# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

Mardu Discard is a 60-card Standard midrange deck with a 15-card sideboard, built around discard pressure, graveyard recursion, and combat-backed attrition. Registered tags are `midrange`, `discard`, and `graveyard`; the duplicate tag string should be normalized to those three tags for indexing.

Main-deck count validates at 60 cards. Sideboard count validates at 15 cards. Color identity by registered lands and spells is Mardu: black, red, and white, with black-red pressure from `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`; red-white aggression or combat scaling from `Practiced Offense`, `Marauding Mako`, `Burst Lightning`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, and `Tersa Lightshatter`; and white-adjacent stabilizing or creature infrastructure implied by `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, and sideboard cards such as `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Duel Tactics`, and `Voice of Victory`.

The list should be treated as hybrid rogue-stock rather than stock. `Bloodghast`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Burst Lightning`, `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Godless Shrine` are recognizable card names, but several registered cards require card-text and legality verification before Veles should assume tactical details: `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Starting Town`, `Practiced Offense`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, `Marauding Mako`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, and `Voice of Victory`. Card text check required for any line that depends on those cards' exact modes, timing, stats, triggers, replacement effects, or targeting restrictions.

Standard legality is not guaranteed by this guide alone. Veles should rely on the rules engine and the registered deck validator for legality, current format membership, printed card identity, and exact oracle-style text before playtesting; if the engine rejects any card, the deck must be treated as unplayable in official Standard runs until corrected.

Mana concern: the deck has 22 lands, with `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Starting Town`, `Mountain`, and likely multicolor access, but exact source quality depends on card text for `Starting Town` and `Blazemire Verge`. Runtime decisions should prioritize visible castability over assumed curve ideals, especially for opening hands with only `Mountain` plus black or white spells, or lands whose colors are not visible in the engine state.

Role concern: the deck appears to be an attrition midrange deck, not a pure aggro deck and not a hard-control deck. The pilot should pressure hands and boards while preserving recursive value from `Bloodghast` and discard/madness-style or graveyard-adjacent synergies only when the engine exposes legal actions that prove those synergies are available.

Opponent info status: no specific opponent decks or metagame targets are supplied for this specification batch. Matchup roles must therefore start from visible board state, public game actions, known format archetype cues, and sideboard card roles, without inventing hidden cards or assuming the opponent has familiar staples not shown by Veles.

## Thesis

Mardu Discard assembles early board presence, repeatable discard pressure, and graveyard-recursion leverage so that every exchange leaves the opponent with fewer resources while `Bloodghast` and combat-scaling threats keep damage flowing. The deck wins by converting discard, removal, and attack triggers into a battlefield advantage, then closing with recursive pressure or burn-style reach when the opponent is low enough for visible legal actions to finish the game.

The pilot should prioritize castable hands, early black-red access, and hands that can produce both pressure and a discard outlet or interaction piece. Do not keep speculative hands that only become functional if unknown card text, hidden draws, or unproven synergy lines work out; Veles should treat the rules engine's visible legal actions as the source of truth.

The deck is not trying to play hard control, pure all-in aggro, or a deterministic combo. It should not spend interaction just because mana is available, should not trade away recursive threats when landfall or graveyard value is about to matter, and should not overcommit into visible sweepers or mass exile effects unless waiting clearly loses the race.

Card text check required for `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Starting Town`, `Practiced Offense`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, `Marauding Mako`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Erode`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, and `Voice of Victory`. Use these cards tactically only from engine-confirmed actions, visible costs, visible targets, and public outcomes.

## Role Package

- Threats: `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` form the pressure package. Lead with threats that are castable without damaging future color access, and prefer recursive or synergy-bearing threats when both players are likely to trade resources.

- Payoffs: `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` is the clearest discard payoff if its known text is engine-confirmed, because attack-step discard can turn excess cards or recursive cards into card flow and counters. `Bloodghast` is the clearest graveyard payoff, because it rewards land sequencing after discard or removal exchanges; preserve land drops when a future landfall return is visible or likely from public zones.

- Engines: `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, `Practiced Offense`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, and `Tersa Lightshatter` should be treated as potential engine or synergy cards only when Veles shows their actual legal modes. If an action offers discard, graveyard use, card selection, or repeatable pressure, evaluate whether it advances the current board before spending cards from hand.

- Velocity: `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cool but Rude`, `Practiced Offense`, and `Case of the Crimson Pulse` are the likely velocity module, but exact use is conditional on revealed text. Favor velocity when the hand is flooded, when `Bloodghast` can be discarded or recurred later, or when digging for interaction matters more than adding another small attacker.

- Interaction: `Burst Lightning`, `Erode`, `Requiting Hex`, `Cool but Rude`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Seam Rip`, and `Sheltered by Ghosts` are the interaction module until card text says otherwise. Spend interaction first on blockers that stop profitable attacks, engines that will outscale discard, graveyard hate that blanks `Bloodghast`, and threats that create lethal or near-lethal pressure.

- Protection: `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Duel Tactics`, and `Voice of Victory` are the apparent protection or anti-interaction sideboard module, but card text check required. Use protection only for a threat or engine that is already carrying the game, not for a low-impact body when rebuilding would be easy.

- Recursion: `Bloodghast` is the recursion anchor, with possible support from discard-enabling cards and graveyard-tagged spells. Sequence lands carefully when `Bloodghast` is in the graveyard, and avoid exiling or sacrificing it for marginal value unless the resulting legal action clearly stabilizes or creates lethal pressure.

- Mana: `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Starting Town`, and `Mountain` must support a three-color curve with many early plays. Prioritize opening lines that keep black and red available, because `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, `Burst Lightning`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` imply black-red pressure and interaction.

- Sideboard modules: `Strategic Betrayal` and `Leyline of the Void` are the discard/graveyard-disruption module; `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, and `Duel Tactics` are the board-interaction module; `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, `Voice of Victory`, and the extra `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` are the grind, pressure, or protection module. Exact sideboarding must use only validated plans and engine-legal deck configuration.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Recursion pressure: `Bloodghast` is the cleanest attrition win path because it turns discard, removal trades, and sweepers into recoverable pressure. Setup requires black mana, a plan to place or allow `Bloodghast` into the graveyard, and land drops held or sequenced so the engine can return it when Veles shows the return trigger or battlefield update. Execute by attacking repeatedly, trading other creatures first when blocks matter, and preserving a land drop when a returned `Bloodghast` plus haste or immediate pressure can shorten the clock. Disruption to respect includes visible graveyard exile, exile-based removal, blockers that blank attacks, and effects that prevent graveyard return; prioritize this path against removal-heavy or resource-trading opponents where one-for-one exchanges favor the recursive card.

- Discard-pressure snowball: `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cool but Rude`, `Practiced Offense`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, and `Tersa Lightshatter` are the likely discard, selection, and pressure shell, but card text check required for every card in this group except known engine behavior from `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` if Forge exposes it. Setup requires an early attacker or legal discard action plus a hand where discarded cards are excess, recursive, or lower impact than the offered action. Execute by using engine-confirmed discard actions to grow a threat, generate selection, or convert dead cards into tempo while keeping enough resources for follow-up plays. Disruption to respect includes instant-speed removal before attack triggers resolve, graveyard hate if discarding `Bloodghast`, and empty-hand states where discard costs real options; prioritize this path when the board is stable enough to attack and the hand contains redundant lands, extra legends, or cards with lower immediate board impact.

- Wide-to-tall combat closure: `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` are the creature-based finishing package, with card text check required for all except runtime-visible stats and abilities. Setup requires developing multiple bodies without losing essential color access, then identifying which creature is safest to carry counters, buffs, or combat pressure from legal actions. Execute by attacking when trades preserve pressure, holding back when the opponent’s crack-back is larger, and using `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, or `Cool but Rude` only on blockers or threats that materially change the race. Disruption to respect includes sweepers, deathtouch-style blockers, lifegain engines, and combat tricks visible from public actions; prioritize this path when the opponent is light on blockers or when recursive pressure alone is too slow.

- Burn-and-reach finish: `Burst Lightning` is the reliable named reach card, while `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Cool but Rude`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` may add removal or damage only when legal action text proves it. Setup requires early combat damage so the opponent falls into a range where visible burn actions can end the game or force bad blocks. Execute by pointing damage at creatures while stabilizing or clearing lethal attacks, then shift damage to the opponent only when the clock, life totals, and legal actions show that face damage is worth more than board control. Disruption to respect includes prevention, lifegain, counterplay, and open mana representing interaction; prioritize this path when the opponent is low, blockers are irrelevant, or the deck has lost too many creature-based threats to win a long board fight.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Value attrition: Win slower games by making every exchange favorable with `Bloodghast`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, `Practiced Offense`, and `Hardened Academic` when their engine-confirmed actions trade one card for more board, cards, or tempo. Choose this line when the opponent has stabilized life but is running low on cards, and avoid speculative activations that cost the last meaningful threat.

- Protected single-threat plan: A large or high-impact `Marauding Mako`, `Moonshadow`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, or `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` can become the win condition if Veles shows counters, keywords, or attack incentives. Commit to this plan when one threat attacks through the current battlefield better than adding multiple small bodies, but keep interaction available if losing that threat would leave no pressure.

- Post-board grind or shield plan: `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, `Voice of Victory`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Duel Tactics`, `Seam Rip`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Leyline of the Void`, and the second `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` can create alternate pressure, protection, or disruption roles after sideboarding, but their exact use belongs to validated sideboard plans and engine-visible text. Treat them as secondary paths only after they are actually in the configured deck for that game.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: Stabilize before racing by spending `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, or `Cool but Rude` on the visible attacker or blocker that changes lethal math. Do not aim damage at the opponent while a visible attack threatens to end the game before your next meaningful combat step.

- Behind on board: Trade creatures aggressively if `Bloodghast` can return later, and preserve nonrecursive creatures only when they block profitably or carry a confirmed engine role. Use `Practiced Offense`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, or `Moonshadow` defensively only when legal text and visible stats show they improve survival.

- Behind on cards: Prefer recursive and selection lines over one-shot tempo plays, especially when `Bloodghast` is in the graveyard or discard actions can turn excess lands into new options. Avoid optional discard costs when the remaining hand contains the only interaction or land needed for the next turn.

- Behind on mana: Sequence untapped color sources toward castable black-red interaction and threats, and delay double-spell plans until Veles shows both spells are legal. If stuck on few lands, prioritize plays that affect the board immediately over speculative engine cards with unchecked text.

- Graveyard shut off: Treat `Bloodghast` as a normal pressure card or lost resource when visible graveyard hate prevents recursion. Shift to combat closure with `Marauding Mako`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or burn reach rather than discarding more cards into a locked graveyard.

- Win conditions removed: Rebuild with any remaining creature plus interaction, then convert `Burst Lightning` and any engine-confirmed damage from `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Cool but Rude`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` into a short-clock plan. If no pressure is present, prioritize legal actions that create a body or find action over holding removal for hypothetical hidden threats.

## Resource Model

- Life is a spendable buffer only while the battlefield is stable enough to keep racing. Use life to justify untapped shock-land sequencing from `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, and `Sacred Foundry` when the resulting spell changes board, hand pressure, or clock this turn; stop paying life when visible attacks can put the deck into burn or alpha-strike range.

- Hand size is fuel for pressure, discard conversion, and recovery, not a resource to empty blindly. `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cool but Rude`, `Practiced Offense`, and other discard-linked actions need card text check required, so discard only when Veles shows a legal discard action and the card being spent is redundant, recursive, or lower impact than the immediate board or selection gain.

- Mana is the deck's main bottleneck because the threat base asks for all Mardu colors early. Prioritize lines that use all available mana while still leaving black or red interaction available when `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, or `Cool but Rude` can answer a visible threat.

- Board presence converts into damage, discard triggers, and trading leverage. `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, `Bloodghast`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` should be valued first as bodies with runtime-visible stats and abilities, with card text check required before relying on hidden synergy or unusual combat text.

- Graveyard value is real but conditional. `Bloodghast` makes the graveyard a pressure reserve when landfall-style recursion is legal in the engine, but visible `Leyline of the Void` effects, exile replacement effects, or opponent graveyard hate should make the pilot treat discarded or dead `Bloodghast` copies as unavailable until Veles shows otherwise.

- Exile is usually a lost-resource zone unless a legal action explicitly allows play, return, or interaction from exile. Do not plan around exiled `Bloodghast`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, or sideboard cards returning unless the rules engine exposes that exact action.

- Lands are both color infrastructure and `Bloodghast` reload triggers. When `Bloodghast` is in the graveyard and a land play is available, consider whether playing `Starting Town`, `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Mountain`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, or `Sacred Foundry` before combat creates a legal attacker or blocker; delay the land only if a draw or selection action could materially change which land should be played.

- Sacrifice fodder is not guaranteed from the current text. Treat `Bloodghast` as the preferred expendable permanent only when a visible legal action asks for sacrifice and recursion is active or likely; do not sacrifice unique pressure such as `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` without survival, lethal, or major resource justification.

- Tempo comes from making the opponent answer recursive bodies while removal clears blockers. Use `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, and `Cool but Rude` to preserve attacks or prevent lethal crack-backs before using them for low-impact face damage.

- Information is created by discard, public zones, and visible legal prompts. If `Strategic Betrayal`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, or other actions reveal cards, use only the cards actually shown by Veles, and mark stale information as uncertain once draw steps or hidden-zone changes occur.

- Sideboard bullets are narrow resources that should be drawn into the right game plan, not treated as generic upgrades. `Leyline of the Void` is graveyard pressure if legal from opening hand or castable; `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, `Voice of Victory`, `Strategic Betrayal`, and the sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` require card text check required and should be used according to engine-visible roles after exact plans are applied.

## Mana Guide

- Build opening mana around black-red-white access by turn two or three. Keep hands with two lands and at least two relevant colors when they cast an early creature plus interaction; mulligan hands that cannot cast any early `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Bloodghast`, `Burst Lightning`, or `Cool but Rude` action shown by Veles.

- Sequence untapped lands for the current turn's legal action before optimizing future colors. Use `Concealed Courtyard` and `Inspiring Vantage` early when they enter untapped under their own rules, use `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, and `Sacred Foundry` untapped when the life payment buys immediate pressure or removal, and treat `Starting Town` and `Blazemire Verge` as card text check required until Veles exposes their exact mana behavior.

- Preserve red access when `Burst Lightning` is the visible answer or reach spell. If a red source and a black-white source are both available, play the land pattern that keeps `Burst Lightning`, `Marauding Mako`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` castable without locking out black or white follow-ups.

- Preserve black access when recursion, discard, or removal matters. `Bloodghast`, `Requiting Hex`, `Cool but Rude`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, and `Moonshadow` may pressure black mana depending on exact costs, so avoid hands that rely on only `Mountain` plus uncertain utility lands unless Veles shows castable early actions.

- Preserve white access for board development and post-board cards. `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Practiced Offense`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Duel Tactics`, and `Voice of Victory` may need white mana, so do not shock only for black-red if the next turn's best legal play requires white.

- Play lands before draw or selection when the land triggers a known immediate `Bloodghast` return, enables a same-turn spell, or unlocks combat pressure. Hold the land until after a draw or selection action when no immediate landfall, mana, or combat benefit exists and the drawn card could change whether `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Mountain`, `Starting Town`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Concealed Courtyard`, or `Inspiring Vantage` is correct.

- Spend mana efficiently but keep interaction windows meaningful. Tapping out for `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, or multiple creatures is strong when it improves the clock, but leave mana open when visible opponent pressure makes `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, or `Cool but Rude` the difference between stabilizing and dying.

- Mulligan mana-light hands that need exact topdecks to function. One-land hands need a legal one-mana play, the correct colors, and a strong reason from visible deck plan; hands with three or more lands are acceptable when they cast early spells and include `Bloodghast` recursion, discard conversion, or interaction to avoid flooding.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: keep two- or three-land hands that cast an early body plus disruption or removal. Examples are `Concealed Courtyard` plus `Blood Crypt` with `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, and `Cool but Rude`; or `Inspiring Vantage` plus `Godless Shrine` with `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, and `Burst Lightning`, provided Veles shows the spells are castable.

- Strong keep: keep hands with `Bloodghast` plus multiple land drops when the rest of the hand interacts. `Bloodghast`, `Starting Town`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Requiting Hex`, and `Practiced Offense` is acceptable only if the mana actions actually cast the early spells and `Bloodghast` recursion is engine-visible.

- Medium keep: keep three-land hands with two early creatures but no removal when the opponent is not visibly racing. `Mountain`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, and `Tersa Lightshatter` is playable if the curve is real; Card text check required before relying on `Moonshadow` or `Tersa Lightshatter` as stabilization.

- Risky keep: keep one-land hands only on the draw with a castable one-drop or two-drop, at least one `Burst Lightning` or other early action, and several live untapped land draws. A hand of `Concealed Courtyard`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Bloodghast`, `Cool but Rude`, `Practiced Offense`, `Requiting Hex`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` should be shipped unless Veles shows immediate plays and matchup pressure is low.

- Automatic ship: mulligan hands with no land, one uncertain utility land, or colors that cannot cast visible early actions. `Mountain` plus black-white cards such as `Bloodghast`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Cool but Rude`, and `Moonshadow` is not a functional hand unless Veles exposes a castable red plan.

- Automatic ship: mulligan five- or six-land hands without `Bloodghast`, discard conversion, or meaningful interaction. Lands alone do not pressure the opponent, and this deck needs early board presence before its recursive and removal cards matter.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep slower hands with `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Cool but Rude`, or `Strategic Betrayal` effects only when the opponent appears to be creature-light, graveyard-dependent, or combo-oriented from known matchup context. Against visible fast pressure, prioritize `Burst Lightning`, cheap bodies, and untapped mana over speculative disruption.

- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, keep lower-resource hands that curve creature into pressure because tempo is worth more. On the draw, require either better mana, `Burst Lightning`, `Cool but Rude`, or a hand that can recover from the opponent landing the first threat.

- Trap hand: do not keep a hand because it contains `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or `Cecil, Dark Knight` if the first two turns do nothing. Expensive or unique threats need early lands and interaction, not wishful topdecks.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: make the land drop that casts the most immediate legal action and preserves the next color. Prefer `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, or `Sacred Foundry` untapped when that enables `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Bloodghast`, `Burst Lightning`, or `Cool but Rude`; use `Starting Town` or `Blazemire Verge` according to engine-visible mana text.

- Turn 1 deviation: hold a shock land tapped only when no one-mana action exists and life total matters. Pay life when the legal action prevents damage, starts pressure, or keeps black-red-white development intact.

- Turn 2: deploy the best pressure creature before spending interaction if the opponent has no must-answer permanent. Prefer `Marauding Mako`, `Bloodghast`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, or `Moonshadow` as castable bodies; use `Burst Lightning`, `Cool but Rude`, `Requiting Hex`, or `Erode` instead when Veles shows a threat that will snowball or race.

- Turn 2 deviation: cast discard or selection before combat only when the legal action reveals information that changes attacks, removal, or mana. Do not delay a clear creature deployment for unknown value from `Cool but Rude` or `Practiced Offense` without a visible reason.

- Turn 3: combine pressure plus interaction when possible. A common ideal turn is a castable creature plus `Burst Lightning` or `Cool but Rude`; if only one major action is available, choose the line that either removes the blocker enabling attacks or adds the highest-board-impact threat shown by Veles.

- Turn 3 deviation: prioritize landfall-style `Bloodghast` recursion before combat when the graveyard copy can attack, block later, or be used as expendable material. If recursion is not exposed as a legal result, treat `Bloodghast` as a normal graveyard card.

- Turns 4-5: turn the early board into a forced-response position. Cast `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` when the opponent cannot punish a tap-out, but keep mana for `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, or `Cool but Rude` when survival or a key combat exchange depends on it.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: use `Practiced Offense` only when Veles shows its exact legal effect and the board makes that effect matter. Card text check required, so do not assume it pumps, removes, loots, or recurs unless the action text says so.

- Late game: convert every land into either mana efficiency or `Bloodghast` pressure. Play lands before combat when recursion or spell sequencing benefits; hold lands briefly only when an imminent draw or selection action could change which land is correct.

- Late game deviation: stop racing when visible attacks crack back for lethal or near-lethal. Shift `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, and `Cool but Rude` toward stabilization, trade recursive `Bloodghast` aggressively if it can return, and preserve unique threats unless they create lethal, survival, or a decisive board swing.

## Card Roles

- `Bloodghast`: treat `Bloodghast` as the main recursive pressure card and the cleanest way to turn discard, trades, and removal-heavy games into material advantage. Play it early when legal, trade it aggressively when land drops can return it, and sequence land drops before combat only when Veles shows that recursion changes attacks or blocks. Do not protect `Bloodghast` like a normal threat unless the opponent has visible exile pressure or the current board needs a live blocker more than graveyard value.

- `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`: use `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` as the discard-conversion engine when attacking is already safe or when a discarded `Bloodghast` improves future land drops. Inti rewards turning spare cards into pressure and temporary card access, but the agent should not attack into obvious losing blocks just to trigger it. Hold Inti when the opponent can remove it before combat and the current hand has no useful discard or pressure follow-up.

- `Marauding Mako`: deploy `Marauding Mako` as an early pressure piece unless Veles exposes a more urgent removal or discard action. Card text check required, so do not assume haste, counters, discard synergy, or graveyard text unless legal action labels show it. In practice, this four-copy slot should be treated as a curve-stabilizing attacker that helps force the opponent to answer the board before the deck shifts into recursive value.

- `Iron-Shield Elf`: cast `Iron-Shield Elf` early when the visible board asks for a body that contests combat or enables pressure. Card text check required, so treat any defensive, mana, or combat ability as conditional on Veles output. Against fast creature decks, value Iron-Shield Elf as a stabilizing permanent; against slow decks, prefer it only when it contributes to clock, discard pressure, or a later `Practiced Offense` line shown by the engine.

- `Hardened Academic`: use `Hardened Academic` as a high-density early permanent that makes keepable hands more functional. Card text check required, so do not assume card draw, counters, prowess, or discard text without engine-visible confirmation. If its legal action text indicates selection or resource conversion, cast it before lower-impact creatures in grindy games; if it is only a body, sequence it by mana efficiency and combat needs.

- `Moonshadow`: treat `Moonshadow` as a four-copy role-player whose exact purpose must be read from legal actions at runtime. Card text check required. If Veles shows removal, discard, graveyard, or combat text, use it according to the current matchup role: interaction first under pressure, pressure first against slow opponents, and graveyard synergy first when `Bloodghast` recursion or discard payoffs are already active.

- `Cool but Rude`: prioritize `Cool but Rude` when its legal action text disrupts the opponent, removes a key permanent, or converts cards without losing tempo. Card text check required, so never assume it is discard, removal, bounce, or a draw spell from name alone. Because the deck is tagged discard and graveyard, this card is likely part of the pressure-disruption shell, but Veles should still choose it only when its displayed effect advances the visible board or hand-pressure plan.

- `Practiced Offense`: cast `Practiced Offense` only when Veles shows the exact effect and the board makes that effect matter. Card text check required, so do not assume pump, removal, rummage, token-making, or combat tricks. If it improves combat, cast it in the step where the engine says the target or mode is legal; if it develops a permanent, prefer it on curve when it strengthens multiple future attacks rather than one expendable exchange.

- `Burst Lightning`: reserve `Burst Lightning` for early creatures that snowball, blockers that stop profitable attacks, planeswalkers or players when lethal math is real, and instant-speed windows where holding mana changes the opponent's line. Do not spend `Burst Lightning` on a low-impact target just because mana is open. In racing games, calculate whether saving it for face damage creates a two-turn clock; in survival games, kill the attacker or engine creature first.

- `Requiting Hex`: use `Requiting Hex` as conditional interaction and read the legal targets carefully. Card text check required, so the agent must not assume destroy, drain, discard, or graveyard text. Because it appears as a two-copy nonland, treat it as a flexible answer or swing card: cast it when the target is high-impact, hold it when the opponent has only replaceable bodies, and avoid spending it before combat if attacks may reveal a better target.

- `Tersa Lightshatter`: deploy `Tersa Lightshatter` as a midgame swing threat only after checking whether the board can support tapping out. Card text check required. If Veles shows discard, damage, graveyard, or attack-trigger text, pair Tersa with `Bloodghast`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, or spare lands when legal; if it is simply a large threat, cast it when the opponent is low on visible resources or when immediate pressure is needed.

- `Erode`: treat `Erode` as a one-copy specialized answer and spend it only on a permanent or stack object that matters more than the average creature. Card text check required, so rely on legal target labels rather than assumptions. Because there is only one copy, avoid using it as filler interaction unless the visible threat threatens lethal, locks out attacks, blanks `Bloodghast`, or invalidates the deck's pressure plan.

- `Cecil, Dark Knight`: cast `Cecil, Dark Knight` as a unique threat when the opponent is forced to answer the battlefield and cannot easily punish a tap-out. Card text check required. Do not keep hands or choose lines around Cecil unless the current mana and early game already function; a single legendary or named threat is a payoff, not the deck's foundation.

- `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`: use `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` as a top-end or unique swing card only when Veles confirms it is castable and impactful in the current window. Card text check required. Hold it while developing cheaper pressure if the opponent can race, but commit it when the game has stalled, the opponent is low on interaction, or the legal action text shows immediate board damage, removal, or lethal pressure.

- `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Godless Shrine`: use these lands to make early red, black, and white actions reliable, with untapped shock decisions based on visible urgency. Pay life when the action prevents more damage, enables a strong curve, or unlocks `Burst Lightning`, `Bloodghast`, `Cool but Rude`, or early creatures. Take tapped lines when no immediate spell is lost and life total is under pressure.

- `Blazemire Verge`: use `Blazemire Verge` as a black-red fixer whose exact available colors must be read from Veles. Card text check required for runtime color restrictions. Prioritize it in hands that already have white covered and need black for `Bloodghast` or red for `Burst Lightning`; avoid assuming it casts all red spells on turn one unless the engine exposes that mana.

- `Starting Town`: treat `Starting Town` as a utility or fixing land only according to engine-visible text. Card text check required. Sequence it early if it unlocks multiple colors or a relevant ability; delay it if playing a shock or fast land untapped is required to cast pressure or interaction this turn.

- `Mountain`: count `Mountain` as clean red mana but not as a full Mardu source. Keep hands with `Mountain` only when the rest of the lands cast black and white spells, or when the early plan is explicitly red through `Burst Lightning`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Marauding Mako`, or other engine-confirmed red actions.

### Card Hover Notes

#### Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
- Deck role: main deck 1 copy plus sideboard 1 copy; legendary discard-conversion engine and post-board grind/pressure upgrade.
- Role type: engine piece; mechanic payoff; card selection; threat/clock.
- Deck-specific job: Turns an attack step into discard, a +1/+1 counter, trample on target attacking creature, and temporary top-card access from the separate discard trigger. Best discards are `Bloodghast`, excess lands, redundant legends, or cards stranded by matchup texture.
- Timing: Deploy when at least one attack is likely next turn; do not expose it into easy removal if the hand has no expendable discard or if attacking would lose a needed blocker.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes an attack trigger and optionally one card from hand; outputs a counter, trample, and an exiled card playable until your next end step.
- Partners / packages: Pumps `Marauding Mako`, `Bloodghast`, `Hardened Academic`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`; discarding `Bloodghast` sets up later landfall.
- Role peers: Closest role overlap is `Cool but Rude` for attack-step discard/card flow and `Tersa Lightshatter` for discard conversion.
- Failure modes: The discard is optional but still costs a real card; do not discard the only removal, land, or castable follow-up unless the counter/trample or exiled-card window matters now.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Board in the sideboard copy against control, midrange, and removal-light decks; trim against fast creature decks where a 2/2 legend blocks poorly.

#### Erode
- Deck role: main deck 1 copy; premium one-mana white removal singleton.
- Role type: interaction-removal; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Destroys target creature or planeswalker that blocks the pressure plan, threatens lethal, or outscales `Bloodghast` recursion. The controller may search for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield tapped, so use it when removing the target is worth ramping them.
- Timing: Use before combat to clear a decisive blocker, during combat only if legal priority and target matter, or on an urgent planeswalker before it gains more value.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {W} and one card; outputs destroyed creature/planeswalker and may give that permanent's controller a tapped basic land.
- Partners / packages: Clears blockers for `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, and `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`.
- Role peers: `Requiting Hex` kills only mana value 2 or less creatures; `Burst Lightning` deals damage; `Sheltered by Ghosts` and `Seam Rip` exile different target classes after boardinging.
- Failure modes: Giving a basic land can accelerate the opponent; avoid using it on a replaceable small creature when `Burst Lightning` or combat handles the job.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against oversized creature starts and planeswalkers; weaker against decks with few destroyable targets or where ramping the opponent into a payoff is dangerous.

#### Concealed Courtyard
- Deck role: main deck 2 copies; black-white fast land and early color stabilizer.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Casts black spells such as `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, and `Cecil, Dark Knight`, while also enabling white cards such as `Erode`, `Practiced Offense`, `Hardened Academic`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, and `Voice of Victory`.
- Timing: Prioritize turns 1-3 while it enters untapped with two or fewer other lands; later, account for the tapped entry before planning double-spell turns.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; outputs {W} or {B}, but no red.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with `Inspiring Vantage`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Starting Town`, and `Blazemire Verge` to assemble Mardu colors.
- Role peers: `Godless Shrine` gives the same colors with a shock choice; `Starting Town` fixes any color for 1 life; `Blazemire Verge` covers black and conditional red.
- Failure modes: Hands relying on this plus `Mountain` may still miss white-red or black-red sequencing depending on spells drawn.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Valuable against aggro because it can enter untapped without life loss early; less flexible later when tapped entry costs tempo.

#### Burst Lightning
- Deck role: main deck 2 copies; cheap red instant interaction and reach.
- Role type: interaction-removal; reach/finisher; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Kills early creatures, clears blockers for recursive attacks, or finishes a low-life opponent. Kicker lets it scale from 2 damage to 4 damage when the extra {4} is worth the mana.
- Timing: Use 2 damage early on snowballing creatures or blockers; save for face only when it creates lethal or a clear two-turn clock. Kick only when 4 damage changes survival, lethal, or target legality through toughness.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {R}, or {R}+{4} if kicked; outputs 2 damage to any target, or 4 damage if kicked.
- Mode map: Unkicked: efficient 2 damage for early tempo or lethal chip. Kicked: 4 damage for larger creatures, planeswalkers, or finishing the opponent; mistake when it prevents casting another needed spell.
- Partners / packages: Clears paths for `Marauding Mako`, `Bloodghast`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`.
- Role peers: `Duel Tactics` is sorcery-speed 1 damage plus can't-block with flashback; `Requiting Hex` destroys creatures with power 2 or less; `Erode` destroys any target creature or planeswalker but ramps its controller.
- Failure modes: Do not spend it on a low-impact target while a visible attacker, planeswalker, or lethal line needs the damage.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus fast creatures and low-life opponents; often trimmed against control if few targets exist.

#### Iron-Shield Elf
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; two-mana black combat body and discard outlet.
- Role type: threat/clock; discard outlet; protection/evasion; mechanic enabler.
- Deck-specific job: Attacks as a 3/1 and can discard a card to gain indestructible until end of turn while tapping itself. This lets it survive destroy effects or combat damage, but tapping can remove it from attacking or blocking plans.
- Timing: Cast early when black mana is available and combat matters. Activate only before the destruction/combat-damage event when preserving the Elf is worth both a card and losing untapped status.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{B}; activated ability consumes one discarded card and taps `Iron-Shield Elf`; outputs indestructible until end of turn.
- Partners / packages: Discarding `Bloodghast` supports landfall recursion; discarding extra lands can feed `Marauding Mako`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, or `Cool but Rude` triggers if those triggers see the discard.
- Role peers: `Hardened Academic` also converts discards into combat value through lifelink and graveyard-leave counters; `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` discards on attack for card access.
- Failure modes: Indestructible does not stop exile, sacrifice, -X/-X, toughness 0 or less, bounce, or tap-based tempo; the tap clause can cost lethal or a needed block.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Stronger in creature mirrors and removal-heavy games with destroy effects; weaker when opponents use exile or edicts.

#### Inspiring Vantage
- Deck role: main deck 2 copies; red-white fast land.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Enables early `Marauding Mako`, `Burst Lightning`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cool but Rude`, `Hardened Academic`, `Practiced Offense`, and Sheltered by Ghosts, Seam Rip, Duel Tactics, or Voice of Victory without shock damage.
- Timing: Best during the first three land drops, when it enters untapped with two or fewer other lands; later tapped entry can prevent holding `Burst Lightning` or casting `Practiced Offense`.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; outputs {R} or {W}, but no black.
- Partners / packages: Complements `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Concealed Courtyard`, `Blazemire Verge`, and `Starting Town` to cover missing black.
- Role peers: `Sacred Foundry` supplies the same colors at shock-land cost; `Mountain` supplies only red.
- Failure modes: Opening hands with `Inspiring Vantage` and no black source cannot cast `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, or `Cecil, Dark Knight`.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent against burn or aggro when untapped no-life mana matters; sequence early if it is the only clean white or red source.

#### Cecil, Dark Knight
- Deck role: main deck 1 copy; singleton legendary black threat that can transform into a lifelink/protect attacker.
- Role type: threat/clock; lifegain/stabilization; protection/evasion.
- Deck-specific job: Starts as a {B} 2/3 deathtouch creature that pressures attacks and trades up. Its Darkness trigger makes you lose life equal to damage Cecil deals, then transforms if your life total is at or below half your starting life total.
- Timing: Cast early when deathtouch stabilizes combat or pressure is needed; be careful attacking while high-life racing, because Cecil's damage also costs you life before transformation is checked.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {B}; outputs a deathtouch body. Transformed face outputs a 4/4 lifelink creature whose attack gives other attacking creatures indestructible until end of turn.
- Mode map: `Cecil, Dark Knight`: cheap deathtouch pressure with self-life-loss risk. `Cecil, Redeemed Paladin`: lifelink stabilizer and attack-based protection for other attacking creatures. The Card Reference lacks full card-level Oracle metadata, so rely on listed face text and engine prompts for any unlisted transform details.
- Partners / packages: Protect trigger can make attacks safer for `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Moonshadow`, `Hardened Academic`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`.
- Role peers: `Sheltered by Ghosts` also adds lifelink and protection-like ward; `Practiced Offense` can grant lifelink or double strike to one target creature.
- Failure modes: Self-life loss can put you into burn range; protect only applies when Redeemed attacks and to other attacking creatures, not to Cecil itself.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Better versus creature decks where deathtouch and lifelink matter; risky versus burn if the Darkness life loss is not immediately offset.

#### Starting Town
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; utility fixing land and early untapped color bridge.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Enters untapped on turns 1-3, taps for {C}, or taps and pays 1 life for one mana of any color. It smooths the three-color curve but can tax life totals in races.
- Timing: Strong early when it casts any needed color; later it enters tapped, so sequence it before late double-spell turns only when tempo cost is acceptable.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; outputs {C}, or one mana of any color for 1 life.
- Partners / packages: Casts color-stressed cards including `Bloodghast`, `Hardened Academic`, `Practiced Offense`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, and sideboard `Leyline of the Void`.
- Role peers: `Concealed Courtyard` and `Inspiring Vantage` are painless early two-color lands; `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, and `Sacred Foundry` trade 2 life for untapped typed colors.
- Failure modes: Paying 1 life repeatedly is costly against burn and aggro; {C} does not pay colored requirements.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Keep hands using `Starting Town` when it clearly casts early spells; avoid leaning on it as the only fixing in long games where life is under pressure.

#### Practiced Offense
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; sorcery-speed team counter effect and flashback combat swing.
- Role type: mechanic payoff; protection/evasion; lifegain/stabilization; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature target player controls, then gives target creature your choice of double strike or lifelink until end of turn. In this deck it turns recursive/small attackers into a real combat step and can stabilize with lifelink.
- Timing: Cast precombat when multiple creatures benefit or one attacker can win a race with double strike/lifelink. Flash back from graveyard for {1}{W} when replaying it is better than preserving graveyard count.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {2}{W} from hand or {1}{W} from graveyard; outputs counters, one turn of double strike or lifelink, then exile if flashbacked.
- Mode map: Hand-cast: larger mana investment for board scaling. Flashback: cheaper second use from graveyard, exiles on resolution and can trigger `Hardened Academic` because a card leaves your graveyard. Choice: double strike for lethal/pressure; lifelink for race stabilization.
- Partners / packages: Excellent with `Bloodghast` returns, `Marauding Mako` counters, `Moonshadow` menace, `Hardened Academic` flying haste, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` trample.
- Role peers: `Sheltered by Ghosts` grants lasting lifelink and +1/+0 to one creature; `Duel Tactics` creates a smaller one-creature combat opening from sideboard.
- Failure modes: Sorcery speed exposes you to removal before combat; targeting the opponent by mistake can counter-grow their board.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in creature races and board stalls; weaker into sweepers or instant removal when only one creature matters.

#### Moonshadow
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; one-mana black scaling menace threat.
- Role type: threat/clock; mechanic payoff; engine payoff.
- Deck-specific job: Enters as a 7/7 with six -1/-1 counters, effectively starting small but growing whenever one or more permanent cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere while it still has a -1/-1 counter. Menace lets the final body pressure through single blockers.
- Timing: Cast early when future creature trades, discarded permanent cards, destroyed permanents, or milled/discarded permanents can grow it. Do not treat nonpermanent spells entering the graveyard as growth fuel.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {B}; outputs a menace creature that grows by removing one -1/-1 counter per qualifying event, not per permanent card beyond the first in the same event.
- Partners / packages: Permanent cards that can enter your graveyard include `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako` cycled/discarded, creatures traded in combat, and lands discarded to `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cool but Rude`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or `Case of the Crimson Pulse`.
- Role peers: `Marauding Mako` also grows from discard; `Bloodghast` is the safer attrition threat.
- Failure modes: Exile effects, bounce, or nonpermanent-only discard do not grow it; early -1/-1 counters make it vulnerable to small damage or -X effects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in attrition creature games; weaker against exile-heavy removal and graveyard-replacement effects that prevent permanent cards from hitting your graveyard.

#### Hardened Academic
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; red-white evasive haste threat and discard/graveyard-leave payoff.
- Role type: threat/clock; discard outlet; mechanic payoff; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Provides immediate flying haste pressure, can discard a card to gain lifelink, and grows a target creature you control whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard.
- Timing: Cast on curve to start evasive damage. Activate lifelink when the life swing matters or the discard is useful, not just because mana is unused. Sequence graveyard exits before combat when counters change attacks.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {R}{W}; discard ability consumes one card and outputs lifelink for the turn; graveyard-leave trigger outputs a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
- Partners / packages: `Practiced Offense` flashback and `Duel Tactics` flashback exile themselves from graveyard; `Tersa Lightshatter` exiles a random graveyard card on threshold attack; `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cool but Rude`, and `Case of the Crimson Pulse` help stock the graveyard.
- Role peers: `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` turns discard into temporary card access; `Marauding Mako` turns discard into counters.
- Failure modes: The discard lifelink ability does not itself guarantee a `Hardened Academic` counter unless a card also leaves your graveyard; flying 2/1 dies easily to cheap damage.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong against ground stalls and burn races when lifelink matters; protect it against decks with cheap flyers or pingers.

#### Marauding Mako
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; one-mana red scaling threat with cycling.
- Role type: threat/clock; mechanic payoff; engine fuel/material; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Starts as a 1/1 but gains +1/+1 counters equal to the number of cards discarded whenever you discard one or more cards. Cycling lets it become a discard event and replacement card when another threat is more important.
- Timing: Cast early if discard engines are available; cycle for {2} when flooding, missing land/action, or needing a discard trigger more than a 1/1 body.
- Inputs / outputs: Cast consumes {R}; cycling consumes {2}, discards `Marauding Mako`, and draws a card. Discard triggers from other cards output counters on battlefield Makos.
- Mode map: Creature mode: best when it can grow from `Cool but Rude`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, or `Case of the Crimson Pulse`. Cycling mode: use when the body is too slow or when discard/draw digs toward land, removal, or pressure.
- Partners / packages: Big discard events from `Tersa Lightshatter` and `Case of the Crimson Pulse` can add multiple counters; attack discard from `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` adds pressure and trample elsewhere.
- Role peers: `Moonshadow` grows from permanent cards entering your graveyard; `Hardened Academic` grows creatures when cards leave your graveyard.
- Failure modes: Cycling removes the threat from battlefield plans; a 1/1 with no discard support is low impact.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent in slow games with discard time; against aggro, decide whether a small blocker/body or cycling into interaction is more valuable.

#### Sacred Foundry
- Deck role: main deck 3 copies; red-white shock land and typed Mountain Plains source.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Provides {R} for `Burst Lightning`, `Marauding Mako`, `Cool but Rude`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, or {W} for `Erode`, `Practiced Offense`, `Hardened Academic`, and sideboard white cards.
- Timing: Pay 2 life when untapped mana casts a relevant spell this turn or protects next turn's curve; let it enter tapped when no immediate action is lost.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; optional 2 life to enter untapped; outputs {R} or {W}. Its Mountain subtype can enable `Blazemire Verge` red ability.
- Partners / packages: Works with `Blood Crypt` as Mountain support and with `Godless Shrine`/`Concealed Courtyard` for black-white coverage.
- Role peers: `Inspiring Vantage` offers painless early {R}/{W}; `Starting Town` can make either color for 1 life.
- Failure modes: Shock damage adds up with `Starting Town` and `Cecil, Dark Knight` life loss; does not produce black.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Against burn or aggro, only pay life for immediate survival or a stronger clock.

#### Cool but Rude
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; Class enchantment discard engine, damage payoff, and late tutor/filter.
- Role type: engine piece; discard outlet; engine payoff; tutor/search; reach/finisher; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Level 1 turns attacks into optional discard then draw. Level 2 makes each discarded card deal 2 damage to each opponent. Level 3 searches any card into hand, then discards a card at random, which can trigger its level 2 damage.
- Timing: Cast before planned attack steps; level to 2 when discard events are likely soon. Level 3 only when the tutor target is worth {1}{R}, sorcery timing, and random discard risk.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{R}; attacks can consume a discard and output a draw. Level 2 consumes {1}{R}; later discards output opponent damage. Level 3 consumes {1}{R}; outputs a searched card, shuffle, and random discard.
- Mode map: Level 1: loot on attacks. Level 2: discard-to-damage engine. Level 3: unrestricted tutor plus random discard; search `Burst Lightning` for lethal, `Erode`/`Requiting Hex` for removal, `Practiced Offense` for combat closure, or `Bloodghast`/`Carnage, Crimson Chaos` for grind depending on board.
- Partners / packages: Triggers `Marauding Mako`, fuels `Moonshadow` if a permanent is discarded, sets up `Bloodghast`, and feeds `Hardened Academic` later if graveyard cards leave.
- Role peers: `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` also attacks to discard; `Case of the Crimson Pulse` is a post-board repeated discard/draw engine.
- Failure modes: Leveling at sorcery speed can waste mana into removal or pressure; random discard at level 3 can lose the searched card.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus control and midrange; slower versus aggro unless level 1 filtering finds removal quickly.

#### Requiting Hex
- Deck role: main deck 2 copies; black cheap creature removal with optional blight lifegain.
- Role type: interaction-removal; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Destroys target creature with mana value 2 or less. As an additional cost, you may blight 1 by putting a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control; if paid, you gain 2 life.
- Timing: Use on early attackers, utility creatures, or blockers whose mana value is 2 or less. Pay blight only when the -1/-1 counter is acceptable and 2 life matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {B} and one card; optional blight puts a -1/-1 counter on your creature; outputs destroyed small creature and possibly 2 life.
- Partners / packages: Blight can put a -1/-1 counter on a creature that survives the counter; avoid shrinking fragile `Hardened Academic`, `Marauding Mako`, or counter-light `Moonshadow` unless survival requires it.
- Role peers: `Burst Lightning` hits any target for damage; `Erode` destroys any creature or planeswalker but may ramp; `Duel Tactics` only deals 1 and prevents blocking.
- Failure modes: Cannot hit mana value 3 or greater; blight can kill or weaken your own creature and is not free lifegain.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Best against low-curve creature decks; board out or reduce value against control and large-threat decks.

#### Blazemire Verge
- Deck role: main deck 2 copies; black land with conditional red access.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Always taps for {B}; taps for {R} only if you control a Swamp or Mountain. Registered subtype enablers include `Blood Crypt` as Swamp Mountain, `Godless Shrine` as Plains Swamp, `Sacred Foundry` as Mountain Plains, and `Mountain`.
- Timing: Play when black is needed now or when another typed land already enables red. Do not plan turn-one red from it unless a Swamp or Mountain is already controlled, which is normally impossible before your first land.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; outputs {B}, or {R} with the required Swamp/Mountain condition.
- Partners / packages: Enables black cards `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`; with typed lands it helps cast red cards `Burst Lightning`, `Marauding Mako`, `Cool but Rude`, `Tersa Lightshatter`.
- Role peers: `Blood Crypt` is the cleanest black-red source; `Starting Town` fixes any color for life.
- Failure modes: Conditional red can strand red one-drops or instant interaction; it does not produce white.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Good in hands with `Godless Shrine`, `Blood Crypt`, `Sacred Foundry`, or `Mountain`; risky as the only red source.

#### Bloodghast
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; recursive black pressure core.
- Role type: recursion; threat/clock; engine fuel/material.
- Deck-specific job: Attacks repeatedly through removal and discard because landfall can return it from graveyard to battlefield. It cannot block, so it is pressure and sacrifice/discard material, not defense.
- Timing: Cast early when attacking matters, or discard/trade it when a future land drop can return it. Play land before combat if returned `Bloodghast` can attack through haste condition or materially changes pressure; otherwise sequence for colors first.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {B}{B}; landfall from any land you control may return it from graveyard. Gains haste only while an opponent has 10 or less life.
- Partners / packages: Best discarded to `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cool but Rude`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; pressure scales with `Practiced Offense`.
- Role peers: No direct peer; closest role overlap is `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` returning a small creature and `Moonshadow` using graveyard movement for pressure.
- Failure modes: Cannot block; exile effects and graveyard hate stop recursion. `Leyline of the Void` affects opponents only, so it does not shut off your `Bloodghast`, but opposing replacement effects can.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Excellent versus one-for-one removal and control; weaker when racing requires blockers or opponent has graveyard exile.

#### Tersa Lightshatter
- Deck role: main deck 2 copies; three-mana haste discard/filter threat and threshold-style graveyard payoff.
- Role type: threat/clock; discard outlet; card selection; mechanic payoff.
- Deck-specific job: Enters as a 3/3 haste threat and may discard up to two cards, then draw that many. On attack, if seven or more cards are in your graveyard, it exiles a random card from your graveyard and lets you play it this turn.
- Timing: Cast when the ETB can turn weak cards into new cards or set up `Bloodghast`/graveyard count. Attack with threshold only when random exile is acceptable and mana/land play can use the exiled card.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {2}{R}; ETB consumes up to two discarded cards and outputs the same number of draws. Threshold attack consumes a random graveyard card into exile and outputs temporary play permission this turn.
- Partners / packages: Discarding `Bloodghast` is high value; discarded permanents can grow `Moonshadow`; multiple discarded cards grow `Marauding Mako`; exiling a graveyard card can trigger `Hardened Academic`.
- Role peers: `Case of the Crimson Pulse` also discards then draws two; `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` exiles top-library cards rather than graveyard cards.
- Failure modes: Random graveyard exile can remove a card you wanted to flash back, such as `Practiced Offense` or `Duel Tactics`; playing the exiled card still needs normal timing and costs.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in grindy games and against control; against graveyard hate, value it more as haste/filter than graveyard payoff.

#### Carnage, Crimson Chaos
- Deck role: main deck 1 copy; four-mana black-red swing threat and small-creature reanimation finisher.
- Role type: recursion; threat/clock; reach/finisher.
- Deck-specific job: A 4/3 trample body that returns target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. The returned creature must attack each combat if able and is sacrificed when it deals combat damage to a player.
- Timing: Cast when the graveyard has a high-impact target or when a 4/3 trample body matters. Avoid casting with no meaningful creature card target unless the body alone changes the game.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {2}{B}{R}; outputs `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` plus a returned small creature. Mayhem {B}{R} is listed, but Card Reference gives no rules text for Mayhem, so follow engine prompts for that access path.
- Mode map: Normal cast: reliable battlefield/reanimation swing. Mayhem: alternate access exists by keyword, but exact rules are not provided in the reference; use only engine-confirmed prompts.
- Partners / packages: Returns `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Tersa Lightshatter` if mana value permits and they are in graveyard.
- Role peers: `Bloodghast` self-recurs; `Practiced Offense` rebuilds combat power from graveyard via flashback.
- Failure modes: Returned creature can be forced into bad attacks and is sacrificed after damaging a player; do not reanimate a key utility creature if forced attacking loses it for little damage.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong after removal exchanges; weaker against exile graveyard hate or when the opponent can punish a tap-out.

#### Blood Crypt
- Deck role: main deck 4 copies; black-red shock land and typed Swamp Mountain source.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Casts core black-red cards: `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Burst Lightning`, `Marauding Mako`, `Cool but Rude`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`.
- Timing: Pay 2 life when untapped black or red enables a turn-one/turn-two play, removal, or a decisive curve. Enter tapped when no spell is lost and life matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; optional 2 life to enter untapped; outputs {B} or {R}. Swamp/Mountain subtypes enable `Blazemire Verge` red condition.
- Partners / packages: Combines with `Concealed Courtyard`, `Godless Shrine`, `Inspiring Vantage`, and `Sacred Foundry` for white access.
- Role peers: `Blazemire Verge` is painless black with conditional red; `Starting Town` fixes any color for 1 life.
- Failure modes: Does not produce white; repeated shock payments plus `Starting Town` and `Cecil, Dark Knight` can create self-burn losses.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Crucial in most openers; against burn, prefer tapped lines unless the untapped spell prevents more damage or creates a faster kill.

#### Godless Shrine
- Deck role: main deck 3 copies; white-black shock land and typed Plains Swamp source.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Supports black pressure/removal and white interaction/combat cards while enabling `Blazemire Verge` red through its Swamp subtype.
- Timing: Pay 2 life when it casts `Bloodghast`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Erode`, `Practiced Offense`, `Hardened Academic`, or sideboard white cards on schedule.
- Inputs / outputs: Land drop; optional 2 life to enter untapped; outputs {W} or {B}.
- Partners / packages: With `Blazemire Verge`, turns on conditional red while covering white-black; with `Blood Crypt` or `Sacred Foundry`, completes Mardu access.
- Role peers: `Concealed Courtyard` gives painless early {W}/{B}; `Starting Town` can fix any color at 1 life per use.
- Failure modes: Does not produce red directly; shock damage can be wrong if the spell cast does not change the board or race.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Key for post-board `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, `Voice of Victory`, and `Leyline of the Void`; sequence carefully against fast damage decks.

#### Sheltered by Ghosts
- Deck role: sideboard 2 copies; white Aura removal/protection/lifegain bullet.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-removal; protection/evasion; lifegain/stabilization.
- Deck-specific job: Enchants a creature you control, exiles target nonland permanent an opponent controls until the Aura leaves the battlefield, and gives enchanted creature +1/+0, lifelink, and ward {2}.
- Timing: Bring in for creature races, single-threat boards, and permanent problems. Cast when you have a creature worth enhancing and an opposing nonland permanent worth temporarily exiling.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{W}, a legal creature you control, and a target opposing nonland permanent; outputs temporary exile plus a lifelink/ward attacker.
- Partners / packages: Best on `Hardened Academic` for evasive lifelink, `Marauding Mako` after counters, `Moonshadow` once large, `Cecil, Dark Knight`/`Cecil, Redeemed Paladin`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`.
- Role peers: `Seam Rip` exiles mana value 2 or less nonland permanents without needing your creature; `Erode` destroys creatures/planeswalkers.
- Failure modes: If the Aura leaves, the exiled permanent returns; cannot enchant opponent creatures or your noncreature permanents. Ward {2} taxes targeted spells/abilities but does not stop sweepers, edicts, or non-targeting effects.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus creature decks and permanent engines with targetable nonland permanents; weak into cheap enchantment removal or bounce.

#### Strategic Betrayal
- Deck role: sideboard 3 copies; black sorcery edict plus graveyard exile disruption.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-removal; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Target opponent exiles a creature they control and their graveyard. The opponent chooses which creature they exile, so it is best when they have only one creature or all choices are acceptable.
- Timing: Cast before the opponent can sacrifice, recur, or grow graveyard resources; use after removing expendable creatures if you need it to hit the real threat.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{B}; targets an opponent; outputs opponent-chosen creature exile plus that opponent's graveyard exile.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, or `Seam Rip` to reduce board choices before resolution.
- Role peers: `Leyline of the Void` prevents future opponent graveyard use; `Erode` targets your chosen creature/planeswalker but may ramp; `Seam Rip` handles small nonland permanents.
- Failure modes: Poor against token swarms or boards with a disposable creature; sorcery speed cannot interrupt a spell after costs are paid from graveyard.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in against graveyard decks, single-threat decks, combo shells using graveyard, and control decks with few creatures; cut against low-curve go-wide aggro.

#### Seam Rip
- Deck role: sideboard 2 copies; one-mana white temporary exile answer for cheap nonland permanents.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-removal; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: Exiles target nonland permanent an opponent controls with mana value 2 or less until `Seam Rip` leaves the battlefield. It answers mana-value-2-or-less engines, hate pieces, low-toughness creatures, Aura threats, artifact permanents, or enchantments only if the mana value restriction is met.
- Timing: Use early when the permanent materially changes the race or shuts off your plan. Hold if the current target is low impact and a stronger mana-value-2-or-less target is likely.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {W}; outputs temporary exile tied to `Seam Rip` staying on battlefield.
- Partners / packages: Clears low-cost blockers for `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, and `Moonshadow`; removes cheap graveyard hate that interferes with `Bloodghast`.
- Role peers: `Sheltered by Ghosts` can hit any opposing nonland permanent but needs your creature and costs {1}{W}; `Erode` hits creatures/planeswalkers regardless of mana value.
- Failure modes: Cannot hit lands or mana value 3+ permanents; if `Seam Rip` leaves, the exiled card returns.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Board in against mana-value-2-or-less engines, Aura threats, artifact permanents, graveyard hate, and creature decks with key low-cost threats.

#### Duel Tactics
- Deck role: sideboard 1 copy; red sorcery combat opener with flashback.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; interaction-removal; protection/evasion; modal utility.
- Deck-specific job: Deals 1 damage to target creature and prevents it from blocking this turn. It can remove 1-toughness blockers or make one larger blocker unable to block, then flash back later for {1}{R}.
- Timing: Cast precombat when the can't-block clause enables a profitable or lethal attack. Flash back when the second use is worth exiling it from graveyard.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {R} from hand or {1}{R} from graveyard; outputs 1 damage to target creature and no-block status for the turn, then exile if flashbacked.
- Mode map: Hand-cast: cheap combat tempo. Flashback: second sorcery-speed use from graveyard; exiling it can trigger `Hardened Academic` because a card leaves your graveyard.
- Partners / packages: Opens attacks for `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Moonshadow`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`.
- Role peers: `Burst Lightning` is instant and hits any target for 2 or 4; `Practiced Offense` improves your attackers rather than disabling a blocker.
- Failure modes: Sorcery speed means it cannot surprise attackers or respond after blocks; 1 damage does not shrink and only kills if damage plus prior marked damage reaches toughness.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in for board stalls and small-creature races; avoid versus creature-light control or combo.

#### Leyline of the Void
- Deck role: sideboard 1 copy; graveyard-hate enchantment.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; hate piece.
- Deck-specific job: If in opening hand, may begin on the battlefield. While active, cards that would go to an opponent's graveyard from anywhere are exiled instead, suppressing opposing recursion, flashback, delve, escape, death loops, and graveyard-count payoffs.
- Timing: Keep/open with it only when opponent graveyard use is public or highly likely; cast for {2}{B}{B} when the game is slow enough and graveyard denial matters.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes opening-hand slot or {2}{B}{B}; outputs a replacement effect against opponent graveyards only.
- Partners / packages: Combines with pressure from `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, and `Voice of Victory` so hate is paired with a clock.
- Role peers: `Strategic Betrayal` exiles one target opponent's existing graveyard once; `Seam Rip` can remove cheap graveyard-engine permanents.
- Failure modes: Does not affect your own `Bloodghast`, `Practiced Offense`, or `Duel Tactics`, but a hate-only hand can still lose to battlefield pressure.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Bring in against graveyard-centric decks; leave out against decks winning from hand and battlefield without graveyard reliance.

#### Case of the Crimson Pulse
- Deck role: sideboard 2 copies; red grind engine and empty-hand reload.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; engine piece; discard outlet; card selection.
- Deck-specific job: Enters, discards a card, then draws two. It solves at your end step if you have no cards in hand; once solved, at upkeep it makes you discard your hand, then draw two cards.
- Timing: Board in for slow attrition and control. Cast when discarding is useful or acceptable and the two-card draw helps hit land, interaction, or pressure. Try to solve when emptying hand is natural, not by spewing key cards.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {2}{R}; ETB consumes one discarded card and outputs two draws. Solved upkeep consumes your current hand and outputs two draws.
- Mode map: Unsolved Case: one-shot rummage-style reload on entry. Solved Case: repeated upkeep hand reset; strong with empty or low-value hands, dangerous with premium interaction or threats in hand.
- Partners / packages: Discarding `Bloodghast` is ideal; multiple discarded cards can grow `Marauding Mako`, feed `Moonshadow` if permanents are discarded, and trigger `Cool but Rude` level 2.
- Role peers: `Tersa Lightshatter` discards up to two then draws that many on a creature; `Cool but Rude` converts attacks into discard/draw.
- Failure modes: Solved trigger is mandatory at upkeep; it can discard important held cards before you can cast them.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus control and removal-heavy midrange; too slow against fast aggro unless the game is already stable.

#### Voice of Victory
- Deck role: sideboard 3 copies; white anti-interaction pressure creature.
- Role type: sideboard bullet; threat/clock; protection/evasion; role glue.
- Deck-specific job: Attacks with Mobilize 2, creating two tapped and attacking 1/1 red Warrior tokens that are sacrificed at next end step, while preventing opponents from casting spells during your turn.
- Timing: Bring in when opponent relies on instant-speed removal, counterplay, combat tricks, or flash-speed interaction. Attack when temporary tokens improve pressure and the crack-back is manageable.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes {1}{W}; attacks output two temporary tapped attacking Warrior tokens; static ability removes opponents' ability to cast spells during your turn.
- Partners / packages: Makes `Practiced Offense` stronger by adding attackers before combat damage if counters/effects are timed legally; protects attack steps for `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Hardened Academic`, `Marauding Mako`, `Bloodghast`, and `Moonshadow`.
- Role peers: `Sheltered by Ghosts` protects one creature with ward {2}; `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` adds attack-step discard pressure.
- Failure modes: Opponents can still act on their own turn; Mobilize tokens are temporary and tapped, so they do not help block.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong versus control, tempo, flash, and removal-heavy decks; weaker against larger creature decks where a 1/3 plus temporary attackers cannot profitably race.

#### Mountain
- Deck role: Main deck, 2 copies, basic red mana source and low-risk land slot.
- Role type: mana/fixing/ramp.
- Deck-specific job: Supplies red for Burst Lightning, Inti, Seneschal of the Sun, Cool but Rude, Marauding Mako, Tersa Lightshatter, Carnage, Crimson Chaos, and Case of the Crimson Pulse.
- Timing: Prefer Mountain early when the hand needs untapped red without shock-land life loss; sequence black and white duals first when Bloodghast, Moonshadow, Requiting Hex, Cecil, Dark Knight, Practiced Offense, or Seam Rip is the next spell.
- Inputs / outputs: Consumes a land drop and produces {R}; it does not cost life, enter tapped, or provide black or white.
- Partners / packages: Pairs with Blood Crypt, Sacred Foundry, Inspiring Vantage, Blazemire Verge, and Starting Town to keep red available while other lands cover black or white.
- Role peers: Blood Crypt and Sacred Foundry also provide red but can cost 2 life; Inspiring Vantage is red-white early and tapped later; Blazemire Verge depends on other land types.
- Failure modes: Mountain-only openings can strand Bloodghast, Moonshadow, Requiting Hex, Cecil, Dark Knight, Practiced Offense, Sheltered by Ghosts, or Seam Rip.
- Matchup / visibility hooks: Strong in races where avoiding shock-land damage matters; weaker in hands where black or white is the bottleneck.

## Interaction Priorities

- Priority: spend `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Cool but Rude`, or `Moonshadow` first on threats that change combat math, generate repeated cards, enable combo, or make `Bloodghast` recursion irrelevant. Card text check required for every non-`Burst Lightning` effect, so choose only targets the rules engine shows as legal and do not assume destroy, exile, discard, bounce, or counter text from the name.

- Discard priority: aim any engine-confirmed discard mode from `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, or other visible action at the card type the opponent is currently short on. Against control, take sweepers, planeswalkers, or card-advantage spells before single removal; against aggro, take the next high-damage play before expensive late cards; against graveyard or combo shells, take the enabler or payoff that is least replaceable from public context.

- Removal priority: kill snowballing creatures before ordinary attackers, evasive threats before ground creatures, and blockers that stop multiple attacks before blockers that only trade with `Bloodghast`. Save `Erode` for a permanent that invalidates the deck's pressure plan or closes the game quickly, because it is a one-copy answer and should not be used as filler.

- Exile and graveyard priority: use `Leyline of the Void`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, or any engine-confirmed exile text against recursive or graveyard-scaling opponents before spending normal damage removal. Do not exile a replaceable creature if the opponent's public graveyard, visible permissions, or known engine card is the real threat.

- Counter and bounce handling: this list has no confirmed dedicated counterspell or bounce spell from card names alone. If Veles exposes counter, bounce, or stack-interaction text on `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Duel Tactics`, `Strategic Betrayal`, or another legal action, use it only on a spell or permanent whose resolution changes the race, protects a key engine, or beats the current hand-pressure plan.

- Bait rule: lead with recursive or redundant pressure such as `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, or `Hardened Academic` before committing `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, or a sideboard haymaker when the opponent clearly represents premium interaction. Do not bait with the only castable spell if passing loses tempo or life.

- Ignore rule: ignore low-power blockers, tapped creatures that cannot affect the next combat, and cards that only trade with `Bloodghast` unless life total or lethal math says otherwise. Preserve interaction for cards that race, stabilize, or break recursion.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack priority: convert early creatures into damage unless the visible board says blocking is required next turn. `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Hardened Academic`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, and `Bloodghast` should pressure life totals while discard and removal reduce the opponent's ability to punish attacks.

- `Bloodghast` trades: trade `Bloodghast` aggressively into larger or more relevant creatures when a land drop or other engine-visible recursion path can bring it back. Do not throw it away if the opponent has visible exile pressure, graveyard hate, or a race where blocking later matters more than two damage now.

- Engine preservation: protect `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` from unnecessary combat exposure unless their attack trigger, damage output, or lethal contribution is confirmed by Veles and worth the risk. Card text check required, so value claims must come from legal action text or visible state.

- Trade rule: accept trades that remove blockers for future recursive damage, stop snowballing attackers, or preserve a life total above the opponent's next visible burst range. Decline trades that sacrifice the only pressure source into a replaceable body while the opponent is low on cards.

- Life thresholds: above 14 life, favor attacks and tapped-land efficiency unless the opponent shows a fast clock; from 8 to 13, block when a trade prevents a two-turn kill; at 7 or less, survival beats chip damage unless Veles shows lethal or a guaranteed stabilizing interaction line. Pay shock-land life only when the spell prevents more damage or creates decisive pressure.

- Pump or trick timing: cast `Practiced Offense`, `Duel Tactics`, or any engine-confirmed combat trick only in the combat step where the target and result matter. Do not spend a trick before blockers if waiting could force a better block, and do not risk a trick into open interaction unless losing the creature is acceptable.

- Aggro posture: block earlier against creature-heavy opponents, prioritize killing haste/evasive/high-damage attackers with `Burst Lightning`, and treat `Bloodghast` as a stabilizing trade piece as often as a clock. Racing is correct only when the visible damage race favors Mardu within one or two turns.

- Control posture: attack with multiple modest threats instead of overcommitting unique threats into a likely sweeper. Recursive pressure from `Bloodghast` and cheap creatures should draw removal before `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` enters combat.

- Graveyard posture: attack and trade less freely when the opponent has visible graveyard hate or exile effects. If `Leyline of the Void` is on your side after boarding, shift back toward trades because opposing recursion is suppressed while your battlefield pressure continues.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Selection rule: treat this deck as pseudo-selection, not tutor-based. There are no confirmed main-deck cards that search for a named card, so use engine-exposed draw, discard, exile-play, loot, or impulse effects from `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, or `Strategic Betrayal` only according to the legal action text Veles shows.

- Land-drop timing: make land drops after resolving selection when a legal effect can reveal or choose between lands, unless `Bloodghast` recursion, shock-land untapped timing, or immediate mana requirements require playing the land first. Hold a land only when Veles shows a discard/loot action that clearly rewards discarding a nonessential card and the current turn already has enough mana.

- `Bloodghast` recursion: sequence fetch-equivalent or ordinary land drops after combat only when Veles shows `Bloodghast` can return and haste or attack relevance is visible. If recursion is merely restoring board presence for next turn, make the land drop before casting spells only when the extra creature changes mana, attack, block, sacrifice, or pressure decisions this turn.

- `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`: use attack-linked discard or exile-play selection to turn redundant lands, extra legends, late low-impact creatures, or dead matchup cards into pressure when the board can safely attack. Do not discard the only removal, the only white/black source, or the only castable follow-up unless the exiled-card window or visible lethal line justifies it.

- Discard fodder ranking: discard extra lands beyond the next planned spell first, then redundant small creatures, then matchup-weak interaction, then recursive `Bloodghast` if the graveyard is not being shut off and a land-drop return is available. Avoid discarding unique threats such as `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, or `Tersa Lightshatter` unless the current legal action explicitly converts that discard into a stronger line.

- Scry or surveil choices: bottom cards that do not affect the next two turns of pressure, mana, or interaction. Keep untapped mana sources when the hand cannot cast current spells, keep `Burst Lightning` or engine-confirmed removal against visible pressure, and keep recursive or discard-synergy creatures when the opponent is low on resources.

- Impulse or exile-play windows: prioritize playable cards that use spare mana this turn before speculative higher-impact cards that expire. If `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` or another card exiles a playable land and the land-drop is unused, consider playing it only after checking whether `Bloodghast` recursion, shock-land life, or color needs improve the line.

- Sideboard selection effects: use `Strategic Betrayal`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, `Seam Rip`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Duel Tactics`, `Voice of Victory`, and `Leyline of the Void` according to exposed text only. Card text check required for these cards, so target, choose, or keep them based on legal prompts and matchup role, not assumptions from names.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Priority rule: pass with no action when the stack is empty, mana is needed for a stronger later window, and no legal action improves combat, protects pressure, or answers a visible threat. Do not spend interaction just because priority appears; wait for a spell, attack, block, recursion window, or end-step use that changes the game.

- Instant-speed removal: use `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Moonshadow`, or `Cool but Rude` at instant speed only when Veles confirms legal timing and targets. Prefer responding before damage, before a snowball trigger resolves, before an aura/equipment-style effect can protect a target, or on the opponent's end step when waiting gives no extra information.

- Kicker and optional payments: pay optional costs such as `Burst Lightning` kicker only when the extra damage or effect is necessary for lethal, survival, removing a larger target, or preserving a key attacker. Decline optional payments that consume mana needed for a visible tax, follow-up spell, `Bloodghast` land sequencing, or stronger interaction window.

- Let-resolve rule: let low-impact card draw, small creatures, or redundant setup resolve when the current hand can beat the resulting board and interaction is needed for a higher-impact threat. Spend stack interaction, if exposed by Veles, on sweepers, graveyard hate, exile effects, planeswalkers, combo enablers, or blockers that stop multiple attacks.

- Combat windows: wait until after attackers or blockers before casting `Practiced Offense`, `Duel Tactics`, or engine-confirmed tricks unless precombat casting is required to enable an attack. Use post-blocker priority to punish blocks, save a key creature, or force lethal; decline tricks when the creature would still die and no `Bloodghast`-style recursion or damage swing compensates.

- Graveyard timing: respond to graveyard hate before it resolves only if Veles exposes a legal way to use or return `Bloodghast` or extract value from the graveyard. With `Leyline of the Void` on your side, prioritize stack and priority decisions that prevent the opponent from using graveyard resources before they become irrelevant.

- End-step use: cast spare instant-speed selection, discard, or removal on the opponent's end step when waiting protects information and no combat or stack window needs it sooner. Keep mana open through the opponent's turn when visible threats, known cards, or matchup role make instant-speed interaction more valuable than main-phase pressure.

- Trigger handling: accept optional discard, attack, or value triggers when the discard card is expendable and the resulting legal text advances damage, card access, or board position. Decline optional triggers that discard the only land, removal, or threat needed for the next turn unless the rules engine shows a deterministic payoff.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard rule: choose role cards by visible matchup texture, not by card names alone. Add graveyard hate when the opponent uses graveyard recursion or graveyard count payoffs, add creature protection or removal-resistant pressure when games hinge on combat, add discard or hand-pressure cards when the opponent relies on a few expensive or synergistic cards, and add extra threats when the opponent is trying to exhaust one-for-one removal.

- `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`: bring the sideboard copy in when the matchup rewards repeat discard selection, exile-play pressure, and attacking with small creatures. It is strongest against slow midrange, control, and removal-light decks where extra filtering turns redundant lands, late `Bloodghast`, or extra low-impact cards into damage and card access. It is weaker against fast creature decks when the legend rule, low blocking value, or needing immediate removal makes a second copy clunky.

- `Sheltered by Ghosts`: Card text check required. Treat it as a sideboard role card for creature matchups, aura/protection-style interaction, or lifegain/stabilization only when Veles exposes legal targets and resulting visible text. Add it when protecting `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Tersa Lightshatter` changes combat math or keeps a key threat alive. It is bad when the opponent has abundant cheap interaction, bounce, edict effects, or when no creature can safely carry the effect.

- `Strategic Betrayal`: Card text check required. Treat it as a high-context discard or disruption card when the opponent is slower, combo-oriented, spell-heavy, or keeping hands around one key payoff. Add it against control, ramp, graveyard combo, and decks where seeing or reducing resources matters more than board tempo. It is bad against low-curve creature decks that empty their hand quickly or when spending mana on non-board disruption would leave visible attackers unchecked.

- `Seam Rip`: Card text check required. Treat it as flexible answer space only when Veles shows legal targets that matter. Add it against artifact, enchantment, aura, token, graveyard-hate, or battlefield-engine decks if its exposed rules text answers a permanent type the main deck struggles with. It is bad against creature-only pressure when no legal target affects the race, and it should not be selected just to fill mana if `Burst Lightning`, `Requiting Hex`, `Erode`, `Moonshadow`, or `Cool but Rude` already answer the visible battlefield better.

- `Duel Tactics`: Card text check required. Treat it as a combat-specialist card for board stalls, creature mirrors, and races where a single attack or block decision can decide the game. Add it when `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, or `Hardened Academic` can turn combat tricks into damage, a saved creature, or a favorable exchange. It is bad against removal-heavy control, combo, or decks with few creatures because holding a combat card can strand mana.

- `Leyline of the Void`: bring it in when the opponent uses the graveyard as a resource, recursion zone, escape/reanimation engine, death trigger engine, or spell-count graveyard fuel. It is best when starting in the opening hand matters and when its presence changes the opponent’s entire plan before they can build resources. It is weak against decks that win from hand and battlefield only, and it can conflict with your own `Bloodghast` recursion plan if the matchup is not graveyard-centered enough to justify that role shift.

- `Case of the Crimson Pulse`: Card text check required. Treat it as a grind card for slow matchups where repeated card access, pressure recovery, or discard synergy matters. Add it against control and attrition decks when games go long and main-deck removal is likely to have fewer targets. It is bad when the opponent’s clock is short, when spending mana on setup loses board tempo, or when the visible hand already has enough late-game material.

- `Voice of Victory`: Card text check required. Treat it as a pressure or anti-interaction creature when the opponent relies on casting spells during your turn, reacting to attacks, or playing a control tempo game. Add it against control, flash-style interaction, removal-heavy midrange, and spell-chain decks if its exposed text taxes or punishes interaction. It is bad against large creature decks where its body cannot attack or block profitably, and against sweepers if committing more creatures only makes one battlefield answer stronger.

Balanced anti-control / spell-heavy attrition plan
Side in: 1 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun; 3 Strategic Betrayal; 2 Case of the Crimson Pulse; 3 Voice of Victory
Cut: 4 Iron-Shield Elf; 2 Requiting Hex; 1 Erode; 2 Burst Lightning

- Plan use: use the anti-control plan when the opponent shows few early creatures, many reactive spells, sweepers, planeswalker-style threats, or expensive payoffs. The plan lowers dead removal and raises discard, card access, and resilient pressure. Keep `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Practiced Offense`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` as the pressure-and-resource core unless card text or visible matchup evidence says a main-deck card is failing.

Balanced graveyard-opponent plan
Side in: 1 Leyline of the Void; 3 Strategic Betrayal; 2 Seam Rip
Cut: 4 Iron-Shield Elf; 1 Erode; 1 Practiced Offense

- Plan use: use the graveyard plan when the opponent’s public cards show graveyard recursion, reanimation, flashback-style value, graveyard size rewards, or death-loop engines. `Leyline of the Void` changes the deck’s role from pure recursion midrange toward disruption plus pressure, so do not overvalue your own `Bloodghast` recursion in keep decisions after sideboarding. `Strategic Betrayal` should protect the hate piece or break up the payoff, while `Seam Rip` is included only if its legal text can answer enablers or hate-resistant permanents.

Balanced creature-race plan
Side in: 2 Sheltered by Ghosts; 1 Duel Tactics; 2 Seam Rip
Cut: 1 Inti, Seneschal of the Sun; 1 Carnage, Crimson Chaos; 1 Cecil, Dark Knight; 1 Erode; 1 Practiced Offense

- Plan use: use the creature-race plan when the opponent presents early attackers, board stalls, or creature sizing that makes combat decisions central. The plan shifts away from slower legends and narrow interaction toward battlefield stabilization and combat leverage. `Sheltered by Ghosts` and `Duel Tactics` should be selected only when the protected or modified creature matters immediately; `Seam Rip` should remain role-dependent and may be reduced in emphasis when Veles shows no relevant target type.

- Against fast aggro: Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Duel Tactics`; target-confirmed `Seam Rip`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow legends, expensive finishers, and discard that does not affect board tempo. Keep cheap damage, blockers, and recursive bodies because survival matters before attrition.

- Against midrange: Add role cards: `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`; `Voice of Victory`; target-confirmed `Sheltered by Ghosts`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow removal when visible targets are small or redundant. Preserve flexible threats and discard-selection engines because games often hinge on who converts late lands into action.

- Against control: Add role cards: `Strategic Betrayal`; `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; `Voice of Victory`; `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal and low-impact blockers. Make them answer recursive pressure, protect key turns with hand pressure, and avoid overcommitting into sweepers unless the visible clock demands it.

- Against combo or ramp: Add role cards: `Strategic Betrayal`; `Voice of Victory`; `Leyline of the Void` when graveyard use is public; `Seam Rip` when an exposed permanent engine is targetable. Reduce main-deck emphasis: combat tricks and removal that do not interact with the combo. Prioritize disruption plus the fastest credible clock.

- Against graveyard decks: Add role cards: `Leyline of the Void`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Seam Rip` if it hits exposed engines. Reduce main-deck emphasis: plans that depend on `Bloodghast` recursion as the only source of staying power. Treat graveyard hate as worth a weaker recursion plan when it blocks more opposing resources than it costs you.

- Against artifact or enchantment engines: Add role cards: `Seam Rip`; `Strategic Betrayal` for key noncreature payoffs; `Voice of Victory` if the opponent relies on instant-speed protection. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature combat cards when the decisive objects are noncreature permanents. Do not assume `Seam Rip` answers a card type until Veles exposes the legal target list.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Stabilize first with cheap interaction and bodies, then turn the corner with recursive pressure. Keep hands that can cast `Burst Lightning`, deploy `Iron-Shield Elf`, or present early `Marauding Mako` / `Hardened Academic` pressure on time. Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Duel Tactics`; target-confirmed `Seam Rip`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow legends such as `Cecil, Dark Knight` and `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, plus any discard line that does not change the visible board before the next attack. `Bloodghast` is valuable when land drops let it trade or pressure without spending cards, but do not treat recursion as life gain; block only when the visible exchange buys a real turn.

- Control: Make every turn ask for an answer while holding enough material to recover from sweepers. Add role cards: `Strategic Betrayal`; `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; `Voice of Victory`; the sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Burst Lightning`, `Erode`, `Requiting Hex`, and creature-only interaction when Veles shows few or no targets. Lead with sticky or recursive threats like `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, and card-flow pressure from `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` when legal. Avoid committing the last strong threat into open mana unless the current clock is too slow or the hand has a second wave.

- Combo: Disruption plus clock beats pure racing unless the legal action list shows no interaction. Add role cards: `Strategic Betrayal`; `Voice of Victory`; `Leyline of the Void` when the opponent’s public plan uses the graveyard; `Seam Rip` only when Veles exposes a relevant legal target. Reduce main-deck emphasis: combat tricks, creature removal, and slow battlefield cards that do not affect the combo turn. Prioritize `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, and `Tersa Lightshatter` only according to exposed legal text; Card text check required for those cards, so treat discard, selection, and damage roles as conditional on Veles action labels.

- Tempo: Protect mana efficiency and avoid walking high-value plays into obvious punishment. Add role cards: `Voice of Victory`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Sheltered by Ghosts` if its text protects or swings a key combat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive or sorcery-speed plays that lose to a single bounce, counter, or removal action. Prefer one-threat-plus-recursion boards with `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, and `Hardened Academic` over flooding the battlefield. Use `Burst Lightning` to break early pressure or finish a low-life opponent; do not spend it on a minor creature if the opponent’s visible clock is manageable.

- Midrange: Play for card quality, recursion, and forced exchanges rather than raw speed. Add role cards: `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`; `Voice of Victory`; target-confirmed `Sheltered by Ghosts`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow removal when opponent threats outsize or dodge it. `Practiced Offense`, `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, and `Requiting Hex` need card-text confirmation at runtime; use them when the legal labels show discard, removal, recursion, or combat swing value. Trade `Bloodghast` aggressively when a land drop can restore pressure.

- Big mana: End the game before top-end threats dominate, and spend discard on payoffs rather than replaceable setup when visible information allows. Add role cards: `Strategic Betrayal`; `Voice of Victory`; `Seam Rip` if it legally hits the exposed ramp or engine permanent. Reduce main-deck emphasis: small removal and board-only combat tricks. Keep fast hands with untapped access from `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, `Mountain`, or `Blazemire Verge` as needed for the actual spells in hand. Do not keep a hand that only interacts with creatures if the opponent’s public cards imply noncreature mana development.

- Graveyard: Accept weakening your own `Bloodghast` plan when `Leyline of the Void` suppresses more opposing resources than it costs. Add role cards: `Leyline of the Void`; `Strategic Betrayal`; target-confirmed `Seam Rip`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: recursion-only keeps and slow attrition plans that rely on graveyard loops. If `Leyline of the Void` is in the opener after sideboarding, value hands that also apply pressure; hate without a clock can still give the opponent time to find a different axis. Do not assume opponent graveyard cards are blank unless Veles public zones and replacement effects show that the hate is actually active.

- Artifact/enchantment engines: Answer the engine piece when the legal target list confirms it, not merely because the card type sounds important. Add role cards: `Seam Rip`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Voice of Victory` when the engine is protected by instant-speed interaction. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature combat cards when the decisive permanent is noncreature. If `Seam Rip` lacks a legal target, route to pressure plus discard instead of holding mana indefinitely. `Erode` is a card text check required card here; use it only if Veles labels it as relevant interaction against the exposed permanent, stack object, or resource.

- Go-wide: Preserve life total and prevent one attack step from invalidating your attrition plan. Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Duel Tactics`; `Seam Rip` if it can remove a mass-pump, token engine, or key permanent. Reduce main-deck emphasis: single-card discard that does not change the next combat and slow finishers. `Burst Lightning` should remove the creature that changes combat math most, not automatically the first legal target. Trade recursive or low-impact bodies early, but keep the highest-pressure creature back when racing is impossible without a blocker.

- Single-threat: Concentrate resources on answering or blanking the one card that matters. Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Seam Rip`; `Duel Tactics` when combat decides the exchange. Reduce main-deck emphasis: wide-board pressure cards if the opponent’s threat races or blocks everything. Use discard before removal when the threat is still hidden or protected in hand; use removal/protection once it is public and targetable. Do not attack a needed blocker into a large untapped threat unless Veles shows the attack is lethal, forces a favorable block, or preserves survival through another legal line.

- Burn: Treat life total as the primary resource and make every shockland or optional payment justify itself. Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Voice of Victory` if it taxes or punishes instant-speed burn; `Strategic Betrayal` for high-impact burn or payoff cards. Reduce main-deck emphasis: painful mana sequencing, slow card advantage, and self-damaging lines unless they prevent more damage. Fetching or shocking with `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, or `Godless Shrine` should be conditional on immediate spell deployment or survival math. `Bloodghast` pressure matters, but blocking and life-preserving trades matter more until the burn deck is under a short clock.

- Removal-heavy decks: Force inefficient answers by staggering threats and recurring pressure. Add role cards: `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; `Voice of Victory`; sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`; `Strategic Betrayal`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Duel Tactics`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, or creature-protection lines when the opponent can answer in response unless the visible exchange is still favorable. Lead with threats that leave value, return later, or cost little to lose. Avoid spending `Practiced Offense` or other combat-dependent cards into open removal unless Veles shows one legal line that wins combat, pushes lethal, or saves a critical creature.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General note: These notes are archetype-only because exact opponents are absent; revealed cards, public zones, Veles legal actions, and rules-engine prompts override every assumption. Use sideboard role advice only when the opponent’s visible plan matches the label, and treat `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Practiced Offense`, `Requiting Hex`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Hardened Academic`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Marauding Mako`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, and `Voice of Victory` as Card text check required unless the runtime labels expose their tactical function.

- Against fast creature decks: Protect life total first, then convert recursive pressure into a race. Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Duel Tactics`; `Voice of Victory` if it changes combat or interaction timing. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow discard or graveyard-value lines that do not affect the next attack. Priority targets are the creature creating the largest immediate combat swing and any public pump or protection card; `Burst Lightning` should be spent on survival or lethal math, not on a replaceable body.

- Against control or removal-heavy decks: Stagger threats and make one-for-one answers look poor. Add role cards: `Case of the Crimson Pulse`; sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Voice of Victory`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: combat-only cards that require an exposed creature to survive open mana. Prioritize discard or pressure against sweepers, card-advantage engines, and hard answers once revealed; `Bloodghast` is valuable because trading it into removal can still preserve long-game pressure if land drops remain available.

- Against graveyard decks: Bring graveyard hate only when it attacks more opposing resources than it suppresses from your own `Bloodghast` plan. Add role cards: `Leyline of the Void`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Seam Rip` if legal text hits a graveyard engine permanent. Reduce main-deck emphasis: recursion-only hands and attrition lines that need graveyard access. Priority targets are public graveyard payoffs, reanimation enablers, and discard outlets; do not assume `Leyline of the Void` wins alone without a clock from `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Bloodghast`, or another visible threat.

- Against artifact, enchantment, or permanent engines: Answer the engine only when Veles confirms a legal target and the target matters to the opponent’s current plan. Add role cards: `Seam Rip`; `Strategic Betrayal`; `Voice of Victory` if instant-speed protection is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow creature removal and damage spells that do not touch the engine. Priority targets are the permanent generating mana, cards, tokens, or lock pressure; `Erode` is Card text check required and should be used only when action labels show relevant interaction.

- Against burn or direct-damage decks: Treat every life point and painland/shockland decision as tactical. Add role cards: `Sheltered by Ghosts`; `Voice of Victory`; `Strategic Betrayal`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow engines, optional payments, and painful sequencing unless the spell prevents more damage than it costs. Priority targets are repeatable damage sources and high-output burn cards revealed by discard; `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Godless Shrine` should enter untapped only when the immediate spell changes survival, pressure, or lethal timing.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: The deck needs timely red, black, and white access while several lands may cost life or enter conditionally. Sequence `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Starting Town`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, `Godless Shrine`, and `Mountain` from visible spell needs, and avoid taking shockland damage for speculative plays when burn or aggro pressure is public.

- Matchup risk: Generic discard pressure can miss if the opponent is creature-dense, graveyard-based, or already empty-handed. Use `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, and `Strategic Betrayal` only according to revealed legal text and public hand information; Card text check required.

- Draw risk: Hands with only reactive cards can fall behind, while hands with only pressure can lose to one blocker or sweeper. Prefer openers that pair an early threat such as `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, or `Iron-Shield Elf` with mana and at least one relevant interaction line.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Boarding into too many narrow answers can dilute the pressure-discard core. Keep enough main-deck threats and proactive cards to close games after `Leyline of the Void`, `Seam Rip`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, or `Strategic Betrayal` handles the target problem.

- Graveyard risk: `Bloodghast` rewards land-drop discipline but becomes weaker under your own `Leyline of the Void` or opposing graveyard hate. Do not keep a hand whose only pressure depends on graveyard recursion after hate is visible.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Overcommitting `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` can lose to public mass removal. Stagger threats unless Veles shows lethal pressure, a forced answer, or a reason waiting is worse.

- Closer risk: The deck can trade resources well and still fail to end the game if it spends `Burst Lightning`, `Practiced Offense`, or combat pressure too defensively. Recheck lethal and two-turn-clock lines whenever the opponent is low, especially with recursive `Bloodghast` pressure.

- Interaction risk: Card text uncertainty is high for several deck-specific cards, so never infer removal, discard, protection, or damage from name alone. Follow Veles legal action labels for `Erode`, `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Practiced Offense`, `Requiting Hex`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, and `Voice of Victory`.

- Sequencing risk: Playing discard after deploying threats can miss a window, but casting discard before pressure can waste mana against board-centric starts. Use visible opponent development to choose the order: discard first against hidden payoffs or sweepers, threat first when the next combat step or life total is the urgent constraint.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: After each game, identify whether the result came from pressure, discard, recursion, removal timing, mana, or sideboard cards rather than from a generic midrange label. Note whether `Bloodghast`, `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` actually dealt meaningful damage or merely occupied mana.

- Mulligans: Record whether kept hands had castable early plays, at least two lands, and a coherent first-three-turn plan. Flag hands that kept `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, or `Godless Shrine` painfully without a spell that changed the game, and flag hands where `Bloodghast` was the only threat into visible graveyard hate.

- Mana: Track every game where colors or entering-tapped lands delayed `Burst Lightning`, `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Practiced Offense`, `Requiting Hex`, or a sideboard card. Separate true mana failure from sequencing mistakes with `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Starting Town`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Mountain`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Godless Shrine`.

- Velocity: Ask whether the deck spent mana every early turn while still preserving interaction. Mark games where discard-like actions from `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, or `Strategic Betrayal` happened after the opponent had already converted the relevant card into board presence.

- Engines: Check whether recursive or graveyard pressure from `Bloodghast` mattered more than ordinary creature damage. Note when `Leyline of the Void` helped enough to justify weakening `Bloodghast`, and note when graveyard hate was low-impact because the game was decided on battlefield tempo.

- Removal: Review each `Burst Lightning`, `Erode`, `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, and `Practiced Offense` use only from visible legal text and board state. Card text check required for uncertain cards; record whether the action killed a key threat, stopped lethal, enabled attacks, or merely traded down.

- Sideboard: For each post-board game, ask whether `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Strategic Betrayal`, `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, `Leyline of the Void`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, `Voice of Victory`, and sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` matched the opponent’s public plan. Flag configurations that added answers but lost the ability to close.

- Closing: Reconstruct the turn where the opponent first reached a two-turn clock or lower. Ask whether `Burst Lightning`, `Practiced Offense`, recurring `Bloodghast`, or attacks from `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, or `Carnage, Crimson Chaos` could have ended the game sooner.

- Role: Label each game as beatdown, stabilizer, or attrition after the fact, then compare that to the decisions made. Flag role mistakes where the pilot held back attackers while ahead, fired interaction too early while behind, or overcommitted into visible sweepers.

- Stranded cards: List cards that stayed in hand for three or more turns and why. Separate color screw, no legal target, wrong matchup texture, missed window, and Card text check required uncertainty.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Count which exact cards caused wins, bought time, forced bad blocks, or sat unused. Pay special attention to whether one-of cards such as `Erode`, `Cecil, Dark Knight`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, and main-deck `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` justified their slots.

## First Tuning Questions

- Card quantities: If the deck loses while lacking early pressure, should additional copies of `Marauding Mako`, `Hardened Academic`, `Iron-Shield Elf`, `Tersa Lightshatter`, or sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` be tested over slower or uncertain one-of effects?

- Discard density: If `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Requiting Hex`, and `Strategic Betrayal` frequently miss high-impact cards or arrive late, should the discard package be reduced for more board-affecting spells? Card text check required before changing quantities.

- Mana base: If shockland life loss decides races, should the mix of `Concealed Courtyard`, `Inspiring Vantage`, `Blazemire Verge`, `Starting Town`, `Mountain`, `Sacred Foundry`, `Blood Crypt`, and `Godless Shrine` change toward fewer painful openings while preserving turn-one and turn-two colors?

- Aggro plan: If fast creature decks beat the deck before discard matters, should `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Duel Tactics`, `Voice of Victory`, or additional cheap interaction become more prominent, and which main-deck cards least affect the first four turns?

- Control plan: If control decks answer every threat and win long games, should `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun`, or more resilient threats be emphasized over combat-only or removal-only cards?

- Closers: If games stabilize but do not end, should the deck increase cards that convert pressure into lethal, such as `Burst Lightning`, `Practiced Offense`, `Carnage, Crimson Chaos`, or stronger threat density?

- Graveyard conflict: If `Leyline of the Void` is necessary but weakens `Bloodghast` too often, should the anti-graveyard slot move toward `Strategic Betrayal` or `Seam Rip` when their legal text supports the matchup?

- Sideboard slots: If `Seam Rip`, `Duel Tactics`, `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, or `Voice of Victory` lack enough matchups where they are clearly better than main-deck cards, should those slots be consolidated into broader interaction or clearer threats?

- Role conflicts: If the deck alternates between discard attrition and creature aggression without committing to either, which package actually wins tested games: `Bloodghast` recursion, early creature pressure, discard disruption, or sideboard grind cards?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Keep Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Bloodghast; Marauding Mako; Hardened Academic; Iron-Shield Elf; Cool but Rude; Moonshadow; Burst Lightning
Phase windows: opening hand, mulligan decisions
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; zone:opening hand
Use when: choose keep or mulligan from the current visible opening hand.
Avoid when: no mulligan prompt is active.
Instructions: Keep hands with two or three lands, at least one castable early creature or discard spell, and a visible plan for turns one through three. Mulligan one-land, five-land, color-missing, or all-reactive hands unless the visible matchup and legal actions make the hand functional. Treat `Bloodghast` as pressure, not as a complete plan by itself into known graveyard hate.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Board Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, priority
Cards: Marauding Mako; Hardened Academic; Iron-Shield Elf; Bloodghast; Tersa Lightshatter; Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Phase windows: main phase turns 1-3
Runtime cues: phase:main; action:cast
Use when: multiple early proactive plays are legal.
Avoid when: holding interaction is required to stop visible lethal or a must-answer permanent.
Instructions: Establish a creature before spending a turn on slow disruption when the opponent has not presented a high-impact card to answer. Prefer castable threats that use mana efficiently and preserve next-turn colors. Card text check required for custom or unfamiliar creatures; follow legal action labels for abilities and restrictions.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Pain Land And Color Sequencing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Concealed Courtyard; Inspiring Vantage; Starting Town; Mountain; Sacred Foundry; Blood Crypt; Godless Shrine; Blazemire Verge
Phase windows: land play, spell payment
Runtime cues: action:play land; prompt:pay mana
Use when: choosing a land drop or payment source.
Avoid when: a legal spell cannot be cast after the proposed land or payment.
Instructions: Sequence lands to unlock black and red early while keeping white available for registered white spells and sideboard interaction. Take shockland damage only when it changes this turn or next turn; avoid unnecessary life loss against visible pressure. Preserve untapped sources for `Burst Lightning`, `Cool but Rude`, `Moonshadow`, `Practiced Offense`, or sideboard removal when those legal actions are visible.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Single Mana Payment
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: none
Phase windows: spell payment, ability payment
Runtime cues: action:pay exact mana
Use when: exactly one legal mana-payment action is offered and it pays the full displayed cost.
Avoid when: two or more legal payment actions are displayed.
Instructions: Submit the single displayed full-cost payment action.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Discard Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, interaction
Cards: Cool but Rude; Moonshadow; Requiting Hex; Strategic Betrayal
Phase windows: precombat main, postcombat main, priority windows
Runtime cues: action:cast; prompt:choose target opponent or card
Use when: discard-like legal actions are available and the opponent still has cards in hand.
Avoid when: the opponent hand is empty, a visible battlefield threat creates lethal, or the discard action cannot affect the current danger.
Instructions: Cast discard before committing attacks or threats when the likely target could change the turn. Prefer discard over creature deployment against control, combo, or expensive payoff decks; prefer board development when the opponent is already pressuring life total. Card text check required for exact selection effects.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Discard Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection, interaction
Cards: Cool but Rude; Moonshadow; Requiting Hex; Strategic Betrayal
Phase windows: selection prompts from discard effects
Runtime cues: prompt:choose card; zone:opponent hand revealed
Use when: a discard effect reveals legal card choices.
Avoid when: the prompt is not tied to a registered discard effect.
Instructions: Remove the card that most directly beats the current plan: imminent lethal, sweeper, removal for the only threat, combo payoff, or card advantage engine. Use visible revealed information only; do not assume hidden duplicates. If card text is unknown, choose by visible type, mana value, and current role.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal And Damage Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction, priority
Cards: Burst Lightning; Erode; Practiced Offense; Sheltered by Ghosts; Seam Rip; Duel Tactics
Phase windows: priority windows, combat, opponent end step
Runtime cues: action:cast; action:activate; prompt:choose target
Use when: removal, damage, exile, or combat-interaction actions are legal.
Avoid when: the target is low impact and mana is needed for a higher-priority visible action.
Instructions: Spend interaction to stop lethal, remove a blocker that prevents a decisive attack, answer an engine permanent, or protect a race where damage to the opponent closes soon. Do not fire removal into low-pressure boards merely because mana is open. Card text check required for unfamiliar effects; trust engine target legality.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Burst Lightning Face Lethal
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction, priority
Cards: Burst Lightning
Phase windows: any priority window with legal cast
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Burst Lightning
Use when: legal action text explicitly targets the opponent with `Burst Lightning` and the displayed or rules-engine-confirmed damage is enough to reduce that opponent to 0 or less life.
Avoid when: damage amount is not displayed or the opponent will remain above 0 life.
Instructions: Choose the legal `Burst Lightning` action that targets the opponent for lethal damage.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Bloodghast Recursion Timing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, priority, combat
Cards: Bloodghast
Phase windows: land play, main phase, combat setup
Runtime cues: action:play land; zone:graveyard; card:Bloodghast
Use when: `Bloodghast` is visible in your graveyard and land-play actions are legal.
Avoid when: holding a land is required for a more important visible next-turn spell and recursion does not affect the board this turn.
Instructions: Use land drops to return `Bloodghast` when it adds immediate pressure, enables attacks, or rebuilds after removal. Do not treat recursion as mandatory if the opponent has visible graveyard hate or if a different land sequence is required for colors.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Attack Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat
Cards: Marauding Mako; Hardened Academic; Iron-Shield Elf; Bloodghast; Tersa Lightshatter; Inti, Seneschal of the Sun; Cecil, Dark Knight; Carnage, Crimson Chaos
Phase windows: declare attackers
Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers; action:attack
Use when: attackers can be declared.
Avoid when: attacking loses required blockers against a visible crack-back or into clearly unfavorable blocks.
Instructions: Attack when pressure advances a two-turn or three-turn clock, when recursive creatures are expendable, or when removal can clear the key blocker. Hold creatures back when life total, visible attackers, or summoning-sick follow-up threats require defense. Card text check required for creature-specific combat abilities.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Single Forced Attack
Priority: Low
Decision families: combat
Cards: none
Phase windows: declare attackers
Runtime cues: action:attack with only legal attacker set
Use when: exactly one legal attack action is displayed and it attacks with the only creature the engine allows to attack.
Avoid when: multiple attack declarations are legal.
Instructions: Submit the single displayed attack declaration.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Blocking For Survival
Priority: High
Decision families: combat
Cards: Marauding Mako; Hardened Academic; Iron-Shield Elf; Bloodghast; Tersa Lightshatter; Voice of Victory
Phase windows: declare blockers, combat damage assignment
Runtime cues: prompt:declare blockers; action:block
Use when: opponent attacks and legal blocks are available.
Avoid when: no block changes life total, lethal risk, or permanent survival.
Instructions: Block to prevent lethal first, then preserve the highest-impact creature, then trade expendable bodies for larger tempo. Use `Bloodghast` more readily as a blocker if recurrence is visible or likely from land drops. Do not assume hidden tricks; account only for visible mana, public cards, and legal stack actions.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tapping Out For Finishers
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, mana
Cards: Tersa Lightshatter; Inti, Seneschal of the Sun; Cecil, Dark Knight; Carnage, Crimson Chaos; Case of the Crimson Pulse; Voice of Victory
Phase windows: main phase, postcombat main
Runtime cues: action:cast
Use when: a high-impact threat or grind card is legal and would consume most mana.
Avoid when: visible opponent pressure requires holding removal or when a known sweeper or counter window makes waiting materially safer.
Instructions: Tap out when the card changes the clock, rebuilds resources, or forces the opponent to answer immediately. Delay when open interaction is more important than adding another threat. Card text check required for exact abilities on unfamiliar cards.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Optional Trigger And Value Payment
Priority: Low
Decision families: selection, mana, priority
Cards: Inti, Seneschal of the Sun; Case of the Crimson Pulse; Carnage, Crimson Chaos
Phase windows: triggered ability prompts, optional payment prompts
Runtime cues: prompt:may; prompt:optional; action:pay
Use when: an optional trigger or payment from a registered card is offered.
Avoid when: paying consumes mana needed for visible removal, lethal, or survival.
Instructions: Accept optional value when it improves board, cards, or lethal math without stranding higher-priority legal actions. Decline optional costs when life, mana, or cards are needed to answer the current board. Card text check required before treating any optional trigger as mandatory value.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Hate Deployment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: pregame, priority, interaction
Cards: Leyline of the Void
Phase windows: pregame, opening hand, main phase
Runtime cues: action:begin game; action:cast Leyline of the Void
Use when: `Leyline of the Void` is in a post-board game and the opponent’s public deck or visible cards use graveyard resources.
Avoid when: the matchup is decided by battlefield tempo and the card would replace necessary early pressure.
Instructions: Use pregame or cast windows when graveyard denial materially disrupts the opponent more than it weakens your `Bloodghast` plan. Do not bring or keep it merely because a graveyard exists; require public matchup evidence or visible graveyard payoffs.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Sheltered by Ghosts; Strategic Betrayal; Seam Rip; Duel Tactics; Leyline of the Void; Case of the Crimson Pulse; Voice of Victory; Inti, Seneschal of the Sun
Phase windows: between games
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; match_stage:postboard
Use when: sideboarding is requested after Game 1 or Game 2.
Avoid when: no sideboard prompt is active.
Instructions: Add `Strategic Betrayal` against hands, combo, and control; add `Sheltered by Ghosts`, `Seam Rip`, or `Duel Tactics` against creature or permanent pressure; add `Leyline of the Void` against graveyard engines; add `Case of the Crimson Pulse`, `Voice of Victory`, or sideboard `Inti, Seneschal of the Sun` when grind or threat density matters. Preserve enough main-deck pressure to end games.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Pass Priority Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, interaction
Cards: Burst Lightning; Erode; Practiced Offense; Cool but Rude; Moonshadow; Requiting Hex; Sheltered by Ghosts; Seam Rip; Duel Tactics
Phase windows: all priority windows
Runtime cues: action:pass; legal_actions:multiple
Use when: pass is legal alongside other actions.
Avoid when: a visible action prevents lethal, creates lethal, or answers a must-answer permanent.
Instructions: Pass when available actions do not improve the current board, when holding instant-speed interaction is better than main-phase use, or when mana should represent removal. Do not pass through combat or end step if a legal action cleanly changes lethal math or prevents the opponent from untapping with a key permanent.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Empty-Stack Forced Pass
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: none
Phase windows: priority windows
Runtime cues: action:pass priority
Use when: exactly one legal action is displayed and its text is `pass priority` or equivalent pass-only wording.
Avoid when: any non-pass legal action is displayed.
Instructions: Submit the pass-only legal action.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes
