# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

Orzhov Greasefang is a Pioneer combo-midrange graveyard deck built around resolving `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` with `Parhelion II` in the graveyard while using black-white disruption, removal, resilient creatures, and land-based utility to force the combo through interactive games. Treat the deck as a hybrid rather than a pure stock Greasefang list: the `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus `Parhelion II` core is familiar, but the registered configuration uses `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Monument to Endurance`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `The Mycosynth Gardens`, and a varied sideboard package in ways that require deck-specific runtime guidance rather than generic archetype heuristics.

Active validation status is clean for the supplied contract: the format is Pioneer, the registered main deck contains 60 cards, the registered sideboard contains 15 cards, and the format-aware validation result says the list passes. Use only the registered main-deck inventory for `Cut:` names and only the registered sideboard inventory for `Side in:` names in executable sideboard plans. Do not assume legality of any action from deck construction alone; runtime choices must still follow the rules engine's legal action list.

Primary archetype tags are combo, midrange, and graveyard. The combo tag matters because `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` can convert a graveyarded `Parhelion II` into a fast battlefield kill or near-kill; the midrange tag matters because `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and creature combat can buy time or win without immediate combo access; the graveyard tag matters because several core lines depend on moving or keeping relevant objects in the graveyard and because opponents may bring graveyard interaction after sideboarding.

Mana and role concerns are real despite the clean count validation. The mana base is black-white with `Concealed Courtyard`, `Godless Shrine`, `Brightclimb Pathway`, `Bleachbone Verge`, `Shadowy Backstreet`, `Plains`, `Swamp`, `Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth`, `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, and `The Mycosynth Gardens`; runtime play should respect visible untapped sources, life total pressure from shock lands, and whether early black mana is needed for `Thoughtseize` or `Fatal Push` versus white mana for protective or board-stabilizing lines. Card text check required for newer or less familiar registered cards before relying on exact triggered abilities, activated abilities, or alternate uses.

Opponent information status is unspecified beyond the active format and this decklist. Before sideboarding or matchup-specific play, the agent should treat the opposing archetype, revealed cards, public graveyard, battlefield, exile, hand counts, and logged decisions as runtime evidence rather than assuming a metagame deck. When no opponent profile is provided, default to preserving the `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` combo threat while selecting discard, removal, and graveyard-setup lines from visible legal actions and public information.

## Thesis

Orzhov Greasefang assembles `Parhelion II` in the graveyard plus `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` on the battlefield, then converts the beginning-of-combat trigger into an immediate high-damage vehicle attack that often ends the game or leaves the opponent facing lethal pressure. Prioritize the combo when the legal action list shows a safe path to put `Parhelion II` into the graveyard, resolve or protect `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, and move to combat without exposing the plan to visible removal, graveyard hate, or lethal counterpressure.

The deck wins by making the opponent answer two different axes: a graveyard-combo kill from `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` and `Parhelion II`, and a fair black-white pressure plan backed by `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, and `Monument to Endurance`. Use the fair plan to buy time, clear blockers, punish stumble draws, and force opponents to spend interaction before the combo turn; do not play as a slow hard-control deck that hoards resources forever while the opponent develops unchecked.

The deck is not trying to cast `Parhelion II` as a normal primary plan unless runtime mana, battlefield, and legal actions make that realistic. Treat hard-casting or copying utility through `The Mycosynth Gardens` as conditional backup texture, not the default path. Card text check required before relying on exact `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Monument to Endurance`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Bleachbone Verge`, `Seam Rip`, or `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` functionality.

Prioritize information and timing over raw speed when the opponent shows open interaction. `Thoughtseize` should often clear the way before committing `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; removal should protect life total or remove blockers that change the attack math; discard outlets and selection should value placing `Parhelion II` where `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` can use it rather than cycling away all redundant pressure without a plan.

## Role Package

- Threats: `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is the defining must-answer threat because it turns a graveyarded `Parhelion II` into an immediate combat step. `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Fleeting Spirit`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` supply non-combo pressure that can chip damage, carry games through graveyard hate, and make opposing removal awkward. Card text check required for exact `Iron-Shield Elf` combat or utility rules before treating it as more than a creature threat.

- Payoffs: `Parhelion II` is the main payoff and should usually be valued more in the graveyard than stranded in hand. `Sheltered by Ghosts` is a stabilizing payoff when legal text supports removing or neutralizing a visible permanent while improving the board. `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` is a sideboard payoff only after sideboarding; card text check required before using it as a specific engine, threat, or interaction piece.

- Engines: `Monument to Endurance` appears to support the discard/graveyard plan and should be evaluated as an engine when legal actions show it turning discard into material advantage. `Fleeting Spirit` and `Guardian of New Benalia` can function as repeat or tactical discard outlets if their visible legal actions offer discard choices, especially when discarding `Parhelion II` advances the combo. `Geier Reach Sanitarium` is a land-based velocity engine when activating it improves the graveyard setup or hand texture more than it helps the opponent.

- Velocity: `Lively Dirge`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, and discard-capable creatures are the main ways to convert awkward cards into graveyard or hand progress. Use velocity to find or enable `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, place `Parhelion II` in the graveyard, or recover after disruption; avoid spending velocity just because it is available when the hand already contains a coherent near-term plan.

- Interaction: `Thoughtseize` is the proactive shield and scouting tool for combo turns. `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Bitter Triumph`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`, `Duress`, `Damping Sphere`, `Soul-Guide Lantern`, `Doorkeeper Thrull`, and `Seam Rip` form the removal, disruption, hate, and matchup-control modules. Use interaction to clear the specific visible obstacle to winning or surviving rather than trading down into low-impact targets.

- Protection: `Thoughtseize` and `Duress` protect the combo by removing visible or known answers before `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is exposed. `Guardian of New Benalia` and `Fleeting Spirit` may protect themselves through discard or exile-style legal actions; use those protections only when the engine output confirms the action and the card being discarded improves or preserves the plan.

- Recursion: `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` and `Lively Dirge` are the named recursion or recovery module, subject to runtime legal actions and card text verification. Prioritize recovering `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` when `Parhelion II` is already positioned, and prioritize rebuilding fair pressure when graveyard hate blocks the immediate combo.

- Mana: `Concealed Courtyard`, `Godless Shrine`, `Brightclimb Pathway`, `Bleachbone Verge`, `Shadowy Backstreet`, `Plains`, `Swamp`, `Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth`, `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, and `Geier Reach Sanitarium` must support early black for `Thoughtseize` and `Fatal Push`, white for creatures and protective plays, and utility timing without missing the combo turn.

- Sideboard modules: `Duress` increases proactive protection, `Bitter Triumph` and the extra `Vanishing Verse` increase answer density, `Soul-Guide Lantern` fights opposing graveyard plans, `Damping Sphere` pressures spell-chain or big-mana opponents, `Doorkeeper Thrull` attacks triggered-ability reliance if card text confirms the matchup relevance, `Seam Rip` answers a specific permanent class only after card text check, and `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` is a transformational or grindy module only when its verified text fits the matchup.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Combo kill: Put `Parhelion II` into the graveyard, resolve `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, and use the beginning-of-combat trigger to return and crew `Parhelion II` for an immediate attack. Prioritize this path when `Thoughtseize` or visible information shows the opponent lacks a live answer, when the opponent is about to outscale the fair board, or when waiting gives graveyard hate or removal more time to matter.

- Combo setup: Treat `Parhelion II` in hand as a resource to discard, not as a normal castable spell, unless runtime mana and legal actions prove otherwise. Use legal discard or filtering actions from `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, and any verified `Monument to Endurance` or `Lively Dirge` action to place or find the missing combo piece; card text check required before assuming exact `Monument to Endurance` or `Lively Dirge` output.

- Combo protection: Use `Thoughtseize` before exposing `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` when the opponent could have removal, counterplay, or graveyard interaction. If the legal action list offers multiple development lines, prefer the line that either clears the known answer or keeps a backup `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, pressure creature, or recursion line available after disruption.

- Combo disruption response: If `Parhelion II` is exiled, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is removed, or graveyard access is blocked, pivot immediately into pressure plus interaction instead of spending turns on impossible graveyard actions. `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` should remove the permanent or creature most responsible for stopping the attack, preserving life, or opening a fair-damage clock.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Fair pressure: Win with `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Fleeting Spirit`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, and repeated attacks while interaction keeps the opponent off balance. Prioritize this plan when graveyard hate is visible, `Parhelion II` is unavailable, or the opponent has spent resources respecting `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; card text check required before using `Iron-Shield Elf` for any role beyond visible creature pressure.

- Disruption tempo: Use `Thoughtseize` plus cheap removal to create a low-resource game where small creatures matter. `Fatal Push` is best when it prevents early damage, clears a blocker for lethal pressure, or stops a creature that invalidates the combo turn; `Vanishing Verse` is best saved for a permanent that `Fatal Push` cannot answer or that materially blocks the winning line.

- Stabilizing enchantment line: Use `Sheltered by Ghosts` when legal actions confirm it removes or neutralizes a relevant visible permanent while improving a race or protecting a creature-based plan. Do not spend it on low-impact targets if a larger threat, graveyard-hate permanent, or blocker is the real obstacle to winning.

- Value engine line: Use `Monument to Endurance`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, and `Lively Dirge` to rebuild after one-for-one trades when the game slows down. Card text check required for exact `Monument to Endurance`, `Lively Dirge`, and `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` decisions; conditionally prioritize actions that recover `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, find a creature, or turn discarded `Parhelion II` into pressure rather than empty card movement.

- Hard-payoff backup: Treat hard-casting `Parhelion II` or copying/leveraging utility with `The Mycosynth Gardens` as a rare late-game line that must be verified by legal actions, mana, and board state. Do not keep weak hands solely because they contain lands and `Parhelion II`; the deck’s normal win path is graveyard deployment plus combat, not eight-mana inevitability.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: Stabilize first with `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, and profitable blocks before pursuing slow selection. A near-term `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` attack can reverse a race, but only commit if the engine shows the trigger and combat line are legal and the opponent’s visible board does not already present lethal through the attempt.

- Behind on board: Remove the creature or permanent that changes the next combat step most, then deploy the cheapest relevant blocker or pressure creature. Avoid discarding the only interactive card to protect `Fleeting Spirit` or `Guardian of New Benalia` unless the discarded card is `Parhelion II` or the protected creature is essential to surviving the turn.

- Behind on cards: Favor recursive or multi-card actions from `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Lively Dirge`, `Monument to Endurance`, and `Geier Reach Sanitarium` only when they improve the next two turns. Do not activate symmetrical draw-discard effects into an opponent who benefits more unless the action places `Parhelion II` into the graveyard or finds a needed answer.

- Behind on mana: Keep land drops and colored requirements above optional utility activations. Early black enables `Thoughtseize` and `Fatal Push`; white enables the creature plan and `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; utility lands should not strand key spells when the hand needs colored mana.

- Graveyard shut off: Stop treating `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` as the immediate win condition while the hate remains active. Build a fair battlefield, pressure life total, hold or use removal for the hate piece if legal, and preserve `Parhelion II` only when a future discard or recovery line can matter.

- Win conditions removed: If all visible `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` access is gone or `Parhelion II` is no longer usable, shift to creature combat backed by every remaining answer. Use `Thoughtseize` to protect the fair clock, use removal to clear blockers or lethal attackers, and make the opponent answer each `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Fleeting Spirit`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` instead of waiting for a combo that cannot be assembled.

## Resource Model

- Life: Spend life aggressively for `Thoughtseize` and untapped shock-land mana when the payoff is a protected `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` turn, a stopped opposing combo, or survival against pressure. Conserve life when the hand is already configured for a turn-three combo and the opponent is presenting creature damage; do not pay life merely to curve a low-impact creature if a tapped land still keeps the combo timeline intact.

- Hand: Treat cards in hand as both spell access and discard fuel. `Parhelion II` is the preferred discard payload, while extra legendary or redundant pieces can be spent only when visible legal actions confirm the resulting graveyard, protection, or selection value; do not discard the only `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` or only interaction unless the action wins or prevents an immediate loss.

- Mana: Convert early mana into black interaction first, white combo access second, and utility activations third. `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Vanishing Verse`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` make colored sequencing more important than maximizing utility-land text.

- Board: Convert creatures into pressure, blockers, crew material when the engine shows legal crew actions, and resilience against graveyard hate. `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` should keep attacking only when they do not expose the pilot to a worse crack-back or discard the card needed for the next combo/protection window; card text check required for exact `Iron-Shield Elf` utility.

- Graveyard: Treat the graveyard as the main combo staging zone, not a passive discard pile. A `Parhelion II` in the graveyard plus live `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` access is worth more than most fair exchanges, but visible graveyard hate changes the resource model immediately toward creature combat and removal.

- Exile: Treat exiled combo pieces as mostly unavailable unless a legal action explicitly says otherwise. If `Parhelion II` or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is exiled, stop spending selection on that exact line and prioritize fair damage, removal, and any verified recovery route from `Lively Dirge`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, or `Monument to Endurance`; card text check required for exact recovery modes.

- Lands: Treat land drops as a protected resource through turn four because the deck wants discard, removal, setup, and `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` on time. `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, and `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` are powerful only after colored requirements are safe.

- Sacrifice fodder: Do not assume the deck has a sacrifice plan. Use creatures as sacrifice fodder only when the rules engine exposes a legal action that names a sacrifice cost or effect, and prefer expendable or redundant bodies over a live `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` or the only blocker needed to survive.

- Tempo: Convert tempo into a short protected attack window. A turn spent on `Thoughtseize` or discard setup is good when it makes the next `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` turn safe; a turn spent filtering is poor when a visible attacker, hate permanent, or lethal clock demands `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, or `Sheltered by Ghosts`.

- Information: Use `Thoughtseize` and visible public zones to decide whether to commit or wait. Known removal, counterplay, or graveyard hate should push the agent toward discard first, backup threat deployment, or fair pressure instead of blind combo exposure.

- Sideboard bullets: Convert sideboard slots into narrow resource pressure after Game 1. `Duress` adds information and protection, `Soul-Guide Lantern` contests opposing graveyards, `Damping Sphere` taxes mana/combo decks, `Bitter Triumph` and the extra `Vanishing Verse` increase removal density, `Doorkeeper Thrull`, `Seam Rip`, and `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` need card text verification before assigning exact tactical roles.

## Mana Guide

- Color priority: Secure black on turn one for `Thoughtseize` or `Fatal Push`, then secure white and black together for `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Vanishing Verse`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts`. Hands without early black need a strong visible reason to keep, such as multiple correct lands plus a fast white creature plan and no immediate need for disruption.

- Untapped sequencing: Prefer `Concealed Courtyard`, untapped `Godless Shrine`, `Brightclimb Pathway`, `Bleachbone Verge`, or basics when the turn requires interaction or combo setup. Use tapped or conditional lands only when the current legal actions do not require that mana before the next untap; card text check required for exact `Bleachbone Verge` and `Shadowy Backstreet` timing.

- Utility-land sequencing: Delay `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, and `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` if playing them would strand `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, or `Vanishing Verse`. Lead on utility lands only when colored sources are already covered or the hand specifically needs the utility action to put `Parhelion II` into the graveyard.

- `The Mycosynth Gardens`: Treat `The Mycosynth Gardens` as a utility land before treating it as colored fixing or a copied object. Card text check required for exact activation choices; do not spend mana on it if that prevents casting `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, holding `Fatal Push`, or paying for a visible protection/removal line.

- Keep/mulligan mana: Keep hands that can produce black early and reach `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` mana on schedule with either `Parhelion II` access, discard/filter access, or disruption. Mulligan hands with only utility lands, no black source, no realistic path to white-black mana, or lands that enter tapped in a way that misses the first relevant interaction window.

- Land count: Two-land hands are acceptable when both colors are covered and the hand has `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, a discard outlet, or a clear combo route. One-land hands need exceptional legal-format evidence and should usually be rejected; five-plus-land hands need `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Monument to Endurance`, or a strong interactive curve to avoid flooding.

- Play land before draw/filter: Play a land before activating `Geier Reach Sanitarium` or any verified draw-discard action when the land drop is already known and unlocks current-turn interaction. Delay the land drop until after draw/filter when the choice of land depends on whether the agent finds `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Parhelion II`, `Fatal Push`, or a missing color.

- Channel/utility timing: Hold `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` and `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` as lands unless the rules engine exposes a legal utility action that is better than making the next land drop. Use those actions only when the effect matters immediately or the mana base can still cast the next planned spell.

- Shock-land life rule: Pay life for `Godless Shrine` when the untapped mana enables same-turn discard, removal, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, or a protected setup action. Let it enter tapped when the turn is noninteractive and the opponent’s visible pressure makes life the limiting resource.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keeps: Keep two- or three-land hands with early black, turn-three white-black access, and either `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus a way to place `Parhelion II` in the graveyard or `Thoughtseize` plus interaction. A hand like `Concealed Courtyard`, `Godless Shrine`, `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Parhelion II`, and `Fleeting Spirit` is strong because it disrupts first, interacts, and threatens the combo if the engine exposes a discard/filter route.

- Medium keeps: Keep fair-leaning hands with colored mana, `Thoughtseize` or `Fatal Push`, and pressure from `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, or `Iron-Shield Elf` when the matchup is unknown or visible opponent pressure matters. `Monument to Endurance` hands are keepable when they also contain lands and action; card text check required for exact setup value and whether it enables discard, recursion, or pressure.

- Risky keeps: Keep one missing combo half only when the hand has disruption, selection, or repeatable filtering such as `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Lively Dirge`, or `Monument to Endurance`; card text check required for exact search or recovery modes. Do not keep a hand just because it has `Parhelion II`; it must also have a route to the graveyard, a way to find `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, or a credible fair plan.

- Automatic ships: Mulligan hands with no early black source, no realistic white-black mana for `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, zero lands, one land without `Thoughtseize` or `Fatal Push`, or five-plus lands without `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Monument to Endurance`, or strong interaction. Ship hands that are only `Parhelion II` plus slow lands and no discard/filter outlet.

- Matchup-dependent keeps: Against fast creature decks, keep `Fatal Push`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, or `Vanishing Verse` hands more aggressively than slow combo hands. Against control or graveyard hate decks, prefer `Thoughtseize`, redundant `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, and a fair creature plan over all-in graveyard dependence.

- Play/draw adjustment: On the play, prioritize `Thoughtseize` into protected turn-three `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; on the draw, prioritize `Fatal Push`, stable mana, and hands that do not fold to the opponent developing first. A slower hand with `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Fleeting Spirit`, and removal is more acceptable on the draw than an unprotected fragile combo hand.

- Trap hands: Do not keep double `Parhelion II` hands without a discard outlet or interaction. Do not keep utility-land-heavy hands with `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, or `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` if they cannot cast `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` on time.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: Prefer untapped black for `Thoughtseize` when the opponent is unknown, likely interactive, or capable of racing. Use `Fatal Push` instead when a visible one-drop or early attacker changes the race; deploy no spell only when the hand needs a tapped land or the legal actions offer no relevant setup.

- Turn 1 deviation: Lead on a mana-safe land over a utility land unless `Geier Reach Sanitarium` or another visible legal action is needed to set up `Parhelion II`. Do not expose life with untapped `Godless Shrine` unless it unlocks `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, or a turn-two line.

- Turn 2: Set up the combo or stabilize the board. Cast `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, or `Monument to Endurance` when the hand needs pressure or filtering; hold up `Fatal Push` when the opponent’s visible board threatens the turn-three combo window. Card text check required for exact `Iron-Shield Elf` and `Monument to Endurance` sequencing.

- Turn 2 deviation: Use `Thoughtseize` before committing a creature if known removal, graveyard hate, or counterplay would stop `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Use `Vanishing Verse` or `Sheltered by Ghosts` only when the engine shows a legal target that matters more than preserving mana for the next combo turn.

- Turn 3: Commit `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` when `Parhelion II` is in the graveyard, the legal action is available, and the visible/known interaction check is acceptable. If the combo is not ready, play a fair threat, use `Thoughtseize`, remove a blocker or hate piece, or activate a verified filter/search action to assemble the next turn.

- Turn 3 deviation: Wait on `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` when known removal, open mana, or visible graveyard hate makes the attack unlikely to resolve and the hand contains discard, removal, or a backup threat. Do not spend `The Mycosynth Gardens` utility mana if it prevents casting or protecting `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; card text check required for exact copy/activation lines.

- Turns 4-5: Rebuild after the first exchange and force a second must-answer line. Use extra `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Lively Dirge`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Monument to Endurance`, or creature pressure to recover; card text check required for exact recursion/search modes. Use `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` to clear blockers, hate permanents, or lethal pressure before spending mana on low-impact filtering.

- Late game: Shift from speed to inevitability only if the visible board allows it. Repeated filtering with `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, utility from `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`, and `The Mycosynth Gardens`, and attacks from `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` should pressure life totals while preserving any route back to `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus `Parhelion II`.

- Late-game deviation: Prioritize survival over combo purity when the opponent has lethal or a short clock. A removal spell, blocker, or life-preserving line is correct over setup when the rules engine shows that waiting loses before `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` can matter.

## Card Roles

- `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`: Treat this as the defining commitment card, not a normal three-drop. Cast it when `Parhelion II` is already in the graveyard, the engine offers the legal line, and visible or known interaction does not make waiting clearly better. `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` can also pressure as a 4-power creature, but its main role is to return `Parhelion II` for a combat step, so avoid exposing it into open removal when discard or another setup action can clear the way first. Against fast creature decks, cast it sooner if the combo attack is the only stabilization line; against discard, removal, or graveyard-hate decks, value redundant copies and recovery lines more highly.

- `Parhelion II`: Treat this as the graveyard payoff and a poor normal cast in most games. Prioritize lines that place `Parhelion II` into the graveyard before combat with `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; do not strand it in hand unless the same hand has `Fleeting Spirit`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Monument to Endurance`, or another verified discard/filter route. Hard-casting is rarely realistic, but if the rules engine presents it in a long game, consider board state, mana stability, and whether a cheaper `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` line is available.

- `Thoughtseize`: Use this to clear the path, identify the opponent’s clock, and decide whether the current hand should combo or play midrange. On turn one, take the card that stops `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` when the combo is close; otherwise take the card that produces the fastest lethal pressure or the permanent hate that your current removal cannot answer. Avoid firing `Thoughtseize` late as a reflex when life total is under pressure and the opponent’s visible board already demands `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, or a blocker.

- `Fatal Push`: Use this as the cheap tempo shield that buys the combo turn or protects the fair plan. Hold it when the opponent may commit a more important creature before your `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` turn; spend it early when a visible attacker, mana creature, or hate creature changes the race. Do not waste `Fatal Push` on a low-impact target if `Vanishing Verse` or `Sheltered by Ghosts` is better suited for the permanent already pressuring the board.

- `Vanishing Verse`: Use this as premium exile interaction for monocolored blockers, hate permanents, and threats that `Fatal Push` cannot cleanly answer. Hold it when the opponent’s deck is likely to present a specific must-answer permanent, but spend it before committing `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` if the target would stop combat, remove the graveyard route, or create lethal pressure. Do not assume it answers multicolored or colorless permanents; follow legal target text from the engine.

- `Sheltered by Ghosts`: Use this as conditional removal or protection only after confirming the exact legal action and card text. Card text check required. If it functions as an aura-style answer or protection piece, respect the risk of being punished by removal on the enchanted permanent; prefer it when the target matters immediately or when it unlocks a safe combo attack. Against decks with many cheap removal spells, avoid making a fragile creature carry too much of the plan unless no cleaner line exists.

- `Fleeting Spirit`: Use this as the flexible fair threat and likely discard outlet; card text check required for exact activation costs and protection text. Its tactical role is to turn clunky `Parhelion II` hands into live combo hands while also attacking through stalled boards. Cast it early when the hand needs a discard/filter route or repeatable pressure, but hold mana-sensitive activations if the same turn requires `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Do not discard important redundancy just to use an ability unless the graveyard setup or survival payoff is visible.

- `Guardian of New Benalia`: Use this as pressure, filtering, and a resilient body when the combo is incomplete or interaction-heavy. Card text check required for exact enlist, scry/discard, and protection details. It is strongest when it can attack while improving hand texture, discard `Parhelion II`, or force removal before `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Avoid attacking into bad trades if the body is needed to pressure planeswalkers, crew, block, or support a later fair game.

- `Iron-Shield Elf`: Use this as an early stabilizer or enabling permanent only after card text is verified. Card text check required. If it produces mana, protects creatures, or contributes to combat, sequence it according to the exact legal actions shown by the engine rather than assuming a generic ramp role. In unknown matchups, cast it when it improves turn-three `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` or blocks profitably; in removal-heavy games, avoid treating it as guaranteed protection or acceleration unless the visible rules text confirms that role.

- `Monument to Endurance`: Use this as the long-game engine or setup piece only when the hand can afford the tempo. Card text check required. Its likely role is to convert discard, graveyard movement, or repeated actions into advantage, but the decision agent must not assume triggers or modes without engine output. Cast it early against slower decks if it helps assemble `Parhelion II` plus `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; delay it against aggro when removal, blockers, or immediate combo setup are more urgent.

- `Lively Dirge`: Use this as a one-copy search, recursion, or setup spell only after checking the legal mode text. Card text check required. If the engine presents it as a way to find or return `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, prioritize it when the graveyard already contains `Parhelion II` or when a second combo attempt is needed. Do not spend it for low-impact value if the current hand lacks the payoff or if holding mana for interaction prevents a loss.

- `The Mycosynth Gardens`: Use this as a utility land that may support artifact or combo lines, but do not let its utility text distort the mana plan. Card text check required for exact copy and mana abilities. Prioritize colored lands over `The Mycosynth Gardens` when the hand must cast `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Fleeting Spirit`, or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` on curve. In long games, look for legal activations that copy a relevant artifact or improve a `Parhelion II` plan only when the board and mana make that action better than casting spells.

- `Geier Reach Sanitarium`: Use this as a repeatable way to move `Parhelion II` from hand to graveyard and dig toward missing pieces. Activate it when both players drawing and discarding is acceptable, especially at end step before a `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` turn. Avoid activating it when the opponent benefits more from the extra card selection, when mana must remain available for `Fatal Push` or `Vanishing Verse`, or when discarding reveals a plan the opponent can immediately answer.

- `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`: Use this as a land first and a recovery spell when the game reaches a resource fight. Channel or activate it only when the engine confirms the legal action and the graveyard or library outcome can recover `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, a pressure creature, or another relevant card. Do not hold it too long if missing black mana prevents early plays, but preserve it in grindy games when other lands already cast the hand.

- `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`: Use this as white mana first and interaction later when the game is likely to involve combat. Its channel line can answer an attacking or blocking creature if the engine presents the legal action, which matters for clearing a `Parhelion II` attack, surviving an alpha strike, or winning a race. Do not keep a weak opener merely because `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` has utility; it must still cast the deck’s early black spells.

- Mana lands: Use `Concealed Courtyard`, `Godless Shrine`, `Brightclimb Pathway`, `Bleachbone Verge`, `Shadowy Backstreet`, `Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth`, `Swamp`, and `Plains` to secure black on turn one and white-black by turn three. Choose untapped black early for `Thoughtseize` or `Fatal Push`; choose painless or tapped sequencing only when it does not delay disruption, setup, or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Treat utility-heavy hands as risky if they cannot produce both colors on schedule.

## Interaction Priorities
- Discard first when the hand needs a clear `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` turn; `Thoughtseize` should take the visible card that stops the combo, not the flashiest threat. Prioritize graveyard hate, instant-speed creature removal, exile effects, sweepers that reset pressure, and combo pieces that will win before `Parhelion II` connects. Against fast creature decks, take the card that produces the most immediate damage only when removal cannot cover it.

- Remove first when the battlefield threatens either lethal pressure or a lock on the graveyard plan. Use `Fatal Push` on cheap creatures that race `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, enable sacrifice/combo turns, or force bad blocks; avoid spending it on low-pressure creatures if `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, or combat can answer later. Use revolt or other engine-confirmed modifiers only when the legal action text shows them.

- Exile first when the permanent is outside `Fatal Push` range or invalidates the combo. `Vanishing Verse` should answer monocolored hate permanents, large attackers, planeswalkers, or blockers that prevent a decisive `Parhelion II` attack, but do not assume it can target multicolored or colorless cards. `Sheltered by Ghosts` is interaction only under engine-confirmed text; Card text check required before treating it as removal, lifegain, or protection.

- Bait removal with secondary bodies before committing the key combo creature when time allows. `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, and sometimes `Monument to Endurance` can pressure or tax answers while preserving `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Do not bait if the opponent is presenting lethal, if `Parhelion II` is already in the graveyard and the opponent is tapped low, or if waiting gives them a clean graveyard-hate window.

- Ignore low-impact targets when they do not affect the next combo turn, race math, or resource engine. Do not fire `Fatal Push` at a creature that cannot profitably attack or block, do not spend `Thoughtseize` on redundant fair threats while a hate card remains, and do not use `Vanishing Verse` on a permanent that `Parhelion II` combat will overpower.

- Adjust interaction by archetype before choosing the action. Against aggro, preserve life and remove attackers before spending life on speculative `Thoughtseize`; against control, discard permission, exile effects, and graveyard hate before committing `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; against combo, use `Thoughtseize` and sideboard disruption like `Duress`, `Damping Sphere`, or `Soul-Guide Lantern` according to legal text and visible timing; against midrange, trade interaction for the card that stops the next combo attempt or wins the long exchange.

- Counter and bounce choices are not normal registered-deck actions. Orzhov Greasefang has no main-deck counterspell or bounce spell, so select counter or bounce only if the rules engine presents a legal action from a visible effect; never wait for an unavailable protection line.

## Combat And Trading Rules
- Attack with `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus returned `Parhelion II` when the engine shows the crew/return/combat line is legal and the attack changes the game immediately. Prefer the combo attack when it creates lethal, a dominant token board, or a life swing that beats the opponent’s crack-back; pause for light-model reasoning if open mana, known removal, or visible hate can break the line.

- Preserve `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` over fair combat unless the attack is part of the combo or a lethal race. Do not send it into blocks that trade for an ordinary creature when another combo attempt is likely. Blocking with it is an emergency line for lethal prevention or when recursion/redundancy is visible.

- Trade secondary creatures when the trade buys the combo turn or protects life total. `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` may attack or block as fair-game tools, but keep the body if it is needed to discard `Parhelion II`, pressure a planeswalker, enable protection text, or support a future legal action. Card text check required for exact combat and protection abilities.

- Treat life total as a resource until the opponent can kill before the next `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` window. Above roughly 12 life, prioritize setup and discard if the opponent’s board is not presenting a two-turn clock. At 8 or below, removal, blockers, lifelink from engine-confirmed `Sheltered by Ghosts`, and `Parhelion II` stabilization become higher priority than speculative engine setup.

- Block conservatively against pump, sacrifice, and instant-speed removal archetypes. Make blocks that survive visible damage or prevent lethal, but avoid relying on unverified protection from `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, or `Sheltered by Ghosts`. If the engine exposes only one legal no-block action and no lethal risk, passing combat can be acceptable.

- Use `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` as a combat trick only when the engine presents a legal channel or activation and the target matters now. The best combat uses are clearing a blocker for `Parhelion II`, killing an attacker to survive, or turning a trade into a favorable exchange; do not hold white mana for it if casting `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is the stronger visible line.

- Shift combat posture by matchup. Against aggro, block earlier and make trades that preserve life for a single combo swing; against control, attack with resilient secondary threats to force action before `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; against creature-light combo, pressure life total while keeping discard and removal aligned with their key turn; against graveyard hate, win with fair attacks while searching for a clean interaction window.

## Selection And Tutor Rules
- Prioritize `Parhelion II` access before fair-card smoothing when the hand already has `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` or a credible route to it. Use discard, channel, connive, rummage, mill, or search actions only as the rules engine exposes them; the strategic target is to put `Parhelion II` into the graveyard while preserving enough mana and timing to resolve `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` on the next meaningful window.

- Use `Thoughtseize` as selection for opponent disruption, not as generic information gathering. When the visible hand contains graveyard hate, instant-speed removal for `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, exile interaction, or a faster combo piece, take the card that most directly prevents the next planned `Parhelion II` turn. If no card stops the combo and pressure is low, take the card that makes the opponent’s next turn strongest.

- Sequence land drops to preserve both colors before choosing optional filtering. Play untapped black early for `Thoughtseize` and `Fatal Push`; play white/black access by turn three for `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Vanishing Verse`, or sideboard interaction. Use `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire`, and `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire` as utility only when the engine confirms their legal activated or channel actions and the line does not strand a required colored spell.

- Treat `Geier Reach Sanitarium` as a combo enabler when a legal activation can discard `Parhelion II` without giving the opponent a better immediate response. Activate it before committing `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` if the discard is required for the combo; delay if the opponent benefits more from a draw/discard window or if spending mana prevents interaction.

- Treat `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` as graveyard selection only under legal channel text. Prefer it when it can find or return `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, stock the graveyard with `Parhelion II`, or recover a key creature after removal. Do not spend it as a land or channel resource if black mana is needed now and the selection result is uncertain.

- Treat `Lively Dirge` as conditional tutoring or graveyard setup only after reading the engine’s exact legal modes. Card text check required. If the legal action can place `Parhelion II` in the graveyard or find `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, choose the mode that completes the missing half of the combo unless survival or disruption is visibly more urgent.

- Use `Monument to Endurance`, `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` filtering or discard-related actions only when their legal action text is visible. Card text check required for exact abilities. Prefer discarding `Parhelion II`; keep `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` unless a duplicate exists or recursion is already legal.

- Bottom or decline low-impact cards when a scry, surveil, or selection prompt appears from any registered card. Keep `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Parhelion II` access, untapped colored mana, `Thoughtseize`, and matchup-relevant interaction. Send redundant legendary lands, extra expensive vehicles without discard access, and slow fair threats away when the current hand lacks the combo or survival tools.

## Priority And Stack Rules
- Pass priority when no legal action improves the current combo turn, protects against a visible threat, or converts mana into necessary setup. Do not cast spells just to use mana; Orzhov Greasefang wins by timing a compact graveyard-creature-vehicle turn, not by emptying its hand into open interaction.

- Commit `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` only when the battlefield and stack make the attempt worth exposing the creature. Prefer casting it with `Parhelion II` already in the graveyard, with opposing mana constrained, after `Thoughtseize` has cleared the known answer, or when waiting gives the opponent lethal pressure or graveyard hate time. If the engine presents the triggered return action, choose `Parhelion II` when visible and legal.

- Respond to graveyard hate before it resolves when a legal action can preserve the combo. Use `Thoughtseize` proactively before hate reaches the battlefield; use `Vanishing Verse`, `Fatal Push`, `Bitter Triumph`, `Seam Rip`, or `Soul-Guide Lantern` only when their legal action text confirms a relevant target or timing. Do not assume a card can answer artifacts, enchantments, graveyards, or stack objects without engine confirmation.

- Hold instant-speed interaction for the opponent’s decisive step unless using it now enables a lethal or stabilizing `Parhelion II` attack. `Fatal Push` should answer a creature that threatens lethal, blocks the combo, or enables a faster engine. `Vanishing Verse` should answer a legal monocolored permanent that stops the combo or dominates the board.

- Use optional payments and optional triggers only when the visible payoff is immediate or strategically necessary. Accept a `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` return trigger for `Parhelion II`; decline optional effects that spend mana needed for interaction, channel lands, or post-removal recovery. Card text check required for `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Monument to Endurance`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` optional effects.

- Let opposing setup spells resolve when interaction is more valuable against the payoff. Against control, preserve discard or removal for graveyard hate and `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` answers. Against aggro, respond earlier to damage sources that compress the clock below one combo turn. Against combo, interact with the card that changes the kill turn, not a replaceable cantrip.

- Use combat-step priority to force the highest-value vehicle outcome. After `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` returns `Parhelion II`, attack when legal unless visible stack or removal risk makes waiting mandatory; if the opponent acts before damage, respond with available protection, removal, or discard-channel actions only when the legal text directly preserves the attack or prevents lethal crack-back.

- Activate `The Mycosynth Gardens` only when the rules engine presents a legal action whose target or copy outcome is clear. Card text check required. Do not spend it during priority windows that require holding black/white mana for `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, or sideboard interaction unless the activation itself completes the chosen line.

## Sideboard Map
- Use sideboarding to choose whether the matchup is a protected combo race, a discard-heavy attrition game, or a hate-card containment game. Keep the `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus `Parhelion II` plan intact unless graveyard hate, removal density, or speed forces a heavier midrange posture.

- Add `Duress` against control, combo, Lotus-style mana engines, removal-heavy midrange, and graveyard-hate decks where the important opposing cards are noncreature spells. `Duress` is bad against creature-dense aggro when the opponent’s most dangerous cards are battlefield threats; in those games, avoid flooding on discard that cannot affect combat.

- Add `Damping Sphere` against decks whose visible plan depends on chaining spells or producing extra mana from lands. Prioritize it against Lotus-style combo, spell-chain combo, and big-mana shells; avoid it when the opponent is mostly fair creatures or when your own curve needs every mana to assemble `Parhelion II` plus `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` without disruption.

- Add `Soul-Guide Lantern` against graveyard decks, recursive creature decks, delve-style pressure, Phoenix-style engines, opposing `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` shells, and any matchup where a single graveyard card visibly changes the opponent’s next turn. It is weaker when the opponent uses the graveyard only incidentally; then prefer cards that protect the combo or answer board pressure.

- Add the sideboard `Vanishing Verse` when monocolored permanents are the key opposing pressure, hate, or engine. It improves matchups where exile matters and the target class is visible; it is poor against multicolored threats, colorless hate pieces, and decks where the main problem is a spell on the stack or graveyard action rather than a permanent.

- Add `Bitter Triumph` when killing a creature or planeswalker is more important than preserving life or cards. It is strongest against fast creature decks, planeswalker midrange, and creature-combo shells; it is weaker against low-threat control and spell combo unless a specific creature or planeswalker is visible as the bottleneck.

- Add `Doorkeeper Thrull` against enters-the-battlefield engines, artifact/creature trigger shells, and creature-combo decks where stopping triggered abilities buys time for `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Card text check required for exact coverage. It is bad when the opponent attacks mostly with efficient stats, removal, or noncreature spells rather than triggered permanent value.

- Add `Seam Rip` only when the engine confirms its exact legal text and the matchup presents artifact or enchantment hate, vehicles, lock pieces, or other targets it can answer. Card text check required. Do not bring it in as generic interaction if the opponent’s relevant cards are creatures, planeswalkers, or stack-based spells.

- Add `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` only when the matchup allows a slower non-graveyard threat or value plan and its legal text is confirmed by the engine. Card text check required. Prefer it against removal-heavy or graveyard-hate-heavy opponents where diversifying threats matters; avoid it against fast aggro and combo unless its visible abilities directly stabilize or accelerate a kill.

Control Or Removal-Heavy Midrange Balanced Plan
Side in: 3 Duress; 1 Vanishing Verse; 2 Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer
Cut: 4 Fatal Push; 2 Sheltered by Ghosts

- Plan: protect the combo with more discard while adding a slower alternative threat package. `Fatal Push` loses value when the opponent has few creature targets; `Sheltered by Ghosts` becomes risky if removal or exile effects can undo the tempo. Keep `Thoughtseize`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Parhelion II`, `Monument to Endurance`, and discard outlets because the primary kill still pressures control to have an answer immediately.

Fast Creature Aggro Balanced Plan
Side in: 2 Bitter Triumph; 1 Vanishing Verse; 3 Doorkeeper Thrull
Cut: 4 Thoughtseize; 1 Lively Dirge; 1 Monument to Endurance

- Plan: reduce life-loss and slow selection while increasing board interaction. `Thoughtseize` is still powerful on the play against a known hate card, but the default post-board posture should preserve life and answer creatures. `Doorkeeper Thrull` is included only when opposing creature or artifact trigger text is relevant; if the engine or matchup notes show no trigger reliance, use archetype advice instead and keep more main-deck engine density.

Graveyard Mirror Or Recursive Graveyard Deck Balanced Plan
Side in: 2 Soul-Guide Lantern; 3 Duress; 2 Bitter Triumph
Cut: 2 Sheltered by Ghosts; 1 Lively Dirge; 2 Vanishing Verse; 2 Fatal Push

- Plan: fight over graveyards, discard, and the creature that enables the opponent’s decisive line. `Soul-Guide Lantern` should not replace your own graveyard plan; use it to force the opponent to act first or to interrupt the exact graveyard card the engine exposes. Keep enough discard outlets for `Parhelion II`, because becoming only a fair deck usually makes the opponent’s hate better.

Lotus, Big-Mana, Or Spell-Chain Combo Balanced Plan
Side in: 3 Duress; 1 Damping Sphere; 2 Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer
Cut: 4 Fatal Push; 2 Sheltered by Ghosts

- Plan: slow the opponent’s engine while protecting a compact combo turn. `Damping Sphere` matters most when deployed before the opponent’s explosive turn; do not delay it for marginal filtering if the legal action is available and mana permits. `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` is conditional on confirmed text and matchup speed; if too slow, keep additional main-deck selection instead.

Artifact Or Enchantment Hate Permanent Plan
Side in: 1 Seam Rip; 3 Duress; 1 Vanishing Verse
Cut: 2 Fatal Push; 2 Sheltered by Ghosts; 1 Lively Dirge

- Plan: answer or strip hate that stops `Parhelion II` recursion, graveyard access, or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` survival. `Seam Rip` must match a legal target class before it is valued. `Duress` should take the hate card before it resolves when possible; `Vanishing Verse` should be held for a monocolored permanent that blocks the combo or pressures lethal.

- Against creature-light combo, add role cards: `Duress`; `Damping Sphere`; `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push`; `Sheltered by Ghosts`; slow removal that has no visible target. Keep `Thoughtseize` because the first discard spell often decides whether turn-three `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is safe.

- Against creature-heavy aggro, add role cards: `Bitter Triumph`; `Vanishing Verse`; `Doorkeeper Thrull` when triggers matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Thoughtseize`; `Lively Dirge`; excess slow engine pieces beyond the first discard outlet. Preserve combo density when life totals are pressured, because `Parhelion II` is the fastest stabilizer.

- Against graveyard hate decks, add role cards: `Duress`; `Seam Rip` if legal text answers the hate; `Vanishing Verse` if the hate or pressure is monocolored; `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` if a fair threat is needed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile aura-style interaction, low-impact removal, and slow tutor lines. Do not over-sideboard away from `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; force the opponent to have hate plus pressure.

- Against opposing graveyard decks, add role cards: `Soul-Guide Lantern`; `Duress`; `Bitter Triumph`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal that misses the opponent’s enabler, slow selection, and narrow permanent answers. Use `Soul-Guide Lantern` with patience when the opponent must commit a specific graveyard card before it matters.

- Against unknown opponents after Game 1, sideboard from the cards actually seen rather than the archetype name alone. If the revealed cards show mostly creatures, prioritize `Bitter Triumph` and `Vanishing Verse`; if they show sweepers, discard, and hate, prioritize `Duress`; if they show graveyard recursion, prioritize `Soul-Guide Lantern`; if they show mana multiplication or spell chains, prioritize `Damping Sphere`.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Preserve life first, then convert one `Parhelion II` attack into stabilization. Keep hands with early black mana, `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Bitter Triumph`, or a fast `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` line; risky `Thoughtseize` keeps need either a turn-three combo threat or a clear answer to the opponent’s best early play. Add role cards: `Bitter Triumph`; `Vanishing Verse`; `Doorkeeper Thrull` when visible opposing permanents rely on triggered abilities. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Thoughtseize` when life loss matters; `Lively Dirge`; extra slow setup from `Monument to Endurance` when it does not affect the board quickly. Do not spend removal on small creatures if the visible board shows a larger haste, pump, or lord-style threat is the real clock.

- Burn: Treat every life payment as a card-cost decision, not a default. Prefer `Fatal Push` and `Vanishing Verse` over `Thoughtseize` when both answer the same pressure, and avoid shock-land sequencing with `Godless Shrine` unless the legal line materially changes the clock or unlocks `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`. Add role cards: `Bitter Triumph` only when the matchup has must-answer creatures; `Duress` only when noncreature burn or hate is the exposed bottleneck. Reduce main-deck emphasis: repeated self-damage from `Thoughtseize`; slow value lines with `Geier Reach Sanitarium`; speculative keeps that require several paid life actions before stabilizing.

- Go-wide decks: Prioritize the fastest lifelink swing or the highest-leverage permanent answer because one-for-one removal may fall behind. `Parhelion II` is the best stabilizer if `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` survives through the attack step; do not trade away `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` in combat before checking whether a combo attack is legal next turn. Add role cards: `Bitter Triumph`; `Vanishing Verse`; `Doorkeeper Thrull` if token or permanent-trigger text matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: discard spells after the opponent empties hand; slow graveyard setup that does not put `Parhelion II` into the graveyard soon. Use `Sheltered by Ghosts` only when the rules engine confirms the target and the tempo risk is acceptable.

- Single-threat decks: Save exile or unconditional removal for the one permanent that carries the matchup. `Vanishing Verse`, `Bitter Triumph`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` should line up against the visible threat rather than being fired at low-impact support creatures. Add role cards: `Vanishing Verse`; `Bitter Triumph`; `Duress` when the threat is protected by noncreature interaction. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push` if the main threat does not match its legal target window; excess discard after the threat has resolved. If the single threat is faster than your combo, removal takes priority over looting or fair attacks.

- Tempo: Force the opponent to answer different axes without walking `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` into obvious open interaction. Lead with discard when it can clear a counterspell, bounce spell, or graveyard hate; otherwise build with `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Monument to Endurance`, or `The Mycosynth Gardens` until the opponent taps low. Add role cards: `Duress`; `Vanishing Verse`; `Bitter Triumph` for must-answer threats. Reduce main-deck emphasis: clunky removal with no target; slow tutor or setup actions when shields are down for a combo attempt. Do not assume a passed turn means safety; use visible mana, known cards, and legal stack actions.

- Control: Make discard protect a decisive window instead of trading randomly for replaceable cards. `Thoughtseize` and `Duress` should take graveyard hate, counterplay, exile removal, or sweepers that break the current line; if the opponent is low on pressure, wait to deploy `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` until `Parhelion II` is in the graveyard or a second threat is ready. Add role cards: `Duress`; `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` if confirmed as a slower alternate threat; `Vanishing Verse` for monocolored hate or finishers. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push`; `Sheltered by Ghosts`; removal that cannot hit the visible win condition. Card text check required for `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` before valuing a specific ability.

- Removal-heavy midrange: Expect `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` to die and plan for repeated forcing turns. Use `Thoughtseize` to identify whether the opponent has removal, graveyard hate, or pressure, then decide whether to jam the combo, develop `Fleeting Spirit` and `Guardian of New Benalia`, or set up with `Monument to Endurance`. Add role cards: `Duress`; `Bitter Triumph`; `Vanishing Verse`; `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` if its confirmed text provides a resilient plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile `Sheltered by Ghosts` lines into open removal; low-impact `Fatal Push` when opposing threats are larger or noncreature. `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` can matter as recovery, but only take that line when the engine exposes a legal and useful target.

- General midrange: Trade resources only when your graveyard plan remains live. The deck can win by combo, by incremental creature damage, or by forcing the opponent to spend removal on `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` while `Parhelion II` waits in the graveyard. Add role cards: `Vanishing Verse`; `Bitter Triumph`; `Duress` when the opponent’s noncreature cards decide the exchange. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow removal with no current target; speculative discard once both hands are low. Card text check required for `Iron-Shield Elf` and `Monument to Endurance` tactical specifics; use them conditionally according to visible legal actions.

- Combo: Race with disruption, not with fair pressure alone. `Thoughtseize` and `Duress` should take the enabler, payoff, protection, or hate piece that changes the next one to two turns; `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus `Parhelion II` should be pursued aggressively when the opponent’s combo clock is faster than their interaction. Add role cards: `Duress`; `Damping Sphere` against mana multiplication or spell-chain engines; `Bitter Triumph` only when a creature is the visible bottleneck. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push` against creature-light lists; `Sheltered by Ghosts`; slow fair threats. Do not keep hands that interact only with creatures against a spell-chain opponent.

- Big mana: Deploy `Damping Sphere` early when it legally slows the opponent more than your own turn-three combo plan. Discard should target payoff spells, mana engines, or hate that stops `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`; removal is secondary unless a creature is clearly the ramp engine. Add role cards: `Damping Sphere`; `Duress`; `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` if confirmed and the matchup gives time. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push`; `Sheltered by Ghosts`; creature-combat plans that do not pressure before the opponent’s large spell turn. Do not overvalue fair damage if a protected `Parhelion II` attack is available.

- Graveyard decks: Use `Soul-Guide Lantern` to interrupt the specific graveyard card that matters, not just the first card that enters a graveyard. Continue developing your own `Parhelion II` plan unless the opponent’s graveyard line is immediately lethal or irreversible. Add role cards: `Soul-Guide Lantern`; `Duress`; `Bitter Triumph` for creature enablers. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; removal that misses enablers; slow setup if the opponent can act first. Against graveyard hate from the opponent, use discard first when possible and keep alternate pressure credible.

- Artifact or enchantment decks: Identify whether the permanent is a hate piece, engine piece, or kill condition before spending interaction. `Seam Rip` requires confirmed card text and a legal target; do not value it as generic interaction without engine proof. Add role cards: `Seam Rip`; `Duress`; `Vanishing Verse` when the relevant permanent is monocolored; `Doorkeeper Thrull` when triggered abilities are central. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push` if threats are noncreature; `Sheltered by Ghosts` if removal makes it unreliable; slow lines that ignore a resolved hate piece.

- Unknown opponents: Mulligan and sequence as a proactive graveyard combo deck until public information says otherwise. Keep `Thoughtseize` hands that reveal the opponent’s axis, prioritize black mana for disruption, and use early discard or visible plays to classify the matchup before changing plans. Add role cards after Game 1 according to seen cards: `Duress` for noncreature interaction or combo; `Bitter Triumph` and `Vanishing Verse` for creature pressure; `Soul-Guide Lantern` for graveyard reliance; `Damping Sphere` for mana or spell-chain engines; `Doorkeeper Thrull` for triggered permanent engines; `Seam Rip` for confirmed artifact or enchantment targets; `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` for slower games where its confirmed text matters.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: Exact opponents are not supplied, so use these notes as matchup classifiers until revealed cards, public game actions, and sideboard logs override assumptions. Prioritize lines from the runtime board over archetype labels; if the opponent reveals graveyard hate, instant-speed exile removal, fast pressure, or a spell-chain engine, reclassify immediately.

- Fast creature decks: Treat life total as a combo resource but do not spend it casually with `Thoughtseize` when visible pressure already creates a short clock. Likely sideboarding adds `Bitter Triumph`, the extra `Vanishing Verse`, and sometimes `Doorkeeper Thrull` if triggered creatures or permanents are central; priority targets are the fastest threat, the card that stops `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, or the removal spell that breaks a forced combo window. Keep `Fatal Push` high, use `Sheltered by Ghosts` only when legal and not likely to be punished by obvious removal, and turn `Parhelion II` into a stabilizing attack as soon as the window is real.

- Control and removal decks: Make discard protect a decisive `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` turn rather than taking the first expensive card. Likely sideboarding adds `Duress`, the extra `Vanishing Verse`, and possibly `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` after card text is checked; priority targets are counterplay, exile removal, graveyard hate, and sweepers that punish `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, and `Iron-Shield Elf` pressure. Do not expose the combo into untapped mana unless waiting is worse or redundancy is visible.

- Graveyard and combo decks: Race with disruption and commit when the opponent’s next turn is more dangerous than their interaction. Likely sideboarding adds `Duress`, `Soul-Guide Lantern`, `Damping Sphere` against mana or spell chains, and `Bitter Triumph` only for visible creature bottlenecks; priority targets are enablers, payoffs, graveyard interaction, and protection. Do not let `Soul-Guide Lantern` distract from your own `Parhelion II` setup unless the opposing graveyard action is immediate.

- Artifact, enchantment, and triggered-permanent decks: Confirm the permanent’s role before spending narrow answers. Likely sideboarding adds `Seam Rip` when it has legal artifact or enchantment targets, `Doorkeeper Thrull` when triggered abilities are central, and `Vanishing Verse` for monocolored threats or hate; priority targets are the hate piece that stops the graveyard plan, the engine permanent that will snowball, or the kill condition. Card text check required for `Seam Rip` and `Doorkeeper Thrull` before assuming exact tactical coverage.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: The deck needs black early for `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, and sideboard `Duress`, while also needing white for `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, and some pressure lines. `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, channel lands, and modal lands can create sequencing traps; keep hands only when the first three turns cast the hand’s actual plan.

- Draw risk: Multiple `Parhelion II` copies without discard, selection, or `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` can be clunky, and threat-heavy hands without graveyard setup can become fair midrange hands. Use `Monument to Endurance`, `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, and `Lively Dirge` only according to confirmed legal actions; card text check required before assigning exact selection value to newer or uncertain cards.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Removing too much combo density makes the deck a weaker fair Orzhov deck. Sideboard to answer the opponent’s revealed axis, but preserve enough `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Parhelion II`, discard, and setup to threaten the primary kill.

- Graveyard risk: Opposing hate can blank the cleanest win if discard is mistimed or if `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is committed without a protected graveyard. Use `Thoughtseize` and `Duress` to clear hate before the combo turn, and shift to creature pressure only when the graveyard path is visibly blocked.

- Sweeper/removal risk: `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` is fragile, and fair creatures can be swept or traded down. Avoid spending all pressure into visible sweepers; force the opponent to answer either a combo window or a staged backup board, not both for one card.

- Closer risk: A single `Parhelion II` attack may stabilize without ending the game if the opponent survives, removes the follow-up, or rebuilds. Track whether the next attack, creature pressure, or a second `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` line is required before taking a low-resource all-in line.

- Interaction and sequencing risk: `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Bitter Triumph`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` all answer different problems, so wrong-target interaction can strand the correct answer later. Let visible legal actions and public information decide whether the turn is discard first, removal first, setup first, or combo now.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: Record whether the game was won or lost by a resolved `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` attack, fair creature pressure, disruption, mana failure, graveyard hate, removal timing, or inability to close after the first `Parhelion II` trigger.

- Mulligans: Review every keep that lacked either `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, `Parhelion II` setup, `Thoughtseize`, or an early pressure plan with `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, or `Iron-Shield Elf`; flag hands that looked functional but did not cast meaningful spells by turn three.

- Mana: Check whether black mana was available on time for `Thoughtseize`, `Fatal Push`, `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, and `Duress`, and whether white mana was available for `Vanishing Verse`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, and post-board interaction without delaying the combo turn.

- Velocity: Identify whether `Parhelion II` reached the graveyard through legal runtime actions often enough, and whether `Monument to Endurance`, `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Lively Dirge`, or `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` actually improved access to the combo instead of consuming turns.

- Engine performance: Track whether `Monument to Endurance` was a real setup engine, a win-more permanent, or a stranded card; card text check required before assigning missed-trigger or missed-activation blame.

- Removal timing: Review every `Fatal Push`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Bitter Triumph`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` use for whether it answered the visible card that most affected the next combo window, survival turn, or closing attack.

- Sideboard impact: Confirm whether `Duress`, `Damping Sphere`, `Soul-Guide Lantern`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Bitter Triumph`, `Doorkeeper Thrull`, `Seam Rip`, and `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` were drawn, cast, stranded, or irrelevant; card text check required for uncertain sideboard cards before judging tactical mistakes.

- Closing: Record whether a single `Parhelion II` attack ended the game, merely stabilized, or failed because the follow-up `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` line, creature pressure, or interaction was missing.

- Role accuracy: Ask whether the pilot correctly became combo, midrange, or control in each game, especially after `Thoughtseize` or `Duress` revealed the opponent’s plan.

- Mistakes: Flag passes with available relevant interaction, attacks that exposed needed blockers, discard that ignored visible graveyard hate or removal, and combo attempts into known disruption when waiting was not visibly worse.

- Stranded cards: Count games where `Parhelion II`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Vanishing Verse`, `Fatal Push`, `Damping Sphere`, `Soul-Guide Lantern`, or `Doorkeeper Thrull` had no legal or relevant target for multiple turns.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Compare actual game impact for `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Monument to Endurance`, `Lively Dirge`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, and each sideboard card against the role assigned before the match.

## First Tuning Questions
- Combo density: If games often lose with `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` but no graveyard `Parhelion II`, should the deck increase reliable discard or selection effects, or are current setup cards being sequenced poorly?

- Payload count: If multiple `Parhelion II` copies clog opening hands without enabling a fast kill, is four copies still necessary for consistency, or does the current support package justify the full count?

- Mana base: If hands stumble on early black or white requirements, should the mix of `Bleachbone Verge`, `Brightclimb Pathway`, `Shadowy Backstreet`, `The Mycosynth Gardens`, `Geier Reach Sanitarium`, `Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire`, and `Takenuma, Abandoned Mire` be adjusted toward more untapped colored sources?

- Aggro plan: If fast creature decks beat the deck before combo assembly, are four `Fatal Push`, two `Sheltered by Ghosts`, two main-deck `Vanishing Verse`, and sideboard `Bitter Triumph` enough, or does the plan need more cheap stabilization?

- Control plan: If counterspells, discard, or exile removal break too many combo attempts, should post-board plans lean harder on `Duress`, `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer`, fair creatures, or additional must-answer threats?

- Graveyard-hate plan: If `Soul-Guide Lantern`, opposing graveyard hate, or exile effects decide games, should the deck preserve more fair pressure after sideboarding, or add more ways to remove artifacts and enchantments beyond `Seam Rip` and `Vanishing Verse`?

- Engine slots: If `Monument to Endurance` is slow or redundant, should some copies become more interaction, selection, or threats; if it is consistently enabling wins, should sideboarding protect the full four more often?

- Creature package: If `Fleeting Spirit`, `Guardian of New Benalia`, or `Iron-Shield Elf` rarely contribute to pressure or setup, which creature is the weakest in games where the combo is disrupted?

- Removal mix: If `Fatal Push` misses key threats or `Vanishing Verse` is stranded against multicolored permanents, should sideboard plans shift toward `Bitter Triumph`, `Seam Rip`, or different interaction categories?

- Sideboard slots: If `Damping Sphere`, `Doorkeeper Thrull`, `Soul-Guide Lantern`, `Seam Rip`, or `Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer` are narrow or uncast, are their matchup targets frequent enough to justify the registered copies?

- Role conflict: If sideboarding makes the deck neither fast enough to combo nor dense enough to grind, which cuts are weakening the core `Greasefang, Okiba Boss` plus `Parhelion II` plan too much?

- Closing power: If post-combo games still slip away, does the deck need stronger backup closers, better protection for `Greasefang, Okiba Boss`, or tighter sequencing around the first `Parhelion II` attack?

## Veles Tactical Policy
### Policy: Mulligan For A Real Plan
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan; pregame
- Cards: Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II; Thoughtseize; Fatal Push; Fleeting Spirit; Guardian of New Benalia; Iron-Shield Elf; Monument to Endurance
- Phase windows: opening hand; mulligan decisions
- Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible opening hand; known matchup role
- Use when: choosing keep or mulligan before the first turn.
- Avoid when: runtime hand details are hidden or the engine has already accepted a keep.
- Instructions: Keep hands with castable black mana plus either fast Greasefang setup, Thoughtseize plus setup, or a credible creature-pressure plan. Mulligan hands with no early spell, no black source, or only Parhelion II copies without a legal way to discard, mill, tutor, or pressure.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Setup Permanent
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana; priority
- Cards: Monument to Endurance; Fleeting Spirit; Guardian of New Benalia; Iron-Shield Elf; The Mycosynth Gardens
- Phase windows: turns 1-3 main phases
- Runtime cues: legal cast actions for setup permanents; visible mana; hand contains Greasefang, Okiba Boss or Parhelion II
- Use when: the turn offers setup before a combo attempt is legal.
- Avoid when: removal or discard is required this turn to survive or clear known disruption.
- Instructions: Develop the first enabling permanent that increases access to Parhelion II, enables discard/filtering, or establishes pressure. Prefer lines that keep next-turn Greasefang, Okiba Boss mana available over slow value permanents.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combo Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority; interaction; mana
- Cards: Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II; Thoughtseize; Duress
- Phase windows: precombat main phase; priority before casting Greasefang, Okiba Boss
- Runtime cues: action:cast Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II in graveyard; opponent open mana; known hand from Thoughtseize or Duress
- Use when: casting Greasefang, Okiba Boss can produce a Parhelion II attack this turn.
- Avoid when: Parhelion II is not in the graveyard or visible legal actions do not show a Greasefang line.
- Instructions: Commit when the line is lethal, forces a decisive swing, or waiting exposes the graveyard or hand to worse risk. Delay when known removal, graveyard hate, or counterplay beats the line and discard or pressure can improve the window.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Greasefang Payload Target
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection
- Cards: Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II
- Phase windows: beginning of combat; triggered ability target prompt
- Runtime cues: action:target Parhelion II
- Use when: exactly one legal action targets Parhelion II for a visible Greasefang, Okiba Boss trigger.
- Avoid when: more than one different target Vehicle action is legal or target legality is unclear.
- Instructions: Select Parhelion II as the Greasefang, Okiba Boss target when the legal action text explicitly targets Parhelion II.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Crew And Attack With Returned Parhelion
- Priority: High
- Decision families: combat; priority
- Cards: Parhelion II; Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Fleeting Spirit; Guardian of New Benalia; Iron-Shield Elf
- Phase windows: beginning of combat; declare attackers
- Runtime cues: action:crew Parhelion II; action:attack with Parhelion II; returned Parhelion II visible
- Use when: Parhelion II is on battlefield from Greasefang, Okiba Boss and can legally attack.
- Avoid when: attacking is not legal or a required crew action would tap the only creature needed for a different mandatory survival action.
- Instructions: Prioritize crewing and attacking with Parhelion II after the combo resolves. Use available creatures to crew if legal, then attack unless visible combat or prevention text makes the attack fail to advance lethal or stabilization.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Parhelion Attack
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Parhelion II
- Phase windows: declare attackers
- Runtime cues: action:attack with Parhelion II
- Use when: exactly one legal action attacks with Parhelion II and no other attackers are selectable in the same prompt.
- Avoid when: multiple attack configurations are legal.
- Instructions: Choose the legal action that attacks with Parhelion II.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Discard Before Commitment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; selection
- Cards: Thoughtseize; Duress
- Phase windows: precombat main phase; turn 1 disruption; combo setup turn
- Runtime cues: action:cast Thoughtseize; action:cast Duress; opponent hand reveal prompt
- Use when: discard is legal before committing Greasefang, Okiba Boss or when the opponent's next turn threatens the combo.
- Avoid when: life loss or mana use makes visible lethal against the pilot this turn.
- Instructions: Use discard to remove graveyard hate, instant-speed removal, counterplay, or a faster opposing kill. If the hand is revealed, take the card that most directly stops the next planned Greasefang or pressure line.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal For Survival Or Window
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Fatal Push; Vanishing Verse; Bitter Triumph; Sheltered by Ghosts; Seam Rip
- Phase windows: opponent combat; end step; precombat main phase; response windows
- Runtime cues: legal target actions for removal; visible lethal pressure; visible hate permanent
- Use when: a legal removal spell can prevent lethal, open the combo window, or answer a visible hate piece.
- Avoid when: target text does not match the permanent type or legality is uncertain.
- Instructions: Spend removal first on threats that kill before the combo, hate that stops graveyard or creature execution, then blockers or engines that prevent closing. Card text check required for Seam Rip and Sheltered by Ghosts targeting details.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fatal Push Exact Target
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: interaction
- Cards: Fatal Push
- Phase windows: response window; main phase; combat
- Runtime cues: action:target opponent creature Fatal Push
- Use when: exactly one legal Fatal Push target action exists and the pilot has already selected casting Fatal Push.
- Avoid when: multiple target actions exist.
- Instructions: Select the only legal target shown for Fatal Push.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mana For Black-White Curve
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: Concealed Courtyard; Godless Shrine; Brightclimb Pathway; Shadowy Backstreet; Bleachbone Verge; Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth; The Mycosynth Gardens; Geier Reach Sanitarium; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
- Phase windows: land play; payment prompts; turns 1-4
- Runtime cues: action:play land; action:pay mana; visible hand costs
- Use when: choosing land sequencing or mana payment.
- Avoid when: a legal action requires a specific engine payment not visible in hand context.
- Instructions: Preserve black for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Greasefang, Okiba Boss, and Duress; preserve white for Vanishing Verse, Sheltered by Ghosts, and sideboard interaction. Sequence utility lands only when colored requirements remain covered.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mandatory Single Mana Payment
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: none
- Phase windows: mana payment prompts
- Runtime cues: action:pay
- Use when: exactly one legal mana payment action is shown.
- Avoid when: multiple source or color payment actions are legal.
- Instructions: Choose the single legal payment action.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Lively Dirge And Takenuma Recovery
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; priority
- Cards: Lively Dirge; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire; Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II
- Phase windows: main phase; end step; recovery after disruption
- Runtime cues: action:cast Lively Dirge; action:activate Takenuma, Abandoned Mire; graveyard and hand context
- Use when: the deck needs to find, return, or enable a missing combo piece after disruption.
- Avoid when: the current turn has a legal lethal Parhelion II line already available.
- Instructions: Use recovery effects to rebuild toward Greasefang, Okiba Boss plus Parhelion II rather than generic value. Card text check required for exact Lively Dirge modes and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire choices before deterministic targeting.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fair Pressure Plan
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat; priority
- Cards: Fleeting Spirit; Guardian of New Benalia; Iron-Shield Elf; Sheltered by Ghosts
- Phase windows: main phase; declare attackers; declare blockers
- Runtime cues: legal creature cast actions; legal attack/block actions; combo unavailable
- Use when: Greasefang, Okiba Boss combo is delayed, hated out, or absent.
- Avoid when: attacking removes the only blocker against visible lethal.
- Instructions: Cast and attack with pressure creatures when they shorten the clock or force interaction away from Greasefang, Okiba Boss. Hold creatures back when they are needed to block, crew Parhelion II, or protect against immediate damage.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard-Hate Navigation
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority; sideboard
- Cards: Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II; Soul-Guide Lantern; Seam Rip; Vanishing Verse; Bitter Triumph
- Phase windows: precombat main phase; opponent end step; sideboard games
- Runtime cues: visible graveyard hate; action:cast Soul-Guide Lantern; legal removal action on hate permanent
- Use when: a visible permanent, spell, or ability can exile graveyards or stop graveyard recursion.
- Avoid when: the hate effect is not visible in public zones or legal action text.
- Instructions: Do not commit Greasefang, Okiba Boss into visible graveyard hate unless the line is forced by lethal pressure or the hate can be answered first. Use sideboard graveyard tools proactively in mirrors or graveyard matchups.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: sideboard; pregame
- Cards: Duress; Damping Sphere; Soul-Guide Lantern; Vanishing Verse; Bitter Triumph; Doorkeeper Thrull; Seam Rip; Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer
- Phase windows: between games
- Runtime cues: sideboard prompt; known opponent archetype; prior game public cards
- Use when: choosing a legal sideboard plan.
- Avoid when: no validated sideboard plan preserves the registered 75.
- Instructions: Add Duress and Ral Zarek, Guest Lecturer against interaction-heavy decks, Damping Sphere against spell-chain or big-mana pressure, Soul-Guide Lantern against graveyards, Bitter Triumph and Vanishing Verse against creature or permanent pressure, Doorkeeper Thrull against triggered-ability reliance, and Seam Rip for artifact/enchantment pressure after card text check.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Post-Board Core Preservation
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: sideboard; mulligan
- Cards: Greasefang, Okiba Boss; Parhelion II; Monument to Endurance; Thoughtseize; Fatal Push; Fleeting Spirit; Guardian of New Benalia; Iron-Shield Elf
- Phase windows: between games; post-board opening hand
- Runtime cues: submitted sideboard plan; opening hand after sideboarding
- Use when: sideboarding or evaluating a post-board opener.
- Avoid when: a matchup-specific exact plan from Sideboard Map supersedes broad role advice.
- Instructions: Preserve enough Greasefang, Okiba Boss plus Parhelion II density to threaten the combo unless the matchup forces a fair plan. Do not overcut setup and pressure cards so far that Duress or removal only trades one-for-one without a closing path.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
