add role cards: Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, and Yixlid Jailer divide graveyard work by speed and texture. Prefer Tormod's Crypt when zero mana matters, Soul-Guide Lantern when selective pressure or artifact count matters, and Yixlid Jailer when static suppression is better than a one-shot effect.

- Add role cards: Snuff Out is the tempo creature answer when black mana must stay available for Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror. Avoid paying life if the visible board, Mana Crypt, Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, or fetchlands make survival uncertain.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Time Vault plus Manifold Key is the first package to deemphasize when the opponent is faster, has artifact hate, or the matchup is decided by stack protection rather than extra turns. Keep it when Karn, the Great Creator or Tinker lines make the artifact plan more reliable than storm.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Bolas's Citadel and Necropotence lose value when life total is pressured or the opponent can punish a tapout engine. Keep them when the opponent is slow, discard-heavy, or likely to trade resources until a single resolved engine wins.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Flusterstorm and Mental Misstep are matchup-sensitive. Keep Flusterstorm for stack fights and fast spell decks; reduce it against permanent-heavy artifact or creature decks. Keep Mental Misstep only when the opponent's one-mana spells are strategically important.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Flow State and Stock Up are flexible card selection slots when the matchup demands specific answers. Preserve enough selection to find mana and payoff, but lower the slowest selection density when immediate interaction is more important than sculpting.

Explicit Sideboard Repair Plans

These balanced plans are legal Veles candidates built from the registered sideboard and main deck. Use them as baseline sideboarding options only when the matchup role fits; keep the role guidance above as the strategic source of truth.

Legal repair plan 1
Side in: Virtue's Ruin; Opposition Agent; Portal to Phyrexia; Sphinx of the Steel Wind
Cut: 4 Stock Up

Legal repair plan 2
Side in: Opposition Agent; Portal to Phyrexia; Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Chain of Vapor
Cut: 3 Stock Up; Flusterstorm

Legal repair plan 3
Side in: Portal to Phyrexia; Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Chain of Vapor; Snuff Out
Cut: 2 Stock Up; 2 Flusterstorm

Legal repair plan 4
Side in: Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Chain of Vapor; 2 Snuff Out
Cut: Stock Up; 2 Flusterstorm; Flow State

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Prioritize survival until one protected Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, or Tendrils of Agony turn can end the game. Keep hands with fast black mana, at least one route to a payoff, and a realistic plan to avoid dying to visible attacks plus Mana Crypt, fetchland, Necropotence, or Bolas's Citadel life loss. Add role cards: Snuff Out, Chain of Vapor, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, and Portal to Phyrexia. Add role cards: Virtue's Ruin only when the opposing battlefield is meaningfully white creatures; Card text check required for exact destruction details. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow life-payment engines when the visible clock is short, especially Necropotence and Bolas's Citadel unless they immediately convert into a win or stabilizing artifact line.

- Control: Treat the matchup as a protected commitment puzzle, not a pure speed race. Use Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, Stock Up, Flow State, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Lorien Revealed to sculpt a turn where Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and mana density align with the payoff. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap when the opponent fights with dense stack sequences, Opposition Agent when visible or known search effects matter, and Chain of Vapor when a permanent hate piece can block the combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal and narrow battlefield answers unless the control deck has disruptive bodies that must be cleared before the storm turn.

- Combo: Race only when the hand has a concrete kill or disruption-plus-kill sequence; otherwise preserve interaction for the opponent's decisive spell rather than spending it on setup. Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Mindbreak Trap, and Gitaxian Probe are the important tools for deciding whether to pass, commit, or fight. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap against high-spell-count turns, Soul-Guide Lantern and Tormod's Crypt against graveyard-dependent combo, Yixlid Jailer when static graveyard suppression is better than one-shot exile, and Opposition Agent against tutor-heavy or fetchland-heavy combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Time Vault plus Manifold Key when the opponent is faster than an artifact setup plan.

- Tempo: Protect mana and card velocity because trading one-for-one while missing land or artifact mana lets tempo pressure convert into a short clock. Prefer hands with Underground Sea, fetchlands, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, or Sol Ring plus redundant card selection. Chain of Vapor should answer a hate permanent, a threatening creature, or a temporary blocker only when it opens a decisive turn or prevents lethal pressure. Add role cards: Snuff Out for mana-free creature interaction and Mindbreak Trap only when the tempo deck also threatens a stack-heavy combo turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Necropotence if the opponent can punish the life payment immediately.

- Midrange: Assume the opponent will combine discard, hate permanents, creatures, and removal, so build redundancy before committing. Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, and Lorien Revealed matter because they rebuild after discard and find the specific axis that beats the visible board. Add role cards: Chain of Vapor for hate permanents, Snuff Out for disruptive creatures, Opposition Agent for search-heavy versions, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind or Portal to Phyrexia when a Tinker or Karn, the Great Creator line stabilizes the battlefield. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Flusterstorm when the opponent is permanent-heavy and not fighting decisive turns on the stack.

- Big mana: Move faster than the opponent's payoff while respecting single lock pieces or large artifact turns. Keep explosive hands with Dark Ritual, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Moxen, Beseech the Mirror, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Tinker, or Yawgmoth's Will. Add role cards: Hurkyl's Recall against artifact mana clusters, Chain of Vapor against a single blocking permanent, Opposition Agent against search-based setup, and Mindbreak Trap if the opponent's big turn involves multiple spells. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow sculpting when the opponent's visible mana indicates a near-term haymaker.

- Graveyard decks: Decide early whether the game is about one-shot graveyard denial, static suppression, or racing before the graveyard engine matters. Add role cards: Tormod's Crypt when zero mana is crucial, Soul-Guide Lantern when artifact count or selective pressure matters, Yixlid Jailer when the opponent relies on graveyard text, and Mindbreak Trap when the graveyard turn also casts multiple spells. Keep Yawgmoth's Will plans honest by remembering that graveyard hate can also constrain this deck. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or excess slow selection when immediate graveyard pressure is mandatory.

- Artifact or enchantment pressure: Use bounce and artifact reset effects to create a one-turn opening, then spend that window decisively. Add role cards: Hurkyl's Recall against artifact boards, artifact prison, and opposing artifact mana; Chain of Vapor against one hate permanent or a lock object that must leave before Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Time Vault, or Tendrils of Agony can work. Add role cards: Portal to Phyrexia only when Forge exposes a legal route and a large artifact battlefield answer is relevant; Card text check required for exact effects. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Flusterstorm and Mental Misstep when the opposing problem is already on the battlefield.

- Go-wide creature decks: Value sweep or stabilization lines over narrow one-for-one tempo unless a single creature represents the actual lock. Add role cards: Virtue's Ruin for white creature swarms only, Snuff Out for the most disruptive attacker or hate creature, Chain of Vapor for a temporary reset, Sphinx of the Steel Wind for a Tinker stabilization line, and Portal to Phyrexia when a high-impact artifact answer is legal and board pressure is the main problem. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Necropotence and Bolas's Citadel when life total is too low to safely convert cards into a win.

- Single-threat decks: Identify whether the single threat is a clock, a lock, or a combo piece, then answer that exact role. Snuff Out is strongest when the threat is a creature and black mana must remain available for Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror. Chain of Vapor is strongest when the permanent is noncreature, temporarily answerable, or blocks the immediate combo. Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and Mindbreak Trap should be saved for threats that decide the game on the stack. Reduce main-deck emphasis: broad artifact reset effects when only one nonartifact threat matters.

- Burn: Treat life total as a primary resource constraint, not a cushion for greedy engines. Avoid Necropotence and Bolas's Citadel lines unless they win immediately or the visible board and hand context make the life payment survivable. Fetchlands, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Force of Will alternate costs, Snuff Out, and Gitaxian Probe life payment all need explicit survival checks. Add role cards: Sphinx of the Steel Wind when Tinker can stabilize through combat and life pressure; Snuff Out only when removing a creature prevents more damage than the life payment risks. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow engines and nonessential life-payment choices.

- Removal-heavy decks: Lean toward spell-combo lines because creature removal does not naturally answer Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Beseech the Mirror, Dark Ritual, or artifact mana. Do not overvalue Sphinx of the Steel Wind, Opposition Agent, or Yixlid Jailer if the opponent can easily remove them before they matter. Add role cards: Chain of Vapor for hate permanents and Mindbreak Trap for stack-dense opposing turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Tinker creature stabilization when the opponent's removal is visible or known and the game can instead be won through storm, Time Walk, Karn, the Great Creator, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or Tendrils of Agony.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only note: Revealed cards, public zones, legal actions, and Forge prompts override matchup assumptions. Treat these notes as routing hints for Beseech Storm, not certainty about hidden cards or exact opponent configuration.

- Fast combo: Race only when the hand has real acceleration, a tutor, or a protected deterministic line. Prioritize Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and post-board Mindbreak Trap for stack actions that either win, stop Beseech the Mirror, stop Tendrils of Agony, or prevent the opponent from taking an immediate decisive turn. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap and Opposition Agent when the opponent relies on spell chains or search. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower Time Vault plus Manifold Key setup if Tendrils of Agony, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, or Beseech the Mirror can win sooner.

- Blue control: Build a protected window before committing the first irreplaceable engine spell. Use Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Lorien Revealed, Gitaxian Probe, Demonic Tutor, and Vampiric Tutor to assemble redundancy, then force through Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, or Tendrils of Agony only when protection or opponent mana constraints support it. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap for counter-heavy stack fights and Chain of Vapor for resolved hate permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis: life-intensive Necropotence lines when the opponent has pressure plus permission.

- Artifact prison or artifact combo: Treat Hurkyl's Recall and Chain of Vapor as opening tools, not value spells. Priority targets are lock permanents, artifact mana clusters that enable a decisive opponent turn, or a permanent that blocks Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or Tendrils of Agony. Add role cards: Hurkyl's Recall, Chain of Vapor, and Mindbreak Trap if the opponent also chains spells. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Flusterstorm and Mental Misstep when the main threats are already resolved permanents.

- Bazaar or graveyard decks: Decide whether to race, hate, or suppress before spending tutors. Tormod's Crypt is best when zero mana matters, Soul-Guide Lantern is best when selective pressure or artifact count matters, and Yixlid Jailer is best when a static graveyard-text answer is enough; Card text check required for exact runtime interaction if Forge exposes unusual graveyard replacement or static-effect prompts. Add role cards: Tormod's Crypt, Soul-Guide Lantern, Yixlid Jailer, and Mindbreak Trap. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow sculpting and graveyard-dependent Yawgmoth's Will if opposing graveyard pressure is already online.

- Creature hatebears and white creature pressure: Remove or bounce the disruptive creature before trying to brute-force through it. Priority targets are creatures that tax spells, stop searching, stop graveyards, prevent artifact activation, or create a lethal clock. Add role cards: Virtue's Ruin against white creature boards, Snuff Out against the highest-impact creature, Chain of Vapor for temporary openings, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind when Tinker can stabilize combat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, and Snuff Out life payments when survival is the limiting resource.

- Fair midrange: Do not spend all protection on the first medium spell if the opponent is trying to trade resources and then land a hate permanent. Use card draw and tutors to find the axis that matches visible pressure: Tendrils of Agony for spell kills, Tinker for an artifact closer, Karn, the Great Creator for artifact pressure, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key when there is time. Add role cards: Chain of Vapor, Snuff Out, Opposition Agent, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, or Portal to Phyrexia when the battlefield matters; Card text check required for exact Portal to Phyrexia tactical use.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: The deck can make explosive starts but has a low land count, color constraints, and many artifacts that do not by themselves cast Beseech the Mirror, Dark Ritual, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Necropotence, or Yawgmoth's Will. Avoid keeping hands that only look powerful because of Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, or off-color Moxen unless the legal line actually produces black or blue at the needed moment.

- Matchup risk: The deck is vulnerable to opponents that combine a clock with one disruptive permanent or one protected stack fight. Prioritize answering the piece that stops the win over answering the piece that merely inconveniences the turn.

- Draw risk: Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Lorien Revealed, Gitaxian Probe, and Necropotence can find action, but sculpting is unsafe when the opponent already shows lethal pressure or a near-term combo turn. Convert card velocity into a concrete win, protection piece, or hate answer.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Adding too many reactive cards can dilute storm density, tutor quality, and artifact acceleration. Keep the deck capable of winning quickly; use sideboard cards to solve identified problems, not to become a fair control deck.

- Graveyard risk: Yawgmoth's Will is a major recovery and storm engine, but opposing graveyard hate and self-sideboarded hate can reduce its value. Check public graveyards, exile, and active hate before committing tutors or rituals to a Yawgmoth's Will line.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Virtue's Ruin, Snuff Out, Chain of Vapor, Hurkyl's Recall, Portal to Phyrexia, and Sphinx of the Steel Wind are matchup tools, but they do not replace the primary combo plan. Use removal to create a winning turn or survive to one, not to chase every creature.

- Closer risk: Tendrils of Agony, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, and Yawgmoth's Will each fail to different hate. Choose the closer that matches visible mana, life, storm count, graveyard access, artifact access, and opponent interaction.

- Interaction risk: Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Mindbreak Trap, Chain of Vapor, Hurkyl's Recall, and Snuff Out must be held for decisive objects when possible. Spending them on low-impact plays can leave Beseech the Mirror or Tendrils of Agony exposed.

- Sequencing risk: Rituals, Black Lotus, Moxen, tutors, and draw spells change storm count and mana texture in precise ways. Let Forge legal actions confirm each step, then sequence for black mana, blue protection, bargain availability for Beseech the Mirror if relevant, and enough storm or deterministic artifact setup before exposing the payoff.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Record whether the game was decided by a fast Tendrils of Agony turn, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, Yawgmoth's Will, opponent pressure, a resolved hate permanent, or a stack fight.

- Mulligans: Note whether the opener had actual black mana for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Necropotence, or Yawgmoth's Will, not just artifact mana from Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Black Lotus, or Moxen.

- Mana: Track every game where Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Flooded Strand, Undercity Sewers, Island, Swamp, Tolarian Academy, or Urza's Saga failed to support the spell sequence suggested by the hand.

- Velocity: Check whether Stock Up, Flow State, Ancestral Recall, Lorien Revealed, Gitaxian Probe, and Necropotence converted into a protected win, a needed answer, or only more setup while the opponent advanced.

- Engine commitment: Mark whether the first major commitment was Beseech the Mirror, Yawgmoth's Will, Bolas's Citadel, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or Tendrils of Agony, and whether waiting one turn would have improved protection or made the window disappear.

- Interaction: Review Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Mindbreak Trap, Chain of Vapor, Hurkyl's Recall, Snuff Out, and Opposition Agent decisions for whether they answered decisive objects or were spent on low-impact exchanges.

- Removal and bounce: Record whether Chain of Vapor, Snuff Out, Virtue's Ruin, Hurkyl's Recall, Portal to Phyrexia, or Sphinx of the Steel Wind solved the battlefield problem that actually blocked the combo or survival plan.

- Sideboard: For each post-board game, identify which added role cards mattered, which main-deck emphasis decreased, and whether reactive density reduced the ability to chain Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, tutors, and storm payoffs.

- Closing: Count games where the deck had mana and cards but failed to close with Tendrils of Agony, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, or Yawgmoth's Will.

- Role: Label the agent's role each game as race, sculpt-and-protect, answer-then-combo, or stabilize-then-finish, and flag turns where actions contradicted that role.

- Mistakes: Flag any pass with legal acceleration, tutor, draw, protection, or answer actions when the opponent showed a short clock or an imminent combo turn.

- Stranded cards: Track Force of Will without blue cards, Flusterstorm without a stack fight, Beseech the Mirror without usable black mana or bargain context, Tendrils of Agony without storm, and Yawgmoth's Will against graveyard pressure.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Compare actual impact of Stock Up, Flow State, Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Force of Will, Flusterstorm, and every sideboard card against the reason it was kept or added for that matchup.

## First Tuning Questions

- Quantity question: Are four Stock Up and three Flow State the right velocity mix, or did one category repeatedly find air while the other found action at the correct speed?

- Quantity question: Did four Beseech the Mirror create reliable payoff density, or did extra copies clog hands when black mana, bargain context, or protection was missing?

- Mana question: Did the land and artifact mix produce enough black for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Necropotence, and Yawgmoth's Will while still supporting Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Ancestral Recall, and Stock Up?

- Mana question: Did Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Tolarian Academy, and Moxen enable decisive turns often enough to offset hands that lacked colored mana or took too much damage?

- Aggro-plan question: Against creature pressure, did Snuff Out, Chain of Vapor, Virtue's Ruin, Sphinx of the Steel Wind, and Portal to Phyrexia create winning windows, or did the deck need a lower-cost survival plan?

- Control-plan question: Against blue permission, did Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Mindbreak Trap, Gitaxian Probe, and tutor timing produce protected commitments, or did the deck need more redundancy over narrow stack cards?

- Closer question: Did Tendrils of Agony end enough games, or were wins more often through Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Tinker, Bolas's Citadel, Karn, the Great Creator, or Yawgmoth's Will?

- Sideboard-slot question: Did Soul-Guide Lantern, Tormod's Crypt, and Yixlid Jailer each justify separate graveyard roles, or did one graveyard axis consistently matter more than the others?

- Sideboard-slot question: Did Hurkyl's Recall solve artifact prison and artifact combo often enough, or did Chain of Vapor cover the same practical windows with broader utility?

- Role-conflict question: Did post-board plans turn Beseech Storm into a reactive deck that no longer had enough storm density, ritual velocity, and payoff access to punish opponents?

- Risk question: Did Necropotence and Bolas's Citadel lose too many games to life pressure, Mana Crypt damage, or battlefield pressure, or were those losses mostly pilot timing errors?

- Tutor question: Did Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor usually find the correct missing piece, or did the agent need sharper rules for choosing between mana, protection, answer, engine, and finisher?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Keep Fast Mana Plus Business
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan; mana; pregame
- Cards: Dark Ritual; Beseech the Mirror; Demonic Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Necropotence; Yawgmoth's Will; Black Lotus; Mox Jet; Underground Sea; Swamp
- Phase windows: Opening hand and mulligan decisions.
- Runtime cues: mulligan prompt with visible opener and legal keep/mulligan actions.
- Use when: Keep hands that present black mana plus a real engine, tutor, protected draw, or near-term payoff under visible hand constraints.
- Avoid when: Mulligan hands with only colorless acceleration, no blue card for Force of Will, no black source for black spells, or no action beyond mana.
- Instructions: Prefer hands that can threaten a turn-one or turn-two commitment while leaving interaction or card selection; treat Black Lotus as a bridge, not a permanent colored source.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Setup Mana Texture
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; priority
- Cards: Underground Sea; Polluted Delta; Misty Rainforest; Flooded Strand; Undercity Sewers; Island; Swamp; Tolarian Academy; Urza's Saga; Mox Sapphire; Mox Jet; Mox Ruby; Mox Pearl; Mox Emerald; Mana Crypt; Mana Vault; Sol Ring
- Phase windows: Turns one through three main phases and upkeep mana prompts.
- Runtime cues: land-play, artifact-mana, fetchland, and mana-source prompts.
- Use when: Sequence mana to preserve black for Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, tutors, Necropotence, and Yawgmoth's Will while keeping blue available for stack fights.
- Avoid when: Do not spend single-use or painful mana before Forge shows the exact follow-up spell and cost path.
- Instructions: Lead with lands that unlock black and blue; deploy zero-mana artifacts before storm turns when safe; hold fetch choices until color needs are known if no immediate spell requires them.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Ritual Mana Execution
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: Dark Ritual
- Phase windows: Main phase and priority windows where a legal Dark Ritual cast has already been selected.
- Runtime cues: action:Cast Dark Ritual
- Use when: A legal action text explicitly casts Dark Ritual and the current line already needs black mana this priority sequence.
- Avoid when: Do not fire Dark Ritual into an empty plan with no visible follow-up action requiring black mana.
- Instructions: Execute the legal Dark Ritual action after the model has selected the commitment or setup line; let Forge determine mana additions and priority passes.
- Pilot skill floor: No-API.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Beseech Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; selection; mana
- Cards: Beseech the Mirror; Dark Ritual; Black Lotus; Force of Will; Flusterstorm; Mental Misstep; Tendrils of Agony; Yawgmoth's Will; Bolas's Citadel
- Phase windows: Main phases after mana development and before committing tutors or payoff spells.
- Runtime cues: legal Beseech the Mirror actions, bargain prompts, tutor-selection prompts, visible storm count, stack interaction, and known opponent pressure.
- Use when: Commit to Beseech the Mirror only when the visible line can find a payoff, engine, answer, or deterministic setup before the opponent's next decisive turn.
- Avoid when: Wait if the line lacks black mana, bargain support when required by the chosen legal action, protection against visible interaction, or a meaningful search target.
- Instructions: Treat Beseech the Mirror as the defining gate; choose the search target through light-model reasoning from visible mana, storm, graveyard, hand, and stack context.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tendrils Payoff Target
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; selection
- Cards: Tendrils of Agony
- Phase windows: Main phase or stack-resolution prompts for a selected Tendrils of Agony line.
- Runtime cues: action:target opponent Tendrils of Agony
- Use when: The legal action text targets the opponent with Tendrils of Agony after the deck has already committed to casting or copying Tendrils of Agony.
- Avoid when: Do not select a self-targeting action or an action whose text does not name Tendrils of Agony and opponent targeting.
- Instructions: Choose opponent as the target for Tendrils of Agony payoff actions; rely on Forge for storm copies and life-total resolution.
- Pilot skill floor: No-API.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Yawgmoth's Will Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; selection; mana
- Cards: Yawgmoth's Will; Dark Ritual; Black Lotus; Tendrils of Agony; Demonic Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Beseech the Mirror
- Phase windows: Main phase with graveyard visible to the acting player.
- Runtime cues: legal Yawgmoth's Will actions, graveyard contents, available mana, storm count, and graveyard-hate permanents.
- Use when: Cast Yawgmoth's Will when the visible graveyard plus available mana creates a concrete chain toward Tendrils of Agony, Beseech the Mirror, tutor recursion, or an engine win.
- Avoid when: Avoid into active graveyard hate, insufficient black mana, or a graveyard containing only low-impact cards.
- Instructions: Recount replayable mana before action cards; do not assume exiled or hidden cards are available; if Lion's Eye Diamond appears in retrieval context, treat it as absent because it is not registered.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tinker Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; selection; mana
- Cards: Tinker; Bolas's Citadel; Time Vault; Manifold Key; Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Portal to Phyrexia; Force of Will; Flusterstorm
- Phase windows: Main phase with a legal Tinker action and artifact sacrifice prompt.
- Runtime cues: legal Tinker action, visible sacrifice candidates, library or sideboard candidate prompts, opponent clock, and available protection.
- Use when: Commit to Tinker when the visible battlefield and hand support a decisive artifact plan through Bolas's Citadel, Time Vault setup, or post-board stabilizer access if Forge exposes it legally.
- Avoid when: Avoid sacrificing the only artifact needed for mana, storm, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key unless the Tinker result is more decisive.
- Instructions: Choose Tinker targets through light-model reasoning; Card text check required for any unfamiliar prompt wording before assuming sideboard artifact access.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Time Vault Combo Commitment
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; mana; selection
- Cards: Time Vault; Manifold Key; Karn, the Great Creator; Tinker; Force of Will; Flusterstorm
- Phase windows: Main phase setup and activation windows.
- Runtime cues: legal Time Vault, Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, or Tinker actions that assemble or activate the combo.
- Use when: Pursue Time Vault plus Manifold Key when both pieces are visible or one piece is legally searchable and the opponent cannot visibly punish a tapped-out setup.
- Avoid when: Avoid partial setup into known artifact removal, lethal opponent pressure, or a hand that can win immediately with Tendrils of Agony instead.
- Instructions: Do not assume the lock is complete until Forge exposes legal activation and turn-taking actions; protect the final activation over redundant setup.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Bolas's Citadel Life Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; mana; selection
- Cards: Bolas's Citadel; Necropotence; Mana Crypt; Mana Vault; Tendrils of Agony; Force of Will
- Phase windows: Main phase cast prompts and top-card play prompts.
- Runtime cues: legal Bolas's Citadel actions, life total, visible top-card permissions if exposed, and opposing battlefield pressure.
- Use when: Commit to Bolas's Citadel when life total and visible board allow multiple spell casts before the opponent's next attack or burn-like pressure.
- Avoid when: Avoid if Mana Crypt damage, creature pressure, or prior Necropotence payments make life too low for a meaningful chain.
- Instructions: Spend life only for cards that advance mana, storm, protection, or payoff; stop if Forge shows a low-impact top card and another winning line is available.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Draw And Selection Before Commitment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; priority
- Cards: Ancestral Recall; Stock Up; Flow State; Gitaxian Probe; Lorien Revealed; Necropotence
- Phase windows: Main phases, opponent end step, and draw-selection prompts.
- Runtime cues: legal draw, selection, surveil-like, or card-choice prompts for listed cards.
- Use when: Use velocity to find missing mana, protection, bargain material, tutor access, or payoff before exposing Beseech the Mirror, Tinker, Yawgmoth's Will, or Tendrils of Agony.
- Avoid when: Avoid spending blue card density needed for Force of Will or life needed for Bolas's Citadel unless the draw action is part of a near-term win.
- Instructions: Card text check required for Stock Up and Flow State; follow Forge prompt identities and choose cards that complete the current role rather than generic card quantity.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Spending Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Force of Will; Flusterstorm; Mental Misstep; Mindbreak Trap
- Phase windows: Any stack window with opponent spell or ability interaction prompts.
- Runtime cues: opponent stack object, legal Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or Mindbreak Trap actions, visible hand costs, and current combo plan.
- Use when: Spend permission on spells that stop your imminent win, create a lock, present lethal pressure, attack graveyard access, or resolve an opponent combo.
- Avoid when: Avoid trading permission for low-impact cantrips, redundant mana, or threats that your current winning line ignores.
- Instructions: Preserve Force of Will blue-card cost carefully; use Flusterstorm for stack fights where copies matter; use Mindbreak Trap post-board against storm or uncounterable-like stack volume only when legal.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Bounce And Removal Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; priority; combat
- Cards: Chain of Vapor; Snuff Out; Virtue's Ruin; Hurkyl's Recall
- Phase windows: Opponent end step, pre-combo main phase, combat, and stack windows when legal.
- Runtime cues: legal bounce, removal, or artifact-return actions; visible hate permanent; lethal creature pressure; artifact-prison battlefield.
- Use when: Remove or bounce permanents that prevent spell casting, disable graveyard or artifact plans, create lethal pressure, or block a same-turn win.
- Avoid when: Avoid using answers on creatures or artifacts that do not change the current race, combo window, or survival turn.
- Instructions: Prefer end-step answers before your combo turn when safe; use Hurkyl's Recall for artifact clusters, Chain of Vapor for flexible single-permanent problems, and Snuff Out for tempo survival when life permits.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tutor Selection Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: selection; priority; mana
- Cards: Demonic Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Beseech the Mirror; Karn, the Great Creator
- Phase windows: Main phase tutor actions, end-step Vampiric Tutor windows, and Karn selection prompts.
- Runtime cues: legal tutor or wish-like selection prompt with visible hand, mana, graveyard, sideboard candidates, and stack context.
- Use when: Select the missing category that converts the current hand into a win, protected setup, survival answer, or deterministic Time Vault line.
- Avoid when: Avoid selecting a payoff without mana, a mana piece without action, or protection when the opponent's visible board already demands an answer.
- Instructions: Rank needs as immediate win, protection for immediate win, answer to hate, mana to unlock engine, then card advantage; do not infer hidden library certainty beyond Forge choices.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Karn Artifact Selection
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; priority
- Cards: Karn, the Great Creator; Time Vault; Manifold Key; Portal to Phyrexia; Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Soul-Guide Lantern; Tormod's Crypt
- Phase windows: Main phase Karn loyalty selection prompts.
- Runtime cues: legal Karn, the Great Creator selection actions and visible candidate artifact list.
- Use when: Choose the artifact that directly solves the current game: Time Vault combo piece, graveyard hate, stabilizer, or artifact threat answer if Forge exposes it legally.
- Avoid when: Avoid speculative artifacts that do not affect the current board, stack, graveyard, or combo path.
- Instructions: Card text check required for exact Karn prompt behavior; follow visible candidate legality and never assume access to a sideboard card absent from the legal action list.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Survival Only
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat; interaction
- Cards: Snuff Out; Chain of Vapor; Virtue's Ruin; Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Portal to Phyrexia
- Phase windows: Declare attackers, declare blockers, combat trick windows, and precombat removal windows.
- Runtime cues: opponent attackers, legal block/no-block actions, legal removal or bounce actions, life total, and next-turn combo prospects.
- Use when: Treat combat as survival math; interact only when damage changes lethal timing, preserves a necessary planeswalker or engine, or buys the turn needed to combo.
- Avoid when: Do not spend a combo-enabling card to reduce nonlethal damage unless life payments from Necropotence, Bolas's Citadel, Mana Crypt, or Snuff Out make the damage decisive.
- Instructions: Prefer removal before damage when it saves more life than waiting; avoid attacks with utility permanents unless Forge shows an explicit, low-risk win.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard; pregame
- Cards: Chain of Vapor; Hurkyl's Recall; Mindbreak Trap; Opposition Agent; Portal to Phyrexia; Snuff Out; Soul-Guide Lantern; Sphinx of the Steel Wind; Tormod's Crypt; Virtue's Ruin; Yixlid Jailer
- Phase windows: Between games and pregame sideboard submission.
- Runtime cues: sideboard prompt with matchup label, prior-game public information, and legal registered swaps.
- Use when: Add narrow cards only for visible matchup axes: graveyard, artifact prison, storm, creature pressure, tutor mirrors, or stabilization.
- Avoid when: Avoid over-sideboarding below functional density of Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, tutors, blue protection, and win conditions.
- Instructions: Follow exact Sideboard Map plans when available; otherwise use light-model to preserve combo speed while adding only the interaction axis proven by matchup or prior game.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Hate Deployment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; priority; sideboard
- Cards: Soul-Guide Lantern; Tormod's Crypt; Yixlid Jailer
- Phase windows: Early main phases, opponent graveyard-combo windows, and response windows when legal.
- Runtime cues: legal graveyard-hate cast or activation actions, opponent graveyard contents, and visible recursion or graveyard payoff actions.
- Use when: Deploy or activate graveyard hate against a visible graveyard plan that can win, generate overwhelming value, or stop your Yawgmoth's Will timing race.
- Avoid when: Avoid firing one-shot hate before the opponent commits relevant graveyard resources unless waiting risks losing priority or mana.
- Instructions: Preserve your own Yawgmoth's Will line when choosing symmetric or timing-sensitive hate; let Forge action text determine affected zones and players.
- Pilot skill floor: Light-model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Pass On Empty Irrelevant Windows
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: priority
- Cards: none
- Phase windows: Priority windows with no stack object and no legal cast, activation, tutor, draw, mana, or interaction action relevant to the current line.
- Runtime cues: action:Pass priority
- Use when: The only legal action text that changes priority is Pass priority and no legal non-pass action is present in the current action list.
- Avoid when: Do not pass by policy when any legal action names a registered spell, mana ability, tutor, draw, protection, bounce, removal, or combo piece.
- Instructions: Choose the visible pass action only for empty procedural windows; require light-model if more than one materially different action is legal.
- Pilot skill floor: No-API.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes
