# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Giada, Font of Hope is a mono-white Commander strategy registered as a 100-card singleton main deck plus a 10-card Veles policy sideboard. The active validation contract reports the command-zone format as Commander, the main deck as exactly 100 cards with singleton nonbasic/nonland and nonbasic card names, and the sideboard as exactly 10 cards for Veles policy use. Treat Giada, Font of Hope as the commander and primary early engine when legal command-zone actions are exposed, but always obey the rules engine if commander access, commander tax, color identity, or replacement effects differ from expectation.

This list is a hybrid tuned Angels midrange deck with stax, fast mana, and lifegain-scaling pressure rather than a pure stock casual tribal shell. The recognizable stock core is Giada, Font of Hope supporting Angels such as Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Battle Angels of Tyr, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, and Angel of Jubilation. The tuned-control layer is the heavy rule-setting package of Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and Karn, the Great Creator. The pilot should treat the deck as proactive pressure plus selective denial, not as a hard prison deck that can win without attacking.

The primary tag set is midrange and tribal, with Angels as the creature identity and white hatebear/stax cards as the tempo-control identity. The deck is not trying to assemble a deterministic combo from hidden pieces by default; it is trying to land Giada, Font of Hope early, turn later Angels into oversized threats, constrain opposing velocity, and convert lifegain or commander-enabled combat into a winning board. Walking Ballista and Heliod, Sun-Crowned require card-text and rules-engine verification at runtime before assuming any combo, counter, or damage loop; do not infer an infinite line unless Veles exposes legal actions that actually execute it.

The mana profile is powerful but timing-sensitive because the deck combines Plains, Cavern of Souls, Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Remote Farm, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Urza's Saga, Gemstone Caverns, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Mox Amber, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and Pearl Medallion with many white pips. Prioritize hands that cast Giada, Font of Hope or a meaningful early rule piece and still have white mana for follow-up plays. Watch for self-inflicted constraints from City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Remote Farm, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, and Mana Vault; fast mana is strongest when it accelerates a protected engine, commander, or table-limiting permanent, and weakest when it strands white spells or forces a low-impact dump into removal.

Legality concerns are mostly format and sideboard-context concerns, not deck-count concerns. The main deck passes the provided Commander validation, but Veles should not assume a physical Commander event allows a sideboard unless the current match explicitly uses the registered Veles policy sideboard. The sideboard cards are Rest in Peace, Stony Silence, Containment Priest, Austere Command, Farewell, Generous Gift, Teferi's Protection, Angel's Grace, Flawless Maneuver, and Council's Judgment; use them only through explicit sideboard policy or match configuration, never as maindeck legal actions before sideboarding.

Opponent information status is unknown at guide load unless matchup metadata, revealed cards, public commanders, or Veles state snapshots say otherwise. Do not name or play around specific opposing staples in policy fields unless those cards are visible, revealed, logged, or prefixed as opponent examples in prose. Runtime decisions must rank legal actions from visible board state, public zones, known commanders, stack contents, revealed cards, and current legal-action text before applying this deck guide.

## Thesis
Giada, Font of Hope assembles early white acceleration, a command-zone Angel engine, and table-limiting permanents into a board that attacks while opponents are forced to play at reduced speed. Prioritize a hand that produces white mana, casts Giada, Font of Hope or a disruptive two-drop, and converts the next turns into Angels or engines rather than isolated reactive trades. The deck wins by making Angels larger than normal through Giada, Font of Hope, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Invention, and Thraben Watcher, then closing through evasive combat, lifegain thresholds, or accumulated tax pressure.

This deck is not trying to sit behind rule pieces forever without pressure. Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and Karn, the Great Creator are tempo tools that buy clean attack steps and protect a developing board. Use them to shrink opposing action windows, then deploy threats before the table naturally answers the lock piece.

Prioritize board development over speculative control when the hand already contains a safe Giada, Font of Hope curve. Prioritize interaction when a visible opposing commander, engine, graveyard, stack item, or combat step threatens to invalidate the Angel plan before your next turn. Prioritize protection when one protected permanent carries the game: Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Luminarch Ascension, Smothering Tithe, or a large Angel threatening lethal.

## Role Package
- Threats: Giada, Font of Hope is the early scaling threat and commander engine; Serra Ascendant, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, Lightstall Inquisitor, Herald of War, Battle Angels of Tyr, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Jubilation, Angel of Invention, Archangel of Thune, Archangel of Tithes, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Serra Paragon, Thraben Watcher, Voice of Victory, and Walking Ballista provide the board presence. Card text check required for Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, and Lightstall Inquisitor before relying on exact trigger or combat text.

- Payoffs: Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Flowering of the White Tree, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, Luminarch Ascension, Thraben Watcher, and Battle Angels of Tyr are the cards that turn routine creature deployment or combat into snowball pressure. Treat Walking Ballista plus Heliod, Sun-Crowned as a rules-engine-confirmed line only when legal actions explicitly expose the needed counters, lifegain, damage, and targeting sequence.

- Engines: Giada, Font of Hope, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Deep Gnome Terramancer, Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, Luminarch Ascension, Urza's Saga, Minas Tirith, War Room, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and Geier Reach Sanitarium keep material flowing. Prefer engines that are live under your own Deafening Silence or Rule of Law effects, because the deck often limits spell volume for every player.

- Velocity: Enlightened Tutor and Search for Glory find role-specific pieces; Ranger-Captain of Eos finds small creature utility when legal targets appear; Wojek Investigator, Trouble in Pairs, Archivist of Oghma, Esper Sentinel, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, Minas Tirith, War Room, and Geier Reach Sanitarium support card flow. Card text check required for Wojek Investigator before assuming clue, investigate, or draw timing.

- Interaction: Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, Winds of Abandon, Soul Partition, Reprieve, Silence, Bovine Intervention, Unexplained Absence, Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Strip Mine, Karn, the Great Creator, Aven Mindcensor, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, Archon of Emeria, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Blind Obedience, and Archangel of Tithes form the disruption suite.

- Protection: Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Silence, Reprieve, Soul Partition, Voice of Victory, Cavern of Souls, Homeward Path, and Flowering of the White Tree protect key permanents, attacks, and stack turns. Use protection proactively when losing Giada, Font of Hope or a payoff would collapse the next two turns.

- Recursion: Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation recover engines, rule pieces, lands, and cheap threats after removal. Preserve them for high-impact rebuilds unless the visible board demands immediate stabilization.

- Mana: Plains, Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Remote Farm, Cavern of Souls, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Gemstone Caverns, Flagstones of Trokair, Prismatic Vista, Urza's Saga, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Minas Tirith, War Room, Homeward Path, Talon Gates of Madara, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Pearl Medallion, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Mox Amber, Lotus Petal, and Mana Vault provide acceleration and utility. Sequence white sources before colorless acceleration when the hand needs Giada, Font of Hope or multiple white-pip spells.

- Sideboard modules: Rest in Peace and Containment Priest attack graveyard or entry-cheat strategies; Stony Silence attacks artifact engines; Austere Command, Farewell, Council's Judgment, Generous Gift, and Angel's Grace are broad stabilizers; Flawless Maneuver and Teferi's Protection protect a committed board or survival window. Use these only when the match uses the registered Veles policy sideboard.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Angel curve pressure: Set up Giada, Font of Hope early from Plains, Ancient Tomb, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Pearl Medallion, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Mox Amber, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, or Cavern of Souls, then deploy evasive Angels that enter larger and shorten the clock. Execute by stacking Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Invention, Archangel of Thune, Thraben Watcher, Flowering of the White Tree, and Folk Hero around repeated Angel casts and attacks. Prioritize this path when Giada, Font of Hope is castable before turn three, the hand contains at least one follow-up Angel, and visible interaction does not make commander recasting the whole turn plan.

- Lifegain snowball: Build a board where combat lifelink or incidental life gain turns into permanent size or lethal pressure through Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Lyra Dawnbringer, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Angel of Destiny, and Serra Ascendant. Execute by attacking with evasive lifelink bodies before spending removal on low-impact blockers, then use Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, Soul Partition, or Bovine Intervention only when a blocker, combo creature, or damage race changes the clock. Prioritize this path when life total is high, opponents lack visible sweepers, and one lifegain trigger or attack makes the whole team meaningfully harder to race.

- Rule-piece tempo beatdown: Use Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, Aven Mindcensor, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Blind Obedience, Karn, the Great Creator, and Archangel of Tithes to reduce opposing action quality while Angels attack. Execute by committing pressure before adding redundant lock pieces, because the deck still needs damage to win. Prioritize this path against visible spell-chain, commander-centric, activated-ability, graveyard, artifact, or tutor/search setups, especially when a single restriction buys a full attack cycle.

- Engine-to-overwhelm line: Convert unanswered engines into inevitability through Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Deep Gnome Terramancer, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Luminarch Ascension, Minas Tirith, War Room, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and Urza's Saga. Execute by protecting the engine with Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Reprieve, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Soul Partition, or Voice of Victory when losing it would collapse the next turn. Prioritize this path when the table is slowed, hands are low, or your current board already blocks well enough to spend mana on future advantage.

- Deterministic combo or damage finish: Treat Walking Ballista plus Heliod, Sun-Crowned as a win path only when legal actions clearly expose the needed counters, lifegain, targeting, and damage sequence. Execute exact damage choices through the rules engine, aiming at opponents or necessary blockers only when the legal action text confirms the target and outcome. Prioritize this line over combat when the visible board makes attacks unsafe or when opponents can untap into a clear answer.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Backup combat: Win with ordinary evasive bodies when Giada, Font of Hope is taxed or removed by leaning on Serra Ascendant, Segovian Angel, Battle Angels of Tyr, Angel of Jubilation, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Herald of War, Angel of Invention, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Tithes, Thraben Watcher, and White Plume Adventurer. Card text check required for Beza, the Bounding Spring and White Plume Adventurer before relying on exact token, initiative, or resource outcomes.

- Recursion rebuild: Use Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation to recover Giada support, cheap engines, protection, Urza's Saga resources, or important lands after removal. Prefer recurring a card that immediately changes board, mana, or draw over a slow threat when behind.

- Utility pressure: Use Luminarch Ascension, Urza's Saga, Karn, the Great Creator, Minas Tirith, War Room, Geier Reach Sanitarium, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to make every draw step or mana burst matter after sweepers. Card text check required for exact Urza's Saga chapter timing before choosing a search or token line.

- Fallback interaction lock: If winning quickly is impossible, chain Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Reprieve, Soul Partition, Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, Winds of Abandon, Unexplained Absence, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Strip Mine, and Homeward Path to keep the most dangerous visible permanent, stack item, or theft effect from ending the game.

## Emergency Lines
- Behind on life: Stabilize before adding slow engines by removing the largest immediate attacker, blocking with expendable bodies, and preserving lifelink attacks from Lyra Dawnbringer, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Serra Ascendant, or Angel of Destiny when legal. Do not spend Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, War Room, or aggressive attacks if the visible crack-back makes survival worse.

- Behind on board: Use Winds of Abandon, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Bovine Intervention, Unexplained Absence, Archangel of Tithes, Blind Obedience, and Angel of Invention to reduce pressure, then rebuild with the cheapest Angel or engine that survives the current board. Save protection for the stabilizer, not for a replaceable small creature.

- Behind on cards: Prioritize Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Trouble in Pairs, Smothering Tithe, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, Minas Tirith, War Room, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Serra Paragon, and Sevinne's Reclamation over marginal attacks. If Deafening Silence or Rule of Law limits your own double-spell recovery, choose the single spell that creates the most future decisions.

- Behind on mana: Sequence Plains and white sources before colorless bursts, preserve Lotus Petal and Crystal Vein for turns that cast Giada, Font of Hope plus protection or a decisive Angel, and use Search for Glory or Enlightened Tutor only when the searched card solves mana or survival immediately. Do not keep spending commander tax if the same mana casts a live Angel and interaction.

- Behind to combo or engines: Deploy the specific hate piece before pressure when visible public information shows a near-term kill or lock. Use Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, Aven Mindcensor, Archon of Emeria, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Rule of Law, Deafening Silence, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Karn, the Great Creator, Silence, or Ranger-Captain of Eos according to the legal threat presented.

- Win conditions removed: Shift from commander scaling to rule-piece tempo, recursion, and utility pressure rather than overpaying for Giada, Font of Hope. If Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Luminarch Ascension, or Walking Ballista is gone, win through evasive Angel combat and engines already on board.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable buffer only while lifegain or prevention is visible; use Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, War Room, aggressive attacks, and shock-like tempo losses more freely when Serra Ascendant, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Destiny, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Archangel of Thune, or Blind Obedience can legally recover life or convert lifegain into pressure. Stop spending life when the visible attack back forces chump blocks, disables War Room safely, or makes Angel of Destiny race math unreliable.

- Hand quality matters more than raw card count when Rule of Law, Deafening Silence, Eidolon of Rhetoric, or Archon of Emeria is active; keep the card that advances the strongest single-spell turn and avoid holding multiple expensive Angels without mana acceleration. Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Trouble in Pairs, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Smothering Tithe, Minas Tirith, War Room, and Geier Reach Sanitarium convert table activity into more decisions, but only deploy slow engines when the board is not demanding removal.

- Mana is the deck's main snowball resource; Giada, Font of Hope, Starnheim Aspirant, Pearl Medallion, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Remote Farm, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Smothering Tithe, and Urza's Saga let the deck jump from rule piece into Angel pressure. Spend burst mana on permanents that survive a turn cycle or protect a commitment; avoid using Lotus Petal or Crystal Vein for a low-impact spell if the next turn needs Giada plus protection.

- Board material is both clock and insulation; prioritize keeping Giada, Font of Hope, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Voice of Victory, Ranger-Captain of Eos, and the largest evasive Angel when opponents can remove only one piece. Treat small creatures as protection, hate, card-flow, or Chivalric Alliance material before treating them as attackers.

- Graveyard and exile are secondary resources; Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation make cheap permanents, fetch lands, and destroyed engines matter again, while March of Otherworldly Light and Solitude may require exiling cards from hand for tempo. Do not exile a card that is your only rebuild path unless the visible threat is immediate.

- Lands are strategic permanents, not just mana; Strip Mine answers a visible problem land, Homeward Path protects against theft, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire can be interaction, Cavern of Souls supports Angel commitments through permission, War Room and Minas Tirith turn stable boards into cards, and Talon Gates of Madara requires card text check before relying on exact timing or protection utility.

- Sacrifice fodder is scarce; do not casually cash in Cathar Commando, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Lotus Petal, Crystal Vein, or Urza's Saga constructs unless the exchange stops a higher-value threat, enables a decisive spell, or protects a winning board. Angel of Invention and Beza, the Bounding Spring may create extra material, but card text check required for exact token and resource timing.

- Information is earned through public actions; let Enlightened Tutor, Search for Glory, Aven Mindcensor, Deep Gnome Terramancer, Archivist of Oghma, Esper Sentinel, Trouble in Pairs, and revealed searches guide commitment timing without assuming hidden cards. Sideboard bullets convert matchup knowledge into narrower resources: Rest in Peace, Stony Silence, Containment Priest, Austere Command, Farewell, Generous Gift, Teferi's Protection, Angel's Grace, Flawless Maneuver, and Council's Judgment should replace generic pressure only when their specific axis is expected to matter.

## Mana Guide
- Keep hands that produce white mana early and either cast Giada, Font of Hope or establish acceleration plus a relevant two-mana play. A hand with only Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Urza's Saga, Homeward Path, Geier Reach Sanitarium, War Room, or Strip Mine is risky unless it also has Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Arcane Signet, Mox Amber with a legal legendary line, or another confirmed white source.

- Prioritize white source sequencing before colorless power unless the colorless burst casts Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Pearl Medallion, Giada, Font of Hope, or a hate piece immediately. Plains, Cavern of Souls naming the relevant creature type when legal, Flagstones of Trokair, Prismatic Vista, Remote Farm, Gemstone Caverns, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Minas Tirith are the lands most likely to support early white requirements.

- Sequence tapped or conditional lands around the turn's decisive action; Remote Farm, Gemstone Caverns, Urza's Saga, Minas Tirith, War Room, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx can be excellent but should not delay a necessary Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Reprieve, Silence, March of Otherworldly Light, or Giada recast. Use City of Traitors and Crystal Vein on turns where sacrificing or losing land equity produces a board state that matters immediately.

- Play the land before drawing when the current hand already contains the spell you must cast this turn or when the land unlocks Esper Sentinel, Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, Giada, Font of Hope, Rule of Law, or interaction. Delay the land when War Room, Minas Tirith, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Trouble in Pairs, Archivist of Oghma triggers, Enlightened Tutor timing, Search for Glory, or visible draw/selection may change which utility land should be committed.

- Spend fast mana to compress pressure plus protection, not merely to empty the hand. The strongest burst turns cast Giada, Font of Hope before another Angel, deploy a lock piece before opponents untap, or leave protection from Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Reprieve, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, or Soul Partition available.

- Mulligan mana that cannot cast a meaningful spell by turn two unless the visible pregame plan and legal actions show Gemstone Caverns acceleration or a Sol Ring-style recovery. In multiplayer Commander, a slow hand with only expensive Angels is less keepable than a hand with one Angel, one disruptive permanent, and stable white mana.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: keep two white-producing lands or one white land plus Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, or Mana Vault when the hand casts Giada, Font of Hope or a disruptive two-drop by turn two. The ideal opener has Giada, Font of Hope plus Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Drannith Magistrate, Deafening Silence, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, or Swords to Plowshares.

- Strong keep: keep fast mana plus an early rule piece when the hand can still deploy pressure after the table is slowed. Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Blind Obedience, Grafdigger's Cage, Aven Mindcensor, or Linvala, Keeper of Silence is best when paired with Giada, Font of Hope, Youthful Valkyrie, Serra Ascendant, Angel of Vitality, or a draw/tax engine.

- Medium keep: keep stable white mana, one early play, one interaction spell, and one payoff Angel even without acceleration. Plains plus Cavern of Souls, Flagstones of Trokair, Prismatic Vista, Remote Farm, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire can support a slower line if the hand has Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Reprieve, Soul Partition, March of Otherworldly Light, or Silence.

- Risky keep: keep colorless-heavy power only when it casts a real opening sequence. Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Urza's Saga, War Room, Homeward Path, Strip Mine, or Geier Reach Sanitarium without reliable white mana is a mulligan unless a legal Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Arcane Signet, or Gemstone Caverns line fixes it immediately.

- Automatic ship: ship hands with no white source, no castable spell before turn three, only expensive Angels, or no plan after a single removal spell kills Giada, Font of Hope. Also ship hands relying on Mox Amber without a legal early legendary permanent, Chrome Mox without a card you can afford to exile, or Mox Diamond without an extra land.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep hate-first hands when the visible pod or known opponent axis makes the hate card live. Grafdigger's Cage, Drannith Magistrate, Archon of Emeria, Deafening Silence, Aven Mindcensor, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and Blind Obedience are powerful only if they constrain likely opposing development more than they delay your Angel clock.

- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, value Esper Sentinel, Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, Giada, Font of Hope, and fast mana more highly because they shape the table before opponents deploy engines. On the draw, require more interaction, card flow, or resilience from Reprieve, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Archivist of Oghma, Trouble in Pairs, Beza, the Bounding Spring, or Serra Paragon.

- Trap hand: do not keep Ancient Tomb plus multiple five-mana Angels if the only white source enters too late or the hand folds to Giada, Font of Hope being removed. Do not keep Luminarch Ascension, Trouble in Pairs, Smothering Tithe, and large Angels without early board control. Do not keep protection-only hands with Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, and Teferi-style sideboard cards absent a threat or engine.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 priority: deploy the card that makes every later turn better. Preferred starts are Plains or fast white source into Esper Sentinel, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Deafening Silence, Grafdigger's Cage, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Pearl Medallion, or Blind Obedience; use Enlightened Tutor only when the next draw must be a specific lock, mana, or payoff piece.

- Turn 1 deviation: choose Gemstone Caverns, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, or Crystal Vein only when the resulting spell matters immediately. If the legal line merely casts a replaceable small creature while losing a card or land, preserve the resource unless the board demands speed.

- Turn 2 priority: cast Giada, Font of Hope when she is legal and likely to survive or when she enables a turn-three Angel that outscales the table. If Giada is exposed into obvious removal or a combo player must be slowed, cast Drannith Magistrate, Archon of Emeria, Aven Mindcensor, Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Cathar Commando, or removal instead.

- Turn 2 deviation: leave up Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Reprieve, Silence, Soul Partition, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, or Solitude when a visible opposing permanent or stack line is more dangerous than developing Giada. Card text check required for Bovine Intervention exact tactical exchange.

- Turn 3 priority: convert Giada, Font of Hope into a meaningful Angel or convert a lock piece into card advantage. Strong plays include Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Youthful Valkyrie, Starnheim Aspirant, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, White Plume Adventurer, or a protected Serra Ascendant line; cast Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Battle Angels of Tyr, or Angel of Invention early only when acceleration and board safety justify it.

- Turns 4-5 priority: decide whether the game needs pressure, a lock, or recovery before tapping out. Use Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Herald of War, Battle Angels of Tyr, Luminarch Ascension, Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, or Karn, the Great Creator as commitments only after checking open interaction, commander tax, and whether protection from Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Silence, or Reprieve is available.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: answer the card that invalidates your board before adding another Angel. Use Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, Cathar Commando, March of Otherworldly Light, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, Winds of Abandon, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Solitude, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire when the visible threat beats your next attack. Card text check required for Witch Enchanter and Unexplained Absence exact modes.

- Late game priority: rebuild with Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, Minas Tirith, War Room, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Trouble in Pairs, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, and Smothering Tithe while forcing opponents to answer one high-impact permanent at a time. Use Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Cavern of Souls, Homeward Path, Strip Mine, Urza's Saga, and Karn, the Great Creator as board-state tools, not automatic mana plays.

- Late game finish: choose attacks that preserve lethal pressure without exposing the only lifegain payoff or commander-scaling threat. Angel of Destiny, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Walking Ballista, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Flowering of the White Tree, and Thraben Watcher can convert a stable board into a kill, but commit only through legal actions and visible combat math.

## Card Roles
- Commander engine: Giada, Font of Hope is the preferred early permanent when mana is stable and the table is not showing immediate removal. Cast her before Angel follow-ups when her mana and counter scaling will change the next legal play; hold or recast her only if commander tax still leaves a meaningful Angel curve.

- One-mana protection and pressure: Mother of Runes and Alseid of Life's Bounty protect Giada, Font of Hope, a lifegain payoff, or the lethal attacker. Serra Ascendant and Segovian Angel are early pressure bodies; do not spend protection on them unless they are carrying the clock or enabling lifegain thresholds.

- Cheap tax and draw permanents: Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Deep Gnome Terramancer, Wojek Investigator, Trouble in Pairs, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, and Smothering Tithe turn opponents' normal development into cards or mana. Deploy these before expensive Angels when the pod is likely to cast multiple spells, search, ramp, or attack elsewhere; Card text check required for Wojek Investigator exact clue/evidence timing.

- Rule-setting creatures and enchantments: Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence are lock or drag pieces. Cast the piece that attacks the visible opposing axis, then develop one threat at a time; do not stack symmetrical restrictions that strand your own interaction unless the opponent is closer to winning.

- Angel cost and scaling package: Starnheim Aspirant, Pearl Medallion, Herald of War, Youthful Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Thraben Watcher, and Flowering of the White Tree convert small Angel entries into oversized combat. Sequence cost reducers before large Angels when the mana saved changes the same turn or next turn; avoid sending the only scaling creature into a trade when counters or lifegain can snowball.

- Big Angel commitments: Battle Angels of Tyr, Angel of Invention, Angel of Destiny, Archangel of Tithes, Angel of Jubilation, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, and Lightstall Inquisitor are tap-out decisions, not filler. Cast them when they stabilize combat, generate resources, or threaten a fast kill; Card text check required for Beza, the Bounding Spring, Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, and Lightstall Inquisitor before relying on exact triggers.

- Lifegain finishers: Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Vitality, Angel of Destiny, and Walking Ballista reward preserving life total and repeated gain events. Treat Walking Ballista as removal, mana sink, or combo-adjacent finisher only when the legal action text and visible counters support it; do not assume deterministic lethal without rules-engine confirmation.

- Protection and tempo interaction: Silence, Reprieve, Soul Partition, March of Otherworldly Light, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares, Solitude, Bovine Intervention, Unexplained Absence, Winds of Abandon, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire answer threats or protect a decisive turn. Use the cheapest clean answer on the permanent or spell that beats your board; Card text check required for Bovine Intervention and Unexplained Absence exact exchange or targeting consequences.

- Permanent removal bodies: Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, and Karn, the Great Creator cover artifacts, enchantments, or utility permanents while keeping pressure. Hold sacrifice or modal removal when no visible target matters; Card text check required for Witch Enchanter exact front/back functionality and for Karn, the Great Creator sideboard-access legality under the active rules engine.

- Recovery package: Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, Search for Glory, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Minas Tirith, War Room, Geier Reach Sanitarium, and Luminarch Ascension keep the deck relevant after removal or stalled boards. Use Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation for high-impact permanents rather than incidental value when commander tax or lock pieces are central to the current plan.

- Tutor and selection cards: Enlightened Tutor, Search for Glory, Urza's Saga, Ranger-Captain of Eos, and Karn, the Great Creator should find the card that solves the current bottleneck. Prioritize Giada support, a live lock piece, protection, or a finisher over generic value; never choose a target that is not visible as legal from the rules engine.

- Fast mana and artifacts: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Pearl Medallion, Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Remote Farm, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and Gemstone Caverns enable early Giada, Font of Hope or lock-plus-threat turns. Spend temporary mana only when it creates a real board state; avoid exiling or discarding a card to Chrome Mox or Mox Diamond unless the accelerated spell matters.

- Utility lands: Cavern of Souls protects Angel casting, Homeward Path answers stolen creatures, Strip Mine checks dangerous lands, Flagstones of Trokair cushions land loss, Prismatic Vista fixes Plains access, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire doubles as interaction, Talon Gates of Madara needs Card text check required before use, and Urza's Saga can become a tutor line. Treat colorless lands as tools, not keeps, when the hand still needs white mana.

- Combat support and initiative pressure: White Plume Adventurer, Archangel of Tithes, Thraben Watcher, Angel of Invention, Lyra Dawnbringer, Battle Angels of Tyr, and Herald of War reward attacking when the crack-back is contained. Attack to pressure life totals, trigger visible combat rewards, or protect initiative; hold back when one blocker prevents lethal or preserves a lifegain engine.

- Hatebear timing mistakes: Do not cast Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, Aven Mindcensor, or Linvala, Keeper of Silence into irrelevance just because mana is available. Match each hate card to a visible or known opposing axis, and pivot to Giada, Font of Hope pressure when the hate text does not affect the current board.

- Resource-denial mistakes: Do not rely on Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Blind Obedience, or Archangel of Tithes to win alone. These cards buy turns for Angels; if the board is empty, use the window to deploy a clock, draw engine, or protected finisher.

### Card Hover Notes

#### Giada, Font of Hope
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, commander and core Angel engine.
- Role type: mechanic enabler; mana/fixing/ramp; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Cast early when safe so Angel of Vitality, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Battle Angels of Tyr, Thraben Watcher, and other Angels enter larger and attack sooner.
- Timing: Prefer Giada before follow-up Angels if she survives the next turn cycle; delay or protect her when visible removal would turn commander tax into a lost tempo turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; produces {W} only for Angel spells; outputs +1/+1 counters on each other Angel as it enters based on Angels already controlled.
- Partners / packages: Best with Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Starnheim Aspirant, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, and Cavern of Souls naming Angel.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is Starnheim Aspirant for Angel acceleration and Youthful Valkyrie for Angel scaling.
- Failure modes: Do not tap Giada for non-Angel spells; do not attack with her when her mana or future counter scaling matters more than 2 damage.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against removal-heavy pods, pair with Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Flowering of the White Tree, Silence, Reprieve, or Voice of Victory before committing larger Angels.

#### Alseid of Life's Bounty
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana protection creature and lifelink material.
- Role type: protection/evasion; lifegain/stabilization; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Protect Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Walking Ballista, Lyra Dawnbringer, or a lethal attacker from colored targeted removal or colored blockers.
- Timing: Deploy early when protecting Giada is likely; save activation until the target, color, and damage/removal exchange are clear.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; activation consumes {1} and sacrifices Alseid; output is protection from a chosen color for target creature or enchantment you control until end of turn.
- Mode map: Cast as a 1/1 lifelink enchantment creature when board presence or devotion matters; activate only when sacrificing it preserves a higher-value creature or enchantment.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Destiny, Flowering of the White Tree, and Luminarch Ascension if legal target conditions are met.
- Role peers: Mother of Runes protects creatures repeatedly without sacrificing; Reprieve and Soul Partition protect through stack or exile tempo instead of color protection.
- Failure modes: Protection does not stop sweepers without targeting, sacrifice effects, colorless sources, or already-illegal target issues; sacrificing Alseid removes a body for Chivalric Alliance attacks and devotion.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against visible spot removal and combat blockers; weaker against Farewell-style exile sweepers, edict effects, and colorless artifact threats.

#### Ancient Tomb
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, fast colorless mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Accelerates Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Pearl Medallion, Mana Vault, Karn, the Great Creator, Starnheim Aspirant, Rule of Law, Archon of Emeria, or large Angels when white mana is already handled.
- Timing: Use early when two colorless mana turns into Giada support, a rule piece, or a decisive Angel; avoid repeated activations when low life makes lifegain thresholds or survival fragile.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}{C}; each activation deals 2 damage to you.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Plains, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Flagstones of Trokair, Cavern of Souls, Arcane Signet, Lotus Petal, Mox Diamond, and Chrome Mox to cover white costs.
- Role peers: City of Traitors and Crystal Vein provide burst colorless with different sacrifice costs; Sol Ring and Mana Vault provide artifact colorless acceleration.
- Failure modes: Cannot cast white-pip spells by itself; life loss conflicts with Ancient Tomb plus Mana Vault plus War Room lines when no Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, or Archangel of Thune is stabilizing.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against combo or big mana when speed matters; risky against burn, swarm pressure, or commander damage races.

#### Angel of Destiny
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, high-impact Angel finisher and lifegain race breaker.
- Role type: threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: Converts evasive combat into life swings and can make each player it attacked lose the game at your end step if you are at least 15 life above starting life.
- Timing: Cast after Giada, Font of Hope or lifegain support when it can attack safely; prioritize it when life total is already near the 55-life Commander threshold.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}{W}; outputs flying double-strike pressure, combat-damage life gain for you and damaged players, and an end-step loss trigger tied to players it attacked.
- Partners / packages: Strong with Giada, Font of Hope, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Mother of Runes, and Alseid of Life's Bounty.
- Role peers: Lyra Dawnbringer stabilizes races more immediately; Archangel of Thune converts lifegain into team counters; Luminarch Ascension creates repeatable evasive Angels.
- Failure modes: The damaged player gains life too, so combat damage alone may not reduce that player; do not expose it before the end-step trigger if protection is unavailable.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best versus fair creature boards where lifegain races matter; vulnerable to instant-speed exile, bounce, and fog-style prevention before the end step.

#### Angel of Invention
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel anthem, lifelink stabilizer, and token-material flex threat.
- Role type: threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Supplies flying vigilance lifelink plus a team +1/+1 boost; fabricate 2 chooses between two +1/+1 counters on Angel of Invention or two 1/1 Servo artifact creature tokens.
- Timing: Choose counters when a large lifelink flyer stabilizes or threatens lethal; choose Servo tokens when Chivalric Alliance, blockers, sacrifice insulation, or artifact count for Urza's Saga Constructs matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}{W}; outputs lifelink combat, vigilance, a creature anthem, and either counters or two Servo artifact creature tokens.
- Mode map: Fabricate counters makes Angel of Invention a stronger protected threat; fabricate Servos widens the board for attacks, blockers, Chivalric Alliance, and Urza's Saga Construct size.
- Partners / packages: Works with Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Flowering of the White Tree, Chivalric Alliance, Urza's Saga, and Thraben Watcher.
- Role peers: Thraben Watcher and Flowering of the White Tree are cheaper anthem effects; Lyra Dawnbringer gives Angel-specific lifelink and larger combat stats.
- Failure modes: A 2/1 base body dies easily if you choose Servos and lose the anthem; do not fabricate tokens into a visible sweeper unless material is immediately useful.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against go-wide pressure and damage races; weaker against exile sweepers or artifact-hate plans that make Servo material low value.

#### Angel of Jubilation
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, triple-white Angel anthem and sacrifice/life-payment hate piece.
- Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; mechanic payoff.
- Deck-specific job: Pumps your nonblack creatures while stopping players from paying life or sacrificing creatures to cast spells or activate abilities, which disrupts many combo and aristocrat-style lines.
- Timing: Cast when the table's visible plan uses life payments or creature sacrifice, or when the +1/+1 boost makes current attacks profitable.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}{W}{W}; outputs a flying 3/3, +1/+1 to your other nonblack creatures, and a static restriction on life-payment or creature-sacrifice costs for spells and activated abilities.
- Partners / packages: Pumps Giada, Font of Hope, Mother of Runes, Serra Ascendant, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Invention, Thraben Watcher, and most other creatures in this deck.
- Role peers: Flowering of the White Tree and Thraben Watcher also pump creatures; Linvala, Keeper of Silence and Karn, the Great Creator restrict activated abilities on different permanent classes.
- Failure modes: Triple white is demanding in a deck with Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, War Room, Homeward Path, Strip Mine, and Urza's Saga; its restriction does not stop sacrificing noncreature permanents.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High value against sacrifice engines and life-payment combo; lower priority against fair boards where the anthem is the only relevant text.

#### Angel of Vitality
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, low-curve Angel lifegain amplifier and threshold attacker.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; mechanic payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Makes each life-gain event gain 1 extra life and becomes a 4/4 while you have 25 or more life, helping reach Serra Ascendant, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Destiny, and Archangel of Thune thresholds.
- Timing: Cast early after Giada, Font of Hope when counters make it combat-relevant; prioritize before Blind Obedience extort, Lyra Dawnbringer attacks, or Righteous Valkyrie triggers when the extra life changes thresholds.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs flying pressure and increased life gain from each life-gain event.
- Partners / packages: Best with Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Serra Ascendant, Blind Obedience, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, and Exemplar of Light.
- Role peers: Righteous Valkyrie rewards Angel or Cleric entries; Dazzling Angel rewards any other creature entry; Lyra Dawnbringer gives Angels lifelink.
- Failure modes: Does not create life gain alone; if you are below 25 life with no gain source, it is just a small flyer.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against burn and creature races; slower against combo where rule pieces such as Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, or Grafdigger's Cage matter more.

#### Arcane Signet
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, stable two-mana artifact ramp.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Turns colorless-heavy starts into white mana for Giada, Font of Hope, Rule of Law, Righteous Valkyrie, and other white-pip spells.
- Timing: Cast early unless a one-mana hate piece or removal spell must be held; under Rule of Law effects, choose Arcane Signet only if the mana boost matters more than the turn's best threat or answer.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}; taps for one mana of your commander's color identity, which is white in this deck.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Urza's Saga, War Room, Homeward Path, Strip Mine, and Geier Reach Sanitarium to convert colorless starts into white development.
- Role peers: Sol Ring and Mana Vault make more colorless mana; Pearl Medallion reduces white spell costs; Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, and Mox Amber provide faster but more conditional mana.
- Failure modes: Shut off by Stony Silence; vulnerable to Karn, the Great Creator from an opponent; does not help if you need multiple white pips immediately and it is not yet untapped.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Keep in most openers; consider sideboard tension only when bringing in Stony Silence against artifact-heavy opponents.

#### Archangel of Thune
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, core lifegain payoff and team counter engine.
- Role type: engine payoff; lifegain/stabilization; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Turns each life-gain event into a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control, snowballing small flyers, protection creatures, Servo tokens, Fish tokens, Warrior tokens, and Angel bodies into lethal pressure.
- Timing: Cast when you can gain life before opponents untap or when protection is available; even one lifelink hit, Blind Obedience extort, Dazzling Angel trigger, or Righteous Valkyrie trigger can justify commitment.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}{W}; lifelink produces life from its damage; every life-gain event outputs teamwide +1/+1 counters.
- Partners / packages: Best with Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Destiny, Serra Ascendant, Blind Obedience, Dazzling Angel, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Exemplar of Light, and Angel of Invention.
- Role peers: Heliod, Sun-Crowned puts one counter on one target per life-gain event; Righteous Valkyrie gives a threshold team pump.
- Failure modes: Does nothing until you gain life; protect it from removal before relying on counter multiplication.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against creature boards and burn; against combo, cast rule pieces first unless Archangel plus existing lifegain creates immediate lethal pressure.

#### Archangel of Tithes
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel combat-tax stabilizer and attack enabler.
- Role type: protection/evasion; threat/clock; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Makes attacks into you expensive while untapped and makes blocks expensive while it attacks, buying time for evasive Angel pressure.
- Timing: Keep untapped when its attack tax prevents a dangerous crack-back; attack when the blocking tax enables profitable or lethal attacks.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}{W}{W}; outputs a flying 3/5 and taxes opposing attackers or blockers depending on whether it is untapped or attacking.
- Partners / packages: Strong with Giada, Font of Hope counters, Flowering of the White Tree, Thraben Watcher vigilance, Lyra Dawnbringer lifelink, and Mother of Runes or Alseid of Life's Bounty protection.
- Role peers: Blind Obedience slows creatures entering; Rule of Law effects slow spells; Angel of Invention and Thraben Watcher improve combat math instead of taxing payments.
- Failure modes: Triple white is hard with multiple colorless lands; attacking can turn off the defensive tax for the next crack-back if no vigilance or untap support applies.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent versus go-wide attackers and blocker-heavy boards; weaker against combo, sweepers, and decks that win without combat.

#### Archivist of Oghma
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flash draw/lifegain punish piece.
- Role type: card selection; lifegain/stabilization; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Punishes opposing searches with a card and 1 life, turning fetches, tutors, ramp searches, and Path to Exile-style effects into resources for the Giada deck.
- Timing: Hold up with flash when an opponent is likely to search; cast proactively only if you need a body or expect repeated search triggers.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; flash lets it enter at instant speed; outputs one card and 1 life whenever an opponent searches their library.
- Partners / packages: Life gain triggers Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Exemplar of Light, Angel of Vitality, and Righteous Valkyrie threshold math.
- Role peers: Aven Mindcensor restricts searches; Deep Gnome Terramancer ramps from opponent nonplayed lands; Esper Sentinel taxes noncreature spells.
- Failure modes: Does not stop the search; poor when opponents are not searching and a Rule of Law turn needs a higher-impact spell.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against fetch-land, tutor, and ramp-heavy pods; lower priority against creature combat with few searches.

#### Archon of Emeria
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flying rule piece and nonbasic tempo tax.
- Role type: hate piece; threat/clock; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Limits each player to one spell each turn and makes opponents' nonbasic lands enter tapped, while still attacking as a flying body.
- Timing: Cast before opponents' explosive turns or before they use nonbasic-heavy mana to chain spells; prefer pressure first if the table is already constrained and your hand needs development.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs a flying 2/3, a one-spell-per-turn rule, and opponent-only nonbasic-land tapped entry.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, and Giada, Font of Hope pressure.
- Role peers: Rule of Law and Eidolon of Rhetoric share the one-spell rule; Deafening Silence limits noncreature spells only.
- Failure modes: Symmetrical one-spell limit can strand your own catch-up turns, especially with cheap protection plus Angel sequencing.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Great against storm, cascade-like spell chains, and nonbasic-heavy decks; weaker against creature boards already on battlefield.

#### Aven Mindcensor
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flash flying tutor/ramp suppression creature.
- Role type: hate piece; interaction-stack; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Turns opposing library searches into top-four-card searches, disrupting tutors, fetch lands, ramp, and combo searches while adding evasive pressure.
- Timing: Flash in response to a search when possible; cast proactively only when opponents are likely to search before your next turn or when a flyer matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs a 2/1 flash flying body and search restriction for opponents.
- Partners / packages: Combines with Path to Exile's opponent search drawback, Deep Gnome Terramancer search punish, Archivist of Oghma triggers, and Archon of Emeria tempo pressure.
- Role peers: Archivist of Oghma rewards searches; Deep Gnome Terramancer ramps from opponent nonplayed lands; Grafdigger's Cage stops graveyard/library casting and creature entry from graveyards or libraries.
- Failure modes: Does not stop a search entirely and can miss if cast after the search has already resolved; fragile 2/1 body.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High priority against tutor, fetch, and ramp commanders; low priority against battlefield creature decks with few searches.

#### Battle Angels of Tyr
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel combat-resource engine.
- Role type: threat/clock; card selection; mana/fixing/ramp; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Uses flying myriad attacks to pressure multiple opponents and can draw, make Treasure, and gain 3 life based on each damaged player's relative hand, land, and life totals.
- Timing: Attack when at least one opponent has more cards in hand, more lands, or more life than each other player; avoid attacks into reach blockers or removal when no trigger is likely.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs combat damage, temporary myriad token attacks, conditional cards, Treasure tokens, and life.
- Partners / packages: Works with Giada, Font of Hope, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Flowering of the White Tree, and Mother of Runes.
- Role peers: Trouble in Pairs draws from opponent behavior; Smothering Tithe makes Treasure from opponent draws; Wojek Investigator investigates when opponents have more cards.
- Failure modes: Myriad tokens are temporary and attacking; do not rely on them as permanent blockers or Chivalric Alliance material after combat.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in multiplayer pods with uneven resources; weaker in duel-like states or against decks with flying/reach blockers.

#### Beza, the Bounding Spring
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, catch-up stabilizer and resource equalizer.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; mana/fixing/ramp; card selection; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: On entry, checks opponent advantages and can create a Treasure, gain 4 life, create two 1/1 blue Fish creature tokens, and draw a card, making it a stabilizer when behind.
- Timing: Cast when at least one condition is true; best when multiple opponents or one opponent are ahead on lands, life, creatures, or cards.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs Treasure, 4 life, Fish tokens, and/or a card only if opponents exceed you on those exact resources.
- Partners / packages: Life works with Archangel of Thune, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, and Exemplar of Light; Fish tokens work with Chivalric Alliance, Flowering of the White Tree, and Archangel of Thune counters.
- Role peers: Battle Angels of Tyr catches up through combat; Wojek Investigator catches up on cards; Deep Gnome Terramancer catches up on land development.
- Failure modes: If you are ahead or tied on all checked resources, Beza is mostly a 4/5 body; it is not an Angel and does not get Giada counters.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong when behind to midrange or creature decks; low priority when fast combo must be stopped by rule pieces.

#### Blind Obedience
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, tapped-entry stax enchantment and extort lifegain outlet.
- Role type: hate piece; lifegain/stabilization; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: Makes opponents' artifacts and creatures enter tapped, slowing blockers, mana rocks, haste attackers, and combo creature timing while extort turns later spells into drain and lifegain.
- Timing: Cast early against artifact/creature development; pay extort only when the life swing or lifegain trigger is worth the mana.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; extort consumes {W/B} as you cast spells; outputs each-opponent life loss and life gain for you if paid.
- Partners / packages: Extort triggers Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Exemplar of Light, Angel of Vitality, and Righteous Valkyrie thresholds; tapped entry helps Archangel of Tithes and Angel combat.
- Role peers: Archon of Emeria slows nonbasic lands and spell chains; Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, and Eidolon of Rhetoric limit spell volume.
- Failure modes: Extort mana can block Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Reprieve, Silence, or March of Otherworldly Light; do not auto-pay when interaction matters.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against haste, artifact mana, and creature-heavy pods; less impactful against spell-only combo already constrained by Rule of Law effects.

#### Bovine Intervention
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, cheap artifact or creature removal with a token drawback.
- Role type: interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Destroys a target artifact or creature that threatens your lock, combat, or survival, while giving that permanent's controller a 2/2 white Ox creature token.
- Timing: Use when the target matters more than the Ox, especially combo creatures, dangerous attackers, artifact engines, or blockers preventing lethal.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; consumes a card and instant-speed mana; outputs destruction of target artifact or creature plus a 2/2 Ox for its controller.
- Partners / packages: Complements Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, Winds of Abandon, Loran of the Third Path, Cathar Commando, and Witch Enchanter.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile exile creatures; March of Otherworldly Light exiles artifact, creature, or enchantment by mana value; Loran of the Third Path hits artifact or enchantment on entry.
- Failure modes: Cannot target enchantments or planeswalkers; the Ox can block small attackers or pressure planeswalkers.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against artifact decks and creature combo; weaker when a 2/2 blocker materially slows your Angel clock.

#### Cathar Commando
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flash artifact/enchantment removal body.
- Role type: interaction-removal; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Pressures or blocks as a 3/1, then sacrifices for {1} to destroy target artifact or enchantment when the target becomes important.
- Timing: Flash in at end step if pressure matters, or hold in hand/on board when an opposing artifact or enchantment is likely to define the next turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; activation consumes {1} and sacrifices Cathar Commando; outputs destruction of target artifact or enchantment.
- Mode map: Cast as flash creature when surprise blocking or pressure matters; activate as removal when a visible artifact or enchantment beats your plan.
- Partners / packages: Covers targets alongside Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, Generous Gift, Austere Command, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Loran of the Third Path removes on entry and can draw; Witch Enchanter removes opponent artifact/enchantment on entry or can be Witch-Blessed Meadow as land.
- Failure modes: Sacrificing it reduces creature count for Chivalric Alliance and combat; cannot hit creatures unless they are artifacts.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus artifact mana, enchantment engines, and prison pieces; medium against creature-only aggro.

#### Cavern of Souls
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, tribal fixing and anti-counter mana land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Usually choose Angel to cast Giada, Font of Hope and Angel threats with any-color mana that makes those chosen-type creature spells unable to be countered.
- Timing: Play before key Angel turns against blue permission; if hand lacks Angels but has Humans such as Mother of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Loran of the Third Path, Starnheim Aspirant, or Witch Enchanter, choose type only when the current hand demands it.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; or taps for one mana of any color only for a creature spell of the chosen type, and that spell can't be countered.
- Partners / packages: Angel naming supports Giada, Font of Hope, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Battle Angels of Tyr, and Angel of Destiny.
- Role peers: Voice of Victory and Silence protect your turn from opposing spells; Reprieve fights a spell on the stack.
- Failure modes: Does not cast noncreature spells with colored mana; wrong creature type can strand later Angels.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Prioritize against control and permission; less urgent against creature decks where basic Plains sequencing may be cleaner.

#### Chivalric Alliance
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, attack-draw enchantment and discard-to-token outlet.
- Role type: engine piece; discard outlet; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Rewards attacking with two or more creatures by drawing a card, and turns excess lands or dead rule pieces into 2/2 white and blue Knight creature tokens with vigilance.
- Timing: Cast before going wide with Servo tokens, Fish tokens, Warrior tokens, small Angels, or protected utility creatures; activate only when discarding a card is lower value than a vigilant blocker/attacker.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; attack trigger outputs cards; activation consumes {2}, a discard, and the enchantment's ability to make a 2/2 Knight token.
- Mode map: Passive attack engine draws from two-creature attacks; activated discard outlet creates a vigilant Knight when board material is worth more than the discarded card.
- Partners / packages: Works with Angel of Invention Servos, Beza, the Bounding Spring Fish, Voice of Victory Warriors, Segovian Angel, Serra Ascendant, Mother of Runes, and Esper Sentinel.
- Role peers: Folk Hero draws from Angel casts through Giada; Minas Tirith draws after attacking with two or more creatures; Trouble in Pairs draws from opponent behavior.
- Failure modes: Attacking with two creatures can expose needed blockers; discard carefully because Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation recover only certain permanent cards.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in grindy creature games; weaker under heavy sweepers or when one-spell turns demand immediate interaction.

#### Chrome Mox
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, zero-mana imprint acceleration.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Converts an expendable nonartifact, nonland card into early white mana for Giada, Font of Hope, Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, Rule of Law, or a protected Angel curve.
- Timing: Imprint only when the accelerated play matters more than the exiled card; avoid exiling the only threat, only protection, or only interaction in a fragile hand.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {0}; may exile a nonartifact, nonland card from hand as imprint; taps for one mana of any exiled card's colors, usually white if a white card is imprinted.
- Partners / packages: Supports early Giada, Font of Hope, Esper Sentinel, Mother of Runes, Deafening Silence, Grafdigger's Cage plus white follow-up, and fast Rule of Law.
- Role peers: Mox Diamond accelerates by discarding a land; Lotus Petal gives one temporary mana; Mox Amber needs a legendary creature or planeswalker.
- Failure modes: No imprint or nonwhite imprint can fail to solve white mana; Stony Silence stops the mana ability.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong when speed beats combo; risky in attrition games where down-a-card starts lose to removal.

#### City of Traitors
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, explosive but fragile colorless land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides {C}{C} for early Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Karn, the Great Creator, Pearl Medallion, Starnheim Aspirant, or expensive Angel turns when white sources are already available.
- Timing: Play on the turn you use the burst; delay if you expect to play another land next turn and cannot afford to sacrifice City of Traitors.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}{C}; sacrifices itself when you play another land.
- Partners / packages: Best with Plains, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Flagstones of Trokair, Cavern of Souls, Arcane Signet, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, and Lotus Petal to cover white costs.
- Role peers: Ancient Tomb provides repeatable {C}{C} with life loss; Crystal Vein gives either {C} or one sacrificed {C}{C}; Remote Farm gives temporary {W}{W}.
- Failure modes: Does not make white mana and punishes normal land sequencing; poor keep if it is the only land with white spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Use aggressively against fast combo and big mana; conserve against control if losing land equity strands protection or recasts.

#### Crystal Vein
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flexible colorless land and burst-mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides stable {C} or sacrifices for {C}{C} to accelerate Giada support, rule pieces, Karn, the Great Creator, Urza's Saga lines, or large Angel turns.
- Timing: Tap for {C} when the game is resource-oriented; sacrifice only when the extra mana creates a decisive spell, protection-plus-threat turn, or survival play.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; or taps and sacrifices for {C}{C}.
- Partners / packages: Works with white sources such as Plains, Cavern of Souls, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Minas Tirith, Flagstones of Trokair, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, and Arcane Signet.
- Role peers: City of Traitors and Ancient Tomb also supply two colorless; Lotus Petal is one-shot colored mana.
- Failure modes: Sacrificing too early leaves commander tax, interaction, or five-mana Angels stranded; cannot pay white costs by itself.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best when one burst turn deploys Rule of Law, Archon of Emeria, or Lyra Dawnbringer ahead of curve; weak in slow attrition if spent for low impact.

#### Dazzling Angel
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, low-curve Angel lifegain trigger body.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; mechanic enabler; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Gains 1 life whenever another creature you control enters, turning Giada-fueled creature deployment, Angel of Invention Servo choices, Beza Fish, and Voice of Victory Warriors into lifegain triggers.
- Timing: Cast before multi-creature turns when life-gain payoffs are present; less urgent if no creature follow-up or payoff is available.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs flying body and one life per other creature you control entering.
- Partners / packages: Triggers Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Exemplar of Light, Angel of Vitality, and Righteous Valkyrie thresholds; pairs with Angel of Invention, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Voice of Victory, and Luminarch Ascension Angel tokens.
- Role peers: Righteous Valkyrie gains larger chunks from Angels or Clerics; Angel of Vitality amplifies life gain; Lyra Dawnbringer creates lifelink attacks.
- Failure modes: Does not gain life from itself entering; weak if you are not adding creatures.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in fair races and go-wide games; lower priority against combo where Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, or Silence is needed.

#### Deafening Silence
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana noncreature spell-chain hate.
- Role type: hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Limits each player to one noncreature spell each turn while letting this creature-heavy Angel deck continue casting Giada, Font of Hope and Angels.
- Timing: Cast turn one against spell-chain, artifact-combo, storm-like, or control setups; delay if your own turn requires multiple noncreature setup spells first.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; outputs a symmetrical one-noncreature-spell-per-turn restriction.
- Partners / packages: Combines with Drannith Magistrate, Archon of Emeria, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Rule of Law, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Silence, and Ranger-Captain of Eos.
- Role peers: Rule of Law and Eidolon of Rhetoric limit all spells; Archon of Emeria also slows opposing nonbasic lands.
- Failure modes: Can strand your own sequence of Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Enlightened Tutor, Swords to Plowshares, and March of Otherworldly Light in the same turn.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against fast combo and control; lower impact against creature swarms already presenting damage.

#### Deep Gnome Terramancer
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flash Plains ramp punish piece.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Punishes opponents putting lands onto the battlefield without playing them by searching your library for a Plains card and putting it onto the battlefield tapped once each turn.
- Timing: Flash in before an opponent's ramp spell, fetch-like land entry, or Path to Exile-style effect resolves when likely; otherwise cast when a 2/2 body and future ramp matter.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs tapped Plains search, reveal is not specified in the reference, then shuffle; limited to once each turn.
- Partners / packages: Finds Plains from the registered deck and can benefit from opponents' land ramp; supports white-heavy costs for Angel of Jubilation, Archangel of Tithes, and Council's Judgment.
- Role peers: Archivist of Oghma draws from opponent searches; Aven Mindcensor restricts searches; Smothering Tithe creates Treasure from opponent draws.
- Failure modes: Does not trigger when opponents play lands normally; if Plains are exhausted, the search may not improve mana.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against ramp and fetch-heavy pods; mediocre against low-search creature decks.

#### Drannith Magistrate
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, commander and non-hand casting lock creature.
- Role type: hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Stops opponents from casting commanders, graveyard spells, exile-cast cards, cascade-style free casts, and other spells from anywhere other than their hands.
- Timing: Cast before opponents rely on commander access or non-hand zones; prefer pressure or removal if visible threats are already on board and Drannith does not affect them.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs a 1/3 static restriction on opponents' casting zones.
- Partners / packages: Combines with Grafdigger's Cage, Rule of Law, Deafening Silence, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Aven Mindcensor, Silence, and Ranger-Captain of Eos.
- Role peers: Grafdigger's Cage stops graveyard/library casting and creature entries from graveyards/libraries; Containment Priest stops nontoken creatures entering without being cast.
- Failure modes: Does not stop spells cast from hand, activated abilities, or permanents already on battlefield.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High priority versus commander-centric, cascade, adventure/exile-cast, and graveyard-cast decks; less relevant against ordinary creature combat.

#### Eidolon of Rhetoric
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, enchantment creature Rule of Law duplicate.
- Role type: hate piece; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Limits each player to one spell each turn while contributing an enchantment creature body that can be recurred by Serra Paragon and returned by Sevinne's Reclamation.
- Timing: Cast when spell volume matters more than your own ability to double-spell; stack with pressure, not as an empty lock.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs a 1/4 enchantment creature and one-spell-per-turn rule.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Giada, Font of Hope pressure, Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, and Grafdigger's Cage.
- Role peers: Rule of Law is the noncreature enchantment version; Archon of Emeria adds flying pressure and nonbasic land tempo.
- Failure modes: Symmetrical rule can slow your recovery after removal; body is not an Angel and does not receive Giada counters.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against combo and control spell chains; weaker against creature-heavy boards where blockers and lifegain matter more.

#### Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary white land and channel interaction.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; interaction-removal; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Usually acts as untapped white mana, but channel can discard it to deal 4 damage to target attacking or blocking creature, with cost reduced by legendary creatures you control.
- Timing: Play as land when white mana is needed; hold in hand when opponents attack with key creatures and you can afford not to make the land drop.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {W}; channel consumes the card from hand and {2}{W} reduced by {1} per legendary creature you control, outputting 4 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
- Mode map: Land side supports white costs; channel side is instant-speed creature combat interaction from hand and is not a spell.
- Partners / packages: Legendary cost reducers include Giada, Font of Hope, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Loran of the Third Path, Karn, the Great Creator, Flowering of the White Tree, Minas Tirith, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, and Geier Reach Sanitarium only if they are legendary creatures when relevant for the reduction; use the rules engine for actual reduction.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, and Solitude are cleaner creature answers; Witch-Blessed Meadow is another white land with spell-side utility.
- Failure modes: Channel only hits attacking or blocking creatures and deals damage rather than exiling; damage may fail against toughness, indestructible, or prevention.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Valuable against combat commanders and surprise attacks; play as land against mana pressure or noncombat combo.

#### Enlightened Tutor
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, instant artifact/enchantment top-deck tutor.
- Role type: tutor/search.
- Deck-specific job: Finds the artifact or enchantment that solves the current bottleneck, then puts it on top for the next draw rather than into hand.
- Timing: Cast at the last safe end step or upkeep before the found card matters; avoid tutoring too early when board state could change the needed target.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; searches artifact or enchantment, reveals it, shuffles, and puts it on top; consumes next draw step.
- Partners / packages: Mana targets include Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Pearl Medallion; hate targets include Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience; payoff targets include Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Flowering of the White Tree, Luminarch Ascension, Smothering Tithe, Walking Ballista, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, and Trouble in Pairs.
- Role peers: Search for Glory finds legendary cards, snow permanents, or Sagas; Urza's Saga finds artifacts with mana cost {0} or {1}; Ranger-Captain of Eos finds creature cards with mana value 1 or less.
- Failure modes: The card goes on top, so draw denial or forced shuffles can disrupt it; do not find a slow value card when survival needs immediate removal.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Find Grafdigger's Cage against graveyard/library casting, Deafening Silence or Rule of Law against spell chains, Smothering Tithe or Trouble in Pairs for grindy pods, and Walking Ballista only when legal mana/counter lines support it.

#### Esper Sentinel
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana artifact creature tax-draw engine.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Taxes each opponent's first noncreature spell each turn and draws unless they pay {X}, where X is Esper Sentinel's power, pressuring opponents under rule effects.
- Timing: Best turn one; protect or pump it when repeated draws matter more than committing another threat.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; outputs cards when opponents cast first noncreature spells and decline or cannot pay tax equal to its power.
- Partners / packages: Power boosts from Flowering of the White Tree, Angel of Jubilation, Angel of Invention, Thraben Watcher, Archangel of Thune counters, and Heliod, Sun-Crowned counters increase the tax.
- Role peers: Archivist of Oghma draws from searches; Trouble in Pairs draws from second spell, second draw, or two-creature attacks at you; Smothering Tithe taxes opponent draws.
- Failure modes: Opponents can pay the tax; as a 1/1 it dies easily and is not an Angel.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against control, combo, and artifact/enchantment-heavy decks; less relevant against creature-only curves.

#### Exemplar of Light
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel lifegain counter-draw payoff.
- Role type: engine payoff; lifegain/stabilization; card selection; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Grows whenever you gain life and draws once each turn when one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Exemplar of Light.
- Timing: Cast before a guaranteed life-gain event if possible; with Giada, Font of Hope, it may enter with counters, but draw trigger depends on counters being put on it under the rules engine timing.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs flying pressure, +1/+1 counters from life gain, and at most one card each turn from counters placed on it.
- Partners / packages: Works with Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Blind Obedience, Dazzling Angel, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, and Giada, Font of Hope.
- Role peers: Archangel of Thune spreads counters to the whole team; Youthful Valkyrie grows from Angel entries; Wojek Investigator generates delayed Clue cards.
- Failure modes: No life gain means no self-growth; the draw trigger is once each turn, so multiple counters in one turn do not multiply cards.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Good in fair games with lifegain triggers; too slow when the table threatens immediate combo.

#### Flagstones of Trokair
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary white land with graveyard replacement value.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Provides white mana and cushions land destruction, sacrifice, or legend-rule loss by finding a Plains card tapped when it goes to the graveyard from battlefield.
- Timing: Play early as white source; its death trigger matters with Strip Mine effects, opposing land destruction, or duplicate legend situations if rules expose them.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {W}; when put into graveyard from battlefield, may search for a Plains card and put it onto battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
- Partners / packages: Finds Plains from the registered list; supports white-heavy spells like Angel of Jubilation, Archangel of Tithes, Council's Judgment, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Prismatic Vista searches a basic land by paying life and sacrificing; Deep Gnome Terramancer searches Plains from opponent ramp triggers.
- Failure modes: Search enters tapped and may fail if no Plains remain; does not provide extra mana unless it dies.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus Strip Mine-style pressure and mana denial; otherwise a stable white source with legendary synergies for Mox Amber only if another legendary permanent condition is met by rules.

#### Flowering of the White Tree
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary anthem and ward shield.
- Role type: protection/evasion; mechanic payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Gives legendary creatures +2/+1 and ward {1}, and nonlegendary creatures +1/+1, making Giada, Font of Hope, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Loran of the Third Path, and Karn-animated lines harder to target while pumping the wider board.
- Timing: Cast before attacks or before exposing a key legendary creature to targeted removal; use early if the ward tax protects Giada.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}{W}; outputs static power/toughness boosts and ward {1} for legendary creatures you control.
- Partners / packages: Pumps Giada, Font of Hope, Mother of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Invention, Lyra Dawnbringer, and token creatures from Beza, Angel of Invention, Voice of Victory, and Luminarch Ascension.
- Role peers: Angel of Jubilation, Angel of Invention, and Thraben Watcher also boost creatures; Mother of Runes and Alseid of Life's Bounty provide targeted protection.
- Failure modes: Double white matters; ward {1} does not stop sweepers or untargeted effects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against spot removal and combat; lower priority against decks using sacrifice, exile sweepers, or non-targeted combo.

#### Folk Hero
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, commander-linked Angel draw background.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: Gives commander creatures you own a once-each-turn draw trigger when you cast a spell sharing a creature type with that commander; with Giada, Font of Hope, Angel spells are the key draw triggers.
- Timing: Cast before a turn where Giada is on battlefield and you can cast an Angel; poor if Giada is unavailable or commander tax prevents recast.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; consumes an enchantment slot and outputs at most one card each turn from casting an Angel while Giada is your commander creature.
- Partners / packages: Draws from casting Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Exemplar of Light, Battle Angels of Tyr, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, and other Angel spells.
- Role peers: Chivalric Alliance draws from attacking with two or more creatures; Trouble in Pairs draws from opponent actions; Esper Sentinel taxes noncreature spells.
- Failure modes: Does not trigger without the commander creature; casting non-Angel Humans, Clerics, artifacts, or enchantments will not draw through Giada's Angel type.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in slower games where Giada survives; weak under repeated commander removal or when rule-piece tempo matters first.

#### Geier Reach Sanitarium
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, colorless utility land and symmetrical loot outlet.
- Role type: card selection; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides colorless mana and can make each player draw then discard, helping dig for interaction, lands, or Angels while enabling graveyard setup for Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation.
- Timing: Activate at end step or when mana would otherwise be unused; avoid feeding opponents if they benefit more from discard or graveyard access.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; activation costs {2} and tap, causing each player to draw a card then discard a card.
- Mode map: Mana mode provides {C}; loot mode filters everyone's hand and can stock your graveyard with permanents for Serra Paragon or Sevinne's Reclamation.
- Partners / packages: Filters toward Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Silence, Reprieve, Giada, Font of Hope, and payoff Angels; discard can set up Sevinne's Reclamation or Serra Paragon for mana value 3 or less permanents.
- Role peers: War Room draws only for you at life cost; Minas Tirith draws after two-creature attacks; Chivalric Alliance discards a card to make a Knight.
- Failure modes: Gives opponents a draw and graveyard card; does not produce white mana.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Avoid against graveyard decks unless Rest in Peace or Grafdigger's Cage controls the axis; useful in stalled attrition.

#### Gemstone Caverns
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, pregame acceleration and conditional fixing land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: If in opening hand and you are not the starting player, can begin on battlefield with a luck counter by exiling a card, enabling faster Giada, Font of Hope or hate-piece starts.
- Timing: Use pregame option only when the exiled card is less important than the tempo gain; otherwise play as a colorless land.
- Inputs / outputs: Pregame option exiles a card from hand and starts Gemstone Caverns on battlefield with luck counter; taps for {C}, or one mana of any color if it has a luck counter.
- Partners / packages: Helps cast turn-one Deafening Silence, Esper Sentinel, Mother of Runes, Grafdigger's Cage, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, or turn-two Giada, Font of Hope.
- Role peers: Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond also trade a card for acceleration; Lotus Petal gives one-shot fixing.
- Failure modes: Without a luck counter it does not make white mana; exiling a key Angel, removal spell, or protection card can hollow out the hand.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong on the draw against fast combo and tempo; weaker when attrition matters more than speed.

#### Grafdigger's Cage
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana graveyard/library casting and entry hate artifact.
- Role type: hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Stops creature cards in graveyards and libraries from entering the battlefield and stops players from casting spells from graveyards or libraries.
- Timing: Cast early when opponents rely on reanimation, creature tutors to battlefield, flashback-like casting, or library casting; avoid if your own Serra Paragon or Sevinne's Reclamation plan is more important and opponent axis is unclear.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}; outputs static graveyard/library restrictions.
- Partners / packages: Combines with Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Rest in Peace, Containment Priest, Rule of Law, Deafening Silence, and Archon of Emeria.
- Role peers: Rest in Peace exiles graveyards and future graveyard cards; Containment Priest exiles nontoken creatures entering without being cast.
- Failure modes: Does not stop cards moving from graveyard to hand, creature spells cast from hand, or noncreature permanents entering from graveyard if not covered by text.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High priority against graveyard and library-cheat strategies; low value against fair creature combat.

#### Heliod, Sun-Crowned
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary lifegain counter engine and combo-adjacent payoff.
- Role type: engine payoff; lifegain/stabilization; combo enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Puts +1/+1 counters on target creature or enchantment you control whenever you gain life, and can give another target creature lifelink for {1}{W}; with Walking Ballista, use only rules-engine-confirmed lifelink/counter/damage loops.
- Timing: Cast when devotion to white, lifegain triggers, or Walking Ballista setup makes counters immediately meaningful; otherwise it may still function as indestructible enchantment.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; devotion to white below five means Heliod is not a creature; lifegain outputs one counter on target creature or enchantment; activation consumes {1}{W}.
- Mode map: Static lifegain trigger is the counter engine; activated lifelink grants another target creature lifelink until end of turn and can turn Walking Ballista damage or a large attacker into life gain.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Walking Ballista, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Angel of Destiny, Exemplar of Light, Blind Obedience, and Dazzling Angel.
- Role peers: Archangel of Thune spreads counters teamwide; Righteous Valkyrie provides a threshold anthem.
- Failure modes: Do not assume infinite damage unless legal actions expose enough counters, lifelink, targets, and repeatable damage; devotion status affects creature vulnerability and attack/block options.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Powerful against removal-light fair decks and stalled boards; vulnerable to enchantment exile or graveyard hate only indirectly through partner cards.

#### Herald of War
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel cost-reduction attacker.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; threat/clock; mechanic payoff.
- Deck-specific job: Attacks to accumulate +1/+1 counters, then reduces Angel spells and Human spells by {1} for each counter on it.
- Timing: Cast when it can attack safely or already enters with Giada counters; preserve it if the cost reduction unlocks multiple future Angels.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}{W}; attack trigger puts a +1/+1 counter on Herald of War; counters output generic cost reduction for Angel and Human spells you cast.
- Partners / packages: Reduces Angel spells such as Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Battle Angels of Tyr, and Human spells such as Mother of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Loran of the Third Path, Starnheim Aspirant, and Witch Enchanter.
- Role peers: Starnheim Aspirant reduces Angel spells by {2}; Pearl Medallion reduces white spells by {1}; Giada, Font of Hope provides Angel-only mana.
- Failure modes: Needs to attack to grow without other counters; a five-mana 3/3 is poor if removed before value.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in midrange stalls; too slow against combo or removal-heavy decks with open mana.

#### Homeward Path
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, colorless utility land against theft effects.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Produces colorless mana and can return control of stolen creatures to their owners, protecting Giada, Font of Hope and large Angels from control-changing effects.
- Timing: Keep untapped when an opponent can steal creatures; otherwise use as colorless mana if white needs are already met.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; second tap ability makes each player gain control of each creature they own.
- Mode map: Mana mode supports generic costs; control-reset mode answers theft at the cost of helping all owners, including opponents.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Righteous Valkyrie, and Walking Ballista from theft.
- Role peers: Mother of Runes and Alseid of Life's Bounty stop some targeted theft if color-based and legal; Soul Partition can remove a stolen nonland permanent temporarily.
- Failure modes: Does not make white mana; can give opponents back creatures you stole or temporarily controlled through outside effects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High value when commanders or visible spells steal creatures; otherwise a colorless land that can strain white-pip hands.

#### Karn, the Great Creator
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, artifact-activation hate planeswalker and artifact access tool.
- Role type: hate piece; tutor/search; interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Shuts off activated abilities of opponents' artifacts, can animate noncreature artifacts, and can retrieve an owned artifact from outside the game or face-up exile if the rules engine allows legal targets.
- Timing: Cast when artifact abilities matter or when -2 has a legal useful artifact target; avoid as a blank four-mana play under pressure.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {4}; static output stops opponents' artifact activated abilities; +1 turns up to one target noncreature artifact into an artifact creature; -2 puts a legal owned artifact from outside the game or face-up exile into hand.
- Mode map: Static hate attacks artifact mana/engines; +1 can pressure or expose artifacts to creature combat/removal; -2 is artifact access subject to match sideboard/outside-game legality.
- Partners / packages: Static overlaps with Stony Silence but one-sided; main-deck artifacts include Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Pearl Medallion, Grafdigger's Cage, Walking Ballista, and Urza's Saga tokens.
- Role peers: Stony Silence is broader but shuts your artifacts too; Loran of the Third Path and Cathar Commando destroy artifacts/enchantments.
- Failure modes: Veles policy sideboard contains no artifact cards, so -2 outside-game value may be limited unless the engine exposes exile targets; Karn does not stop mana abilities of lands.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against artifact combo and mana rocks; less useful against creature swarms unless animating or tutoring is decisive.

#### Lightstall Inquisitor
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, cheap Angel disruption body.
- Role type: threat/clock; interaction-discard; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Enters as a vigilant Angel Wizard and makes each opponent exile a card from their hand; they may play that card while exiled, but spells cost {1} more and lands enter tapped.
- Timing: Cast early under Giada or before a Rule of Law turn when taxing opponents' exiled options matters; less valuable when opponents are empty-handed.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; outputs a 2/1 vigilant Angel body and temporary hand disruption/tax where opponents choose the exiled card from their own hand.
- Partners / packages: Benefits from Giada, Font of Hope counters, Youthful Valkyrie triggers, Righteous Valkyrie lifegain if another Angel/Cleric context applies, Folk Hero if Giada is in play, and Flowering of the White Tree pump.
- Role peers: Drannith Magistrate stops non-hand casting; Deafening Silence and Rule of Law restrict spell volume; Voice of Victory protects your turn.
- Failure modes: Opponents choose the card, not you; they may still play it later, just taxed, and lands played this way enter tapped.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Better against keep-heavy combo/control hands; weaker when opponents can ignore the taxed exiled card or are already hellbent.

#### Linvala, Keeper of Silence
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary Angel creature-ability hate.
- Role type: hate piece; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Stops activated abilities of creatures your opponents control, shutting off mana dorks, sacrifice creatures, tap engines, and combo creatures while attacking as a flyer.
- Timing: Cast before the relevant creature ability matters; prioritize over generic Angel pressure when a visible creature activation could win or generate decisive value.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs flying 3/4 legendary Angel and static opponent creature activated-ability lock.
- Partners / packages: Works with Giada, Font of Hope, Flowering of the White Tree, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, and Rule of Law effects that force opponents to rely on board abilities.
- Role peers: Karn, the Great Creator stops opponents' artifact activated abilities; Stony Silence stops all artifact activated abilities; Angel of Jubilation stops life-payment and creature-sacrifice costs for spells or activated abilities.
- Failure modes: Does not stop triggered abilities, static abilities, artifact abilities on noncreatures, or spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: High priority against creature-combo commanders and mana creatures; low priority against spell-based control with few activated creatures.

#### Loran of the Third Path
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary artifact/enchantment removal body and political draw valve.
- Role type: interaction-removal; card selection; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Destroys up to one target artifact or enchantment on entry, then can tap to make you and target opponent each draw a card.
- Timing: Cast when an artifact or enchantment target matters; activate draw only when your need for a card exceeds the value given to the chosen opponent.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs a 2/1 vigilant legendary body, optional artifact/enchantment destruction, and symmetrical targeted-opponent draw.
- Mode map: Entry mode is removal; tap ability is controlled card flow that gives one chosen opponent a card too.
- Partners / packages: Removal overlaps with Cathar Commando, Witch Enchanter, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention for artifacts, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, Generous Gift, Austere Command, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Witch Enchanter destroys opponent artifact/enchantment only; Cathar Commando is flash and sacrifice-based; Generous Gift destroys any permanent but gives a 3/3.
- Failure modes: Do not activate into a combo opponent's turn if the extra card helps them more; entry trigger cannot hit creatures unless artifact/enchantment.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against artifact/enchantment engines and prison pieces; useful against control if you can choose a low-risk opponent for draw.

#### Lotus Petal
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-shot zero-mana fixing.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Provides a single burst of any color, usually white, to cast Giada, Font of Hope, Deafening Silence, Swords to Plowshares, Silence, or a protected threat ahead of curve.
- Timing: Save until the mana changes the turn; do not sacrifice for a low-impact spell when it is your only bridge to protection or commander recast.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {0}; tap and sacrifice to add one mana of any color.
- Partners / packages: Enables early Giada, Font of Hope, Mother of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Deafening Silence, Grafdigger's Cage plus white interaction, and fast Rule of Law.
- Role peers: Chrome Mox and Mox Diamond provide repeatable mana with card costs; Mox Amber is repeatable but requires legendary permanents; Gemstone Caverns accelerates pregame on the draw.
- Failure modes: One-shot resource; shut off by Stony Silence before activation.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against fast combo and tempo; weaker in long attrition if spent without converting into board or lock value.

#### Luminarch Ascension
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, enchantment finisher for protected/stalled boards.
- Role type: engine payoff; reach/finisher; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Accumulates quest counters on each opponent's end step when you did not lose life that turn, then turns {1}{W} into 4/4 white flying Angel creature tokens at four or more counters.
- Timing: Cast early when you can prevent life loss through blockers, Archangel of Tithes, Blind Obedience, removal, or protection; avoid if you are already taking chip damage each turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs quest counters and later repeatable 4/4 flying Angel tokens for {1}{W}.
- Mode map: Setup mode collects counters; active mode converts mana into Angel tokens that trigger Dazzling Angel and benefit from Lyra Dawnbringer, Giada does not put counters on tokens entering unless they are Angels and "other Angel" condition applies as legal.
- Partners / packages: Protected by Mother of Runes only if it is a creature through other effects, but Alseid of Life's Bounty can protect target enchantment you control; pairs with Archangel of Tithes, Blind Obedience, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, and Teferi's Protection.
- Role peers: Urza's Saga creates Constructs; Walking Ballista is a mana sink; Trouble in Pairs and Smothering Tithe are slower engines.
- Failure modes: Losing any life in a turn prevents that opponent-end-step counter; early attacks, Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, and War Room can slow it.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against control and stalled boards; poor against go-wide chip damage unless stabilized.

#### Lyra Dawnbringer
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, premier Angel anthem and lifelink stabilizer.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; threat/clock; mechanic payoff.
- Deck-specific job: Gives other Angels +1/+1 and lifelink while attacking as a 5/5 flying first strike lifelink threat, turning Giada-scaled Angels into race-dominating attackers.
- Timing: Cast when you can attack or block profitably, or when existing Angels will gain lifelink immediately; protect it when it is the primary stabilizer.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}{W}; outputs flying first strike lifelink combat and Angel-specific +1/+1 plus lifelink.
- Partners / packages: Boosts Giada, Font of Hope, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Battle Angels of Tyr, and Luminarch Ascension Angel tokens.
- Role peers: Angel of Invention and Thraben Watcher are creature anthems; Archangel of Thune converts lifegain into counters; Righteous Valkyrie is cheaper lifegain plus threshold anthem.
- Failure modes: Five mana into removal is a large tempo loss; first strike does not protect against exile or noncombat removal.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against burn and creature races; against combo, rule pieces may need to come first.

#### Mana Vault
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, high-output artifact burst mana.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Accelerates Karn, the Great Creator, Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Farewell, or multi-spell setup before Rule of Law is active.
- Timing: Use when {C}{C}{C} creates a decisive board; plan for upkeep untap or life loss if the game will go long.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}; taps for {C}{C}{C}; does not untap during untap step; upkeep may pay {4} to untap; tapped Mana Vault deals 1 damage to you at draw step.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with white sources such as Plains, Cavern of Souls, Arcane Signet, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, and Mox Amber to cast white spells.
- Role peers: Sol Ring is safer repeatable colorless; Ancient Tomb provides land-based {C}{C}; City of Traitors and Crystal Vein are land bursts.
- Failure modes: Life loss stacks poorly with Ancient Tomb and War Room; Stony Silence shuts off activation.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong for speed against combo and big mana; risky versus burn or artifact-hate decks.

#### March of Otherworldly Light
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, scalable instant exile for small-to-medium permanents.
- Role type: interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles target artifact, creature, or enchantment with mana value X or less, using mana or exiled white cards from hand to cover X.
- Timing: Save for must-answer commanders, combo pieces, hate pieces, or blockers; pitch white cards only when tempo or survival matters more than future material.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {X}{W}; may exile white cards from hand for {2} cost reduction each; outputs exile of target artifact, creature, or enchantment with mana value X or less.
- Partners / packages: Complements Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, Soul Partition, Bovine Intervention, Unexplained Absence, Loran of the Third Path, Cathar Commando, and Witch Enchanter.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are cheaper creature exile; Generous Gift hits any permanent but gives a 3/3; Council's Judgment avoids targeting.
- Failure modes: Cannot hit planeswalkers or lands; pitching key white cards can weaken Giada follow-up, protection, or recursion.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against artifact/enchantment combo and creature threats; check X carefully against high-mana-value permanents.

#### Minas Tirith
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary white land and attack-conditioned draw source.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: Provides white mana and turns two-creature attack turns into cards when the board is stable.
- Timing: Enters untapped only if you control a legendary creature; sequence after Giada, Font of Hope, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, or Loran of the Third Path when tempo matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {W}; activation costs {1}{W} and tap to draw a card only if you attacked with two or more creatures this turn.
- Mode map: Mana mode casts white spells; draw mode rewards attacks with two or more creatures and consumes postcombat mana.
- Partners / packages: Draw condition pairs with Chivalric Alliance, Voice of Victory Warriors, Angel of Invention Servos, Beza Fish, Segovian Angel, Serra Ascendant, and Mother of Runes.
- Role peers: War Room draws for life and mana; Geier Reach Sanitarium loots symmetrically; Chivalric Alliance draws from the same two-attacker condition.
- Failure modes: Can enter tapped without a legendary creature; activation is poor if it prevents holding Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Reprieve, or Silence.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in midrange stalls; weak when attacks are unsafe or life total/interaction requires holding mana.

#### Mother of Runes
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana repeatable creature protection.
- Role type: protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Gives target creature you control protection from a chosen color until end of turn, protecting Giada, Font of Hope or a key Angel and enabling attacks through colored blockers.
- Timing: Cast before committing Giada or a payoff if removal is likely; activate in response to targeted removal or before damage/blocking when the color choice is clear.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; tap ability outputs protection from chosen color for target creature you control until end of turn.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Walking Ballista, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and Esper Sentinel.
- Role peers: Alseid of Life's Bounty protects creature or enchantment once by sacrificing; Flowering of the White Tree adds ward to legendary creatures; Flawless Maneuver gives team indestructible.
- Failure modes: Cannot target enchantments unless they are creatures; summoning sickness prevents immediate tap activation; protection does not stop sweepers, sacrifice, or colorless effects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against spot removal and combat; less useful against Farewell, Council's Judgment-style non-targeting votes, or edict effects.

#### Mox Amber
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, zero-mana legendary-dependent mana rock.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides white mana when you control a legendary creature or planeswalker with white in its color identity, most often Giada, Font of Hope, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Loran of the Third Path, or Karn, the Great Creator if applicable color rules allow.
- Timing: Strong after early Giada; do not keep hands relying on Mox Amber without a realistic legendary permanent.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {0}; taps for one mana of any color among legendary creatures and planeswalkers you control.
- Partners / packages: Works with Giada, Font of Hope, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Loran of the Third Path, Karn, the Great Creator, Flowering of the White Tree as legendary enchantment only if it is not a creature/planeswalker so it does not enable Mox Amber, and legendary lands do not enable it.
- Role peers: Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, and Lotus Petal provide faster independent fixing with card or sacrifice costs.
- Failure modes: Does nothing without a legendary creature or planeswalker; Stony Silence shuts off activation.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best in commander-centric keeps; poor if Giada is repeatedly removed.

#### Mox Diamond
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, zero-mana repeatable fixing with land discard cost.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; discard outlet.
- Deck-specific job: Converts an extra land into any-color mana, usually white, enabling early Giada, Font of Hope, Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, Rule of Law, or removal while keeping future mana available.
- Timing: Use when discarding a land does not compromise land drops or when Serra Paragon/Sevinne's Reclamation can later recover valuable lands.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {0}; as it would enter, you may discard a land; if you do it enters and taps for one mana of any color, otherwise it goes to graveyard.
- Partners / packages: Discard candidates can include extra Plains, Flagstones of Trokair if battlefield trigger is not relevant from hand, or redundant colorless lands; later recovery can use Serra Paragon for lands from graveyard.
- Role peers: Chrome Mox exiles a nonartifact nonland; Lotus Petal is one-shot; Arcane Signet is slower but no card loss.
- Failure modes: Keeping one-land Mox Diamond hands can fail if the discarded land was needed; Stony Silence disables it.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong when speed matters; weaker versus attrition if the hand cannot afford the land loss.

#### Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary devotion burst land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Converts heavy white devotion from Giada, Font of Hope, Angel of Jubilation, Archangel of Tithes, Righteous Valkyrie, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Rule of Law pieces, and Angels into large white mana bursts.
- Timing: Play when devotion can exceed the {2} activation cost or when a legendary land matters; otherwise it is a colorless land that may strain white sequencing.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; activation costs {2} and tap, choose a color, then add mana of that color equal to your devotion to that color.
- Mode map: Colorless mode supports generic costs; devotion mode becomes ramp once white mana symbols on permanents are high enough.
- Partners / packages: High-devotion permanents include Angel of Jubilation, Archangel of Tithes, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Righteous Valkyrie, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Flowering of the White Tree, and Lyra Dawnbringer.
- Role peers: Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, and Mana Vault give earlier colorless bursts; Remote Farm gives temporary white burst.
- Failure modes: Poor in openers without white sources; devotion counts mana symbols in costs of permanents you control, not cards in hand or lands without mana costs.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in midgame board stalls; weak after sweepers or against land destruction.

#### Path to Exile
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana instant creature exile with ramp drawback.
- Role type: interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles target creature at instant speed, answering commanders, combo creatures, lethal attackers, or blockers even if destruction would fail.
- Timing: Save for high-impact creatures unless waiting risks lethal or combo; use early when the target's next activation/attack beats your plan.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; exiles target creature; that creature's controller may search for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
- Partners / packages: Aven Mindcensor can restrict the opponent's search; Archivist of Oghma can draw/gain life from the search; Deep Gnome Terramancer may benefit if a land enters under an opponent's control without being played.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares gives life instead of land; Solitude exiles and gives life equal to power; March of Otherworldly Light can exile artifact, creature, or enchantment by mana value.
- Failure modes: Ramp drawback can help big-mana or combo opponents; cannot hit noncreature permanents.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against creature combo and lethal attackers; weigh drawback carefully against ramp decks.

#### Pearl Medallion
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, white spell cost reducer.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Reduces white spells by {1}, making Giada recasts, rule pieces, protection, interaction, and Angels easier to sequence through one-spell-per-turn constraints.
- Timing: Cast early when hand contains multiple white spells or expensive Angels; skip if immediate removal or Giada is more important.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}; outputs {1} generic cost reduction on white spells you cast.
- Partners / packages: Reduces Giada, Font of Hope, Angel of Vitality, Rule of Law, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Swords to Plowshares only if generic cost exists does not reduce {W}-only spells below colored cost, and Farewell after sideboarding.
- Role peers: Starnheim Aspirant reduces Angel spells by {2}; Herald of War reduces Angels and Humans based on counters; Giada produces {W} for Angels.
- Failure modes: Does not reduce colored mana requirements; Stony Silence does not stop static cost reduction, but artifact removal can remove it.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in long games and Angel-heavy hands; lower value when the game hinges on one cheap hate card or removal spell.

#### Plains
- Deck role: Main deck, 11 copies, core basic white mana base.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides stable {W} for Giada, Font of Hope, one-mana interaction, protection, and triple-white Angel costs while insulating the deck from colorless utility-land overload.
- Timing: Prioritize early Plains when hand contains Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Mother of Runes, Deafening Silence, Giada, Font of Hope, or double/triple-white spells.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {W}; as a basic Plains, can be found by Prismatic Vista and Deep Gnome Terramancer, and by Flagstones of Trokair if it is a Plains card in library.
- Partners / packages: Enables white-pip cards such as Giada, Font of Hope, Angel of Jubilation, Archangel of Tithes, Council's Judgment, Farewell, and Lyra Dawnbringer.
- Role peers: Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Flagstones of Trokair, Minas Tirith, Remote Farm, Cavern of Souls, and Witch-Blessed Meadow also provide white with conditions or utility.
- Failure modes: Too many Plains without acceleration can be slow; too few Plains in opening hands makes colorless lands risky.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Most important against tempo, burn, and removal-heavy decks where holding white interaction on time matters.

#### Prismatic Vista
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, basic-land fetch and shuffle utility.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Pays 1 life and sacrifices to find a basic land card, which in this registered deck means Plains, putting it onto the battlefield.
- Timing: Use early to secure white mana; consider life total before cracking when Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, or War Room are also pressuring life.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps, pays 1 life, and sacrifices to search for Plains, put it onto battlefield, then shuffle.
- Partners / packages: Enables white-heavy spells and can stock graveyard land for Serra Paragon; shuffle can matter after Enlightened Tutor only if you no longer want the tutored card, so avoid accidental shuffle.
- Role peers: Flagstones of Trokair finds Plains when it dies; Deep Gnome Terramancer searches Plains from opponent nonplayed land entries.
- Failure modes: Costs 1 life and cannot find nonbasic utility lands; using it after Enlightened Tutor can shuffle away the tutored top card.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Stable opener fixer; life cost matters against burn and aggressive combat.

#### Ranger-Captain of Eos
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-drop tutor body and noncreature spell silence piece.
- Role type: tutor/search; interaction-stack; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Finds a creature card with mana value 1 or less, then can sacrifice to stop opponents from casting noncreature spells for the turn.
- Timing: Cast when a specific one-drop solves a need; sacrifice before a combo turn, sweeper turn, or protected lethal attack.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}{W}; entry may search, reveal, put into hand, then shuffle; sacrifice ability consumes Ranger-Captain and outputs opponent-only noncreature spell lock for the turn.
- Mode map: Entry tutor finds Esper Sentinel, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Serra Ascendant, Segovian Angel, or Lightstall Inquisitor; sacrifice mode protects a decisive turn from noncreature spells.
- Partners / packages: Protection targets are Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Luminarch Ascension, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Angel of Destiny, Walking Ballista, and lethal Angel attacks.
- Role peers: Silence stops opponents from casting spells for a turn; Voice of Victory stops opponents from casting spells during your turn; Enlightened Tutor searches artifacts/enchantments.
- Failure modes: Sacrifice does not stop creature spells or activated abilities; do not sacrifice casually if the 3/3 body and future pressure matter.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against combo and control sweepers; tutor mode is strong in fair games needing protection or Esper Sentinel.

#### Remote Farm
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, tapped depletion white burst land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Enters tapped with two depletion counters and provides two bursts of {W}{W}, enabling double-white and triple-white turns after the tempo cost.
- Timing: Play when a tapped land will not cost an early Giada or interaction window; cash counters for decisive white turns.
- Inputs / outputs: Enters tapped with two depletion counters; taps and removes a depletion counter to add {W}{W}; sacrifice it if no depletion counters remain.
- Partners / packages: Helps cast Flowering of the White Tree, Rule of Law plus one-drop, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Jubilation, Archangel of Tithes, Council's Judgment, Austere Command, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Crystal Vein gives colorless burst; Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors give colorless acceleration; Plains gives stable white without depletion.
- Failure modes: Does not support turn-one one-mana plays because it enters tapped; after two uses it is sacrificed.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in slower hands needing white intensity; risky against fast decks where tapped entry loses tempo.

#### Reprieve
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, tempo stack interaction and cantrip.
- Role type: interaction-stack; protection/evasion; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: Returns target spell on the stack to its owner's hand and draws a card, buying a turn against sweepers, combo spells, removal, or commanders.
- Timing: Use on the spell that matters now, especially under Rule of Law where recasting consumes a future turn; do not spend on low-impact cheap spells if the opponent can recast immediately.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; targets a spell on the stack; outputs spell returned to owner's hand and one card drawn.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Luminarch Ascension, Smothering Tithe, Angel of Destiny, Walking Ballista, and lethal attacks alongside Silence and Ranger-Captain of Eos.
- Role peers: Silence prevents casting before the spell appears; Soul Partition answers resolved nonland permanents; Teferi's Protection protects you and your permanents post-board.
- Failure modes: Does not counter permanently; cannot target resolved permanents or abilities.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against expensive spells, board wipes, and one-spell-rule turns; weak against zero/one-mana spells with abundant mana.

#### Righteous Valkyrie
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel/Cleric lifegain engine and team anthem threshold.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; engine payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Gains life equal to toughness when another Angel or Cleric enters under your control and gives creatures +2/+2 while you are at least 7 life above starting life.
- Timing: Cast before Angels or Clerics enter; prioritize if one follow-up Angel immediately crosses the 47-life Commander threshold.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs life from Angel/Cleric entries and a team +2/+2 at 47 or more life in Commander.
- Partners / packages: Triggers from Giada, Font of Hope if entering after Righteous Valkyrie, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Serra Paragon, Starnheim Aspirant, and White Plume Adventurer if Cleric type applies.
- Role peers: Angel of Vitality amplifies life gain; Archangel of Thune turns life gain into counters; Lyra Dawnbringer grants lifelink to Angels.
- Failure modes: Does not trigger on itself; non-Angel/non-Cleric creatures like Beza, Mother of Runes, and Esper Sentinel do not trigger it.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against aggro and burn; important to protect when its anthem turns blocks or lethal math.

#### Rule of Law
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, enchantment one-spell-per-turn lock.
- Role type: hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Limits each player to one spell each turn, letting Giada's creature quality and attack steps win through constrained spell volume.
- Timing: Cast before opponents can chain spells; avoid if your own hand must double-spell to stabilize this turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs a symmetrical one-spell-per-turn restriction.
- Partners / packages: Works with Deafening Silence, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Silence, and Ranger-Captain of Eos.
- Role peers: Eidolon of Rhetoric is a creature/enchantment copy; Archon of Emeria adds flying body and nonbasic tapped entry.
- Failure modes: Multiple Rule of Law effects are redundant unless one is likely to be removed; can slow your recovery after mulligans or sweepers.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against combo and control spell chains; low priority versus creature boards already ahead.

#### Search for Glory
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, legendary/snow/Saga tutor.
- Role type: tutor/search.
- Deck-specific job: Searches for a snow-permanent card, legendary card, or Saga card, reveals it, puts it into hand, then shuffles; this deck has no registered snow cards, so relevant targets are legendary cards and Urza's Saga.
- Timing: Cast when a named target immediately solves the current bottleneck, such as Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx for mana, Flowering of the White Tree for protection, Heliod, Sun-Crowned for lifegain engines, or Lyra Dawnbringer for closing; it is sorcery speed, so do not spend the turn if removal is required now.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; searches, reveals, puts into hand, shuffles; gains 1 life per {S} spent, but this deck has no registered snow mana source in the Card Reference.
- Partners / packages: Targets include Giada, Font of Hope, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Flagstones of Trokair, Flowering of the White Tree, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Loran of the Third Path, Minas Tirith, Mox Amber, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Karn, the Great Creator, Urza's Saga, and Lyra Dawnbringer.
- Role peers: Enlightened Tutor finds an artifact card or enchantment card to top of library; Ranger-Captain of Eos finds Serra Ascendant, Esper Sentinel, Mother of Runes, or Lightstall Inquisitor; Urza's Saga finds Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, Grafdigger's Cage, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Mana Vault, or Walking Ballista when X is 0.
- Failure modes: Do not expect snow life gain without a snow source; sorcery timing can be too slow against lethal board states.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Find Giada when commander access is taxed, Heliod for lifegain engines, Nykthos for mana, Eiganjo for combat interaction, or Urza's Saga for artifact utility.

#### Segovian Angel
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana Angel body.
- Role type: threat/clock; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Provides the cheapest Angel for Giada, Font of Hope scaling, Youthful Valkyrie triggers, Folk Hero draw, and early flying vigilance pressure.
- Timing: Cast early when it enables Angel-count scaling or a two-creature attack; hold only if a one-mana protection or hate card is more important.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; outputs a 1/1 flying vigilance Angel body.
- Partners / packages: Works with Giada, Font of Hope, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Vitality, Flowering of the White Tree, and Chivalric Alliance.
- Role peers: Serra Ascendant is a stronger one-mana lifelink threat at high life; Lightstall Inquisitor is a one-mana Angel disruption body; Alseid of Life's Bounty is one-mana protection.
- Failure modes: Low stats without counters or anthems; do not trade it away if Angel count is needed for Giada entries.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Good against control as early clock; weak against board stalls unless pumped.

#### Serra Ascendant
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-mana lifelink threat.
- Role type: threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: In Commander, starting at 40 life means it normally begins as a 6/6 flying lifelink creature as long as you stay at 30 or more life.
- Timing: Cast early to pressure and stabilize; protect it only when its lifelink race matters more than saving protection for Giada or a payoff Angel.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; outputs lifelink and, at 30 or more life, +5/+5 and flying.
- Partners / packages: Lifegain triggers Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Exemplar of Light, Angel of Vitality, and helps Righteous Valkyrie and Angel of Destiny thresholds.
- Role peers: Segovian Angel is the one-mana Angel synergy body; Angel of Vitality and Lyra Dawnbringer are lifegain race tools at higher mana.
- Failure modes: Drops to 1/1 without flying below 30 life; vulnerable to cheap exile before it gains life.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent in openers against fair decks and burn; less central against combo where hate pieces are more important.

#### Serra Paragon
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel recursion engine for cheap permanents and lands.
- Role type: recursion; threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Once each turn, lets you play a land from your graveyard or cast a permanent spell with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard, with a delayed exile-and-gain-2 clause when that permanent later dies.
- Timing: Cast after removal or discard has stocked the graveyard; prioritize a land, protection piece, rule piece, or engine that matters this turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs flying body, one graveyard permanent/land access each turn, and 2 life when the recurred permanent dies and is exiled.
- Partners / packages: Recurs Plains, Prismatic Vista, Flagstones of Trokair, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Esper Sentinel, Deafening Silence, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Rule of Law, and Starnheim Aspirant if mana value allows.
- Role peers: Sevinne's Reclamation returns a mana value 3 or less permanent directly; Rest in Peace conflicts by exiling graveyards.
- Failure modes: Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage restrictions, and graveyard hate can shut off lines; recurred permanents are exiled when they die.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against removal-heavy midrange/control; sideboard out or de-emphasize when Rest in Peace is needed.

#### Sevinne's Reclamation
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, sorcery recursion for low-cost permanents.
- Role type: recursion.
- Deck-specific job: Returns target permanent card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to battlefield; flashback copies it for a second target when cast from graveyard.
- Timing: Use from hand for a key land, rule piece, protection piece, or engine; save flashback for two meaningful targets when possible.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; flashback costs {4}{W} and then exiles this spell; outputs one returned permanent, or two returned permanents if cast from graveyard and copied.
- Mode map: Hand-cast mode returns one permanent; flashback mode from graveyard may copy the spell and choose a new target for broader rebuild.
- Partners / packages: Returns Giada, Font of Hope if in graveyard, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Esper Sentinel, Deafening Silence, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Rule of Law, Starnheim Aspirant, Pearl Medallion, Arcane Signet, and many utility lands if mana value qualifies as 0.
- Role peers: Serra Paragon gives repeatable graveyard access; Rest in Peace and Farewell conflict with this plan.
- Failure modes: Cannot return mana value 4 or greater permanents; graveyard hate can blank it before casting.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent after sweepers and removal; sideboard tension against graveyard decks requiring Rest in Peace.

#### Silence
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, one-turn proactive spell denial.
- Role type: interaction-stack; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Prevents opponents from casting spells this turn, protecting a lethal attack, key permanent, or stopping a combo turn before spells start.
- Timing: Cast in upkeep or before your decisive main/combat phase; do not wait until the key spell is already on the stack because Silence does not counter spells.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; outputs opponent spell-casting prohibition for the current turn.
- Partners / packages: Combines with Ranger-Captain of Eos, Reprieve, Voice of Victory, Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, and Luminarch Ascension.
- Role peers: Ranger-Captain of Eos sacrifices to stop opponents' noncreature spells; Voice of Victory stops opponents casting during your turn; Reprieve returns a spell already on stack.
- Failure modes: Does not stop activated abilities or spells already cast; poor after opponents have already used their meaningful spell for the turn.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against combo/control and sweeper turns; weaker against creature abilities and battlefield-only pressure.

#### Smothering Tithe
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Treasure engine and mana snowball enchantment.
- Role type: engine piece; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Converts opponents' draws into Treasure unless they pay {2}, letting the deck cast large Angels, hold protection, and pay taxes under rule effects.
- Timing: Cast when you expect multiple opponent draw steps or draw spells before it is removed; avoid if tapping out lets a visible threat win.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}; each opponent draw asks that player to pay {2}; if not, you create a Treasure token with tap/sacrifice for one mana of any color.
- Partners / packages: Treasures support Giada recasts, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Karn, the Great Creator, Farewell, and activated abilities from Walking Ballista, Luminarch Ascension, and Heliod.
- Role peers: Battle Angels of Tyr creates Treasure from combat; Beza creates a Treasure if an opponent controls more lands; Nykthos creates devotion mana.
- Failure modes: Opponents can pay; Stony Silence stops activated abilities of Treasure artifacts if sideboarded in.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in multiplayer and control pods; slower against fast combo unless protected by earlier hate.

#### Sol Ring
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, premier one-mana colorless ramp artifact.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Accelerates rule pieces, artifacts, Karn, the Great Creator, Pearl Medallion, Starnheim Aspirant, and expensive Angels when white mana is available.
- Timing: Cast early unless Deafening Silence, Esper Sentinel, or Swords to Plowshares is the necessary turn-one play; under Stony Silence sideboard plans, remember it will stop working.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}; taps for {C}{C}.
- Partners / packages: Combines with Plains, Cavern of Souls, Arcane Signet, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Mox Amber, and Giada, Font of Hope to cover white costs.
- Role peers: Mana Vault gives {C}{C}{C} with upkeep drawback; Ancient Tomb gives land-based {C}{C}; Arcane Signet fixes white.
- Failure modes: Cannot pay white costs by itself; artifact hate and Stony Silence shut off activation.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Keep almost all openers with white access; evaluate self-conflict before sideboarding Stony Silence.

#### Solitude
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, flash lifelink creature exile and emergency free interaction.
- Role type: interaction-removal; lifegain/stabilization; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles up to one other target creature on entry, giving its controller life equal to its power; evoke can exile a white card from hand instead of paying mana.
- Timing: Hard-cast when body and lifelink matter; evoke when a creature must be exiled now and card disadvantage is acceptable.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}{W}; evoke requires exiling a white card from hand; outputs flash 3/2 lifelink body and optional exile of another target creature with life compensation.
- Mode map: Hard-cast mode gives lasting lifelink body plus removal; evoke mode is emergency free-speed removal that sacrifices long-term material.
- Partners / packages: Exile effect overlaps with Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Winds of Abandon, Soul Partition, and Bovine Intervention; lifelink triggers Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, and Angel of Vitality.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares is cheaper; March hits artifacts/enchantments too; Winds of Abandon can overload.
- Failure modes: Cannot target itself because text says another target creature; exiling the wrong white card can remove your only payoff or protection.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against creature combo and lethal attackers; body matters against aggro.

#### Soul Partition
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, instant tempo exile for nonland permanents.
- Role type: interaction-removal; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles target nonland permanent; its owner may play it while exiled, and if an opponent casts it this way the spell costs {2} more.
- Timing: Use when tempo matters: save a key permanent from removal, remove a blocker, delay a commander, or break a combo piece for a turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; targets nonland permanent; outputs temporary exile and opponent recast tax if they play it from exile.
- Partners / packages: Protects or clears for Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Walking Ballista, Luminarch Ascension, Smothering Tithe, and lethal attackers.
- Role peers: Reprieve handles a spell on the stack; Unexplained Absence exiles up to one nonland permanent per player with cloak replacement; Generous Gift destroys any permanent post-board.
- Failure modes: Owner can replay the card; using it on your own permanent may require recasting it later and can lose counters or attachments.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against commanders, combo permanents, and blockers under Rule of Law; weak if opponent can easily repay tax.

#### Starnheim Aspirant
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel cost reducer on a Cleric body.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Reduces Angel spells by {2}, accelerating Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Battle Angels of Tyr, and other Angel commitments.
- Timing: Cast before expensive Angels when the reduction changes this turn or next turn; less valuable when hand lacks Angel follow-up.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs generic cost reduction of {2} on Angel spells you cast.
- Partners / packages: Supports Giada, Font of Hope Angel curve, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Battle Angels of Tyr, Thraben Watcher, and Herald of War.
- Role peers: Pearl Medallion reduces white spells by {1}; Herald of War reduces Angels/Humans after attack counters; Giada provides {W} for Angels.
- Failure modes: Is not an Angel and does not get Giada counters; dies to common removal before discounts are used.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in midrange and big-Angel hands; low priority when a visible combo requires hate or interaction first.

#### Strip Mine
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, colorless land and targeted land removal.
- Role type: interaction-removal; mana/fixing/ramp; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Answers a dangerous land while still functioning as a colorless mana source when no land target matters.
- Timing: Hold for high-value lands such as opposing combo lands, utility lands, or mana engines; do not sacrifice just to stunt a fair land drop if you need mana.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; tap and sacrifice to destroy target land.
- Mode map: Mana mode pays generic costs; removal mode trades Strip Mine for the opposing land that matters most.
- Partners / packages: Recurrable through Serra Paragon's land-from-graveyard permission if legal; Sevinne's Reclamation can return permanent card with mana value 3 or less, including lands.
- Role peers: Soul Partition, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment can answer some nonland or protected permanents; Karn handles artifact mana but not lands.
- Failure modes: Does not make white mana; sacrificing too early can set back your own Giada or Angel curve.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against big mana and utility-land commanders; lower priority versus normal mana bases without a critical land.

#### Swords to Plowshares
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, premier one-mana creature exile.
- Role type: interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles target creature at instant speed, answering commanders, combo creatures, lethal attackers, and blockers with minimal mana.
- Timing: Save for creatures that decide the game; use earlier only when the creature's next attack, activation, or combo turn cannot be allowed.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; exiles target creature; its controller gains life equal to its power.
- Partners / packages: Complements Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Winds of Abandon, Bovine Intervention, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire.
- Role peers: Path gives a tapped basic land search; Solitude gives life equal to power and can be evoked; Winds of Abandon is sorcery speed but can overload.
- Failure modes: Life gain can extend an opponent's clock or disrupt Angel of Destiny math; cannot hit noncreature permanents.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Premium against creature combo and voltron commanders; hold for the real threat in midrange games.

#### Talon Gates of Madara
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, utility Gate land with phasing protection/removal tempo.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; protection/evasion; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Can enter and phase out up to one target creature, taps for {C}, filters into any color for {1}, and can be put from hand onto the battlefield for {4}.
- Timing: Use enter trigger to save your key creature from removal/combat or phase out an opposing blocker/attacker; use hand ability when surprise land entry and phasing matter more than holding the land.
- Inputs / outputs: Enters with up to one target creature phasing out; taps for {C}; activation {1}, tap adds one mana of any color; {4} puts it from hand onto battlefield.
- Mode map: Land-entry phasing is temporary creature protection or tempo; mana modes provide colorless or filtered colored mana; hand deployment creates instant-like access if rules allow activation from hand.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Righteous Valkyrie, or removes a blocker for Angel attacks.
- Role peers: Eiganjo is combat damage interaction; Soul Partition exiles nonland permanents temporarily; Mother of Runes and Alseid protect from colors.
- Failure modes: Phased-out creatures return before their controller untaps, so it is tempo not removal; color fixing costs {1} plus tap.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against targeted removal, voltron attacks, and lethal blocker math; weaker when white mana is needed immediately.

#### Thraben Watcher
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel vigilance anthem for nontoken creatures.
- Role type: mechanic payoff; threat/clock; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Gives other nontoken creatures +1/+1 and vigilance, improving attacks while preserving blockers.
- Timing: Cast before a wide attack where vigilance changes crack-back math; after Giada, it enters larger and strengthens the board immediately.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs flying vigilance 2/2 and static +1/+1 plus vigilance to other nontoken creatures.
- Partners / packages: Boosts Giada, Font of Hope, Serra Ascendant, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Mother of Runes, Esper Sentinel, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence.
- Role peers: Angel of Invention pumps all other creatures and offers lifelink/tokens; Flowering of the White Tree pumps legendary/nonlegendary creatures; Angel of Jubilation pumps other nonblack creatures.
- Failure modes: Does not pump tokens from Angel of Invention, Beza, Voice of Victory, or Luminarch Ascension because it specifies nontoken creatures.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent versus creature boards where attacking and blocking both matter; less important against combo without combat pressure.

#### Trouble in Pairs
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, multiplayer draw-punish enchantment.
- Role type: engine piece; card selection; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Stops opponents from taking extra turns and draws cards when an opponent attacks you with two or more creatures, draws their second card each turn, or casts their second spell each turn.
- Timing: Cast when opponents are likely to trigger it before removing it; lower priority when the table is locked under Rule of Law and not drawing extra cards.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}{W}; outputs skipped extra turns for opponents and card draws from specific opponent behavior.
- Partners / packages: Draws help find Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Silence, Reprieve, Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, and Angel threats; combines with Archon of Emeria and Rule of Law by punishing opponents who break or operate outside constraints.
- Role peers: Esper Sentinel draws from first noncreature spell tax; Smothering Tithe creates Treasure from opponent draws; Archivist of Oghma draws from searches.
- Failure modes: If opponents play around triggers or are already limited to one spell, it may be slow; four mana competes with Angels.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in multiplayer control/value pods and extra-turn decks; weaker against one-big-threat creature decks.

#### Unexplained Absence
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, instant multi-player nonland permanent tempo exile.
- Role type: interaction-removal; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: For each player, exiles up to one target nonland permanent that player controls; each controller of an exiled permanent cloaks the top card of their library.
- Timing: Use when several players have high-value nonland permanents or when one critical target must be answered and the cloak drawback is acceptable.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {3}{W}; targets up to one nonland permanent per player; outputs exile and a face-down 2/2 cloak with ward {2} for each exiled permanent's controller.
- Mode map: Single-target use is expensive tempo removal; multi-target use spreads answers across players while replacing each exiled permanent with a cloaked 2/2.
- Partners / packages: Complements Soul Partition, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Winds of Abandon, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, Generous Gift, Austere Command, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Council's Judgment exiles voted nonland permanents without targeting; Generous Gift destroys any permanent and gives a 3/3.
- Failure modes: Cloaked cards can later turn face up if creature cards and mana are available; giving multiple 2/2s can worsen combat.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against protected engines and multiple problematic permanents; weaker when creature tokens will kill you.

#### Urza's Saga
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Saga land, Construct maker, and cheap artifact tutor.
- Role type: engine piece; tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides colorless mana after chapter I, can create Construct artifact creature tokens, then searches for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1} and puts it onto battlefield.
- Timing: Play when you can use the chapter sequence; plan chapter III target before sacrificing it.
- Inputs / outputs: Saga adds lore counters and sacrifices after III; chapter I gives {T}: add {C}; chapter II gives {2}, tap to make a Construct; chapter III searches for a mana cost {0} or {1} artifact.
- Mode map: Mana chapter supports generic costs; Construct chapter creates artifact threats scaling with artifact count; tutor chapter finds Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Grafdigger's Cage, or Walking Ballista only if X=0 mana cost rules make it legal.
- Partners / packages: Artifact count includes Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Chrome Mox, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Pearl Medallion, Grafdigger's Cage, Walking Ballista, Clue tokens from Wojek Investigator, Treasure tokens from Smothering Tithe/Battle Angels/Beza, and Servo tokens from Angel of Invention.
- Role peers: Enlightened Tutor also finds artifacts; Karn may access artifacts if legal; Luminarch Ascension creates flying Angel tokens instead of Constructs.
- Failure modes: Does not make white mana; chapter III sacrifices the land; Stony Silence stops Construct and many tutored artifact activations.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in grindy games and artifact-hate searches; careful against fast decks where tapped sequencing or no white source hurts.

#### Voice of Victory
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, turn-protection creature and combat material maker.
- Role type: protection/evasion; engine fuel/material; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Stops opponents from casting spells during your turn and mobilizes 2 when it attacks, making two tapped and attacking 1/1 red Warrior creature tokens sacrificed at next end step.
- Timing: Cast before a turn where you need to resolve Angels or attack safely; attack when the temporary Warriors advance damage, Chivalric Alliance draw, or Archangel of Thune counter math without exposing you.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs your-turn spell shield and temporary attacking Warrior tokens on attack.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Chivalric Alliance, Minas Tirith, Archangel of Thune, Flowering of the White Tree, Angel of Jubilation, Thraben Watcher for Voice itself, and Silence/Ranger-Captain of Eos for broader protection.
- Role peers: Silence protects an entire turn from opponent spells; Ranger-Captain stops noncreature spells; Cavern of Souls protects chosen-type creatures from counters.
- Failure modes: Does not stop activated abilities; Warrior tokens are red and temporary, not Angels, and are sacrificed at end step.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against control and combat tricks; less relevant against board-based creature decks already ahead.

#### Walking Ballista
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, scalable artifact creature removal, mana sink, and combo-adjacent finisher.
- Role type: reach/finisher; interaction-removal; combo finisher.
- Deck-specific job: Enters with X +1/+1 counters, can add counters for {4}, and removes counters to deal 1 damage to any target; with Heliod, Sun-Crowned lifelink/counter actions, use combo only when legal sequence is visible.
- Timing: Cast for enough X to survive and affect board; hold for removal or lethal when mana/counters are sufficient.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {X}{X}; outputs X counters; {4} adds a counter; removing a counter deals 1 damage to any target.
- Mode map: Creature mode blocks/attacks with counters; removal mode spends counters on creatures/planeswalkers/players; Heliod mode requires legal lifelink and counter triggers before treating damage as repeatable.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Archangel of Thune counters, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Ancient Tomb, Urza's Saga, Smothering Tithe Treasures, and Karn, the Great Creator.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile remove creatures cheaply; Angel of Destiny and Luminarch Ascension finish through combat instead.
- Failure modes: Dies as a 0/0 if X=0 unless another effect changes it; Stony Silence stops its activated abilities.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against small utility creatures and stalled boards; combo line must be rules-engine-confirmed.

#### War Room
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, colorless utility land and repeatable draw source.
- Role type: card selection; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides colorless mana and draws cards for {3}, tap, and life equal to your commander's color identity count, which is 1 for mono-white Giada.
- Timing: Activate when stable and mana would otherwise be unused; avoid when life total is under pressure or white interaction must remain available.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for {C}; activation costs {3}, tap, and 1 life to draw a card.
- Mode map: Mana mode pays generic costs; draw mode converts spare mana and 1 life into a card.
- Partners / packages: Finds pressure or answers in long games; life loss is offset by Serra Ascendant, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, and Blind Obedience.
- Role peers: Minas Tirith draws after two-creature attacks; Geier Reach Sanitarium loots for all players; Chivalric Alliance draws from attacking with two or more creatures.
- Failure modes: Does not make white mana; repeated life loss can turn off Serra Ascendant or Angel of Destiny thresholds.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against control/midrange stalls; dangerous against burn and wide aggro.

#### White Plume Adventurer
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, initiative pressure creature and untap utility.
- Role type: threat/clock; role glue; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Takes the initiative on entry and untaps a creature you control at each opponent's upkeep, or each creature you control if you have completed a dungeon.
- Timing: Cast when initiative pressure is defensible or when untapping Giada, Font of Hope, Mother of Runes, Archangel of Tithes, or a large blocker matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs initiative and repeated upkeep untap triggers.
- Partners / packages: Untaps Giada for Angel mana after attacks, Mother of Runes for protection, Archangel of Tithes to maintain attack tax, Lyra Dawnbringer or Archangel of Thune as blockers, and creatures tapped for attacks.
- Role peers: Thraben Watcher grants vigilance to nontoken creatures; Archangel of Tithes controls combat; Chivalric Alliance rewards attacks.
- Failure modes: Initiative can be stolen by combat damage; not an Angel and does not get Giada counters.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in fair combat games where initiative snowballs; weaker if you cannot block evasive attackers taking initiative back.

#### Winds of Abandon
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, sorcery creature exile and overload sweeper.
- Role type: interaction-removal; interaction-sweeper; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles target creature you don't control, or overloads for {4}{W}{W} to exile each creature you don't control, with each controller searching basic lands for creatures exiled this way.
- Timing: Use single-target mode for a must-answer creature at sorcery speed; overload when the opposing board would otherwise beat your Angels and the ramp drawback is acceptable.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W} or overload {4}{W}{W}; exiles creatures you don't control; affected players search basic lands onto battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
- Mode map: Normal mode is sorcery-speed one-creature exile; overload mode is asymmetric creature reset that ramps opponents.
- Partners / packages: Follow with Giada, Font of Hope, Angels, Rule of Law, Archon of Emeria, or Luminarch Ascension to punish opponents after reset.
- Role peers: Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile are instant single-target exile; Farewell and Austere Command are broader sideboard sweepers.
- Failure modes: Sorcery speed cannot answer surprise combo or attacks; ramping opponents can backfire against big mana.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against go-wide creature boards; weaker against spell combo and land-scaling decks.

#### Witch Enchanter
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, MDFC artifact/enchantment removal spell or white land.
- Role type: modal utility; interaction-removal; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Front side destroys target artifact or enchantment an opponent controls on entry; back side Witch-Blessed Meadow is a white land that may enter untapped if you pay 3 life.
- Timing: Play as Witch-Blessed Meadow when the hand needs white mana; cast Witch Enchanter when an opposing artifact or enchantment must be destroyed.
- Inputs / outputs: Front costs {3}{W} and outputs a 2/2 Human Warlock plus artifact/enchantment destruction; back taps for {W} and asks you to pay 3 life or enter tapped.
- Mode map: Witch Enchanter is sorcery-speed permanent removal attached to a body; Witch-Blessed Meadow is mana fixing with life-or-tempo cost.
- Partners / packages: Removal overlaps with Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention for artifacts, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, Generous Gift, Austere Command, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Loran removes on entry at three mana and can draw; Cathar Commando is flash and sacrifice removal.
- Failure modes: Reference metadata has face data but top-level Oracle is missing; rely on listed faces and avoid claims beyond those faces. Front can target only artifact or enchantment an opponent controls.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against artifact/enchantment engines; back side is important in colorless-heavy openers.

#### Wojek Investigator
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, Angel Detective Clue engine.
- Role type: card selection; threat/clock; engine piece.
- Deck-specific job: At your upkeep, investigates once for each opponent who has more cards in hand than you, creating Clue artifacts for later card draw.
- Timing: Cast when opponents are ahead on cards or likely to be after their turns; keep mana later for Clue activation only when interaction is not needed.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs flying vigilance 2/4 and Clue tokens with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card."
- Partners / packages: Clues increase artifact count for Urza's Saga Constructs; draw supports finding removal and Angels; Angel type works with Giada, Font of Hope, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, and Folk Hero.
- Role peers: Trouble in Pairs draws from opponent actions; Esper Sentinel taxes noncreature spells; Chivalric Alliance draws from two-creature attacks.
- Failure modes: No Clues if no opponent has more cards in hand than you at upkeep; Clue activation can be shut off by Stony Silence.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against control and midrange card advantage; lower priority against fast combat or combo.

#### Youthful Valkyrie
- Deck role: Main deck, 1 copy, cheap Angel scaling threat.
- Role type: mechanic payoff; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Grows with a +1/+1 counter whenever another Angel enters under your control, rewarding Giada curves and token Angels from Luminarch Ascension.
- Timing: Cast before follow-up Angels whenever possible; after Giada, it enters larger and starts scaling.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs flying 1/3 and counters from other Angel entries.
- Partners / packages: Triggers from Giada, Font of Hope if Giada enters after it, Segovian Angel, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Exemplar of Light, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Battle Angels of Tyr, Thraben Watcher, and Luminarch Ascension Angel tokens.
- Role peers: Exemplar of Light grows from lifegain and draws once per turn; Herald of War grows on attacks and reduces costs; Righteous Valkyrie rewards Angel entries with life.
- Failure modes: Does not trigger from non-Angel support creatures or from itself; vulnerable before it accumulates counters.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in fair games where Angel density matters; lower priority when hate or removal is needed immediately.

#### Rest in Peace
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, graveyard hate bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles all graveyards on entry and exiles any card or token that would go to a graveyard from anywhere, shutting off recursion, reanimation, flashback, escape, delve fuel, death loops, and graveyard scaling.
- Timing: Bring in and cast early when the opponent's graveyard is a primary resource; avoid when your own Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation are central and opponent graveyard pressure is minor.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs immediate graveyard exile and replacement exile for future graveyard movement.
- Partners / packages: Complements Grafdigger's Cage, Drannith Magistrate, Containment Priest, Farewell, Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, and Angel's Grace against graveyard combo.
- Role peers: Grafdigger's Cage stops certain graveyard casting/entry without exiling graveyards; Farewell can exile graveyards plus other permanent types.
- Failure modes: Blanks your Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation plans and prevents death-to-graveyard value.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against reanimator, flashback, escape, dredge-like, sacrifice-loop, and graveyard combo decks; leave out against fair combat unless graveyards matter.

#### Stony Silence
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, artifact activated-ability hate bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Stops activated abilities of artifacts, attacking artifact mana, Treasure/Clue use, equipment, combo artifacts, and Walking Ballista-style abilities.
- Timing: Bring in only when opposing artifact abilities matter more than your own artifact package.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; outputs global artifact activated-ability shutdown.
- Partners / packages: Strong with nonartifact mana and pressure from Plains, Cavern of Souls, Giada, Font of Hope, Angels, Rule of Law, Archon of Emeria, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence.
- Role peers: Karn, the Great Creator stops only opponents' artifact activated abilities; Austere Command and Farewell remove artifacts entirely.
- Failure modes: Shuts your Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Walking Ballista, Clue tokens from Wojek Investigator, Treasure tokens from Smothering Tithe/Battle Angels/Beza, and Urza's Saga Construct-making ability if artifact ability restrictions apply through rules.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against artifact combo and mana-rock-heavy decks; avoid when your opener depends on artifact mana.

#### Containment Priest
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, flash anti-cheat creature bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles nontoken creatures that would enter without being cast, stopping reanimation, blink, library-to-battlefield, graveyard-to-battlefield, and cheat effects.
- Timing: Flash in response to a creature-cheat event when possible; cast proactively if the opponent's line is obvious and imminent.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}; flash body; static replacement exiles nontoken creatures entering without being cast.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Rule of Law, and Silence to constrain alternate entry and casting routes.
- Role peers: Grafdigger's Cage covers creature cards in graveyards/libraries entering and graveyard/library casting; Rest in Peace removes graveyards entirely.
- Failure modes: Does not stop token creatures or creatures cast normally from hand; can interfere with any of your own noncast creature-entry effects if present through external game actions.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against reanimation, blink, sneak-into-play, and creature-combo decks; leave out against normal creature curves.

#### Austere Command
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, flexible modal sweeper.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-sweeper; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Chooses two among destroying artifacts, destroying enchantments, destroying creatures with mana value 3 or less, and destroying creatures with mana value 4 or greater, letting the deck sculpt a reset.
- Timing: Bring in when opponents present broad permanent boards and choose modes that spare the highest-value parts of your board when possible.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {4}{W}{W}; destroys selected permanent classes or creature mana-value bands.
- Mode map: Artifact mode clears artifact mana/engines; enchantment mode clears enchantment engines; small-creature mode clears mana value 3 or less creatures; large-creature mode clears mana value 4 or greater creatures.
- Partners / packages: Can spare large Angels by choosing artifacts/enchantments/creatures with mana value 3 or less, or clear large threats while preserving Giada, Mother of Runes, Esper Sentinel, Drannith Magistrate, and other low-cost support.
- Role peers: Farewell exiles chosen categories; Winds of Abandon exiles opponent creatures only; Council's Judgment handles selected nonland permanents.
- Failure modes: Destroys your own artifacts, enchantments, or creatures in chosen bands; destruction fails against indestructible.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against go-wide, artifact/enchantment boards, and creature-size asymmetry; avoid when your own board is the better permanent cluster.

#### Farewell
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, exile reset for multiple axes.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-sweeper; graveyard hate; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Chooses one or more categories to exile among artifacts, creatures, enchantments, and graveyards, giving a clean reset against recursive or mixed permanent boards.
- Timing: Bring in when one-for-one answers cannot cover the opponent's board or graveyard; cast only after deciding which of your own resources you can afford to lose.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {4}{W}{W}; exiles each chosen category globally.
- Mode map: Artifact mode hits mana rocks/Treasures/Clues; creature mode clears boards; enchantment mode clears engines/locks; graveyard mode removes recursion and flashback resources.
- Partners / packages: Follow-up with Giada, Font of Hope from command zone, Serra Ascendant, Luminarch Ascension if spared, or card engines after reset.
- Role peers: Austere Command destroys selected categories; Rest in Peace handles graveyards persistently; Winds of Abandon exiles only opponents' creatures but ramps them.
- Failure modes: Exiles your Angels, rule pieces, artifact mana, Smothering Tithe, Luminarch Ascension, Serra Paragon targets, and Sevinne's Reclamation resources if categories are chosen.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against graveyard plus permanent engines or overwhelming boards; avoid when you are already ahead with a protected Angel board.

#### Generous Gift
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, universal instant permanent removal bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Destroys target permanent of any type and gives its controller a 3/3 green Elephant creature token, covering planeswalkers, lands, commanders, enchantments, artifacts, or creatures the main deck cannot efficiently answer.
- Timing: Use when the target permanent is worth more than a 3/3 body; hold for commanders, combo engines, planeswalkers, dangerous lands, or lock breakers.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; destroys target permanent; controller creates a 3/3 Elephant.
- Partners / packages: Complements Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, Council's Judgment, Austere Command, and Farewell.
- Role peers: Council's Judgment exiles voted nonland permanents; Bovine Intervention hits artifact or creature and gives a 2/2 Ox; Loran hits artifact/enchantment.
- Failure modes: The 3/3 can pressure you or block attacks; destruction can fail against indestructible or replacement effects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against single protected engines, planeswalkers, problem lands, or commander permanents; weaker against low-resource aggro where the Elephant matters.

#### Teferi's Protection
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, broad survival and board-protection bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Until your next turn, your life total cannot change, you gain protection from everything, and all permanents you control phase out; then Teferi's Protection exiles itself.
- Timing: Hold for sweepers, alpha strikes, lethal combo turns, or when phasing out preserves a winning board for your next turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W}; outputs life-total freeze, protection from everything for you, and phasing out all permanents you control.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Walking Ballista, Luminarch Ascension, Smothering Tithe, and a developed Angel board.
- Role peers: Flawless Maneuver protects creatures with indestructible; Angel's Grace prevents losing for a turn but does not save permanents; Mother of Runes and Alseid protect narrower targets.
- Failure modes: Phased-out permanents cannot block or use abilities until they phase in; does not counter spells or remove opposing permanents.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against sweepers, alpha strikes, and one-turn combo kills; less useful in slow attrition where proactive pressure is needed.

#### Angel's Grace
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, one-turn loss prevention bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; protection/evasion; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: With split second, prevents you from losing and opponents from winning this turn, and keeps damage from reducing your life below 1.
- Timing: Hold for deterministic lethal turns, storm finishes, combat alpha strikes, or life-total combo kills; cast only in the turn where losing is otherwise imminent.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {W}; split second restricts non-mana responses while on stack; outputs cannot-lose/cannot-win shield and damage floor at 1 life until end of turn.
- Partners / packages: Buys a turn to untap into Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Farewell, Austere Command, Giada pressure, Angel lifegain, or Teferi's Protection.
- Role peers: Teferi's Protection also protects permanents and freezes life; Flawless Maneuver protects creatures from destruction; Silence can prevent the combo turn before spells resolve.
- Failure modes: Does not prevent poison, commander damage tracking, mill, or non-damage life loss from leaving you vulnerable after the turn unless the rules engine says the loss condition is covered by "can't lose"; does not remove the threat.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against fast combo and burst lethal; weak against grindy boards without one decisive turn.

#### Flawless Maneuver
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, creature-board indestructible protection bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Gives creatures you control indestructible until end of turn, and can be cast for free if you control your commander.
- Timing: Hold for destroy sweepers, combat blowouts, or removal turns where saving multiple creatures wins; cast free with Giada in play when mana must stay open.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {2}{W} or no mana if you control a commander; outputs indestructible to creatures you control until end of turn.
- Partners / packages: Protects Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Angel of Destiny, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Invention, Youthful Valkyrie, and token boards.
- Role peers: Teferi's Protection protects permanents and life total more broadly; Mother of Runes and Alseid protect individual targets; Angel's Grace protects losing but not creatures.
- Failure modes: Does not stop exile, bounce, sacrifice, -X/-X, or toughness-reduction effects; does not protect enchantments, artifacts, or planeswalkers.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against destroy sweepers and creature combat; less useful against exile-heavy control or sacrifice decks.

#### Council's Judgment
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy, voting-based nonland permanent exile bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-removal.
- Deck-specific job: Starting with you, each player votes for a nonland permanent you don't control; exile each permanent with the most votes or tied for most votes.
- Timing: Bring in for protected, hexproof-like, ward-heavy, or hard-to-target nonland permanents where ordinary targeted removal is unreliable.
- Inputs / outputs: Costs {1}{W}{W}; voting process can exile one or more nonland permanents with the most or tied votes.
- Partners / packages: Complements Generous Gift, Unexplained Absence, Soul Partition, March of Otherworldly Light, Farewell, Austere Command, Swords to Plowshares, and Path to Exile.
- Role peers: Generous Gift targets any permanent and gives a 3/3; Unexplained Absence targets up to one nonland permanent per player and gives cloaks; Farewell can sweep categories.
- Failure modes: You do not unilaterally choose every exiled permanent in multiplayer; cannot hit lands; sorcery speed can miss immediate stack/combat windows.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring against single protected commanders, planeswalkers, enchantments, or artifacts; weaker against wide creature boards needing a sweeper.

## Interaction Priorities
- Remove combo enablers and lethal board pieces before value permanents. Spend Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Bovine Intervention, or Winds of Abandon on the visible creature or permanent that creates an immediate win, removes your lock, or makes combat unwinnable; Card text check required for Bovine Intervention exact consequence.

- Use Reprieve as tempo protection for decisive turns, not as a generic answer. Prioritize Reprieve on a spell that stops Giada, Font of Hope from snowballing, clears multiple Angels, wins this turn cycle, or breaks a Rule of Law turn where returning the spell effectively consumes the opponent's only spell.

- Use Soul Partition and Unexplained Absence as tempo exile/bounce-style interaction when the delay matters. Point them at a commander, combo permanent, blocker preventing lethal, or removal aimed at Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Walking Ballista, or a protected Giada, Font of Hope line; Card text check required for Unexplained Absence exact target and replacement details.

- Prioritize artifact and enchantment removal through Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, Karn, the Great Creator, March of Otherworldly Light, and Bovine Intervention only when the target changes the game. Remove fast mana, lock breakers, creature-combo engines, or protection pieces before incidental draw engines; Card text check required for Witch Enchanter exact mode and for Karn, the Great Creator legality with sideboard access.

- Treat discard as unavailable unless the rules engine exposes a legal action from an opponent effect. This deck has no registered proactive discard card, so do not plan to strip hands; instead use Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Silence, and Reprieve to constrain what opponents can do with hidden cards.

- Protect Giada, Font of Hope first when she is enabling follow-up Angels. Use Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Silence, Soul Partition, Reprieve, or Ranger-Captain of Eos only when losing Giada, Font of Hope would strand Angel sequencing, waste a fast-mana start, or force a commander-tax turn the deck cannot afford.

- Let low-impact bait absorb removal before committing finishers. Esper Sentinel, Segovian Angel, Serra Ascendant without lifegain threshold pressure, Youthful Valkyrie before scaling, Starnheim Aspirant without a follow-up, and Pearl Medallion can bait interaction; preserve Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Destiny, Walking Ballista, and Luminarch Ascension when they are the actual clock or engine.

- Ignore threats that do not beat the current lock, race, or life total. Under Deafening Silence or Rule of Law, a single medium attacker may be less important than an engine permanent; against creature swarms, remove anthem, haste, sacrifice, or combat-damage multipliers before one replaceable body.

- Change priorities by archetype. Against combo, hold Silence, Reprieve, Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, Aven Mindcensor, and Rule of Law effects over creature removal; against creature decks, spend removal early to preserve life and attacks; against control, bait with tax/draw permanents before committing Luminarch Ascension, Archangel of Thune, or Angel of Destiny.

## Combat And Trading Rules
- Attack when the combat step advances a clock, trigger, monarch/initiative-style pressure, or lifegain threshold without exposing the engine. Giada, Font of Hope should usually stay back once she is producing mana or counters unless the legal attack is clearly free, lethal, or protected by Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, or a visible protection action.

- Preserve Angels that multiply future combat. Do not trade Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Youthful Valkyrie, Thraben Watcher, Angel of Invention, or Herald of War for a single blocker unless the trade prevents lethal, removes a commander-level threat, or unlocks a decisive attack next turn.

- Use Serra Ascendant and early small Angels as pressure, not sacred resources. Trade Segovian Angel, Serra Ascendant, Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Deep Gnome Terramancer, or Wojek Investigator when the exchange protects life total, preserves a stronger Angel, or forces opponents to spend mana under tax effects; Card text check required for Wojek Investigator exact combat-adjacent value.

- Block aggressively below stabilizing life thresholds. When life total is low enough that one attack step threatens commander damage, alpha pressure, or burn follow-up, prioritize survival over preserving chip damage; Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, and Angel of Destiny can rebuild only if the deck survives the current turn cycle.

- Keep at least one meaningful blocker when ahead but not lethal. Archangel of Tithes, Battle Angels of Tyr, Angel of Invention tokens, Beza, the Bounding Spring material, and large Giada-enhanced Angels can make crack-backs awkward; Card text check required for Beza, the Bounding Spring exact material and for Battle Angels of Tyr exact trigger expectations.

- Use protection after blocks only when the saved creature matters more than the protection card. Mother of Runes and Alseid of Life's Bounty should save Giada, Font of Hope, a scaling Angel, or lethal attacker; do not spend them to save a replaceable tax creature after its static effect is no longer central.

- Force trades against faster creature decks and avoid trades against slower decks. Against go-wide or combat-heavy pods, trade small utility bodies to buy time for lifegain and large flyers; against control or combo, keep pressure in play and avoid offering Angels into removal-plus-block lines unless the clock must shorten.

- Respect Archangel of Tithes and Blind Obedience as combat tempo, not inevitability. Use their tax or tapped-entry pressure to attack safely, then commit an actual finisher; do not pass turns with only soft combat constraints while opponents draw out.

- Treat Walking Ballista combat math as rules-engine dependent. Use visible counters and legal damage actions to clear blockers, finish planeswalkers, or threaten lethal with Heliod, Sun-Crowned only when the engine exposes the exact legal sequence; never assume a combo kill without legal actions confirming it.

## Selection And Tutor Rules
- Use Enlightened Tutor at the last safe instant-speed window before the turn where the found card matters. Find Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Pearl Medallion, Mana Vault, or Blind Obedience when mana is the bottleneck; find Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Grafdigger's Cage, Flowering of the White Tree, Luminarch Ascension, or Smothering Tithe when that permanent changes the next turn cycle; find Walking Ballista only when Heliod, Sun-Crowned or exact lethal pressure is already supported by visible mana and rules-engine actions.

- Use Search for Glory as a commitment gate, not a generic value spell. Prefer Giada, Font of Hope when commander access is delayed or tax is too high, Heliod, Sun-Crowned when lifegain/counter lines are online, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire when interaction matters, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx when devotion turns into a decisive mana jump, or Flowering of the White Tree when the board already contains enough legendary/creature pressure; Card text check required for exact Search for Glory eligibility and life-gain condition.

- Use Ranger-Captain of Eos to find the one-drop that solves the visible problem. Get Esper Sentinel when early cards are needed, Serra Ascendant when life total and combat context make it a real threat, Mother of Runes or Alseid of Life's Bounty when Giada, Font of Hope or a finisher must be protected, or Segovian Angel when the deck needs an Angel body for Giada counters and aerial pressure.

- Use Urza's Saga searches for mana or deterministic utility before cute lines. Sol Ring, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, and Grafdigger's Cage are the main artifact targets; choose mana when it unlocks Giada, Font of Hope plus follow-up Angels, choose Grafdigger's Cage only when graveyard/library-cast pressure is visible or strongly implied by public actions.

- Time draw before land drops when the draw can change the land. Esper Sentinel triggers, Archivist of Oghma triggers, Trouble in Pairs draws, Minas Tirith, War Room, Loran of the Third Path, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, and Wojek Investigator should be used before playing a land only if the engine exposes the action and the new card could alter Cavern of Souls naming, Ancient Tomb risk, Strip Mine timing, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx deployment, or whether to spend Lotus Petal/Crystal Vein/City of Traitors.

- Bottom, discard, or de-emphasize redundant lock pieces when the table is already constrained. Extra Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, or Archon of Emeria effects are lower priority once one is sticking, unless removal is likely or multiple opponents can answer it; keep one backup only when the current lock is fragile.

- Prioritize selection toward board conversion after Giada, Font of Hope is active. Angel of Vitality, Youthful Valkyrie, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Angel of Destiny, Battle Angels of Tyr, Angel of Invention, and Thraben Watcher become stronger when they enter with counters, so selection should favor Angels over generic utility when mana and protection are already solved.

## Priority And Stack Rules
- Hold priority actions for spells or abilities that change the current turn cycle. Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Reprieve, Soul Partition, Solitude, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Unexplained Absence, and Winds of Abandon should answer combo starts, lethal attacks, board wipes, removal aimed at Giada, Font of Hope or a finisher, or a spell that breaks the active Rule of Law plan.

- Cast Silence before opponents begin the decisive turn, not after the key spell is already legal. Use it in upkeep or before a known combo/combat window when public information shows one opponent is about to act; under Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, or Archon of Emeria, Silence is strongest when it turns their one allowed spell into no meaningful spell.

- Sacrifice Ranger-Captain of Eos only for a protected win, a survival turn, or a lock extension. Do not cash it in merely because an opponent has priority; use it when stopping noncreature spells preserves lethal, shields Luminarch Ascension or Archangel of Thune from a sweeper, or prevents an opponent from converting visible mana into a win.

- Use Reprieve on high-impact spells where the tempo is real. Reprieve is poor against cheap recastable interaction when opponents still have mana, but strong against a board wipe, combo spell, removal spell under Rule of Law, or commander spell whose recast cost and timing matter.

- Resolve tax and draw triggers according to visible value, then spend mana only when it protects the main line. Esper Sentinel, Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, Archivist of Oghma, Deep Gnome Terramancer, Folk Hero, Chivalric Alliance, and Blind Obedience can create optional or triggered decisions; pay optional costs such as Blind Obedience extort only when the life drain or Archangel of Thune/Angel of Vitality/Righteous Valkyrie scaling matters more than preserving mana for removal or protection.

- Activate Mother of Runes and Alseid of Life's Bounty in response to targeted removal or decisive blocks. Save Giada, Font of Hope, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Walking Ballista, Lyra Dawnbringer, or Angel of Destiny before protecting a replaceable hatebear; confirm the rules engine exposes legal protection colors and targets.

- Use Walking Ballista abilities only from visible counters and legal targets. Remove combo creatures, finish planeswalkers, shrink combat math, or complete a Heliod, Sun-Crowned line only when each damage action is legal; do not assume infinite damage unless the engine repeatedly presents the required legal actions.

- Let low-impact spells resolve under lock pressure. When Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Grafdigger's Cage, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, or Archon of Emeria already constrains the table, conserve interaction for the first spell or ability that actually escapes the lock, removes the lock, or kills through it.

## Sideboard Map

- Use sideboarding as a role correction, not as a second deck. Giada, Font of Hope still wants early mana, a protected Angel curve, and enough pressure to punish opponents slowed by Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, and Blind Obedience.

- Rest in Peace comes in against graveyard combo, recursive value, escape, flashback, reanimation, and decks where graveyard size is a resource. It is narrow when Sevinne's Reclamation and Serra Paragon are central to the current plan, when Grafdigger's Cage already covers the relevant axis, or when the opponent is mostly creature combat and artifact mana.

- Stony Silence comes in against artifact mana, artifact combo, activated artifact engines, and tables where slowing noncreature mana matters more than using your own artifact activations. It is narrow when Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Urza's Saga artifacts, or Walking Ballista are required to keep pace or finish the game.

- Containment Priest comes in against reanimation, blink, cheat-into-play, token-copy creature entry, and graveyard creature loops. It is narrow when opponents are casting creatures normally or when the matchup is mostly noncreature control, board wipes, or combat removal.

- Austere Command comes in when the table can create wider or more varied permanent boards than Giada, Font of Hope can race. Use it as flexible reset pressure against enchantment clusters, artifact boards, or creature-size asymmetry; avoid it when your own Angels, lock pieces, and mana artifacts are the battlefield that matters.

- Farewell comes in when one axis of hate is not enough and the game is likely to require a clean reset. It is strongest against graveyards plus creatures, artifacts plus enchantments, or recursive board states; avoid it when Giada, Font of Hope already has a protected lethal board or when exiling your own graveyard removes Sevinne's Reclamation and Serra Paragon recovery.

- Generous Gift comes in against commanders, planeswalkers, lands, artifacts, enchantments, or single permanents that the main deck cannot efficiently answer. It is narrow against low-resource creature decks where giving a 3/3 body creates a real clock and Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, or Winds of Abandon already cover the threat.

- Teferi's Protection comes in against sweepers, alpha strikes, forced sacrifice turns, and combo turns where surviving one turn cycle is decisive. It is narrow when the matchup is resource attrition and the deck needs proactive lock or pressure rather than a reactive shield.

- Angel's Grace comes in against deterministic lethal turns, storm-style finishers, combat alpha strikes, and life-total combo kills where one turn matters. It is narrow against grindy boards, commander damage pressure across multiple turns, or engines that win without needing one lethal event.

- Flawless Maneuver comes in against creature sweepers, damage-based combat blowouts, and removal-heavy pods when Giada, Font of Hope is expected to stay available. It is narrow when the commander is repeatedly removed before combat or when exile, bounce, sacrifice, or non-destroy answers are the opposing interaction.

- Council's Judgment comes in for protected permanents, commanders with protection or hexproof-like constraints, planeswalkers, and hard-to-target engines. It is narrow when the opponent presents many small threats and the deck needs tempo interaction rather than a sorcery-speed answer.

Graveyard combo and recursion pressure
Side in: Rest in Peace; Containment Priest; Farewell
Cut: Sevinne's Reclamation; Serra Paragon; Angel of Destiny

Artifact acceleration and artifact engine pressure
Side in: Stony Silence; Generous Gift; Council's Judgment
Cut: Walking Ballista; Mana Vault; Pearl Medallion

Board-wipe control and removal-heavy midrange
Side in: Teferi's Protection; Flawless Maneuver; Generous Gift
Cut: Bovine Intervention; Wojek Investigator; Herald of War

Go-wide creature and permanent-board pressure
Side in: Austere Command; Farewell; Council's Judgment
Cut: Deafening Silence; Esper Sentinel; Luminarch Ascension

Fast combo or lethal stack turns
Side in: Angel's Grace; Teferi's Protection; Containment Priest
Cut: Angel of Invention; Herald of War; Battle Angels of Tyr

Single protected permanent or commander engine
Side in: Generous Gift; Council's Judgment
Cut: Bovine Intervention; Dazzling Angel

- Add Rest in Peace, Containment Priest, Angel's Grace, and Teferi's Protection when opponents threaten to win before Angel combat matters. Reduce emphasis on expensive Angels and slow engines that do not affect the decisive combo turn.

- Add Stony Silence, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment when artifacts, commanders, planeswalkers, or single engines are the table's leverage. Reduce emphasis on artifact-dependent finish plans and cards whose value depends on repeated artifact activation.

- Add Austere Command, Farewell, Teferi's Protection, and Flawless Maneuver when the game is about sweepers, creature size, and battlefield resets. Reduce emphasis on narrow one-for-one removal when opponents are presenting many permanents at once.

- Add Rest in Peace only after checking your own graveyard plan. If Sevinne's Reclamation or Serra Paragon is the visible recovery line, prefer Grafdigger's Cage or Containment Priest only when those cards answer the opponent's axis without blanking your recovery.

- Add Stony Silence only after checking your own mana texture. If the opening plan depends on Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, or Walking Ballista, treat Stony Silence as a commitment gate rather than an automatic hate piece.

- Preserve creature density when sideboarding against fair decks. Giada, Font of Hope needs enough Angels and protection creatures for counters, pressure, lifegain scaling, and Flowering of the White Tree; do not over-board into reactive cards unless the opponent's plan demands it.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro decks: Stabilize first with cheap interaction, lifegain bodies, and Giada, Font of Hope counters before racing. Keep hands that cast Giada, Font of Hope or a relevant early creature on time, and prioritize Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Winds of Abandon, Bovine Intervention, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Archangel of Thune when visible pressure is creature-based. Austere Command, Farewell, Flawless Maneuver, Teferi's Protection, and Council's Judgment are role cards when the opposing board grows wider than one-for-one answers can contain, but do not dilute the Angel count so far that Giada, Font of Hope stops converting stabilizing bodies into a clock. Reduce emphasis on slow draw engines and expensive Angels that do not block, remove, gain life, or immediately change combat math.

- Control decks: Apply a protected clock while forcing interaction through tax, silence, and draw-punish permanents. Lead with Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Trouble in Pairs, Smothering Tithe, Luminarch Ascension, Folk Hero, Flowering of the White Tree, Cavern of Souls, Voice of Victory, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Reprieve, and resilient command-zone pressure from Giada, Font of Hope rather than committing every Angel into a likely sweeper. Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, and Angel's Grace are role cards when the opponent wins by reset plus finisher or protects a single permanent. Reduce emphasis on narrow creature-only removal when the visible control plan is planeswalkers, enchantments, or stack-based inevitability.

- Combo decks: Mulligan toward hate plus clock rather than generic Angel curve. Prioritize Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Reprieve, Soul Partition, and fast mana that deploys one of those pieces before the combo turn. Angel's Grace, Teferi's Protection, Containment Priest, Rest in Peace, Stony Silence, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment should be matched to the proven combo axis. Reduce emphasis on Battle Angels of Tyr, Herald of War, Angel of Invention, and other slow pressure when the opponent can win before combat damage matters.

- Tempo decks: Protect the first high-impact permanent and avoid spending entire turns into obvious soft interaction unless the legal action set offers no better pressure. Giada, Font of Hope, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Cavern of Souls, Flowering of the White Tree, Pearl Medallion, Starnheim Aspirant, and cheap Angels help compress mana while Reprieve and Soul Partition can break an opposing tempo swing. Do not overpay into a single threat if holding Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, or Bovine Intervention would keep the race stable. Flawless Maneuver and Generous Gift are role cards when the opponent uses removal plus one protected threat.

- Midrange decks: Build compounding board quality with Giada, Font of Hope, Angel density, and value engines before trading resources. Youthful Valkyrie, Segovian Angel, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Lyra Dawnbringer, Battle Angels of Tyr, Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, Trouble in Pairs, Chivalric Alliance, Wojek Investigator, and Minas Tirith reward long games where the board is contested. Preserve Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, and Council's Judgment-style effects for commanders, snowball engines, or blockers that prevent lethal pressure. Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, Austere Command, and Teferi's Protection are role cards when midrange mirrors turn on planeswalkers, sweepers, or permanent engines.

- Big mana decks: Attack mana development and punish slow setup before large spells dominate. Strip Mine, Aven Mindcensor, Archon of Emeria, Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, Luminarch Ascension, Battle Angels of Tyr, and fast Giada, Font of Hope starts are higher priority than incremental lifegain when opponents visibly spend early turns on mana. Use Karn, the Great Creator, Stony Silence, Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, and Soul Partition when the payoff is artifact, planeswalker, land, or commander based. Reduce emphasis on removal that only answers small creatures unless those creatures are the visible acceleration engine.

- Graveyard decks: Decide early whether your own Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation plan is worth preserving or whether the opponent's graveyard axis must be shut off. Grafdigger's Cage is the main-deck starting point, while Rest in Peace, Containment Priest, Farewell, and Angel's Grace handle more dedicated recursion, reanimation, or lethal graveyard turns. Use Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, and Soul Partition on enablers or payoff creatures only when the rules engine presents legal targets and graveyard hate is absent or too slow. Reduce emphasis on slow battlefield-only Angels when the opponent's graveyard already threatens a decisive turn.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: Identify whether the threat is mana, activated artifacts, prison pieces, or enchantment engines before choosing hate. Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, March of Otherworldly Light, Unexplained Absence, Soul Partition, Karn, the Great Creator, and Bovine Intervention provide main-deck interaction, while Stony Silence, Austere Command, Farewell, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment expand coverage. Check your own reliance on Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Urza's Saga, and Walking Ballista before committing to Stony Silence. Reduce artifact-based acceleration only when shutting off opposing artifacts is more important than your own speed.

- Go-wide decks: Prioritize flyers, lifegain scaling, taxation, and sweepers over narrow one-for-one exchanges. Archangel of Tithes, Blind Obedience, Angel of Invention, Thraben Watcher, Lyra Dawnbringer, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Winds of Abandon, Austere Command, Farewell, and Flawless Maneuver are the key tools when many attackers or blockers matter. Use Giada, Font of Hope counters to make even small Angels block profitably, but do not attack with needed blockers under a short clock unless the legal attack is clearly lethal or backed by protection. Reduce emphasis on Deafening Silence and single-target removal when the visible problem is already on board.

- Single-threat decks: Hold premium removal for the commander, protected finisher, or engine permanent rather than spending it on small support creatures. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, and Karn, the Great Creator are priority answers depending on permanent type. Mother of Runes and Alseid of Life's Bounty should protect the clock only when removal is already covered or when losing the key Angel would collapse the race. Generous Gift and Council's Judgment are role cards against hard-to-answer permanents.

- Burn decks: Treat life total as the core resource and force burn to answer lifegain bodies instead of your face. Serra Ascendant, Angel of Vitality, Righteous Valkyrie, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Blind Obedience, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Angel of Destiny are the most important stabilizers, while Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, and unnecessary pain or tempo costs require extra scrutiny. Angel's Grace, Teferi's Protection, and Flawless Maneuver are role cards when the opponent can assemble one lethal turn or damage-based wipe. Reduce emphasis on slow nonlifegain engines that do not affect the next combat or burn window.

- Removal-heavy decks: Diversify threats and save protection for the permanent that actually wins the next exchange. Giada, Font of Hope, Flowering of the White Tree, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Voice of Victory, Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, Luminarch Ascension, Trouble in Pairs, and Folk Hero are the cards that keep pressure flowing through spot removal. Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment are role cards when removal-heavy opponents also play sweepers or sticky engines. Reduce emphasis on creature-only answers when the opponent has few creatures and is trying to exhaust threats instead.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only note: Exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards, commander identity, public zones, and legal actions override these assumptions. Use this section as matchup slicing guidance, not as permission to infer hidden cards or force illegal actions.

- Fast combo: Prioritize rule effects and silence windows before extra Angel pressure. Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, and Reprieve are the main pressure points; priority targets are visible engines, commanders, graveyard access, or stack pieces that enable the current turn. Angel's Grace, Containment Priest, Rest in Peace, Council's Judgment, Generous Gift, and Teferi's Protection are role cards depending on whether the opponent wins through graveyard, battlefield permanent, or one lethal turn.

- Creature combo: Stop the enabling creature before spending removal on value bodies. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Soul Partition, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Loran of the Third Path, Cathar Commando, and Unexplained Absence should answer visible combo pieces, not incidental attackers. Containment Priest, Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, Farewell, and Flawless Maneuver are role cards when the opponent can force a board exchange.

- Artifact acceleration or artifact combo: Decide whether Stony Silence harms the opponent more than it harms your own Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Urza's Saga, Karn, the Great Creator, and Walking Ballista. Priority targets are artifact engines, activated artifacts, mana rocks powering a decisive turn, or commanders that convert artifacts into wins. Stony Silence, Austere Command, Farewell, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment are role cards.

- Graveyard recursion: Shut off the graveyard before trying to out-grind it with Serra Paragon or Sevinne's Reclamation. Grafdigger's Cage is the main-deck hate, while Rest in Peace, Containment Priest, Farewell, Angel's Grace, and Council's Judgment cover deeper recursion, reanimation, or delayed lethal turns. Priority targets are visible reanimation targets, sacrifice loops, graveyard-casting permissions, and permanents that repeatedly stock or use graveyards.

- Control and removal-heavy decks: Present sticky, diverse threats while protecting only the permanent that changes the clock or card economy. Giada, Font of Hope, Flowering of the White Tree, Folk Hero, Trouble in Pairs, Luminarch Ascension, Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Voice of Victory, and Cavern of Souls are important. Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, and Angel's Grace are role cards when sweepers or protected finishers are visible.

- Creature swarms: Stabilize first with flying blockers, lifegain, taxation, and selective sweepers. Archangel of Tithes, Blind Obedience, Angel of Invention, Lyra Dawnbringer, Righteous Valkyrie, Archangel of Thune, Winds of Abandon, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Giada, Font of Hope counters matter more than small chip attacks. Austere Command, Farewell, Flawless Maneuver, Teferi's Protection, and Generous Gift are role cards, but keep enough creatures to rebuild and pressure after a reset.

- Big mana and permanent-heavy midrange: Attack mana or payoff permanents before committing slow closers. Strip Mine, Aven Mindcensor, Archon of Emeria, Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs, Battle Angels of Tyr, Karn, the Great Creator, Soul Partition, and Unexplained Absence are priority tools. Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, Austere Command, Farewell, and Stony Silence are role cards when public permanents are the engine.

- Enchantment-heavy boards: Keep Cathar Commando, Loran of the Third Path, Witch Enchanter, March of Otherworldly Light, Unexplained Absence, and Soul Partition in mind before moving into sweepers. Austere Command and Farewell are strongest when several enchantments matter at once; Generous Gift and Council's Judgment are better when one commander, shrine-style engine, or protection piece is the actual problem.

- Single protected commander or finisher: Preserve premium answers until the relevant permanent appears or until the legal action window would be lost. Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, Soul Partition, Unexplained Absence, March of Otherworldly Light, Bovine Intervention, Generous Gift, and Council's Judgment should line up with the permanent type and protection profile. Do not spend protection from Mother of Runes or Alseid of Life's Bounty on low-impact pressure if the opponent's commander will demand removal next turn.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: The deck has explosive but fragile mana from Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, Gemstone Caverns, Remote Farm, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. Avoid keeps that require sacrificing too many resources unless Giada, Font of Hope, a rule piece, or a protected payoff is already castable.

- Matchup risk: Rule effects can be low-impact against fair creature boards. Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, and Drannith Magistrate should not delay stabilization when the visible problem is attackers, commander damage, or a battlefield engine.

- Draw risk: White card advantage is conditional, so do not trade Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Trouble in Pairs, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Wojek Investigator, Minas Tirith, War Room, or Geier Reach Sanitarium too casually. Card text check required for Wojek Investigator and Lightstall Inquisitor; use their tactical roles only when the rules engine exposes legal text or actions.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Containment Priest, Farewell, and Austere Command can undercut your own artifact mana, Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, creature board, or Walking Ballista. Add them only when the opponent's revealed axis is more important than the self-damage.

- Graveyard risk: Rest in Peace and Farewell can erase your recursion plan, while relying on Serra Paragon or Sevinne's Reclamation into opposing graveyard hate can waste tempo. Prefer battlefield pressure when graveyards are contested or locked.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Giada, Font of Hope encourages committing multiple Angels, but sweepers punish overextension. Hold Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Mother of Runes, or a recursion follow-up when the opponent signals mass removal.

- Closer risk: Angel of Destiny, Luminarch Ascension, Walking Ballista, Archangel of Thune, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Lyra Dawnbringer, Battle Angels of Tyr, and large Giada, Font of Hope boards close differently. Do not chase a slow closer when combat math, commander tax, or a single removal spell makes the line fragile.

- Interaction risk: Spending Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Soul Partition, Reprieve, Silence, or Ranger-Captain of Eos too early can leave no answer for the decisive turn. Use visible priority, stack contents, and known public resources to separate nuisance plays from lethal or engine plays.

- Sequencing risk: Cast Giada, Font of Hope before Angels when safe, but cast hate first when the opponent can win before Giada matters. Sequence Cavern of Souls, Pearl Medallion, Starnheim Aspirant, Flowering of the White Tree, and mana rocks around rule effects so your own one-spell turns still advance the board.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Identify whether the game was won or lost by early Giada, Font of Hope pressure, rule effects, lifegain scaling, card velocity, protected combat, or one decisive interaction window. Record the turn where the outcome became hard to reverse.

- Mulligans: Check whether the opener had castable mana, a reason to keep explosive mana, and a realistic first permanent. Flag hands that kept Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, or Gemstone Caverns without enough follow-up material.

- Mana: Record whether white sources, fast mana, commander tax, and one-spell rule effects aligned. Note games where Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Pearl Medallion, Starnheim Aspirant, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Remote Farm, or Cavern of Souls changed sequencing.

- Velocity: Ask whether Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Trouble in Pairs, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Minas Tirith, War Room, Geier Reach Sanitarium, or Wojek Investigator produced enough cards to keep pace. Card text check required for Wojek Investigator before assigning blame or credit.

- Engine timing: Review whether Giada, Font of Hope entered before Angels when safe, or whether Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, Blind Obedience, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, or Aven Mindcensor should have come first.

- Removal discipline: Check whether Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Winds of Abandon, Soul Partition, Reprieve, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Bovine Intervention, Witch Enchanter, Loran of the Third Path, Cathar Commando, or Unexplained Absence answered the decisive threat instead of a nuisance.

- Combat: Ask whether flying attacks advanced the clock without exposing needed blockers. Review Angel of Invention, Lyra Dawnbringer, Archangel of Thune, Righteous Valkyrie, Angel of Vitality, Archangel of Tithes, Battle Angels of Tyr, Serra Ascendant, Segovian Angel, Youthful Valkyrie, and Thraben Watcher for attack/block impact.

- Closing: Record whether Angel of Destiny, Luminarch Ascension, Walking Ballista, Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Archangel of Thune, Flowering of the White Tree, Herald of War, or a wide Giada, Font of Hope board actually closed before opponents recovered.

- Protection: Review whether Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Flowering of the White Tree, Voice of Victory, Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, or Angel's Grace protected a decisive board or was held too long.

- Sideboard: Check whether Rest in Peace, Stony Silence, Containment Priest, Austere Command, Farewell, Generous Gift, Teferi's Protection, Angel's Grace, Flawless Maneuver, or Council's Judgment addressed the opponent's revealed axis without damaging Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, artifact mana, or creature pressure more than it helped.

- Stranded cards: List every card that stayed uncast or unused because of mana, timing, rule effects, missing targets, or low impact. Pay special attention to Karn, the Great Creator, Search for Glory, Enlightened Tutor, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, Lightstall Inquisitor, and Angel of Jubilation; Card text check required where runtime text was unavailable.

- Mistakes: Mark any pass into a known lethal turn, missed land drop, missed commander recast, unnecessary commander tax exposure, premature tutor, low-impact graveyard hate, or removal spent before a more dangerous public permanent appeared.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Separate cards that were powerful because of this matchup from cards that were generally strong. Record whether the pilot's role choice made a card look better or worse.

## First Tuning Questions

- Mana density: Does the deck need more stable white mana, or are losses mostly from hands that misuse fast mana? Compare games involving Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, Crystal Vein, Remote Farm, Gemstone Caverns, Chrome Mox, Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Pearl Medallion, and Starnheim Aspirant.

- Early setup: Is the deck too dependent on resolving Giada, Font of Hope early, or can Serra Ascendant, Esper Sentinel, Mother of Runes, Archivist of Oghma, Deafening Silence, Drannith Magistrate, Grafdigger's Cage, and Blind Obedience create enough pressure or disruption without the commander?

- Rule package: Are Deafening Silence, Rule of Law, Eidolon of Rhetoric, Archon of Emeria, Drannith Magistrate, Aven Mindcensor, Grafdigger's Cage, and Linvala, Keeper of Silence winning time, or are they conflicting with the deck's need to build a lethal Angel board?

- Angel threat mix: Are Angel of Destiny, Angel of Invention, Angel of Jubilation, Angel of Vitality, Archangel of Thune, Archangel of Tithes, Battle Angels of Tyr, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Dazzling Angel, Exemplar of Light, Herald of War, Lyra Dawnbringer, Righteous Valkyrie, Thraben Watcher, and Youthful Valkyrie the right spread of payoff, stabilization, and closing power?

- Card velocity: Are Trouble in Pairs, Chivalric Alliance, Folk Hero, Esper Sentinel, Archivist of Oghma, Wojek Investigator, Minas Tirith, War Room, and Geier Reach Sanitarium enough, or do losses show the deck emptying its hand before closing?

- Interaction balance: Does the main deck have enough universal answers before sideboarding, or are Generous Gift, Council's Judgment, Austere Command, and Farewell needed too often? Track whether Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Winds of Abandon, Soul Partition, Bovine Intervention, Witch Enchanter, Loran of the Third Path, Cathar Commando, and Unexplained Absence cover the real threats.

- Protection slots: Are Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, Voice of Victory, Silence, Ranger-Captain of Eos, Reprieve, Flowering of the White Tree, Teferi's Protection, Flawless Maneuver, and Angel's Grace preventing decisive losses, or are they stranded when the deck is behind on board?

- Graveyard plan: Does Rest in Peace solve more problems than it creates with Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation? Decide from games where graveyard hate was drawn early, drawn late, or unavailable.

- Artifact conflict: Is Stony Silence worth sideboard space when it can shut down Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Walking Ballista, and Urza's Saga lines? Use only games against artifact engines to answer.

- Closer quality: Are Angel of Destiny, Luminarch Ascension, Walking Ballista with Heliod, Sun-Crowned, Archangel of Thune lifegain scaling, Battle Angels of Tyr, and tall Giada, Font of Hope combat enough to end games, or does the deck stabilize without finishing?

- Role conflicts: Is the deck trying to be hatebears, Angel tribal midrange, lifegain combo-pressure, or prison-control in too many games at once? Tune only after identifying which role actually wins the most post-board games.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Keep Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan; pregame; mana
- Cards: Giada, Font of Hope; Plains; Ancient Tomb; City of Traitors; Crystal Vein; Gemstone Caverns; Sol Ring; Arcane Signet; Mox Diamond; Chrome Mox; Lotus Petal; Mana Vault
- Phase windows: opening hand, pregame, mulligan decisions
- Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; action:keep; action:mulligan
- Use when: the opening hand decision is pending with visible lands, fast mana, commander access, and early action count known.
- Avoid when: the hand has no reliable white source and no legal path to cast an early setup card.
- Instructions: Keep hands that cast Giada, Font of Hope or a disruptive one- or two-mana permanent quickly while retaining follow-up pressure. Mulligan hands that only make colorless mana, hands that spend all resources without a second spell, or hands that cannot affect the table before faster decks develop.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Giada Setup
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mana; priority
- Cards: Giada, Font of Hope; Cavern of Souls; Mother of Runes; Alseid of Life's Bounty; Voice of Victory
- Phase windows: main phase, early turns, commander recast windows
- Runtime cues: action:cast Giada, Font of Hope
- Use when: Giada, Font of Hope is legally castable and the visible board does not show a higher-priority survival action.
- Avoid when: casting Giada, Font of Hope walks into a visible tax, silence, combat loss, or removes mana needed for known interaction this turn.
- Instructions: Treat Giada, Font of Hope as the default early engine because later Angels scale with her counters and mana. Prefer protection first only when Mother of Runes, Alseid of Life's Bounty, or Voice of Victory is already legal and the table shows immediate targeted removal pressure.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fast Mana Deployment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; priority
- Cards: Sol Ring; Mana Vault; Arcane Signet; Pearl Medallion; Mox Amber; Mox Diamond; Chrome Mox; Lotus Petal; Ancient Tomb; City of Traitors; Crystal Vein; Remote Farm
- Phase windows: precombat main phase, early turns, commander recast turns
- Runtime cues: action:cast Sol Ring; action:cast Arcane Signet; action:play Ancient Tomb
- Use when: a legal mana action increases available mana this turn or enables Giada, Font of Hope, a rule piece, or a protected Angel next turn.
- Avoid when: the action consumes the only white card, sacrifices the only stable land, or exposes City of Traitors before its mana is needed.
- Instructions: Convert burst mana into board position, not empty acceleration. Preserve Lotus Petal, Crystal Vein, and City of Traitors when they are the only bridge to interaction or a protected commander recast.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Prison Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; interaction
- Cards: Deafening Silence; Rule of Law; Eidolon of Rhetoric; Archon of Emeria; Drannith Magistrate; Grafdigger's Cage; Blind Obedience; Linvala, Keeper of Silence; Aven Mindcensor
- Phase windows: main phase before opponents' explosive turns, priority with stack empty
- Runtime cues: action:cast Deafening Silence; action:cast Rule of Law; action:cast Drannith Magistrate
- Use when: a legal rule permanent constrains an opponent's visible or archetype-implied development more than it constrains this deck's one-threat-per-turn plan.
- Avoid when: the rule permanent prevents the pilot's necessary catch-up line, shuts off current recursion, or delays lethal pressure while behind on board.
- Instructions: Commit prison pieces before large Angels when stopping multiple spells, graveyard casting, activated abilities, or search effects is the reason the current hand wins. Do not treat all hate as interchangeable; match the permanent to the opponent's public axis.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Angel Curve After Giada
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; priority; combat
- Cards: Youthful Valkyrie; Segovian Angel; Angel of Vitality; Righteous Valkyrie; Lyra Dawnbringer; Archangel of Thune; Battle Angels of Tyr; Angel of Invention; Archangel of Tithes; Herald of War; Thraben Watcher
- Phase windows: main phase, post-Giada development, precombat planning
- Runtime cues: action:cast Youthful Valkyrie; action:cast Righteous Valkyrie; action:cast Lyra Dawnbringer
- Use when: an Angel spell is legal and board development is more important than holding mana for interaction.
- Avoid when: a visible sweeper, lethal attack, or must-answer permanent requires protection or removal first.
- Instructions: Sequence Angels to maximize Giada, Font of Hope counters and immediate stabilization. Prefer lifelink, anthem, or tax bodies when under pressure; prefer scaling threats when opponents are constrained by rule pieces.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Lifegain Payoff Commitment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority; combat; selection
- Cards: Heliod, Sun-Crowned; Archangel of Thune; Righteous Valkyrie; Angel of Vitality; Angel of Destiny; Serra Ascendant; Lyra Dawnbringer; Walking Ballista
- Phase windows: main phase, combat, end step, lethal setup turns
- Runtime cues: action:cast Heliod, Sun-Crowned; action:cast Walking Ballista; action:attack with Angel of Destiny
- Use when: visible life totals, lifelink attackers, counters, and mana make a lifegain payoff materially advance a kill or stabilize a short clock.
- Avoid when: the payoff does not affect the board before opponents can untap with known pressure.
- Instructions: Use lifegain as a clock and counter engine, not just a buffer. Check whether Heliod, Sun-Crowned plus Walking Ballista is actually legal and sufficient from visible counters and mana before treating it as a finish.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Ballista Damage
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; combat
- Cards: Walking Ballista
- Phase windows: priority with Walking Ballista ability legal, combat damage prevention windows, end-step lethal windows
- Runtime cues: action:target opponent Walking Ballista
- Use when: a legal Walking Ballista action explicitly targets an opponent and visible damage from the action is enough to reduce that opponent's life to 0 or less.
- Avoid when: visible prevention, protection, redirection, tax, or insufficient counters makes the action nonlethal.
- Instructions: Choose the opponent-targeting Walking Ballista damage action only when the legal action text and visible life total establish lethal damage.
- Pilot skill floor: beginner
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal Triage Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Swords to Plowshares; Path to Exile; Solitude; March of Otherworldly Light; Winds of Abandon; Soul Partition; Bovine Intervention; Unexplained Absence; Witch Enchanter; Loran of the Third Path; Cathar Commando
- Phase windows: opponent combo turn, combat, end step, own main phase for sorcery-speed options
- Runtime cues: action:cast Swords to Plowshares; action:cast Path to Exile; action:cast Solitude
- Use when: a public permanent, attacker, stack object, or activated engine threatens lethal, invalidates the Angel board, or breaks the rule-lock plan.
- Avoid when: the target is a low-impact nuisance and a more dangerous visible card is likely to require the answer before the next untap.
- Instructions: Spend premium exile on commanders, combo creatures, and attackers that change the race. Use temporary exile or bounce-style answers when tempo is enough or when permanent removal must be saved.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission And Silence Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Silence; Reprieve; Ranger-Captain of Eos; Voice of Victory
- Phase windows: upkeep, precombat main phase, opponent combo setup, stack interaction windows
- Runtime cues: action:cast Silence; action:cast Reprieve; action:activate Ranger-Captain of Eos
- Use when: a legal permission or silence action stops a decisive opposing turn, protects a lethal attack, or forces through a critical permanent.
- Avoid when: the opponent has already spent the relevant spell for the turn under a rule effect or the action only delays an insignificant spell.
- Instructions: Use Silence effects proactively when the deck is about to commit a fragile board or lethal combat. Use Reprieve on the spell that matters now, not merely the first legal spell.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Protection Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; combat; priority
- Cards: Mother of Runes; Alseid of Life's Bounty; Flowering of the White Tree; Teferi's Protection; Flawless Maneuver; Angel's Grace
- Phase windows: targeted removal, sweeper turns, combat, lethal stack windows
- Runtime cues: action:activate Mother of Runes; action:cast Teferi's Protection; action:cast Flawless Maneuver; action:cast Angel's Grace
- Use when: a legal protection action preserves lethal pressure, prevents losing this turn, or saves Giada, Font of Hope plus multiple invested Angels.
- Avoid when: protection only saves a replaceable creature and leaves the pilot unable to answer the actual threat.
- Instructions: Protect board states that are winning or necessary to survive. Do not spend broad protection before checking whether a narrow Mother of Runes or Alseid of Life's Bounty action covers the visible problem.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Attack Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Angel of Destiny; Battle Angels of Tyr; Serra Ascendant; Lyra Dawnbringer; Archangel of Thune; Archangel of Tithes; Angel of Invention; Thraben Watcher; Segovian Angel
- Phase windows: declare attackers, precombat main phase planning
- Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers; action:attack with
- Use when: attackers are legal and visible blockers, crack-back damage, lifegain triggers, and commander damage race can be evaluated.
- Avoid when: attacking removes the only blocker against visible lethal or exposes a key Angel to a public combat trick.
- Instructions: Attack to shorten the game when flying bodies are favored and lifelink stabilizes the race. Hold back when Archangel of Tithes taxes attacks better than extra damage.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Block Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: combat; interaction
- Cards: Mother of Runes; Alseid of Life's Bounty; Angel of Invention; Lyra Dawnbringer; Righteous Valkyrie; Archangel of Thune; Beza, the Bounding Spring
- Phase windows: declare blockers, before combat damage, lethal combat
- Runtime cues: prompt:declare blockers; action:block with
- Use when: legal blocks can prevent lethal, preserve a key engine, or trade expendable material for a threatening attacker.
- Avoid when: blocking sacrifices Giada, Font of Hope or the only payoff without preventing a decisive amount of damage.
- Instructions: Prioritize survival first, then preserve Giada and scaling Angels, then trade small creatures for tempo. Recheck protection abilities before accepting unfavorable combat.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tutor And Selection Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; priority
- Cards: Enlightened Tutor; Search for Glory; Ranger-Captain of Eos; Urza's Saga; Karn, the Great Creator
- Phase windows: upkeep, main phase, end step before untap, search resolution prompts
- Runtime cues: action:cast Enlightened Tutor; action:cast Search for Glory; prompt:search
- Use when: a legal selection action can find a missing engine, lock piece, protection piece, mana piece, or closer from visible needs.
- Avoid when: the tutor target is speculative and current board survival requires spending mana elsewhere.
- Instructions: Let the visible problem choose the search role: rule piece against spell chains, protection before committing Angels, mana when stuck, payoff when the lock is active. Card text check required for any runtime target not shown by Forge.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Draw Engine Timing
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: priority; selection
- Cards: Esper Sentinel; Archivist of Oghma; Trouble in Pairs; Chivalric Alliance; Folk Hero; Minas Tirith; War Room; Geier Reach Sanitarium; Wojek Investigator
- Phase windows: main phase, end step, low-pressure priority windows
- Runtime cues: action:activate War Room; action:activate Geier Reach Sanitarium; action:cast Trouble in Pairs
- Use when: legal card-advantage actions do not compromise survival, commander development, or needed interaction.
- Avoid when: drawing or looting spends mana required for a known tax, protection action, or removal spell.
- Instructions: Develop passive draw before expensive Angels when the hand lacks follow-up. Use War Room and Minas Tirith in windows where mana would otherwise go unused. Card text check required for Wojek Investigator.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Recursion Commitment Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; priority
- Cards: Serra Paragon; Sevinne's Reclamation; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; Witch Enchanter
- Phase windows: main phase, graveyard selection prompts, recovery after removal
- Runtime cues: action:cast Sevinne's Reclamation; action:cast Serra Paragon
- Use when: a legal recursion action returns a land, protection piece, rule piece, or threat that directly addresses the visible game state.
- Avoid when: Rest in Peace is active, graveyard access is blocked, or the recursion target is lower impact than casting from hand.
- Instructions: Rebuild from the graveyard only when the returned card matters this turn or next turn. Preserve Sevinne's Reclamation for multi-permanent recovery when a single land is not urgent.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Commander Cast
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; priority
- Cards: Giada, Font of Hope
- Phase windows: main phase with stack empty
- Runtime cues: action:cast Giada, Font of Hope
- Use when: Giada, Font of Hope is the only legal nonland cast action and the pilot is not facing visible lethal before the next priority window.
- Avoid when: any legal removal, protection, block, or life-saving action is also present in the legal action list.
- Instructions: Submit the legal cast action for Giada, Font of Hope when it is the sole spell development action and no visible survival action competes.
- Pilot skill floor: beginner
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Rest in Peace; Stony Silence; Containment Priest; Austere Command; Farewell; Generous Gift; Teferi's Protection; Angel's Grace; Flawless Maneuver; Council's Judgment
- Phase windows: sideboard lock, between games
- Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; action:submit sideboard
- Use when: sideboarding is legal and opponent strategy, public game log, or matchup label identifies graveyard, artifact, creature-combo, sweeper, protected-permanent, or one-turn survival needs.
- Avoid when: a sideboard role card attacks the opponent weakly while disabling this deck's stronger active plan.
- Instructions: Bring in only role cards that answer the opponent's proven axis. Respect conflicts: Rest in Peace weakens Serra Paragon and Sevinne's Reclamation, Stony Silence weakens artifact mana plus Walking Ballista, and Farewell can erase your own recovery if chosen too early.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Sideboard Lock Submission
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Rest in Peace; Stony Silence; Containment Priest; Austere Command; Farewell; Generous Gift; Teferi's Protection; Angel's Grace; Flawless Maneuver; Council's Judgment
- Phase windows: sideboard submission after a plan is selected
- Runtime cues: action:submit sideboard
- Use when: the selected sideboard plan exactly matches the legal registered sideboard inventory and every removed card is an exact registered main-deck card.
- Avoid when: any card name, count, or zone differs from the registered inventory.
- Instructions: Submit the validated sideboard action without inventing alternate swaps. If validation fails, request light-model review rather than altering names or counts.
- Pilot skill floor: beginner
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Narrow Hate Commitment Check
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Rest in Peace; Stony Silence; Containment Priest; Angel's Grace
- Phase windows: sideboard lock, between games
- Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; opponent_axis:graveyard; opponent_axis:artifact; opponent_axis:cheat_creature; opponent_axis:lethal_turn
- Use when: the public game record proves that one narrow hate card materially changes the opponent's primary path to winning.
- Avoid when: the hate card is only generally useful, conflicts with Serra Paragon, Sevinne's Reclamation, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mana Vault, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, Urza's Saga, or Walking Ballista, or leaves Giada, Font of Hope without enough pressure.
- Instructions: Prefer the least self-damaging hate that answers the proven axis, and keep enough Angels and protection creatures for Giada, Font of Hope to end the game after the opponent is slowed.
- Pilot skill floor: advanced
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Protection And Reset Balance
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Austere Command; Farewell; Teferi's Protection; Flawless Maneuver; Generous Gift; Council's Judgment
- Phase windows: sideboard lock, between games
- Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; opponent_axis:sweeper; opponent_axis:go-wide; opponent_axis:permanent_engine; opponent_axis:protected_commander
- Use when: public boards or game logs show that one-for-one interaction is not enough, or that the opponent's key permanent must be answered through protection, hexproof-like constraints, or sweeper pressure.
- Avoid when: the matchup is a pure race where adding expensive reactive cards makes Giada, Font of Hope slower without improving survival.
- Instructions: Choose reset effects for wide or multi-permanent boards, protection for sweeper-heavy games, and flexible exile or removal for single protected engines. Do not overload on reactive cards in fair matchups unless the opponent's battlefield plan has already beaten the main deck's Angel pressure.
- Pilot skill floor: intermediate
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
