# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

- Deck identity: Spy Combo is a Pauper graveyard-combo/reanimator deck built around resolving Balustrade Spy, loading the graveyard, and converting that graveyard into a Dread Return line for Lotleth Giant when the rules engine presents that legal route. Treat the deck as a proactive combo deck first, a creature-mana engine deck second, and a defensive creature deck only when visible pressure or disruption makes racing unsafe.

- Format and validation status: the active format is Pauper, the registered main deck is exactly 60 cards, the registered sideboard is exactly 15 cards, and the supplied validation contract says the list passes current format-aware validation. The pilot must still follow Veles legal actions at runtime; a passing registration does not imply every desired line is currently legal, payable, targetable, or safe.

- Tags: use normalized strategy tags `combo`, `graveyard`, and `reanimator`; the duplicated supplied tag string does not create separate tactical roles. The meaningful runtime distinction is whether the current game is in setup, commitment, payoff execution, or emergency creature-combat mode.

- Stock status: classify this list as a rogue or hybrid Pauper Spy Combo build, not as a fully stock metagame shell. The deck combines Balustrade Spy and Dread Return with a high creature count, defender mana from Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, and Gatecreeper Vine, land access from Land Grant, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm, and backup pressure or utility from Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Nyxborn Hydra, Quirion Ranger, and Mesmeric Fiend.

- Main-deck role concern: do not pilot this as generic Golgari midrange just because it can cast creatures. Lead the Stampede and Winding Way are primarily density and recovery tools for finding the creature-mana engine, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return support, or enough bodies to make the graveyard plan functional; they are not permission to ignore combo timing.

- Mana concern: the registered deck has only Forest and Swamp as conventional lands, so opening-hand evaluation must treat Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, defender creatures, and Quirion Ranger as part of the functional mana system. Prioritize green setup early, but preserve access to black when Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, sideboard Pilfer, sideboard Cast Down, or hard-cast Lotleth Giant lines are visible or strategically required.

- Legality concern: Dread Return, Balustrade Spy, Lotleth Giant, Land Grant, Winding Way, Lead the Stampede, and creature sacrifice lines must be chosen only from actual engine-enumerated actions. The agent must not assume a self-mill, flashback, target, mana payment, or sacrifice sequence exists until Veles exposes the exact legal action or a deterministic target policy safely matches the visible action text.

- Sideboard identity: the sideboard shifts the same core deck rather than transforming it. Cast Down, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, Healer of the Glade, Flaring Pain, and extra Nyxborn Hydra should be evaluated as matchup tools that buy a safer combo window, answer a specific public obstacle, protect against graveyard or hand disruption, or create a survivable backup plan.

- Opponent information status: opponent knowledge is archetype-level unless Veles provides a specific strategy profile, public zone contents, revealed cards, sideboard stage, or logged decision history. Use visible board state, public graveyards and exile, known revealed information, and legal action text over assumptions about hidden cards; if an opposing card is only a metagame example, keep it out of policy `Cards:` fields unless it is explicitly marked as `opponent:` elsewhere in the guide.

## Thesis

- Assemble a creature-mana engine first, then choose a Balustrade Spy commitment only when Veles shows the self-target, mana, sacrifice, and payoff path is legal or the visible state says waiting is more dangerous than moving now. This exact list wins by using Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Land Grant, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm to create enough mana and library access to set up Balustrade Spy, then converting the graveyard into Dread Return for Lotleth Giant when the rules engine exposes that line.

- Prioritize land management because this registered build contains Forest and Swamp, so Balustrade Spy is not automatically a full-library mill. Use Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm as functional setup pieces that can improve mana and reduce the chance that Balustrade Spy stops too early, but do not assume the library is landless unless visible information proves it.

- Win by reaching a deterministic payoff state, not by casting every creature on curve. The ideal arc is green setup into defender mana, velocity through Lead the Stampede or Winding Way, protected commitment through Mesmeric Fiend or visible opponent shields being down, Balustrade Spy targeting self, then Dread Return targeting Lotleth Giant if legal sacrifices, graveyard contents, and target text are exposed.

- Preserve bodies because creatures are mana, protection, sacrifice material, and backup pressure at the same time. Avoid low-impact trades with Saruli Caretaker, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, and spare creatures unless the visible board makes survival impossible without blocking.

- Use the backup combat plan only when the combo is delayed, disrupted, or not yet legal. Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and hard-cast Lotleth Giant can matter as threats or stabilizers, but the agent should not drift into fair combat when Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Balustrade Spy, or Dread Return can assemble a nearer kill.

- Do not invent hidden-card reads, Dread Return legality, sacrifice availability, or Lotleth Giant damage certainty. Respect public graveyards, exile, life totals, visible blockers, known revealed cards, and current legal actions; if the exact combo action is absent, choose the best legal setup, protection, interaction, selection, or survival action instead.

## Role Package

- Threats: Balustrade Spy is the commitment creature and self-mill enabler; Lotleth Giant is the main graveyard payoff; Sagu Wildling, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and hard-cast Lotleth Giant are backup pressure when combo execution is unavailable. Card text check required for Nyxborn Hydra before relying on exact combat keywords, sizing, or bestow-style play patterns.

- Payoffs: Dread Return plus Lotleth Giant is the primary payoff package, and it should be treated as a rules-engine-confirmed line rather than an assumed shortcut. Balustrade Spy also becomes a payoff when targeting self is legal and the library/graveyard state makes the mill strategically decisive.

- Engines: Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and Quirion Ranger form the creature-mana infrastructure that lets the deck jump from setup into Balustrade Spy or a high-impact selection turn. Protect Overgrown Battlement especially when it represents multiple mana through visible defenders.

- Velocity: Lead the Stampede and Winding Way are the main ways to recover density, find missing creatures, or rebuild after disruption. Use them to locate engine creatures, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return support, and sacrifice bodies; avoid firing them over a legal win unless the current line is missing required pieces.

- Interaction: Mesmeric Fiend is main-deck disruption that can clear or reveal a safer combo window when Veles exposes legal hand-attack choices. Masked Vandal is conditional artifact/enchantment interaction when the required cost and target are legal. Sideboard Cast Down, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, and Flaring Pain add removal, disruption, graveyard utility, permanent interaction, or damage-prevention pressure depending on visible matchup needs; Card text check required for Voracious Varmint and Flaring Pain before asserting exact tactical outcomes.

- Protection: Mesmeric Fiend and sideboard Pilfer protect the combo by attacking the opponent's hand when legal choices are exposed. Extra sideboard Mesmeric Fiend increases this protection role in disruption-heavy matchups, while Healer of the Glade protects the life total against fast damage decks.

- Recursion: Dread Return is the registered recursion card and must be saved for high-value targets unless Veles shows a forced or clearly superior legal action. Lotleth Giant is the default target for the kill plan, while emergency recursion choices require light-model reasoning from current graveyard, battlefield, life total, and visible pressure.

- Mana: Forest and Swamp are the conventional lands, while Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Gatecreeper Vine, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, and Quirion Ranger are the functional mana module. Prioritize green early, preserve black for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return contexts, Cast Down, Pilfer, or Lotleth Giant when those actions are visible.

- Sideboard modules: Cast Down answers creature pressure; Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer increase hand disruption; Healer of the Glade buys time; Jack-o'-Lantern supports graveyard interaction or graveyard-resource play when legal; Voracious Varmint covers a permanent-interaction role pending card-text confirmation; Flaring Pain is for prevention or damage-lock scenarios pending card-text confirmation; extra Nyxborn Hydra supports slower threat or resilience plans after card-text verification.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Primary line: build green creature mana, resolve Balustrade Spy targeting self when legal, then use Dread Return to return Lotleth Giant and target opponent if the rules engine exposes the payoff action. The setup wants Forest or Land Grant access, early Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, or Quirion Ranger, and enough bodies to both cast Balustrade Spy and supply Dread Return sacrifice material after the mill.

- Prioritize Balustrade Spy commitment when visible mana, sacrifice bodies, graveyard contents, and opponent shields make waiting worse than acting. This is especially true when the opponent has a lethal or near-lethal clock, when Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer effects have cleared a known disruptive card, when the opponent is tapped low, or when Lead the Stampede and Winding Way have already found enough creatures that another setup turn mostly exposes the deck to removal or graveyard hate.

- Execute the combo through legal prompts instead of assumed shortcuts. Choose Balustrade Spy as the spell only if black mana and any required costs are legal; choose target self only when Veles exposes that target; choose Dread Return only when the graveyard and sacrifice requirements are legal; choose Lotleth Giant as the default payoff target only when the target appears as a legal graveyard choice; choose target opponent for Lotleth Giant only when that target action is offered.

- Respect the land-stop risk because this registered list contains Forest and Swamp. Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm can improve mana and thin lands before Balustrade Spy, but do not assume Balustrade Spy mills the entire library unless visible library information or prior actions prove the remaining land count supports that line.

- Protect the main line with Mesmeric Fiend when the opponent has unknown or revealed interaction and the clock allows one more setup action. Mesmeric Fiend is strongest before the commitment turn, after selection has found Balustrade Spy or Dread Return, or when taking one visible answer makes the next legal combo action much safer.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Secondary pressure wins by converting large creatures and accumulated bodies into combat damage when Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant is delayed, removed, exiled, or not yet legal. Sagu Wildling, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and hard-cast Lotleth Giant are the relevant bodies; Card text check required before relying on exact Nyxborn Hydra combat sizing or alternate casting details.

- Prioritize backup combat when the opponent has visible graveyard hate, when Dread Return is unavailable, when Balustrade Spy has already been answered, or when selection keeps finding threats instead of payoff structure. Use Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and Quirion Ranger to accelerate hard casts rather than trading them off unless blocking is required for survival.

- Use Lead the Stampede and Winding Way as rebuild engines after discard, removal, or a failed commitment. Lead the Stampede is usually better when the deck needs multiple creature bodies for mana, sacrifice, and pressure; Winding Way is useful when the named card type can convert the current hand into a new engine or graveyard setup, but the final choice must follow the visible legal prompt.

- Use Masked Vandal as interaction plus pressure when a legal artifact or enchantment target matters more than preserving the body. Do not spend Masked Vandal on a low-impact target if the visible board says the deck needs another creature for Overgrown Battlement mana, Dread Return sacrifice count, or a future combat pivot.

- Use hard-cast Lotleth Giant as a fair finisher when enough mana is available and the graveyard contains a meaningful creature count, but do not assume lethal damage without checking the legal target, public graveyard, and opponent life total. If Dread Return is gone, Lotleth Giant can still end games through normal casting with the defender-mana engine.

## Emergency Lines

- When behind on life, prioritize survival bodies and life-buffer sideboard cards over greedy selection unless a legal combo line wins immediately. Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and Healer of the Glade can buy time through blocking or life gain, but avoid blocking with the last required mana or sacrifice body if the next turn presents a visible kill.

- When behind on board, stabilize first with blockers, Cast Down after sideboard, or a legal Masked Vandal target if the permanent is driving the pressure. Preserve Overgrown Battlement when possible because one untap with multiple defenders can jump directly from defense into Balustrade Spy or hard-cast Lotleth Giant.

- When behind on cards, choose Lead the Stampede or Winding Way over single low-impact creatures unless the creature completes mana, black access, or sacrifice count. Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and Gatecreeper Vine should be valued as functional card smoothing, not only as mana sources.

- When behind on mana, rebuild the engine before forcing the payoff. Prioritize Forest access, then defender density through Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, and Saruli Caretaker; use Quirion Ranger only when the visible land and creature state make the untap or replay pattern legal and materially improves the turn.

- When graveyard recursion is disrupted, pivot to hard-cast threats and selection instead of spending actions on dead Dread Return lines. Jack-o'-Lantern may matter after sideboard if Veles exposes legal graveyard choices, but its exact use must follow current targets and public graveyards.

- When win conditions are removed, reassess from visible zones. If Balustrade Spy is gone, become a defender-ramp creature deck with Lead the Stampede and Winding Way; if Dread Return is gone, plan for hard-cast Lotleth Giant or combat; if Lotleth Giant is gone, win through Sagu Wildling, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and accumulated board pressure.

## Resource Model

- Life is a spendable setup buffer only until the opponent’s visible clock makes the next turn uncertain. Take damage to preserve Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and Quirion Ranger when those bodies unlock Balustrade Spy, Dread Return sacrifice count, or hard-cast Lotleth Giant; trade or chump once the next attack threatens lethal or forces a lost combo window.

- Hand quality matters more than raw hand size because this deck needs linked pieces. Value hands and draw choices that combine green setup, black access, creature density, and a payoff path; a hand with Lead the Stampede or Winding Way but no functional mana is worse than a lower-card hand that casts early defenders.

- Mana converts directly into both combo speed and fair backup pressure. Overgrown Battlement is the strongest scaling engine when multiple defenders are visible, Wall of Roots can bridge early turns, Saruli Caretaker converts spare bodies into color, and Quirion Ranger can reuse the best creature or land pattern only when Veles shows the action as legal.

- Board presence is combo material before it is combat material. Preserve creatures when they represent mana, Dread Return sacrifice fodder, or post-mill Lotleth Giant damage; shift them into attackers or blockers only when the combo is delayed, the opponent is threatening lethal, or visible pressure makes fair combat the better route.

- Graveyard contents are a public resource that can become the win condition. Creature count in graveyard improves Lotleth Giant lines, Dread Return needs legal sacrifice material, and Masked Vandal may consume graveyard material for interaction; do not spend graveyard resources casually if the current route depends on them.

- Exile is usually a cost, answer zone, or warning sign rather than a resource engine. If Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant is exiled, pivot from the missing line immediately; if Masked Vandal or Jack-o'-Lantern asks for graveyard or exile-related choices, follow visible targets and avoid weakening the active win condition.

- Lands are scarce but strategically important because Balustrade Spy can stop on lands remaining in the library. Forest and Swamp enable the early game and black payoff turns, while Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and Gatecreeper Vine can change land access before a commitment; do not assume self-mill reaches Dread Return and Lotleth Giant unless visible library and prior land-search actions support that belief.

- Sacrifice fodder has a minimum threshold and a quality ranking. Keep expendable bodies available for Dread Return, but avoid sacrificing the only Overgrown Battlement, black enabler, or stabilizing blocker unless the resulting action is a legal kill or prevents immediate loss.

- Tempo is gained by compressing setup into fewer turns, not by emptying the hand blindly. Prioritize early mana creatures, defender density, and selection before expensive threats; use Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, Voracious Varmint, Healer of the Glade, Flaring Pain, Jack-o'-Lantern, and extra Nyxborn Hydra as matchup-specific resources only when their visible role is stronger than advancing the core engine.

- Information changes commitment timing. Treat revealed hands, public graveyards, visible mana, stack contents, and known sideboard cards as decision inputs; do not infer hidden removal, graveyard hate, or countermagic beyond archetype guidance unless Veles has exposed that information.

## Mana Guide

- Keep hands that produce early green mana and have a credible path to black access. A strong keep has Forest, Land Grant for Forest, Generous Ent access, Troll of Khazad-dûm access, Gatecreeper Vine, or enough creature mana to cast setup cards, plus a route toward Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, or hard-cast Lotleth Giant.

- Mulligan hands that cannot cast early green spells or cannot plausibly find black mana before the payoff turn. One-land Forest hands can be acceptable with Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, or multiple cheap setup creatures; one-land Swamp hands are suspect unless the visible hand already has a legal green path.

- Prioritize Forest access before Swamp unless black interaction or Balustrade Spy is already the next legal bottleneck. Forest casts the defender and selection core, while Swamp matters for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, and hard-cast Lotleth Giant.

- Sequence Land Grant before committing blind draw or selection choices when revealing the hand is acceptable and land access is the bottleneck. If opponent information or hand concealment matters, weigh the reveal cost against the risk of missing early mana; Veles should not assume hidden opponent punishment unless known from visible information.

- Use Generous Ent and Troll of Khazad-dûm as mana smoothing when the current hand lacks the required basic type or when thinning lands improves a later Balustrade Spy line. Keep them as castable threats when mana is already secure and the game is becoming a fair-board contest.

- Play lands before selection when the current turn needs the mana immediately or when Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm has already resolved the land choice. Delay the land drop until after Lead the Stampede or Winding Way when the current mana is sufficient and the best land choice depends on newly revealed creatures, black requirements, or whether a payoff becomes available.

- Spend creature mana to preserve future colors. When Saruli Caretaker or other legal sources can make black for Balustrade Spy or disruption, avoid consuming that source for generic green setup if another payment keeps black available.

- Preserve Overgrown Battlement untaps for high-impact turns. If Quirion Ranger can legally untap Overgrown Battlement or another key creature, use the pattern when it adds a full spell, enables Balustrade Spy, or keeps protection available; do not use it just to float unused mana.

- Treat tapped or utility land questions as mostly absent because the registered lands are Forest and Swamp. The practical utility choices are land-search timing, Forest return patterns with Quirion Ranger, and whether creature mana should be tapped now or saved for interaction, Dread Return setup, or post-selection lines.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keeps produce early green mana, add creature density, and show a credible payoff path. Keep hands such as Forest plus Overgrown Battlement plus Wall of Roots plus Lead the Stampede, or Land Grant plus Saruli Caretaker plus Gatecreeper Vine plus Winding Way, especially when Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm gives the hand a visible route to black access or a later kill.

- Medium keeps have mana and selection but need one draw or one reveal to become a real combo hand. A hand with Forest, Quirion Ranger, Sagu Wildling, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, and no black source is keepable on the draw more often than on the play if it casts selection quickly and can find Balustrade Spy or Gatecreeper Vine.

- Risky keeps are functional only if the first selection spell hits. Treat one-Forest hands with Winding Way or Lead the Stampede but no defender as matchup-dependent; they are stronger against slow decks and weaker against pressure, discard, or graveyard hate.

- Automatic ships fail to cast early green spells or rely on uncastable black cards. Ship hands like Swamp plus Balustrade Spy plus Lotleth Giant plus Dread Return plus Mesmeric Fiend with no Land Grant, Forest, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or cheap green creature path.

- Matchup-dependent keeps should respect the opponent's visible speed and interaction. Against fast creature starts, prefer Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Healer of the Glade after sideboard, or Cast Down after sideboard; against slower interaction decks, prefer Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer after sideboard, extra selection, and a faster Balustrade Spy path.

- Play/draw changes tolerance for missing pieces. On the play, keep hands that deploy a turn-one or turn-two mana creature over hands that only cast Lead the Stampede later; on the draw, accept slightly slower selection hands if they have two real mana sources or Land Grant plus a green spell.

- Trap hands look powerful but do not connect resources. Multiple Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, and Nyxborn Hydra without early green mana is not a keep; multiple Lead the Stampede and Winding Way without enough mana is not a keep; Masked Vandal without a visible opposing artifact or enchantment role is not a reason to keep a weak opener.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: establish green access before all other development. Prefer Forest, Land Grant for a needed basic when legal, Saruli Caretaker, Quirion Ranger, or a land-search setup line with Generous Ent or Troll of Khazad-dûm if Veles offers it and the hand lacks the required land type.

- Turn 1 deviation: use Mesmeric Fiend only when black is already legal and the opponent's visible or archetype pressure makes disruption better than mana development. Do not spend the first turn on a low-impact body if it delays Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine, Lead the Stampede, or Winding Way.

- Turn 2: build the mana engine and creature count. Prefer Overgrown Battlement when it is legal, then Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine for missing basic access, Saruli Caretaker with another creature, or Winding Way when the hand needs bodies more than immediate mana.

- Turn 2 deviation: cast Lead the Stampede over another small creature when the hand is low on follow-up creatures or lacks Balustrade Spy. Use Mesmeric Fiend or sideboard Pilfer when a revealed or likely interactive opponent can break up the combo and the hand already has enough mana.

- Turn 3: decide whether the game is a setup turn or a commitment turn. If mana, black access, and sacrifice material are present, prepare Balustrade Spy into Dread Return and Lotleth Giant; if one component is missing, prioritize Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or additional defenders.

- Turn 3 deviation: play Masked Vandal only when Veles shows a relevant artifact or enchantment target and paying its costs does not weaken the active Dread Return route. Cast Sagu Wildling or Nyxborn Hydra as board development when selection is exhausted, the opponent pressures life total, or the combo is delayed.

- Turns 4-5: convert accumulated mana into either the combo kill or a fair backup board. Balustrade Spy is the priority commitment when visible resources support self-mill into Dread Return and Lotleth Giant; otherwise, chain Lead the Stampede and Winding Way, deploy Generous Ent or Troll of Khazad-dûm as bodies when legal, and preserve three expendable creatures for Dread Return.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: interact before committing when the opponent has visible graveyard hate, lethal pressure, or a must-answer permanent. Use Cast Down, Voracious Varmint, Masked Vandal, Jack-o'-Lantern, Flaring Pain, or Mesmeric Fiend only according to legal actions and visible targets.

- Late game: reassess lost combo pieces and pivot quickly. If Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant is unavailable or exiled, win through creature pressure from Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Sagu Wildling, Nyxborn Hydra, and surviving defenders; if the combo remains live, conserve bodies, black mana, and graveyard count for the next legal commitment window.

## Card Roles

- Balustrade Spy: Treat Balustrade Spy as the primary commitment card, not a normal value creature. Cast it when legal black mana, graveyard payoff structure, and three creature bodies for Dread Return are visible or likely enough that waiting is worse; do not fire it into a board where the opponent has visible graveyard hate or where losing the library without a follow-up action strands the game. If Veles offers a target choice for Balustrade Spy in this deck's combo line, target self only when the legal action text clearly supports the self-mill plan.

- Dread Return: Treat Dread Return as the graveyard conversion spell that turns milled creatures into Lotleth Giant, not as a fair reanimation spell by default. Preserve three expendable creatures before the commitment turn, and avoid sacrificing unique mana pieces if the spell chain still needs mana after the flashback action. If Dread Return is in hand and the graveyard line is not ready, do not spend early turns trying to hard-cast it unless Veles shows a legal, tactically necessary reanimation target and the combo plan is already disrupted.

- Lotleth Giant: Treat Lotleth Giant as the deterministic payoff target when the combo has milled enough creature cards and Dread Return is available. Do not cast or cycle away strategic access to Lotleth Giant casually if the current plan needs it as the graveyard target; if both copies are visible in hand or exile risk is present, reassess whether the deck must pivot to creature combat. Card text check required for exact damage calculation in runtime, so use visible engine output rather than assuming lethal from memory.

- Overgrown Battlement: Treat Overgrown Battlement as the best mana engine creature and protect its untap potential. Cast it before lower-impact bodies when legal, especially before Lead the Stampede turns that need a large mana burst next turn. With Quirion Ranger, prioritize untapping Overgrown Battlement when the extra mana enables Balustrade Spy, multiple selection spells, or a protected post-board interaction spell; avoid tapping it for marginal mana that cannot be spent.

- Wall of Roots: Treat Wall of Roots as both acceleration and battlefield time. Deploy it early against pressure because it blocks while increasing mana, and use its mana before land mana when preserving black or green lands matters for later legal actions. Do not burn through its counters without a plan; if the game will require several turns of setup, preserve future Wall of Roots activations unless the current payment advances combo readiness.

- Saruli Caretaker: Treat Saruli Caretaker as a low-cost engine starter that becomes strong with spare creatures. Cast it early when another creature can let it produce mana soon, but do not overvalue it in hands with no second creature. In creature-heavy hands, Saruli Caretaker turns otherwise low-impact bodies into mana, supports Balustrade Spy timing, and provides sacrifice material after its mana role is done.

- Quirion Ranger: Treat Quirion Ranger as a sequencing card that converts Forest access into extra creature mana and protects land-light keeps. Use it to replay Forest, untap Overgrown Battlement or another key mana creature, and create a larger same-turn branch. Do not return Forest if it cuts off black access, prevents a necessary land drop pattern, or leaves the deck unable to cast Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, or a post-board spell next turn.

- Gatecreeper Vine: Treat Gatecreeper Vine as fixing plus a body rather than pure ramp. Cast it when the hand needs Forest or Swamp access, when Dread Return requires another future sacrifice body, or when defender count matters for Overgrown Battlement. Do not prioritize Gatecreeper Vine over Overgrown Battlement if mana is already fixed and the engine needs output more than another basic land.

- Land Grant: Treat Land Grant as a basic-access spell that fixes opening hands and informs sequencing. Use it early when the hand needs Forest or Swamp to function, but remember that revealing the hand can give the opponent perfect information if Forge implements that public reveal. Do not cast Land Grant just because it is free if holding it hides a payoff, protects against discard sequencing, or leaves a better post-selection land decision.

- Generous Ent: Treat Generous Ent as both a land-access card and a late body. Use its land-search mode when the hand lacks the correct basic or needs to guarantee a future Balustrade Spy or selection turn; deploy it as a creature only when the game has slowed, the combo is delayed, or a large body changes combat math. Do not spend early mana on the creature mode when the same resources could build defender mana or dig toward the combo.

- Troll of Khazad-dûm: Treat Troll of Khazad-dûm as black access support first and a backup threat later. Use its land-search mode to find Swamp when Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return hard-cast lines, Cast Down, or Pilfer matter. Cast it as a creature only in late games where the graveyard plan is slowed and a large threat is more useful than conserving it as fixing.

- Lead the Stampede: Treat Lead the Stampede as the cleanest creature-density refill. Cast it when mana is available and the hand needs bodies, defenders, Balustrade Spy, or sacrifice material; it is especially strong after early mana creatures make a multi-spell follow-up possible. Do not cast it before deploying critical cheap mana if doing so would strand newly found creatures for a full turn under pressure.

- Winding Way: Treat Winding Way as flexible selection that normally supports creature density in this deck. Choose the mode only from visible legal options and current need: creatures when building engine, bodies, or combo pieces; lands only when mana access is the immediate bottleneck. Do not assume the correct mode without checking hand, battlefield, graveyard, and next legal payments.

- Masked Vandal: Treat Masked Vandal as interaction with a body, not a generic curve play. Cast it for pressure or sacrifice material only when no important artifact or enchantment target is expected or visible; otherwise preserve it for opposing graveyard hate, lock pieces, or other visible permanents that stop the combo. Card text check required for exact casting condition and exile cost, so do not choose lines that require unavailable graveyard material unless Forge presents them as legal.

- Mesmeric Fiend: Treat Mesmeric Fiend as protection for the combo and a tempo disruption creature. Cast it before committing Balustrade Spy when the opponent likely has removal, counterplay, graveyard hate, or a fast payoff, and use the revealed hand to choose the card that most directly breaks the next planned line. Do not cast it as a random body if it delays mana development and no disruption window is needed.

- Sagu Wildling: Treat Sagu Wildling as a green body for density, pressure, and sacrifice support when the main engine needs more creatures. Cast it when selection has found extra bodies but not the payoff, when the deck must block, or when Dread Return needs a third creature. Card text check required for exact modes and combat implications; keep tactical use conditional on legal actions shown by Veles.

- Nyxborn Hydra: Treat Nyxborn Hydra as the scalable backup threat and sideboard-adjustable pressure card. In the main deck, cast it when excess mana needs to become damage or board presence, especially when the combo is slowed by disruption. Do not sink mana into it before resolving selection or Balustrade Spy if the visible game state rewards racing to the combo.

- Forest: Treat Forest as the deck's most important natural land because nearly every setup line starts with green. Preserve Forest for Quirion Ranger patterns when that unlocks extra mana, but do not return it if doing so breaks the next turn's spell sequence.

- Swamp: Treat Swamp as the scarce black anchor for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, and post-board black interaction. Search for it when black spells are visible and needed soon; avoid spending land-search effects on extra Forest when the hand already has green and lacks a black plan.

### Card Hover Notes

#### Balustrade Spy
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core combo piece and commitment creature.
- Role type: combo enabler; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Cast Balustrade Spy when black mana, self-targeting, enough creature bodies for Dread Return, and a Lotleth Giant payoff path are visible. Its trigger targets a player, then that player reveals cards until a land card is revealed and puts the revealed cards into their graveyard, so this registered Forest/Swamp deck must respect land-stop risk.
- Timing: Prefer after Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm has fixed mana and reduced land density; wait for Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer when a revealed answer would break the Dread Return turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes four mana including black; outputs a 2/3 flying body and self-mill that can load Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, and creature count.
- Partners / packages: Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is Lotleth Giant as another payoff body.
- Failure modes: Casting into active graveyard hate, prevention, too few sacrifice creatures, or too many lands left in library can strand the kill.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against control or graveyard hate, commit only after discard or visible shields-down timing; against fast pressure, commit earlier if waiting risks lethal.

#### Mesmeric Fiend
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies; sideboard, 2 copies; role player protection creature and sideboard disruption upgrade.
- Role type: interaction-discard; protection/evasion; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Target opponent reveals their hand, you choose a nonland card from it, and that card stays exiled only while Mesmeric Fiend remains on the battlefield. Use it to clear the exact card that stops Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, or a critical mana creature.
- Timing: Best before the commitment turn when the opponent has cards in hand and the clock allows one setup action; weaker as a random 1/1 if it delays Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine, Lead the Stampede, or Winding Way.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including black; outputs hand information, temporary disruption, one creature body for Dread Return if its linked card is no longer decisive.
- Partners / packages: Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Pilfer, Saruli Caretaker.
- Role peers: Pilfer is the durable discard peer; Mesmeric Fiend differs because removal returns the exiled card.
- Failure modes: Sacrificing or losing Mesmeric Fiend can return the exiled card before combo execution.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in extras against control, combo, and graveyard-hate hands; trim against empty-hand aggro unless the body and information matter.

#### Wall of Roots
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies; core mana resource and defensive engine piece.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine piece; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Wall of Roots blocks early attackers while making green mana by putting a -0/-1 counter on itself, only once each turn. It accelerates Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Overgrown Battlement turns, and Balustrade Spy setup without spending land mana.
- Timing: Deploy early, especially against pressure. Use counters when they unlock a real spell or preserve black access, but do not spend future activations just to float unused mana.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including green; outputs defender count for Overgrown Battlement, repeat green mana over turns, a 0/5 blocker, and eventual Dread Return material.
- Partners / packages: Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way.
- Role peers: Overgrown Battlement is the scaling mana peer; Saruli Caretaker is the color-fixing peer.
- Failure modes: Excess counters reduce toughness and blocking value; trading it away can cut off mana and Dread Return body count.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent versus fast creature decks; against slow control, value it mostly as acceleration and sacrifice material.

#### Overgrown Battlement
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core scaling mana engine.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine piece.
- Deck-specific job: Overgrown Battlement taps for green for each creature you control with defender, so it scales with Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and other Overgrown Battlement copies. It is the best way to jump from setup into Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede plus follow-up, or hard-cast Lotleth Giant.
- Timing: Prioritize early when another defender is present or likely. Save Quirion Ranger untaps for turns where extra Battlement mana casts Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Nyxborn Hydra, Cast Down, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, or Voracious Varmint.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including green; outputs repeat green bursts, defender count, blocker toughness, and future sacrifice material.
- Partners / packages: Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Balustrade Spy.
- Role peers: Wall of Roots provides smaller independent green mana; Saruli Caretaker fixes any color but needs another untapped creature.
- Failure modes: Removal before an untap can strand expensive spells; tapping it for marginal mana may lose a decisive later branch.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Protect against removal-heavy decks when it represents multiple mana; chump only to prevent lethal.

#### Saruli Caretaker
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies; core cheap mana resource and color fixer.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; engine piece; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Saruli Caretaker turns any other untapped creature you control into one mana of any color, which is crucial for black Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Cast Down, Pilfer, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant access when Swamp is scarce.
- Timing: Strong on turn one with another creature to follow; weak when isolated. Preserve it when black mana is the bottleneck, but use it as Dread Return material once the payoff no longer needs color fixing.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes one green mana; outputs defender count, color fixing, and a 0/3 body that can block small attackers.
- Partners / packages: Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, Pilfer, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine.
- Role peers: Gatecreeper Vine finds basic lands; Saruli Caretaker produces any color immediately with a partner creature.
- Failure modes: Tapping the wrong partner creature can remove a blocker or sacrifice body; keeping hands where it has no second creature is risky.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Better in combo races and black-heavy post-board games; still useful versus aggro as an early blocker.

#### Masked Vandal
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; role player interaction creature and sacrifice material.
- Role type: interaction-removal; hate piece; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Masked Vandal is a 1/3 changeling that may exile a creature card from your graveyard when it enters; if you do, it exiles target artifact or enchantment an opponent controls. Preserve it for graveyard hate, lock artifacts, or enchantments that stop Balustrade Spy or Dread Return.
- Timing: Cast as a body only when no relevant artifact or enchantment target is visible or expected and the deck needs creature count. Use the exile line when the target unlocks combo or survival more than the graveyard creature matters for Lotleth Giant damage.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including green and one creature card from your graveyard for the exile effect; outputs a 1/3 body and artifact/enchantment removal.
- Partners / packages: Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Voracious Varmint.
- Role peers: Voracious Varmint is the sideboard artifact/enchantment peer; Masked Vandal differs by requiring a creature card in graveyard.
- Failure modes: Using it on low-impact targets can shrink Lotleth Giant damage or remove needed graveyard material.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Keep high against artifact/enchantment graveyard hate; lower priority when opponent has no relevant permanents.

#### Nyxborn Hydra
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies; sideboard, 2 copies; scalable backup threat and sideboard flex slot.
- Role type: threat/clock; protection/evasion; mechanic payoff.
- Deck-specific job: Nyxborn Hydra converts excess defender mana into a reach/trample body, or can be cast for bestow {X}{G}{G} as an Aura with enchant creature that grants +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on it plus reach and trample. It gives the deck a combat plan when graveyard execution is delayed.
- Timing: Avoid sinking mana into Hydra before a live Balustrade Spy or selection turn unless pressure, hate, or disruption makes combat the better route. Post-board, use it more often when opponents attack Dread Return or Lotleth Giant.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes variable mana; outputs a creature or an Aura-enhanced creature, trample access, reach defense, and a large mana sink.
- Mode map: Normal cast creates an enchantment creature with X +1/+1 counters; bestow casts it as an Aura with enchant creature and it becomes a creature again if not attached.
- Partners / packages: Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Quirion Ranger, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm.
- Role peers: Generous Ent and Troll of Khazad-dûm are large backup bodies; Hydra is the most scalable.
- Failure modes: Investing too early can dilute combo speed or walk into removal before value.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in versus midrange and graveyard hate; trim versus fast combo or when speed to Spy is everything.

#### Quirion Ranger
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies; role player mana-sequencing engine.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Quirion Ranger returns a Forest you control to its owner's hand to untap target creature, only once each turn. In this deck, the high-value untaps are Overgrown Battlement for green bursts, Saruli Caretaker for any-color mana, or a key blocker after mana use.
- Timing: Use when the returned Forest can be replayed or the untap produces a meaningful spell this turn. Do not return Forest if it cuts off Winding Way, Lead the Stampede, Masked Vandal, or next-turn green setup.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes a Forest bounce and the once-each-turn activation; outputs an untapped creature, possible extra mana, land-light smoothing, or surprise blocking.
- Partners / packages: Forest, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine, Balustrade Spy.
- Role peers: Wall of Roots and Overgrown Battlement make mana directly; Quirion Ranger amplifies the best creature already in play.
- Failure modes: Returning Forest at the wrong time can strand black access plans or reduce available land drops.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in tempo games where one extra mana or blocker changes the Balustrade Spy turn.

#### Sagu Wildling
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; role player creature-density slot and land-search aspect.
- Role type: tutor/search; lifegain/stabilization; threat/clock; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Use Roost Seek early to search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle; this finds Forest or Swamp from this registered list. Cast Sagu Wildling later as a 3/3 flying Dragon that gains 3 life when it enters.
- Timing: Prefer Roost Seek when missing land access or black setup; prefer the creature side when combo is delayed, life total matters, or Dread Return needs another body.
- Inputs / outputs: Roost Seek consumes one green mana and outputs Forest or Swamp to hand; Sagu Wildling consumes five mana including green and outputs a flying body plus 3 life.
- Mode map: Roost Seek is the land-search sorcery aspect and shuffles this card; Sagu Wildling is the five-mana flying lifegain creature. Reference metadata is missing the complete combined oracle, so rely on listed face text for tactical claims.
- Partners / packages: Forest, Swamp, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way.
- Role peers: Gatecreeper Vine also finds Forest or Swamp and leaves a defender; Generous Ent and Troll of Khazad-dûm search only their named basic land types.
- Failure modes: Hard-casting too early can slow combo; searching when mana is already fixed may waste a creature-density card.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Lifegain and flying body matter against aggro or stalled boards.

#### Generous Ent
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core Forest access card and backup stabilizing threat.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp; threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Forestcycling {1} discards Generous Ent to search for Forest, reveal it, put it into hand, then shuffle. Later, the creature mode is a 5/7 reach body that creates a Food token when it enters.
- Timing: Cycle early when green access, land drop certainty, or land thinning before Balustrade Spy matters. Cast as a creature only when the defender engine has enough mana and the game has shifted toward blocking or pressure.
- Inputs / outputs: Cycling consumes one generic mana and this card from hand, producing Forest to hand and a creature card in graveyard; creature mode consumes six mana including green, producing a 5/7 reach body and Food.
- Mode map: Forestcycling is land search, not card draw; creature mode is a large reach stabilizer with Food creation.
- Partners / packages: Forest, Balustrade Spy, Lotleth Giant, Dread Return, Overgrown Battlement, Quirion Ranger.
- Role peers: Land Grant also finds Forest; Gatecreeper Vine can find Forest or Swamp; Troll of Khazad-dûm finds Swamp.
- Failure modes: Holding it too long can miss early mana; cycling it when a fair-board threat is needed may leave no stabilizer.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent in land-light keeps; creature mode matters versus flyers and large attackers.

#### Gatecreeper Vine
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies; role player fixing body and defender material.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp; engine piece.
- Deck-specific job: Gatecreeper Vine enters and may search for a basic land card or Gate card, reveal it, put it into hand, then shuffle. This registered deck has Forest and Swamp as relevant basic hits and no listed Gate cards.
- Timing: Cast when land access, black setup, defender count, or a future Dread Return body matters. Prioritize Overgrown Battlement instead when mana is already fixed and immediate output matters more.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including green; outputs Forest or Swamp to hand, defender count for Overgrown Battlement, a 0/2 blocker, and sacrifice material.
- Partners / packages: Forest, Swamp, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Dread Return, Balustrade Spy.
- Role peers: Sagu Wildling's Roost Seek also finds Forest or Swamp; Land Grant and Generous Ent find Forest only; Troll of Khazad-dûm finds Swamp only.
- Failure modes: Searching the wrong basic can strand Balustrade Spy, Cast Down, Pilfer, or green setup.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Good against pressure because it fixes mana while adding a blocker; strong before Spy when land count management matters.

#### Land Grant
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core Forest search and land-light hand fixer.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Land Grant searches your library for a Forest card, reveals it, puts it into hand, then shuffles. If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand rather than pay its mana cost.
- Timing: Use early when Forest access is required for Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Winding Way, Lead the Stampede, Masked Vandal, or Quirion Ranger. Delay when revealing a hidden Balustrade Spy/Dread Return plan gives the opponent actionable information and mana is not urgent.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes either {1}{G} or the alternate reveal-hand cost; outputs Forest to hand and thins one land from the library before Balustrade Spy.
- Mode map: Paid cast uses mana; alternate cost reveals your hand only if you have no land cards in hand.
- Partners / packages: Forest, Quirion Ranger, Balustrade Spy, Overgrown Battlement, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way.
- Role peers: Generous Ent also finds Forest; Gatecreeper Vine and Sagu Wildling can find Forest or Swamp.
- Failure modes: It cannot find Swamp, so it does not solve black access directly.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Reveal cost is safer when opponent hand is known or tapped low.

#### Lead the Stampede
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core creature-density refill.
- Role type: card selection; engine piece.
- Deck-specific job: Look at the top five cards, reveal any number of creature cards among them, put those into hand, and put the rest on the bottom in any order. It finds Balustrade Spy, Lotleth Giant, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Mesmeric Fiend, and Nyxborn Hydra.
- Timing: Cast when mana is functional and the hand needs bodies, defenders, Spy, sacrifice material, or a backup threat. Do not spend turn-three mana on it over a legal protected kill or a blocker needed to survive.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes three mana including green; outputs selected creatures to hand while bottoming noncreatures such as Dread Return, Winding Way, Land Grant, Forest, and Swamp.
- Partners / packages: Balustrade Spy, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Dread Return bodies.
- Role peers: Winding Way is the flexible reveal peer; Lead the Stampede is better for hand refill when creatures are the bottleneck.
- Failure modes: It cannot take Dread Return or lands, so it can miss the actual missing piece.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong after removal; slower against aggro if life total is already the binding resource.

#### Forest
- Deck role: Main deck, 3 copies; core basic mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Forest is the deck's most important natural land because it casts Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Masked Vandal, Winding Way, Lead the Stampede, Land Grant, Quirion Ranger, and the green aspects of Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, and Nyxborn Hydra.
- Timing: Prioritize early unless black mana is the immediate bottleneck. Preserve Forest for Quirion Ranger lines only when returning and replaying it improves the current or next turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for green; can be searched by Land Grant, Generous Ent, Gatecreeper Vine, and Roost Seek.
- Partners / packages: Quirion Ranger, Land Grant, Generous Ent, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, Overgrown Battlement.
- Role peers: Swamp is the black basic peer; Forest drives the setup engine while Swamp unlocks payoff and interaction.
- Failure modes: Returning Forest with Quirion Ranger or searching Swamp too early can strand green setup.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against pressure, Forest-first hands with blockers are much stronger than Swamp-heavy hands.

#### Swamp
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies; scarce black basic mana resource.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Swamp enables Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return hard-cast lines, Lotleth Giant hard-cast lines, and sideboard Cast Down and Pilfer. Because only two Swamps are registered, black access must be planned deliberately.
- Timing: Search for Swamp when Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Cast Down, Pilfer, or Lotleth Giant is visible and green development is already covered. Do not ignore Swamp just because early turns are green.
- Inputs / outputs: Taps for black; can be searched by Troll of Khazad-dûm, Gatecreeper Vine, and Roost Seek.
- Partners / packages: Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Cast Down, Pilfer, Troll of Khazad-dûm.
- Role peers: Forest is the green setup peer; Swamp is the payoff and disruption anchor.
- Failure modes: Spending land-search choices only on Forest can strand black cards during the commitment window.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Higher priority post-board when Cast Down and Pilfer are added.

#### Lotleth Giant
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies; core combo payoff and backup finisher.
- Role type: combo finisher; reach/finisher; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Lotleth Giant's undergrowth trigger deals 1 damage to target opponent for each creature card in your graveyard when it enters. The primary line is Dread Return returning Lotleth Giant after Balustrade Spy has loaded the graveyard.
- Timing: Prefer as Dread Return target when creature count plus opponent life makes damage decisive. Hard-cast only when defender mana is abundant or the graveyard plan is disrupted.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes seven mana including black if hard-cast, or a Dread Return target slot; outputs a 6/5 body and opponent-targeted damage equal to creature cards in your graveyard.
- Partners / packages: Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Winding Way, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Lead the Stampede.
- Role peers: No direct peer; Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm are backup damage bodies but do not replicate undergrowth damage.
- Failure modes: Too few creature cards in graveyard, prevention effects, graveyard hate, or missing legal target can make the payoff nonlethal.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Check opponent life, prevention, public graveyards, and exiled Giants before committing Spy.

#### Dread Return
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies; core recursion payoff converter.
- Role type: recursion; combo enabler; combo finisher support.
- Deck-specific job: Dread Return returns target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Its flashback cost is sacrificing three creatures, and after casting it from graveyard by flashback it is exiled. The default target is Lotleth Giant after Balustrade Spy mills enough creature cards.
- Timing: Save for the payoff unless a legal emergency target prevents loss. Flashback only after confirming three expendable creatures, target legality, and opponent hate/prevention status.
- Inputs / outputs: Hand cast consumes {2}{B}{B}; flashback consumes three creatures. Outputs a creature from graveyard to battlefield, usually Lotleth Giant.
- Mode map: Normal cast uses mana from hand; flashback casts from graveyard by sacrificing three creatures, then exiles Dread Return.
- Partners / packages: Lotleth Giant, Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, Masked Vandal.
- Role peers: No direct peer; hard-cast Lotleth Giant is the closest alternate payoff route.
- Failure modes: Sacrificing Mesmeric Fiend may return a dangerous card; sacrificing mana creatures can strand follow-up actions.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Weak into active graveyard hate; prioritize Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, Masked Vandal, or Voracious Varmint first when visible hate stops it.

#### Winding Way
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core selection and graveyard-fuel spell.
- Role type: card selection; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Choose creature or land, reveal the top four cards, put all revealed cards of the chosen type into hand, and put the rest into your graveyard. In this deck, creature usually finds engine bodies or Spy pieces; land is for missing Forest or Swamp access.
- Timing: Choose creature when the hand needs Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Balustrade Spy, Lotleth Giant, or sacrifice bodies. Choose land only when missing land drops or black/green access is more urgent.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including green; outputs cards of one chosen type to hand and sends other revealed cards to graveyard, potentially fueling Lotleth Giant and Dread Return.
- Mode map: Creature choice maximizes body density; land choice searches revealed Forest/Swamp access but mills nonlands.
- Partners / packages: Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Forest, Swamp, Overgrown Battlement.
- Role peers: Lead the Stampede is the creature-only refill peer and does not stock the graveyard the same way.
- Failure modes: Naming land when bodies are needed can stall the combo; naming creature when mana is missing can strand black or green spells.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in rebuild games; risky under fast pressure if it delays blocker development.

#### Troll of Khazad-dûm
- Deck role: Main deck, 4 copies; core Swamp access card and backup threat.
- Role type: tutor/search; mana/fixing/ramp; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Swampcycling {1} discards Troll of Khazad-dûm to search for Swamp, reveal it, put it into hand, then shuffle. Later, it is a 6/5 that cannot be blocked except by three or more creatures.
- Timing: Cycle early when black access is needed for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, Pilfer, or hard-cast Lotleth Giant. Cast only when mana is abundant and the game has become about combat pressure.
- Inputs / outputs: Cycling consumes one generic mana and this card from hand, producing Swamp to hand and a creature card in graveyard; creature mode consumes six mana including black and outputs a difficult-to-block 6/5.
- Mode map: Swampcycling is land search, not card draw; creature mode is a large evasive-ish backup clock requiring three blockers.
- Partners / packages: Swamp, Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Cast Down, Pilfer.
- Role peers: Generous Ent finds Forest; Gatecreeper Vine and Roost Seek can find Forest or Swamp.
- Failure modes: Holding it as a threat when black is missing can delay the whole deck.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Important post-board when black interaction increases; threat mode punishes stalled midrange boards.

#### Cast Down
- Deck role: Sideboard, 3 copies; sideboard creature-removal bullet.
- Role type: interaction-removal; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Destroy target nonlegendary creature. Use it to remove a creature that creates lethal pressure, invalidates blocking, or stops a backup Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or Lotleth Giant combat plan.
- Timing: Hold to the latest safe window when waiting gains attack or protection information; cast precombat if the creature must die before it attacks, blocks, or enables a lethal line.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including black; outputs one destroyed nonlegendary creature and often one extra setup turn.
- Partners / packages: Swamp, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, Saruli Caretaker, Healer of the Glade.
- Role peers: No main-deck removal peer; Masked Vandal and Voracious Varmint answer artifact/enchantment permanents, not ordinary creatures.
- Failure modes: Cannot target legendary creatures; spending black on a low-value creature can delay Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, or Dread Return.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in against fast creature decks and midrange clocks; avoid against spell-heavy control unless a specific nonlegendary creature matters.

#### Flaring Pain
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy; narrow prevention-answer bullet.
- Role type: hate piece; reach/finisher; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Damage can't be prevented this turn. Use it only when prevention or fog effects would stop lethal Lotleth Giant damage or decisive combat from Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Sagu Wildling, or Lotleth Giant.
- Timing: Cast during the turn where damage matters, before the prevention-sensitive damage event. Flashback {R} is available from graveyard, but this registered deck has no main-deck red-producing land; red must come from Saruli Caretaker or Jack-o'-Lantern's graveyard ability if legal.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{R} from hand or {R} from graveyard by flashback, then exiles after flashback; outputs a turn-long prevention bypass.
- Mode map: Normal cast from hand costs {1}{R}; flashback casts from graveyard for {R}, then exiles Flaring Pain.
- Partners / packages: Lotleth Giant, Dread Return, Saruli Caretaker, Jack-o'-Lantern, Nyxborn Hydra.
- Role peers: Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend can remove prevention from hand; Flaring Pain bypasses prevention already relevant this turn.
- Failure modes: Dead when no prevention effect matters; red mana is not guaranteed.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in only against fog or damage-prevention plans.

#### Jack-o'-Lantern
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy; graveyard utility and one-shot fixing bullet.
- Role type: hate piece; card selection; mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Its battlefield ability exiles up to one target card from a graveyard and draws a card. From graveyard, paying {1} and exiling Jack-o'-Lantern adds one mana of any color, which can help cast Balustrade Spy, Cast Down, Pilfer, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, or Flaring Pain.
- Timing: Use graveyard exile before an opponent pays flashback, delve, escape, or similar costs; after costs are paid, exiling the graveyard usually does not undo the spell. Use draw when the target is low-risk and digging matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Battlefield activation consumes {1}, tap, and sacrifice; outputs up to one graveyard exile plus one card drawn. Graveyard activation consumes {1} and exiles Jack-o'-Lantern; outputs one mana of any color.
- Mode map: Battlefield activation is graveyard interaction plus draw; graveyard activation is color fixing only.
- Partners / packages: Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Flaring Pain, Balustrade Spy, Pilfer, Cast Down.
- Role peers: No direct peer; Masked Vandal and Voracious Varmint answer permanents rather than graveyard cards.
- Failure modes: Exiling your own key Dread Return or Lotleth Giant support can weaken the kill.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in for graveyard mirrors, opposing flashback/delve/escape resources, or when red/black fixing matters.

#### Healer of the Glade
- Deck role: Sideboard, 3 copies; sideboard life-buffer creature.
- Role type: lifegain/stabilization; engine fuel/material; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Healer of the Glade gains 3 life when it enters and leaves behind a 1/2 body. It buys the turn needed for Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Balustrade Spy, or Dread Return setup.
- Timing: Bring in and cast early against fast damage. Prioritize it over slow selection when 3 life changes whether the opponent has lethal before the combo turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes one green mana; outputs 3 life, a small blocker, Saruli Caretaker partner material, and future Dread Return sacrifice material.
- Partners / packages: Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Dread Return, Balustrade Spy.
- Role peers: Sagu Wildling also gains 3 life but costs five mana as a creature; Healer of the Glade is the efficient sideboard version.
- Failure modes: Low impact against control or combo where life total is not pressured.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in versus burn and fast creature decks; cut when hand disruption or speed matters more.

#### Pilfer
- Deck role: Sideboard, 2 copies; durable hand-disruption bullet.
- Role type: interaction-discard; protection/evasion; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Target opponent reveals their hand, you choose a nonland card from it, and that player discards that card. Use it to remove counterspells, removal, graveyard hate, prevention, sweepers, or faster combo pieces before Balustrade Spy and Dread Return.
- Timing: Best one turn before commitment or early against combo/control if it takes their key card. Do not cast it over an immediate legal kill or when black mana must be preserved for Balustrade Spy this turn.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including black; outputs revealed hand information and permanent discard of one chosen nonland card.
- Partners / packages: Mesmeric Fiend, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Swamp, Troll of Khazad-dûm.
- Role peers: Mesmeric Fiend is the temporary discard peer with a creature body; Pilfer is safer against removal because the card stays discarded.
- Failure modes: Weak against empty-hand aggro and can overload scarce black mana.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in against control, combo, graveyard hate, and prevention decks.

#### Voracious Varmint
- Deck role: Sideboard, 1 copy; artifact/enchantment removal creature bullet.
- Role type: interaction-removal; hate piece; sideboard bullet.
- Deck-specific job: Voracious Varmint is a 2/2 vigilance creature with {1}, sacrifice this creature: destroy target artifact or enchantment. Use it for visible hate permanents, prison pieces, or artifacts/enchantments that block Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, or the backup combat plan.
- Timing: Cast before the turn you need the sacrifice ability if a target is expected; activate when destroying the artifact or enchantment matters more than keeping the 2/2 body for pressure or Dread Return material.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes two mana including green to cast; activation consumes {1} and sacrifices Voracious Varmint; outputs destroyed target artifact or enchantment.
- Partners / packages: Masked Vandal, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Nyxborn Hydra.
- Role peers: Masked Vandal is the main-deck artifact/enchantment peer; Voracious Varmint does not require a creature card in your graveyard but sacrifices itself.
- Failure modes: Dead without relevant artifact/enchantment targets; sacrificing it can reduce Dread Return body count.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in against artifact/enchantment graveyard hate or lock permanents, not as generic pressure.

## Interaction Priorities

- Discard first the visible card that stops the next combo commitment. With Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer, take graveyard hate, removal for Balustrade Spy, a counterspell effect, a lethal-speed payoff, or the opponent's only way to break defender mana before taking generic card draw. If the revealed hand contains multiple threats, choose the card that changes whether Balustrade Spy plus Dread Return can resolve this turn or next turn.

- Remove first the permanent that prevents the graveyard kill or creates a faster lethal clock. Post-board Cast Down should answer the creature that will kill you before combo setup, the creature that invalidates blocking, or the hate creature that blocks Dread Return execution if Forge shows it as a legal target. Do not spend Cast Down on a small attacker when Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, or Healer of the Glade can buy the same turn.

- Exile first artifact or enchantment hate that blocks the combo. Masked Vandal should be preserved for visible opposing graveyard hate, lock permanents, or high-impact artifact/enchantment engines before being cast as a body. Card text check required for exact Masked Vandal casting and exile requirements, so only take the exile line when Veles shows the action as legal and the target is visible.

- Pressure opposing hands before committing Balustrade Spy when interaction is plausible. Mesmeric Fiend is often a bait card and a protection card: cast it to expose the opponent's hand, force removal before the combo turn, or clear the one card that punishes Dread Return. If the opponent must answer Mesmeric Fiend immediately, that may make the later Balustrade Spy safer.

- Ignore low-impact permanents when the combo clock is already assembled. Do not aim Masked Vandal, Cast Down, or Voracious Varmint at value pieces that neither stop Balustrade Spy nor shorten the game below the current setup window. Voracious Varmint tactical use is conditional because card text check required; if Forge offers a legal artifact, enchantment, or graveyard-related target, prefer the target that unlocks the combo over the target that merely reduces value.

- Change interaction priorities by archetype. Against fast creature decks, Cast Down and Healer of the Glade protect the life total while defenders stall; discard should take burn, pump, or the threat that makes blocking fail. Against counterspell or removal decks, Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer protect the exact combo turn. Against graveyard-hate decks, Masked Vandal, Voracious Varmint, and Jack-o'-Lantern matter more than racing with Nyxborn Hydra. Against fog or prevention plans, Flaring Pain is a reserved finishing tool; card text check required for exact timing, so use it only when Forge presents a legal action that defeats visible prevention.

- Do not plan to counter or bounce anything with this registered deck. There are no registered counterspell or bounce cards, so the pilot should not hold mana for absent effects. If Forge presents an opponent-generated redirect, bounce, or replacement choice, obey the legal action list and prefer the option that preserves Balustrade Spy, Overgrown Battlement, or lethal Dread Return execution.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Preserve engine creatures over chip damage. Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Quirion Ranger, and Gatecreeper Vine are mana and sacrifice infrastructure; avoid attacking with them when blocking or untapping them keeps Balustrade Spy reachable. Attack with engine creatures only when the legal attack is clearly nonessential to next-turn mana and the opponent cannot profitably punish the tapped body.

- Block to buy combo turns, not to win fair combat. Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, and Healer of the Glade should trade or absorb damage when life total pressure would otherwise force a failed early combo. Chump blocks become correct when the next turn can produce Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede into multiple bodies, or Dread Return setup.

- Trade expendable bodies before mana-critical bodies. Sagu Wildling, Masked Vandal without a needed target, spare Mesmeric Fiend after its disruption role, and extra small creatures can trade when preserving life matters. Avoid trading Overgrown Battlement or Saruli Caretaker unless the trade prevents lethal, protects a better engine creature, or leaves enough bodies for Dread Return.

- Treat Balustrade Spy as a combo piece, not a normal attacker. Do not expose Balustrade Spy to combat if its body is needed for the graveyard plan, sacrifice math, or a future lethal line. If Balustrade Spy has already resolved and the game has shifted to cleanup combat, use attacks only when Veles shows no better engine action.

- Use Nyxborn Hydra and large landcyclers as backup combat plans when the graveyard line is delayed. Nyxborn Hydra can convert excess defender mana into pressure, while Generous Ent and Troll of Khazad-dûm can become late bodies after their land-access role is no longer needed. Do not commit these as fair threats if selection spells or Balustrade Spy are available and the opponent has not shown graveyard disruption.

- Respect life-total thresholds by matchup. Against fast red or go-wide pressure, start blocking earlier and value Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, and defender density over extra selection. Against slow control, take more early damage if it keeps mana creatures untapped and enables a protected combo turn. Against creature decks with pump or sacrifice effects, avoid blocks that only look safe before unknown tricks unless survival requires them.

- Attack only when the damage changes the clock or forces useful blocks. Random attacks with defenders or utility creatures are usually worse than holding blockers and mana. Pressure matters more after sideboarding into extra Nyxborn Hydra or when the opponent has graveyard hate active and the deck must win through creatures.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Sequence land access before blind selection when the next spell depends on a specific color. Use Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or Gatecreeper Vine to secure Forest or Swamp access before Lead the Stampede or Winding Way when black mana for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, or Pilfer is the bottleneck.

- Use Land Grant as a setup spell, not a casual deck-thinning action. If revealing the hand gives the opponent useful timing information, delay Land Grant unless the mana is needed this turn, the hand is already mostly known, or the reveal enables a decisive Balustrade Spy turn. When no land is in hand, respect the alternate-cost line only if Forge presents it as legal.

- Choose Winding Way mode from the current missing resource. Name creatures when the hand needs Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Balustrade Spy, or bodies for Dread Return. Name lands only when missing land drops or when black/green access is more important than adding creature density.

- Cast Lead the Stampede when creature density matters more than an immediate mana fix. Lead the Stampede is best when the deck already has functional mana and needs Balustrade Spy, defenders, sacrifice bodies, or a backup Nyxborn Hydra plan. Prefer cheaper mana setup first if Lead the Stampede would leave the turn unable to deploy the card it finds.

- Find Swamp access when black cards are stranded. Troll of Khazad-dûm and land-search lines should prioritize black access if Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, or Pilfer is in hand and green mana is already available. Find Forest access when the hand needs defender development, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Generous Ent lines, or Masked Vandal.

- Treat Balustrade Spy as the highest-value selection hit once mana and bodies are assembled. When choosing among visible cards from a selection prompt, take Balustrade Spy if the graveyard kill is close, take Overgrown Battlement or Wall of Roots if mana is short, and take Dread Return or Lotleth Giant only when the missing combo piece is visible and required for execution.

- Preserve enough creatures for Dread Return math while selecting. Do not overvalue one large card over multiple cheap bodies if the board needs sacrifice material, defender mana, or blockers. Sagu Wildling, Gatecreeper Vine, Masked Vandal, Mesmeric Fiend, and spare mana creatures can become critical bodies after Balustrade Spy resolves.

- Use Gatecreeper Vine as a stabilizing selector when the hand lacks land certainty. Its body also buys time and contributes to creature count, so it is often better than a speculative selection spell against pressure. If the land drop is already secured and the opponent is slow, prioritize Lead the Stampede or Winding Way for combo velocity.

- Use post-board Jack-o'-Lantern selection only for a visible purpose. Card text check required for exact activation modes, so follow Forge legality and prefer graveyard timing that protects Dread Return, disrupts a visible opposing graveyard line, or converts a low-impact window into a fresh card without weakening the combo.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Pass priority quickly when the stack is empty and no legal action improves mana, protection, or the combo clock. This deck does not bluff counterspells, so holding priority without Cast Down, Jack-o'-Lantern, Flaring Pain, Quirion Ranger, Wall of Roots, or a relevant legal ability usually gives no benefit.

- Stop before committing Balustrade Spy when the opponent can visibly interact. If Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer is available, use discard first when it can clear a counterspell effect, removal, graveyard hate, or lethal-speed pressure. If the opponent is tapped out or known empty of relevant interaction, favor executing over adding redundant setup.

- Let harmless spells resolve when they do not change the combo turn. Do not spend Cast Down, Masked Vandal, Jack-o'-Lantern, or Voracious Varmint on a stack or permanent that neither shortens the opponent clock nor blocks Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant. Save scarce interaction for hate pieces, lethal threats, or stack windows that matter.

- Use Cast Down at the latest safe window. Post-board, prefer casting Cast Down after the opponent commits attacks, targets, or mana when waiting extracts information and does not risk lethal damage. Cast it earlier only if the creature must die before combat, before a sacrifice/evasion line, or before a visible ability can protect it.

- Use Wall of Roots and Quirion Ranger abilities to preserve decisive mana. Activate mana abilities when Forge asks for payment or when the line unlocks Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Nyxborn Hydra, or interaction. Card text check required for exact Quirion Ranger restrictions; use only legal Forge-presented untap lines and prefer untapping Overgrown Battlement or a needed mana creature.

- Treat optional payments as commitment decisions, not defaults. Pay optional costs only when they directly increase the chance to combo, survive, or force lethal. Decline optional costs that consume mana needed for Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Cast Down, Pilfer, Flaring Pain, or a key post-combat action.

- Execute Dread Return timing only after the graveyard and sacrifice requirements are legal in Forge. If Balustrade Spy has resolved and the graveyard kill is available, prioritize targeting Lotleth Giant when that is the deterministic payoff line shown by legal actions. Do not assume Dread Return is available through graveyard hate, exile effects, or insufficient creatures.

- Hold Flaring Pain for a visible prevention or fog window. Card text check required for exact timing, so use it only when Forge offers the legal action and the opponent's prevention effect would otherwise stop lethal or a decisive attack. Do not cast it as a generic proactive spell.

- Use Masked Vandal and Voracious Varmint only into visible legal targets. Card text check required for exact Masked Vandal and Voracious Varmint effects, so prefer targets that remove graveyard hate, prison pieces, or artifact/enchantment blockers to the combo. If no such target is visible, preserve the body unless curving out is required.

- Respect combat priority as a trick window even in a combo deck. Before damage, evaluate whether Cast Down, Jack-o'-Lantern, Quirion Ranger, Wall of Roots, or Flaring Pain changes survival or lethal math. If no legal action changes those outcomes, pass and keep resources for the main-phase combo turn.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboarding must preserve the combo core unless the matchup forces a defensive posture. Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Overgrown Battlement, Land Grant, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, and enough cheap creatures are the engine shell; reduce support pieces before weakening the legal Balustrade Spy into Dread Return path.

- Cast Down enters against creature decks where one visible creature changes the clock, blocks a large Nyxborn Hydra line, or threatens to disrupt the combo turn. Cast Down is weak against spell-heavy control, graveyard-light combo, and boards where spending black mana delays Balustrade Spy without reducing lethal pressure.

- Mesmeric Fiend enters when the opponent is likely to hold counterspells, graveyard hate, removal for Balustrade Spy, sweepers, or a faster combo piece. Mesmeric Fiend is worse against dense removal and low-curve creature pressure when it trades for tempo instead of clearing a decisive card.

- Flaring Pain enters only when damage prevention or fog effects are a real obstacle to a lethal Lotleth Giant or combat finish. Card text check required for exact timing and flashback details; treat it as a narrow answer, not a generic spell.

- Jack-o'-Lantern enters when graveyard interaction, graveyard mirrors, or one-shot filtering matters. Card text check required for exact activation modes; keep it when a visible graveyard can decide the game, and avoid it when the matchup is decided by battlefield speed.

- Healer of the Glade enters against fast damage decks when one life burst plus a creature body buys the turn needed for defender mana or Balustrade Spy. It is poor against slow control and combo when life total is not the binding resource.

- Pilfer enters against control, combo, and graveyard-hate decks where hand information and discard improve the commitment gate. It is weaker against empty-hand aggro, recursive battlefield decks, and matchups where black mana is already overloaded by Balustrade Spy and Cast Down.

- Voracious Varmint enters against visible or expected artifact/enchantment hate, prison pieces, or small permanents that block the combo. Card text check required for exact modes; avoid it when no relevant permanent type is expected and a creature body alone is not worth the slot.

Fast Red / Creature Burn
Side in: 3 Healer of the Glade; 3 Cast Down
Cut: 2 Mesmeric Fiend; 2 Nyxborn Hydra; 1 Lead the Stampede; 1 Masked Vandal

- Add role cards: Healer of the Glade for life-buffer turns and sacrifice material, Cast Down for creatures that compress the clock. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower hand disruption, expensive backup threats, and one card-advantage spell when the game is about surviving to the combo turn.

Blue Control / Counterspell Shells
Side in: 2 Mesmeric Fiend; 2 Pilfer
Cut: 3 Wall of Roots; 1 Masked Vandal

- Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer to clear counterspells, removal, and graveyard hate before Balustrade Spy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess defender-only setup when the opponent gives time but contests the stack or hand. Keep enough bodies for Dread Return.

Graveyard Hate / Artifact Or Enchantment Hate
Side in: 1 Jack-o'-Lantern; 1 Voracious Varmint; 2 Mesmeric Fiend
Cut: 2 Nyxborn Hydra; 1 Wall of Roots; 1 Lead the Stampede

- Add role cards: Jack-o'-Lantern for graveyard timing, Voracious Varmint for visible hate permanents, and Mesmeric Fiend for hidden hate. Reduce main-deck emphasis: backup beatdown and one slower draw effect. Do not weaken Balustrade Spy plus Dread Return unless Forge-visible hate makes the graveyard plan temporarily unsafe.

Fog / Damage Prevention
Side in: 1 Flaring Pain; 2 Pilfer; 2 Mesmeric Fiend
Cut: 2 Nyxborn Hydra; 2 Masked Vandal; 1 Wall of Roots

- Add role cards: Flaring Pain for the prevention window, Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend to remove fog effects before the kill turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: artifact/enchantment bodies without targets and backup Hydra pressure. Commit only when Forge shows the payoff line and prevention has been answered or legally bypassed.

Creature Midrange / Large Blockers
Side in: 3 Cast Down; 2 Nyxborn Hydra
Cut: 2 Mesmeric Fiend; 2 Masked Vandal; 1 Lead the Stampede

- Add role cards: Cast Down to remove the fastest clock or decisive blocker, Nyxborn Hydra as a resilient secondary threat when the opponent pressures the graveyard plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact disruption and redundant utility bodies when battlefield size matters.

Combo Race / Spell Combo
Side in: 2 Pilfer; 2 Mesmeric Fiend
Cut: 2 Nyxborn Hydra; 2 Masked Vandal

- Add role cards: Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend for hand disruption before the opponent's key turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: backup combat threats and target-dependent utility creatures. Keep the fastest Balustrade Spy setup unless discard reveals that waiting is safer than racing.

- Role changes after sideboarding should follow visible pressure. Healer of the Glade turns small creature bodies into time; Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer turn black mana into a safer combo gate; Cast Down turns black mana into survival; Nyxborn Hydra becomes a real backup plan only when the opponent is likely to attack the graveyard or spend removal on Balustrade Spy.

- Archetype-based rule: against aggro, spend sideboard space on survival before disruption. Against control, spend sideboard space on discard before removal. Against graveyard hate, combine discard with permanent answers. Against fog or prevention, include Flaring Pain only when the matchup actually presents that effect or the opponent's strategy strongly implies it.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro matchups are survival races until Balustrade Spy becomes lethal. Keep hands that create early bodies with Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, or Healer of the Glade, and avoid slow hands that only have Lead the Stampede or Winding Way without a blocker or mana creature. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade and Cast Down. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mesmeric Fiend when the opponent empties hand quickly, Nyxborn Hydra when it is too slow, and excess card-selection effects when life total is the binding resource.

- Burn matchups require life-buffer turns more than card quantity. Prioritize Healer of the Glade if legal, use Cast Down only when removing a creature materially reduces the visible clock, and avoid paying optional costs or taking sequencing lines that leave Balustrade Spy one turn slower without adding survival. Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer improve only when the opponent visibly keeps cards in hand and the legal prompt can take a damage spell or hate piece; otherwise, build toward the fastest Dread Return line.

- Go-wide creature decks punish slow setup and careless sacrifice math. Preserve enough creatures for Dread Return, but do not expose all expendable bodies in blocks if the combo turn is one draw or one mana source away. Cast Down should hit the creature that changes the next attack most, not automatically the largest creature. Nyxborn Hydra is a backup stabilizer when graveyard execution is delayed, but do not make it the plan if Balustrade Spy is already legal and safe enough.

- Single-threat decks are about answering the one clock while keeping the combo shell intact. Use Cast Down on a visible threat that creates lethal pressure, blocks a necessary attack, or forces Balustrade Spy to wait too long. If the opponent has one large blocker and little pressure, prefer developing Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Quirion Ranger, and card flow before spending removal. Nyxborn Hydra can pressure or block, but the main gate remains whether Balustrade Spy into Dread Return is available.

- Tempo matchups require playing around both battlefield pressure and stack disruption. Value Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer higher when the opponent holds mana and cards, but do not spend the whole turn on discard if the visible board makes waiting fatal. Quirion Ranger is important because it can help reuse mana creatures or preserve mana flexibility; follow Forge legal actions exactly and reassess after every revealed card. Commit Balustrade Spy only after checking visible mana, known hand information, available sacrifice bodies, and whether waiting gives the opponent a better attack.

- Control matchups reward hand information before the kill turn. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess defender setup once mana is sufficient, and low-impact utility creatures when they do not pressure or protect the combo. Lead the Stampede and Winding Way are strong when they rebuild after removal, but they should not walk into a known counter window if a discard action can clear the way first. If a discard spell reveals no relevant answer, shift immediately toward Balustrade Spy rather than over-developing.

- Removal-heavy decks ask whether the opponent can break the Dread Return body count or remove Balustrade Spy before it resolves its plan. Diversify creatures across Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, Masked Vandal, and Generous Ent instead of relying on one high-value body. Mesmeric Fiend is fragile against removal, so use it when the temporary information or disruption is worth losing the body. Lead the Stampede is a recovery engine; Winding Way is valuable when it finds creatures or fills the graveyard without exposing a key card to removal.

- Midrange matchups are about choosing the turn to stop trading and force the combo. Cast Down handles a creature that shortens the clock or blocks a fallback Hydra plan, while Mesmeric Fiend can take a removal or graveyard-hate card before the commitment turn. Add role cards: Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra, and sometimes Mesmeric Fiend. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow selection only when pressure is high. If the opponent is trading one-for-one, preserve Dread Return bodies and avoid sacrifice lines that leave Lotleth Giant unreachable.

- Big mana matchups usually give setup time but threaten a large swing turn. Race toward Balustrade Spy with Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Land Grant, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm sequencing that preserves black access. Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend matter if they can remove a payoff, sweeper, graveyard hate, or decisive interaction. Cast Down is lower priority unless the visible threat is already compressing the clock. Do not keep durdly selection hands that cannot produce either fast Spy mana or meaningful disruption.

- Combo mirrors and spell-combo matchups are commitment races with discard gates. Add role cards: Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Nyxborn Hydra and Masked Vandal unless their body or permanent interaction is visibly relevant. Use discard before the opponent's expected key turn when legal, but if Balustrade Spy is ready and the opponent has no visible pressure or known answer, forcing the kill is often better than giving another draw step. Jack-o'-Lantern is only valuable when a visible graveyard resource matters; Card text check required for exact activation use.

- Graveyard matchups require treating the graveyard as both engine and battlefield. Against opposing graveyard decks, Jack-o'-Lantern can contest a visible graveyard card if Forge shows the activation and target choice; Card text check required for exact timing. Against graveyard hate decks, combine Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer for hidden answers with Voracious Varmint for visible artifact or enchantment permanents; Card text check required for Voracious Varmint modes. Do not fire Balustrade Spy into known active hate unless the legal line also answers, bypasses, or wins through it.

- Artifact and enchantment matchups depend on whether the permanent blocks the combo or merely slows combat. Masked Vandal is already main-deck interaction, but Card text check required for exact conditions before relying on it. Voracious Varmint is the sideboard role card for visible hate permanents or prison pieces; Card text check required for exact targets and modes. If no relevant permanent is visible or strongly implied, keep the plan centered on mana creatures, selection, and Balustrade Spy rather than overvaluing utility bodies.

- Fog and prevention decks require a separate kill check before committing Lotleth Giant. Flaring Pain is the narrow role card when prevention is the obstacle; Card text check required for exact timing and flashback details. Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend should clear fog effects or prevention before the payoff turn when legal. If prevention remains available and the opponent is not applying lethal pressure, delay the Dread Return payoff until the bypass, discard, or alternate pressure line is visible.

- Across all matchups, re-evaluate role after sideboarding from the visible game state rather than archetype labels alone. If life total is under immediate pressure, prioritize Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, and blockers. If the opponent is holding up interaction, prioritize Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, and a protected Balustrade Spy turn. If the opponent attacks the graveyard, prioritize hand disruption, Voracious Varmint or Jack-o'-Lantern when legally useful, and a realistic Nyxborn Hydra backup path. If the opponent gives time and no hate is visible, spend turns making mana and card density, then execute the cleanest Dread Return into Lotleth Giant line Forge exposes.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only note: revealed cards override all matchup assumptions. If Forge exposes a card, graveyard object, stack item, or legal action that contradicts the archetype label, follow the visible information first and use this section only to rank Spy Combo roles.

- Fast creature decks demand survival before elegance. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow selection when the hand already has Balustrade Spy access, and low-impact utility bodies that do not block profitably. Priority targets are creatures that shorten the clock below the next Balustrade Spy turn; keep Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and Sagu Wildling available as blockers unless a legal combo turn is already assembled.

- Blue or black tempo decks punish loose commitment turns. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, and sometimes Cast Down. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess Nyxborn Hydra pressure if the combo is faster. Use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer before Balustrade Spy when the opponent has cards and open mana, but shift to the kill if discard reveals no relevant answer. Preserve black access for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant lines.

- Removal-heavy midrange asks for redundant bodies. Add role cards: Cast Down, Mesmeric Fiend, Nyxborn Hydra. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile single-purpose setup when removal is already visible. Do not spend sacrifice bodies casually if Dread Return will need them later. Lead the Stampede and Winding Way are recovery cards here; cast them when they rebuild creature count or find Balustrade Spy rather than just using spare mana.

- Control decks make hand knowledge the commitment gate. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, and Flaring Pain only when prevention is the visible obstacle; Card text check required for exact Flaring Pain timing. Reduce main-deck emphasis: redundant defender development after Overgrown Battlement or Wall of Roots already makes enough mana. Priority targets are counterplay, graveyard hate, prevention, sweepers, or removal that breaks the Dread Return body count.

- Big-mana decks should be raced unless a visible threat changes the clock. Add role cards: Pilfer and Mesmeric Fiend if they can hit a payoff, sweeper, or hate card. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cast Down unless the board threat is already decisive. Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Forest, and Swamp sequencing should preserve the fastest black-producing Balustrade Spy path.

- Graveyard and hate matchups require patience around public artifacts, enchantments, and graveyards. Add role cards: Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer. Card text check required for exact Jack-o'-Lantern activation and Voracious Varmint modes. Do not resolve Balustrade Spy into known active hate unless the same visible sequence removes it, bypasses it, or presents a credible Nyxborn Hydra fallback.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: the deck can draw Forest, Swamp, Land Grant, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm in the wrong mix and fail to produce timely black for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Pilfer, or Lotleth Giant. Preserve black access whenever a legal payment has multiple source choices.

- Matchup risk: fast pressure can force Spy Combo to use Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Masked Vandal, and Sagu Wildling defensively before the graveyard kill is ready. Life total under pressure should raise Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, and blocking decisions above slow card selection.

- Draw risk: Lead the Stampede and Winding Way can find density, but neither should be treated as a guaranteed Balustrade Spy. Mulligan and selection choices must distinguish functional mana plus payoff from hands that only churn.

- Over-sideboarding risk: adding too many Cast Down, Healer of the Glade, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, Flaring Pain, or Nyxborn Hydra can dilute the core Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant plan. Sideboard role cards must solve a visible or strongly expected problem.

- Graveyard risk: Dread Return and Lotleth Giant depend on graveyard access and creature count. Known hate, exile effects, or public graveyard pressure should delay the kill or route through discard, Voracious Varmint, Jack-o'-Lantern, or Nyxborn Hydra pressure when legal.

- Sweeper/removal risk: removal on defender mana or sacrifice bodies can strand Balustrade Spy or Dread Return. Diversify bodies and avoid exposing every important creature before a known sweeper turn.

- Closer risk: Balustrade Spy without a protected Dread Return payoff may mill resources without ending the game. Before committing, check visible sacrifice bodies, Lotleth Giant access, opponent life total, prevention, and graveyard hate.

- Interaction risk: Mesmeric Fiend is temporary disruption if the opponent can remove it, while Pilfer is slower but less board-dependent. Choose the disruption mode that matches the visible clock and the opponent's open interaction.

- Sequencing risk: using Quirion Ranger, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Land Grant, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm in the wrong order can lose a full turn. Reassess after each Forge prompt because new mana, target, or priority actions may expose a cleaner combo line.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: record whether the game turned on speed to Balustrade Spy, survival against pressure, disruption from Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer, graveyard access for Dread Return, or a backup Nyxborn Hydra combat plan.

- Mulligans: note whether each keep had functional mana, black access for Balustrade Spy or Mesmeric Fiend, a first creature, and either Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, or a visible path to the combo.

- Mana: identify turns where Forest, Swamp, Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, or Quirion Ranger changed the clock by a full turn.

- Velocity: check whether Lead the Stampede and Winding Way found the needed creature density, or whether they spent mana without improving the next Balustrade Spy or Dread Return turn.

- Engine setup: record whether Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, and Masked Vandal produced enough bodies and mana before the opponent's clock became lethal.

- Combo commitment: ask whether Balustrade Spy was cast only after the visible board supported Dread Return into Lotleth Giant, or whether the deck committed into known graveyard hate, prevention, removal, or too few sacrifice bodies.

- Interaction: evaluate whether Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, and Flaring Pain were used against the actual visible problem instead of a predicted one; Card text check required before judging exact Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, or Flaring Pain timing.

- Sideboard: compare each post-board result against the stated role plan, especially whether Cast Down and Healer of the Glade bought time, Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer cleared a commitment turn, Nyxborn Hydra created a real backup clock, and narrow one-ofs were drawn or stranded.

- Closing: record whether Lotleth Giant ended the game when reanimated, whether opponent life total or prevention changed the kill math, and whether Nyxborn Hydra or ordinary creature combat was needed after the graveyard plan stalled.

- Role accuracy: ask whether the pilot correctly played as a race deck, stabilizing combo deck, disruption-first combo deck, or backup-creature deck based on visible pressure and public information.

- Mistakes: flag any pass with relevant legal actions, any unnecessary attack with a needed Dread Return body, any mana payment that stranded black, and any selection choice that ignored the current combo bottleneck.

- Stranded cards: list Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Nyxborn Hydra, Cast Down, Healer of the Glade, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, and Flaring Pain when they were held without a legal or tactical window.

- Overperformers and underperformers: tie card judgments to exact board states, such as Overgrown Battlement enabling a turn-four kill, Healer of the Glade buying a turn, Pilfer clearing a blocker to combo, or Masked Vandal being only an expendable body.

## First Tuning Questions

- Core count question: should Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant quantities change only if logs show repeated missing payoff, duplicated dead payoff, or graveyard kills failing after legal combo commitment.

- Mana question: should the Forest, Swamp, Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, and Overgrown Battlement mix change if black access or first-creature timing is the repeated failure.

- Velocity question: should Lead the Stampede or Winding Way quantities change if selection routinely finds bodies but not Balustrade Spy, or if casting selection costs the same turn the deck needed to develop defender mana.

- Aggro-plan question: should Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra, or extra blockers gain slots if losses come from visible combat clocks before the first realistic Balustrade Spy turn.

- Control-plan question: should Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer increase if protected commitment turns are the bottleneck, or decrease if temporary disruption and discard do not translate into a same-turn or next-turn kill.

- Graveyard-hate question: should Jack-o'-Lantern or Voracious Varmint gain emphasis only if public hate repeatedly stops Dread Return or Lotleth Giant; Card text check required before assigning them a larger exact role.

- Closer question: should Nyxborn Hydra become a larger post-board plan if Lotleth Giant kills are often blocked by graveyard interaction, prevention, or insufficient creature count.

- Role-conflict question: should sideboard configuration change if adding Cast Down, Healer of the Glade, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Flaring Pain, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, and Nyxborn Hydra repeatedly dilutes Balustrade Spy speed more than it solves the matchup.

- Creature-quality question: should Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, Wall of Roots, or Overgrown Battlement counts be revisited if logs show too many bodies that neither block well nor accelerate the decisive turn.

- Sideboard-slot question: should the narrow one-ofs Flaring Pain, Jack-o'-Lantern, and Voracious Varmint remain if they are rarely legal, rarely drawn in relevant games, or require too much mana during the Balustrade Spy commitment window.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Mulligan For Functional Engine Access
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Balustrade Spy; Overgrown Battlement; Wall of Roots; Saruli Caretaker; Gatecreeper Vine; Land Grant; Generous Ent; Troll of Khazad-dûm; Lead the Stampede; Winding Way
Phase windows: opening hand and London mulligan bottoms
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; action:keep; action:mulligan; action:bottom
Use when: decide whether the hand can produce early green, at least one first creature or selection spell, and a visible path toward black for Balustrade Spy.
Avoid when: keeping a hand whose only plan depends on drawing both mana and payoff before pressure or disruption matters.
Instructions: Keep hands with functional mana plus engine development; bottom duplicate expensive payoff before cutting mana, first creature, or selection unless the hand already has a complete Balustrade Spy turn.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Setup Creature Sequencing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Overgrown Battlement; Wall of Roots; Saruli Caretaker; Gatecreeper Vine; Quirion Ranger; Sagu Wildling; Masked Vandal
Phase windows: precombat main phase turns one through three
Runtime cues: action:cast Overgrown Battlement; action:cast Wall of Roots; action:cast Saruli Caretaker; action:cast Gatecreeper Vine
Use when: multiple legal creature-development actions exist before combo commitment.
Avoid when: a legal action immediately wins, prevents lethal, or protects the combo from known interaction.
Instructions: Deploy the creature that increases next-turn mana and sacrifice-body count most directly; prefer Overgrown Battlement when defender count matters, and preserve cheap bodies for Dread Return flashback.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Land Grant And Landcycling Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; selection
Cards: Land Grant; Generous Ent; Troll of Khazad-dûm; Forest; Swamp
Phase windows: main phases before committing mana
Runtime cues: action:cast Land Grant; action:cycle Generous Ent; action:cycle Troll of Khazad-dûm
Use when: the hand lacks a required color or land drop and legal actions expose a search or cycling choice.
Avoid when: spending the action reveals a hand or consumes mana without improving the next two turns.
Instructions: Secure green early for creatures and black before Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, or Dread Return lines; do not assume hidden lands or future draws.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Mana Payments Preserve Black
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Balustrade Spy; Mesmeric Fiend; Dread Return; Cast Down; Pilfer; Swamp; Land Grant; Troll of Khazad-dûm; Gatecreeper Vine
Phase windows: payment prompts in main phase, priority, and combat trick windows
Runtime cues: action:pay mana; action:activate mana ability
Use when: a legal payment choice can spend either black-producing access or nonblack mana.
Avoid when: the payment prompt has only one legal source set or preserving black cannot affect any visible legal or pending action.
Instructions: Preserve black when Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, or Pilfer is visible in hand, graveyard, stack, or legal actions; use Wall of Roots and Overgrown Battlement mana before stranding color.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Balustrade Spy Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; selection; mana
Cards: Balustrade Spy; Dread Return; Lotleth Giant; Mesmeric Fiend; Pilfer; Flaring Pain
Phase windows: main phase with Balustrade Spy legal or castable
Runtime cues: action:cast Balustrade Spy
Use when: deciding whether to start the self-mill combo from a visible legal Balustrade Spy action.
Avoid when: known graveyard hate, prevention, insufficient sacrifice bodies, missing Dread Return access, or opponent lethal next turn makes waiting or disruption materially different.
Instructions: Commit when the visible line can mill enough cards, produce Dread Return flashback bodies, target Lotleth Giant, and beat known public obstacles; use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer first when protection is available and time permits.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Balustrade Spy Self Target
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Balustrade Spy
Phase windows: Balustrade Spy triggered ability target prompt
Runtime cues: action:target self Balustrade Spy
Use when: the legal action text targets self for Balustrade Spy and the committed plan is self-mill combo execution.
Avoid when: the legal target is not self, multiple non-self target texts are present, or the combo commitment has not been selected.
Instructions: Choose the self-target action after the model has selected the Balustrade Spy combo line; do not target the opponent for the normal combo plan.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Dread Return Lotleth Giant Payoff Target
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Dread Return; Lotleth Giant
Phase windows: Dread Return target prompt from hand or flashback
Runtime cues: action:target Lotleth Giant Dread Return
Use when: the legal action text targets Lotleth Giant with Dread Return and the committed plan is the graveyard payoff kill.
Avoid when: Lotleth Giant is not a legal target, opponent life/prevention requires a different evaluated line, or Dread Return is being used for survival instead of payoff.
Instructions: Choose Lotleth Giant as the payoff target when visible legal text exactly offers that target for Dread Return after combo commitment.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Dread Return Sacrifice Body Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Dread Return; Overgrown Battlement; Wall of Roots; Saruli Caretaker; Gatecreeper Vine; Masked Vandal; Sagu Wildling; Quirion Ranger; Mesmeric Fiend; Healer of the Glade; Nyxborn Hydra
Phase windows: additional cost and flashback sacrifice prompts
Runtime cues: action:sacrifice; action:pay additional cost
Use when: Dread Return requires sacrificing creatures and several legal creature sets exist.
Avoid when: exactly one sacrifice set is legal or sacrificing a Mesmeric Fiend would release a card that changes the combo outcome.
Instructions: Sacrifice expendable bodies while preserving creatures needed for mana, lethal combat, or active disruption; treat Mesmeric Fiend as high-risk if its linked card matters.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Selection Spells Find Current Bottleneck
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; priority
Cards: Lead the Stampede; Winding Way; Balustrade Spy; Overgrown Battlement; Wall of Roots; Saruli Caretaker; Gatecreeper Vine; Lotleth Giant; Dread Return
Phase windows: main phase selection and reveal prompts
Runtime cues: action:cast Lead the Stampede; action:cast Winding Way; prompt:choose card; prompt:choose type
Use when: selection is legal and the hand lacks a clear next-turn combo or stabilizing sequence.
Avoid when: casting selection consumes mana needed for a protected Balustrade Spy turn or immediate survival.
Instructions: Choose the card or type that solves the visible bottleneck: mana body, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return access, or enough creatures for flashback; Card text check required for exact Winding Way prompt handling.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Disruption Before Fragile Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority; selection
Cards: Mesmeric Fiend; Pilfer; Balustrade Spy; Dread Return; Lotleth Giant
Phase windows: precombat main phase before combo, discard target prompts
Runtime cues: action:cast Mesmeric Fiend; action:cast Pilfer; prompt:choose opponent hand card
Use when: opponent revealed hand or public information shows interaction, graveyard hate, prevention, or a faster kill that can stop the combo.
Avoid when: using disruption delays a legal same-turn kill past visible lethal pressure.
Instructions: Take the card that stops the current commitment turn, not the generically strongest card; prefer Pilfer for durable discard and Mesmeric Fiend when the body matters or mana is constrained.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal And Hate Answer Triage
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Cast Down; Masked Vandal; Jack-o'-Lantern; Voracious Varmint
Phase windows: main phase, opponent combat, priority windows before combo
Runtime cues: action:cast Cast Down; action:cast Masked Vandal; action:activate Jack-o'-Lantern; action:cast Voracious Varmint
Use when: a public permanent, creature, or graveyard card blocks the combo or creates a lethal clock.
Avoid when: the target does not affect the combo turn, survival turn, or known public resource race.
Instructions: Spend interaction on visible hate, lethal attackers, or blockers that invalidate the backup plan; Card text check required for exact Jack-o'-Lantern and Voracious Varmint effects.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Flaring Pain Against Prevention
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Flaring Pain; Lotleth Giant; Dread Return
Phase windows: combo turn before payoff damage or prevention-sensitive combat
Runtime cues: action:cast Flaring Pain
Use when: public prevention effects or known prevention windows would stop Lotleth Giant damage or a lethal attack this turn.
Avoid when: no visible prevention effect or prevention window is relevant to the current lethal line.
Instructions: Use Flaring Pain only to clear an immediate prevention obstacle; Card text check required for exact timing and whether the rules engine exposes the necessary window.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Preserve Combo Materials
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat
Cards: Overgrown Battlement; Wall of Roots; Saruli Caretaker; Gatecreeper Vine; Masked Vandal; Sagu Wildling; Quirion Ranger; Nyxborn Hydra
Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage
Runtime cues: action:attack; action:block
Use when: combat choices involve creatures needed for mana, Dread Return sacrifice, or a Nyxborn Hydra backup clock.
Avoid when: blocking is required to survive visible lethal or attacking creates immediate lethal damage.
Instructions: Do not trade away mana defenders or three-sacrifice-body density for small damage; use Nyxborn Hydra as a backup threat when the graveyard line is disrupted.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Single No-Attack Prompt
Priority: Low
Decision families: combat
Cards: none
Phase windows: declare attackers
Runtime cues: action:attack with none
Use when: the only legal attack action text declares no attackers and no other attack action is present.
Avoid when: any legal action declares one or more attackers.
Instructions: Choose the no-attack action when it is the sole legal attack declaration.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Priority Pass With No Material Action
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: none
Phase windows: any priority window with empty stack or opponent stack action
Runtime cues: action:pass priority
Use when: the only non-mana legal action is pass priority and no legal spell, ability, block, attack, target, or selection action is available.
Avoid when: any legal action can cast, activate, target, select, attack, block, pay, or submit a combo step.
Instructions: Pass only when the action list exposes no material alternative; reassess after each engine update.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Cast Down; Mesmeric Fiend; Pilfer; Healer of the Glade; Nyxborn Hydra; Flaring Pain; Jack-o'-Lantern; Voracious Varmint; Balustrade Spy; Lead the Stampede; Winding Way; Masked Vandal; Sagu Wildling
Phase windows: post-game sideboarding before next game
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; action:submit sideboard plan
Use when: choosing a legal sideboard plan after seeing opponent archetype, speed, hate, and prevention.
Avoid when: the proposed plan violates registered 75 counts or dilutes the deck below functional combo density without a survival reason.
Instructions: Add Cast Down and Healer of the Glade against creature clocks, Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer against disruption, Flaring Pain against prevention, Jack-o'-Lantern or Voracious Varmint against graveyard dependence, and Nyxborn Hydra when a backup threat is needed.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Play Draw Choice
Priority: Medium
Decision families: pregame
Cards: none
Phase windows: beginning of game play/draw prompt
Runtime cues: prompt:play or draw; action:play first; action:draw first
Use when: Veles exposes a legal play/draw choice.
Avoid when: tournament structure or engine output fixes the choice.
Instructions: Choose play when racing to Balustrade Spy or early defender mana matters; consider draw only when matchup guidance and visible post-board role make extra card quality more important than speed.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
