# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Paradoxical Outcome is a Vintage artifact-spells combo deck built around restricted power, cheap artifacts, blue card velocity, stack interaction, and compact deterministic finish packages. The registered plan is a hybrid of explosive Paradoxical Outcome turns, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator pressure, planeswalker lock/value lines, and sideboard access to Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, Mycosynth Lattice, graveyard hate, and removal.

Validation status: the provided active format is Vintage, the main deck is exactly 60 cards, the sideboard is exactly 15 cards, and the supplied format-aware validation result says the list passes. Runtime decisions must still obey only legal Veles actions and rules-engine output; this guide should never assume that a card can be cast, activated, targeted, pitched, replayed, or found unless Forge exposes that legal action.

Registered tags: combo, artifact, spells. The operational archetype is artifact-combo/control rather than pure storm: it can win by chaining artifacts with Paradoxical Outcome, but it also has a real permission shell with 4 Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and Vexing Bauble, plus prison/lock pressure through Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Time Raveler, Karn, the Great Creator, Pithing Needle, Strip Mine, and sideboard hate.

Stock status: treat this as a tuned hybrid Paradoxical Outcome shell, not a generic stock list. The deck contains familiar Vintage restricted-card infrastructure, but card choices such as Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, main-deck Pithing Needle, main-deck Portable Hole, and sideboard The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale make the exact play pattern list-specific. Card text check required for Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, Stock Up, and Thundertrap Trainer before assigning deterministic tactical roles beyond their visible legal actions.

Primary color identity in play is blue artifact-combo with black and white support. Blue is required for Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Brainstorm, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Timetwister, Paradoxical Outcome, Narset, Parter of Veils, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Teferi, Time Raveler, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Snapcaster Mage, Stock Up, and Thundertrap Trainer. Black supports Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Yawgmoth's Will, and Underground Sea access. White supports Balance, Portable Hole, Teferi, Time Raveler, Tundra access, and sideboard Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, and Portable Hole.

Mana concerns are central because the deck can generate broken starts but also has fragile colored requirements. Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Lotus Petal, Mox Opal, Tolarian Academy, and Urza's Saga make explosive artifact turns possible, but decisions must preserve blue mana for stack protection and black or white mana when the visible line depends on Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Yawgmoth's Will, Balance, Portable Hole, or Teferi, Time Raveler.

Role concerns are matchup-dependent and must be decided from visible pressure and known opponent archetype. The deck can be the faster combo deck, the control deck protecting a planeswalker or Time Vault line, the prison deck using Karn, the Great Creator and sideboard artifacts, or the stabilizing deck using Balance, Portable Hole, Pithing Needle, and post-board hate. Veles should not lock into one role at game start if the opening hand, opponent's revealed information, or public battlefield points elsewhere.

Opponent information status: no specific opponent decklist, archetype, or revealed cards are supplied for this section. Matchup and sideboard guidance must therefore use broad Vintage archetype categories until runtime provides public information. Any later policy that names an opposing card as an example must either keep it in prose or prefix it with `opponent:` when placed in a policy `Cards:` field.

## Thesis
Paradoxical Outcome assembles cheap artifact mana, blue card velocity, protected stack windows, and compact lock/kill packages into one explosive Vintage combo-control plan. The deck wants to convert Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Lotus Petal, Mox Opal, Tolarian Academy, and Urza's Saga into oversized turns where Paradoxical Outcome, Timetwister, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Stock Up, tutors, and planeswalkers find either a direct finish or enough resources to make the opponent's next turn irrelevant.

The primary win is not a creature curve; the primary win is a protected engine turn that leaves the opponent locked, dead, or functionally unable to interact. Time Vault plus Manifold Key is the cleanest deterministic kill when both pieces are legal and protected. Karn, the Great Creator can pressure artifact-heavy opponents, access sideboard artifacts when Forge exposes legal choices, and threaten Mycosynth Lattice as a lock. Post-board Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus gives a fast combat kill, but only after sideboarding has made Tinker legal in the main deck.

Prioritize role clarity before spending restricted resources. If the hand has fast artifact mana plus Paradoxical Outcome or a tutor chain, protect the combo turn. If the hand has Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Teferi, Time Raveler, Narset, Parter of Veils, or Pithing Needle, use those pieces to force the opponent into a narrower fight before committing. If the hand is mana-rich but payoff-light, value Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, Sensei's Divining Top, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Urza's Saga as ways to turn mana into a real plan.

Do not play this deck as generic midrange, pure storm, or fair planeswalker control. Snapcaster Mage, Portable Hole, Balance, Strip Mine, Otawara, Soaring City, and planeswalkers can stabilize, but they are bridges to artifact-combo dominance rather than a request to trade forever. Card text check required for Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, Stock Up, and Thundertrap Trainer; use their visible legal actions cautiously until card text is confirmed.

## Role Package
- Threats: Time Vault plus Manifold Key is the main compact kill package, Karn, the Great Creator is both a threat and a sideboard access engine, Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Narset, Parter of Veils create hard-to-recover card advantage, Teferi, Time Raveler protects a decisive turn by constraining instant-speed interaction, and post-board Tinker can make Blightsteel Colossus the fastest visible clock. Snapcaster Mage is normally utility first and attacker second.

- Payoffs: Paradoxical Outcome is the defining payoff because it converts noncreature artifacts into cards, mana recycles, storm-like velocity, and protection density. Timetwister is a refill and disruption tool, especially with Narset, Parter of Veils or after emptying artifact mana. Yawgmoth's Will is a graveyard-based second engine that can replay restricted spells, mana artifacts, tutors, and interaction when legal. Time Walk is strongest when it protects a planeswalker, enables a lethal Blightsteel Colossus swing, extends a Time Vault setup turn, or turns a partial combo turn into a full one.

- Engines: Sensei's Divining Top, Urza's Saga, Tolarian Academy, Paradoxical Outcome, Yawgmoth's Will, Karn, the Great Creator, Narset, Parter of Veils, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Teferi, Time Raveler are the recurring resource engines. Urza's Saga can create bodies and find small artifacts such as Sensei's Divining Top, Vexing Bauble, Pithing Needle, Manifold Key, Mox Opal, Lotus Petal, or other legal targets if Forge exposes them. Tolarian Academy is often the highest-leverage land and should be protected from careless sequencing when artifact count is rising.

- Velocity: Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Timetwister, Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, Sensei's Divining Top, Snapcaster Mage, and Paradoxical Outcome find the correct fight. Gitaxian Probe is especially important when legal because it can turn hidden interaction into known information before a commitment gate. Merchant Scroll is primarily a blue-instant access card; confirm legal targets from Forge rather than assuming a fixed line.

- Interaction: Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Balance, Portable Hole, Pithing Needle, Strip Mine, Otawara, Soaring City, Teferi, Time Raveler, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Karn, the Great Creator are the maindeck disruption suite. Use interaction to protect engine turns, stop faster wins, break opposing lock pieces, and prevent the opponent from converting a single threat into an irreversible board state.

- Protection: Force of Will is the broad emergency shield, Force of Negation protects on opposing turns and specific noncreature fights, Flusterstorm wins stack fights over spells, Mental Misstep trades on the cheapest contested axis, Vexing Bauble taxes or constrains free-spell fights, and Teferi, Time Raveler can make a combo turn much safer when it resolves. Do not spend blue cards for Force of Will or Force of Negation casually if the same turn contains a likely Paradoxical Outcome or tutor commitment.

- Recursion: Yawgmoth's Will is the main recursion engine, Snapcaster Mage is selective flashback utility, and Timetwister can recycle spent resources while disrupting opposing graveyard planning. Treat graveyard recursion as conditional on public graveyard contents, available mana, and opposing graveyard hate.

- Mana: The deck's broken starts come from artifact mana plus Tolarian Academy, but colored sources still matter. Preserve blue for Paradoxical Outcome, tutors, draw, and protection; black for Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Yawgmoth's Will; white for Balance, Portable Hole, and Teferi, Time Raveler. Fetchlands should normally find the color pair that supports the current hand's next two legal spells, not a generic default.

- Sideboard modules: Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Soul-Guide Lantern form graveyard pressure; Consign to Memory helps against colorless, artifact, Eldrazi, or triggered/activated problem patterns when legal; Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale answer creatures or permanents; Tinker and Blightsteel Colossus add a fast kill; Mycosynth Lattice supports Karn, the Great Creator lock plans.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Paradoxical Outcome engine turn: Build a battlefield of Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Mox Opal, Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sensei's Divining Top, Vexing Bauble, Pithing Needle, or Manifold Key, then cast Paradoxical Outcome with blue mana and protection still available. Execute by returning expendable noncreature artifacts, drawing into more mana, tutors, and protection, replaying artifacts, and converting the new hand into Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Yawgmoth's Will, Timetwister, or another Paradoxical Outcome chain if legal. Prioritize this line when the visible battlefield gives high artifact count, Tolarian Academy is active or likely, the opponent is tapped low, Gitaxian Probe or public information reduces stack uncertainty, or Teferi, Time Raveler limits instant-speed interaction.

- Time Vault plus Manifold Key kill: Assemble Time Vault and Manifold Key with enough mana to activate the legal untap and extra-turn sequence. Execute only through rules-engine legal actions; do not assume the loop if Forge does not expose the required activation sequence. Protect the setup with Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Teferi, Time Raveler, or discard-resistant timing rather than rushing both pieces into obvious artifact removal. Prioritize this line when one piece is already visible, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Merchant Scroll, Karn, the Great Creator, Urza's Saga, or card draw can locate the other piece, and the opponent's clock makes waiting worse.

- Karn, the Great Creator lock or threat line: Resolve Karn, the Great Creator when artifact mana lets you deploy it without abandoning survival or protection. Execute by using its visible legal actions to pressure opposing artifacts, find a sideboard artifact if Forge exposes a legal wish choice, or threaten Mycosynth Lattice when that sideboard card is available and the lock line is legal. Prioritize Karn, the Great Creator when the opponent relies on artifacts, when Paradoxical Outcome is not yet available, or when the game needs a hard permanent-based plan instead of a pure stack fight.

- Post-board Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus: Use this kill only after Tinker has been sideboarded into the main deck and Forge presents legal Tinker actions. Setup requires an artifact to sacrifice, blue mana, and a judgment that a fast creature kill is safer than waiting for Paradoxical Outcome. Execute by finding Blightsteel Colossus only when it is a legal library target and the battlefield/stack context does not demand another line. Prioritize this line against opponents who are faster than a value engine but weak to a single protected combat threat.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Planeswalker advantage becomes a win condition when combo pieces are delayed. Narset, Parter of Veils constrains opposing draw while finding action, Jace, the Mind Sculptor converts stabilized boards into card selection and eventual dominance, Teferi, Time Raveler protects sorcery-speed commitment turns, and Karn, the Great Creator pressures artifacts or accesses sideboard tools. Use these permanents to bridge into the primary kills, not to ignore a legal deterministic combo.

- Urza's Saga pressure is a real fallback when the opponent disrupts spells or taxes the stack. Make Construct tokens when legal, then use the final chapter to find an exact legal small artifact such as Sensei's Divining Top, Vexing Bauble, Pithing Needle, Mox Opal, Lotus Petal, or Manifold Key based on visible needs. Prioritize Urza's Saga pressure when life totals matter, the opponent is light on creatures, or a tutor target completes Time Vault plus Manifold Key.

- Yawgmoth's Will wins grindy games by replaying spent mana, tutors, draw, and interaction from the graveyard. Commit to it when public graveyard contents show enough mana and payoff to justify the turn, and avoid walking it into visible Grafdigger's Cage, Leyline of the Void, Soul-Guide Lantern, or other public graveyard hate. Snapcaster Mage is the smaller recursion line for Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or another legal instant/sorcery when one precise spell matters more than a full graveyard turn.

- Combat damage is secondary but not irrelevant. Snapcaster Mage, Urza's Saga Constructs, Blightsteel Colossus, and planeswalker pressure can close games when the opponent has spent resources stopping Paradoxical Outcome. Do not make low-impact attacks that expose a needed blocker unless the clock, planeswalker defense, or lethal math from visible board state justifies it.

## Emergency Lines
- Behind on life or board: Stop treating Paradoxical Outcome as mandatory if the next visible combat step is lethal or near-lethal. Use Balance, Portable Hole, Otawara, Soaring City, Pithing Needle, Strip Mine, Teferi, Time Raveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Snapcaster Mage, or post-board Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale when legal to buy the turn needed for a real kill.

- Behind on cards: Prioritize Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Narset, Parter of Veils, Brainstorm with fetchlands, Sensei's Divining Top, Stock Up, and Thundertrap Trainer as refuel routes, but card text check required for Stock Up and Thundertrap Trainer. If Timetwister would refill the opponent into a stronger position, prefer targeted tutors or a protected planeswalker first.

- Behind on mana or engines: Use artifact mana, Tolarian Academy, fetchlands, Island, Tundra, Underground Sea, and Urza's Saga to rebuild toward blue plus protection. Avoid sacrificing Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, or an artifact needed for Mox Opal, Tolarian Academy count, Urza's Saga token size, or Tinker unless the current legal action immediately stabilizes or commits to a win.

- Primary win condition removed or unavailable: Shift to Karn, the Great Creator, Urza's Saga Constructs, planeswalkers, Yawgmoth's Will, Timetwister reset, or post-board Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus. If graveyard recursion is blocked, do not force Yawgmoth's Will; use live battlefield engines and hand-based tutors instead. If artifacts are locked down, lean on lands, planeswalkers, Balance, Teferi, Time Raveler, and protected draw until a removal or bounce action is legal.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable clock only when the current legal line threatens a kill, lock, or protected refill. Use fetchlands, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Vampiric Tutor, Gitaxian Probe, and early artifact acceleration aggressively when the payoff is Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Yawgmoth's Will, Timetwister, or post-board Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus; preserve life when visible attackers or direct pressure can force a defensive Balance, Portable Hole, Teferi, Time Raveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, or post-board Swords to Plowshares.

- Hand size is both protection and fuel. Keep blue cards for Force of Will and Force of Negation unless the current turn converts them into a decisive Paradoxical Outcome chain, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Merchant Scroll, Timetwister, or Yawgmoth's Will line. Do not empty the hand into low-impact permanents if it leaves the deck unable to answer the opponent's next visible stack fight.

- Mana is the main bottleneck and the main payoff. Artifact mana, Tolarian Academy, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, Mox Opal, and the five Moxen convert early tempo into a protected combo turn; they also increase Paradoxical Outcome returns and Urza's Saga Construct size. Preserve expendable artifacts when they increase Tolarian Academy, Mox Opal, Paradoxical Outcome, Urza's Saga, or Karn, the Great Creator value, but sacrifice or spend them when the legal result wins, stabilizes, or enables post-board Tinker.

- Board resources are mostly engines, shields, and tutor infrastructure. Sensei's Divining Top, Vexing Bauble, Pithing Needle, Time Vault, Manifold Key, Urza's Saga, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Time Raveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Karn, the Great Creator, and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain should be protected according to the role they currently fill, not their theoretical ceiling. Card text check required for Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, Stock Up, and Thundertrap Trainer before relying on exact tactical text.

- Graveyard value is high but conditional. Yawgmoth's Will turns spent fast mana, tutors, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, Flusterstorm, and fetchlands into a second combo turn; Snapcaster Mage converts one key instant or sorcery into a smaller burst. Avoid graveyard commitment into public Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, or similar visible effects unless rules-engine actions still show a profitable legal line.

- Exile is mostly a cost and constraint zone. Track cards exiled to Force of Will, Force of Negation, or opposing effects because missing blue cards can reduce later protection, and missing artifacts or combo pieces can change tutor priorities. Do not assume exiled cards can be recovered unless the engine exposes a legal action.

- Information converts directly into safer commitment turns. Gitaxian Probe, public stack actions, revealed hands, Narset, Parter of Veils pressure, and known graveyard contents should decide whether to jam Paradoxical Outcome, tutor for protection, deploy Teferi, Time Raveler first, or hold Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Force of Will, Force of Negation, or Vexing Bauble.

- Sideboard bullets are narrow resources, not generic upgrades. Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Consign to Memory, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, and Mycosynth Lattice change which resource matters most after boarding; use them only when their visible role improves the matchup plan.

## Mana Guide
- Prioritize blue mana first because the deck's key spells and protection depend on it. Island, Tundra, Underground Sea, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, Mox Opal, and Tolarian Academy enable Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Paradoxical Outcome, Flusterstorm, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Teferi, Time Raveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and post-board Tinker.

- Preserve black access when tutors or recursion are central. Underground Sea, Mox Jet, Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, and sometimes Mox Opal support Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Yawgmoth's Will; do not fetch only white-blue lands if the hand's best route requires a black spell.

- Preserve white access when stabilization matters. Tundra, Mox Pearl, Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, and Mox Opal support Balance, Teferi, Time Raveler, Portable Hole, and post-board Swords to Plowshares or Prismatic Ending; choose white sources earlier against creature pressure or artifact/permanent hate.

- Sequence lands around hidden information and draw effects. When casting Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Ancestral Recall, Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, Timetwister, or Paradoxical Outcome before committing a land, usually wait on the land drop if legal because the draw may reveal Tolarian Academy, Urza's Saga, Strip Mine, Otawara, Soaring City, or the correct fetchland target. Play a land before drawing when the current spell requires that mana, when playing around Mental Misstep-style pressure is irrelevant to the visible stack, or when Teferi, Time Raveler or protection must resolve first.

- Fetchlands should fix the current turn and preserve the next turn. Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, and Misty Rainforest should usually find Island, Tundra, or Underground Sea based on the hand's immediate color requirements, with Brainstorm and Sensei's Divining Top increasing the value of holding a fetch until after top-card manipulation.

- Utility lands carry real opportunity costs. Tolarian Academy is explosive only with artifacts already visible; Urza's Saga is a threat and tutor but can reduce colored mana; Strip Mine is interaction when an opposing land is strategically important; Otawara, Soaring City is a land until its channel/bounce mode is legally better. Avoid keeping hands where utility lands are the only mana unless artifact mana supplies blue and a clear plan.

- Mulligan mana standards are strict. Keep hands that produce early blue plus action, fast artifact mana plus a payoff, or tutor plus protection; ship hands that cannot cast meaningful spells, cannot protect a payoff, or rely on drawing a colored source without selection. A hand with multiple restricted artifacts can be excellent, but only if it has a legal path to cards, tutor, Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or a stabilizing planeswalker.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: keep hands that combine early blue, acceleration, action, and protection. Examples include Island or Tundra plus Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus or Mana Crypt, Ancestral Recall or Paradoxical Outcome, and Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or Force of Negation.

- Strong keep: keep fast deterministic pressure when the hand has Time Vault plus Manifold Key or a tutor for the missing half and enough mana to deploy or protect it. Prefer these hands more on the play and when Gitaxian Probe, Force of Will, Flusterstorm, Teferi, Time Raveler, or Vexing Bauble can reduce stack risk.

- Medium keep: keep functional cantrip or tutor hands with blue mana, at least one artifact mana source, and a clear turn-two payoff. Brainstorm with a fetchland, Sensei's Divining Top with fetchland mana, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, or Demonic Tutor can bridge a hand that lacks Paradoxical Outcome if the hand is not exposed to immediate death.

- Medium keep: keep Urza's Saga hands when the mana is real and the construct/tutor plan matters. Urza's Saga plus artifact mana can find Manifold Key, Sensei's Divining Top, Pithing Needle, Vexing Bauble, or a Mox, but do not keep it as the only land unless the artifacts already cast relevant spells.

- Risky keep: keep all-in artifact bursts only when the visible line produces a major payoff quickly. A hand of multiple Moxen, Black Lotus, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, or Mana Crypt without Ancestral Recall, Paradoxical Outcome, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, Karn, the Great Creator, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, or Time Vault is a trap if it only empties resources.

- Automatic ship: ship hands with no reliable mana, no blue access, or only utility lands without castable action. Strip Mine, Otawara, Soaring City, Urza's Saga, and Tolarian Academy do not by themselves make a keep unless artifact mana and spell access are already present.

- Automatic ship: ship hands that cannot affect the game before the opponent's likely first decisive turn. Hands with only reactive cards such as Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, and Mental Misstep but no blue card economy or clock are not enough unless the matchup is known to be faster and the hand has follow-up draw or tutor.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep graveyard-resistant hands against graveyard combo when Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, or Soul-Guide Lantern is in the post-board opener. Keep artifact-permanent answers such as Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, or Consign to Memory only when they answer the known opposing axis and the hand still advances mana.

- Play/draw rule: on the play, prefer proactive mana plus payoff over holding purely reactive answers. On the draw, value Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Flusterstorm, Gitaxian Probe, and Force of Negation more because the opponent may present a turn-one stack fight before this deck develops.

- Trap hand: do not keep a hand because it contains restricted power if the hand lacks a payoff and protection. Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault are fuel, not a plan, unless they lead into cards, tutor, Time Vault, Karn, the Great Creator, or Paradoxical Outcome.

- Card-text caution: do not keep solely on Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, or Tezzeret, Cruel Captain unless the rules engine exposes a legal and useful line. Card text check required for exact keep thresholds involving those cards.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1: deploy mana that enables blue interaction and a meaningful next action. Preferred starts are artifact mana into Ancestral Recall, Sensei's Divining Top, Gitaxian Probe plus protected development, Vexing Bauble against stack-heavy opponents, Pithing Needle against a visible known target, or tutor setup for Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or Yawgmoth's Will.

- Turn 1 deviation: commit Paradoxical Outcome setup only when artifacts can be replayed or protected. If the hand has Moxen, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, and Mox Opal, deploy enough artifacts to make Paradoxical Outcome strong, but hold expendable artifacts when a visible opposing answer would punish overextension and no immediate draw spell is ready.

- Turn 1 deviation: use Strip Mine only when the opposing land is a visible strategic bottleneck or when denying mana is better than advancing the combo. Do not sacrifice colored development for Strip Mine if the hand needs blue or black to cast Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, tutors, or protection.

- Turn 2: convert setup into either protected advantage or a must-answer permanent. Preferred plays include Paradoxical Outcome with multiple artifacts, Demonic Tutor for the missing combo/payoff/protection piece, Merchant Scroll for Ancestral Recall or interaction when legal, Teferi, Time Raveler before a stack fight, Narset, Parter of Veils before Timetwister, or Time Vault plus Manifold Key when the kill path is legally available.

- Turn 2 deviation: stabilize before combo when the board or stack demands it. Balance, Portable Hole, Pithing Needle, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, or Otawara, Soaring City can be correct if the opponent's visible pressure or lock piece would otherwise invalidate the next turn.

- Turn 3: attempt the first decisive turn if protection, information, or redundancy is present. Gitaxian Probe, visible tapped-out opponents, Teferi, Time Raveler, Flusterstorm backup, Force of Will backup, Vexing Bauble, or extra mana from Tolarian Academy should push toward Paradoxical Outcome, Yawgmoth's Will, Timetwister, Karn, the Great Creator, or Time Vault execution.

- Turns 4-5: shift from burst setup to resource conversion. Use Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Narset, Parter of Veils, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, Urza's Saga constructs, Karn, the Great Creator, Snapcaster Mage, and Yawgmoth's Will to turn stalled artifacts and graveyard cards into renewed pressure, while preserving interaction for the opponent's recovery window.

- Late game: prioritize engines that turn every draw into action. Sensei's Divining Top with fetchlands, Tolarian Academy with artifacts, Urza's Saga tutor pressure, Snapcaster Mage on Ancestral Recall or tutor effects, and Yawgmoth's Will on spent mana and draw spells should be sequenced before low-impact permanents unless survival requires immediate removal or counterplay.

- Late-game deviation: do not force a combo through visible resistance when a planeswalker or Urza's Saga line wins under protection. Conversely, do not durdle with Top activations, small constructs, or speculative tutor chains when Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator for Mycosynth Lattice post-board, Tinker for Blightsteel Colossus post-board, or Paradoxical Outcome can legally end the game.

## Card Roles
- Force of Will is the primary zero-mana protection card and must guard decisive turns, not merely trade for the first legal spell. Pitch it for opponent actions that stop Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Yawgmoth's Will, Tinker post-board, or immediate survival; avoid pitching the only blue payoff unless the opponent's spell is itself decisive.

- Flusterstorm is the efficient stack-fight card for tutor, draw, combo, and counter wars. Hold it when the opponent can fight over Ancestral Recall, Paradoxical Outcome, Timetwister, Yawgmoth's Will, or a planeswalker; use it aggressively against visible opposing combo turns, but remember it is weaker against permanent-based hate already on the battlefield.

- Force of Negation is backup free permission for opposing noncreature spells when tapped out. Use it to stop hate, fast combo, prison pieces, or stack interaction that would break a winning turn; do not spend it on low-impact spells when Force of Will, Flusterstorm, or Mental Misstep can answer the relevant axis more cleanly.

- Mental Misstep protects early development and fights one-mana disruption. Prioritize opposing one-mana counters, artifact hate, discard, graveyard setup, or removal aimed at a key creature or planeswalker only when the legal target materially affects the current plan.

- Ancestral Recall is the best raw-card spell and a premier Merchant Scroll or Snapcaster Mage target. Cast it early when mana and stack texture are safe; hold it through Teferi, Time Raveler or Flusterstorm support when the opponent clearly represents a counterfight.

- Brainstorm is a setup spell, protection fixer, and fetchland partner. Use it with Scalding Tarn, Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, or Misty Rainforest to clear dead cards; do not burn it casually if a tutor, mulligan-recovery hand, or known discard spell makes card placement important.

- Gitaxian Probe is information for commitment gates. Cast it before choosing whether to push Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Timetwister, Yawgmoth's Will, Karn, the Great Creator, or a planeswalker line; do not overvalue the replacement draw if life total or visible pressure matters.

- Timetwister is a refill and disruption tool, not an automatic cast. Use it when artifact mana empties the hand, when Narset, Parter of Veils creates asymmetry, or when the opponent's graveyard/resource setup is less valuable than your reset; avoid it when it refuels an opponent who is ahead on board or stack access.

- Paradoxical Outcome is the defining engine and should be cast when returning artifacts produces cards, mana, or storm-like velocity. Prefer Outcome with multiple cheap artifacts, floating mana from Tolarian Academy or artifacts, and at least one protection or information edge; do not return artifacts needed to pay for a live tax unless the engine turn remains legal afterward.

- Yawgmoth's Will converts spent artifacts, fetchlands, tutors, and draw into a second combo turn. Use it after Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, Moxen, Ancestral Recall, tutors, and counter bait are in the graveyard; avoid casting it before enough graveyard value exists unless it immediately wins or stabilizes.

- Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, and Merchant Scroll are role selectors. Find the missing piece for the visible route: Paradoxical Outcome for draw, Time Vault or Manifold Key for combo, Ancestral Recall for cards, Force of Will or Flusterstorm for protection, Balance or Portable Hole for stabilization, or Yawgmoth's Will for recursion.

- Snapcaster Mage is best as a second Ancestral Recall, tutor, interaction spell, or emergency blocker. Hold it when the graveyard has premium text and mana is available; cast it as a body only when pressure, planeswalker defense, or Time Walk combat damage makes the body strategically relevant.

- Time Walk is a conversion spell for planeswalkers, Urza's Saga, constructs, or combo setup. Use it to untap artifact mana, take another planeswalker activation, attack with constructs, or bridge into a protected kill; do not fire it just to cycle mana unless the extra turn changes the board or hand materially.

- Balance is the reset button against creature pressure, wide boards, or hand/resource imbalance. Set it up by deploying artifacts first and managing land count; avoid it when it sacrifices your only meaningful permanent structure or when opposing graveyard/hand resources make the reset unfavorable.

- Portable Hole is the main-deck cheap permanent answer. Use it on a visible permanent that blocks mana, cards, Time Vault, planeswalkers, or survival; do not spend it on a replaceable threat if a hate piece is likely to matter more.

- Pithing Needle is a precision answer and Urza's Saga target. Name only a visible or known high-impact activated ability from public information; if no target is known, wait unless the rules engine offers a clearly decisive name choice from matchup context.

- Vexing Bauble is a stack-shaping artifact and Outcome fuel. Card text check required for exact timing, but tactically treat it as a commitment tool against free-spell decks when legal text supports that role; avoid deploying it if it blocks your own required free interaction more than the opponent's plan.

- Sensei's Divining Top is card selection, artifact count, and a mana sink. Use it with fetchlands and Paradoxical Outcome to improve draw quality; do not spend repeated mana on Top when the current turn requires committing mana to a payoff, protection spell, or removal.

- Time Vault and Manifold Key are the clean deterministic combo pair when the rules engine exposes legal activations. Prioritize assembling and protecting the pair when the opponent is low on interaction or Teferi, Time Raveler constrains responses; do not expose one half into obvious removal if a tutor can wait.

- Karn, the Great Creator is a lock, tutor, and artifact-control threat. Use it to find sideboard artifacts after sideboarding when legal, pressure opposing artifact mana, or threaten Mycosynth Lattice; protect Karn if its next activation decides the game, but do not tap out for it when immediate stack interaction is required.

- Narset, Parter of Veils punishes opposing draw and supercharges Timetwister. Deploy Narset before wheel effects when possible, use the selection ability to find draw, protection, or combo pieces, and defend it against attacks only when its static or next activation matters.

- Teferi, Time Raveler is the safest bridge into a protected sorcery-speed combo turn. Lead with Teferi when facing open blue mana, use the bounce mode to clear hate when legal, and treat it as a stack lock before Paradoxical Outcome, Timetwister, Balance, or tutor chains.

- Jace, the Mind Sculptor is the slow advantage and control pivot. Use it when the game has slowed, when Brainstorm mode can fix a payoff hand, or when bounce protects against a creature; do not prioritize Jace over a live combo line unless visible interaction makes combo unsafe.

- Tezzeret, Cruel Captain is a potential artifact payoff or finisher, but Card text check required. Cast it only when the rules engine shows a legal activation that advances artifact mana, card advantage, or a win; do not assume an ultimate or tutor mode exists without visible text.

- Stock Up is a card-selection spell or resource piece only if its legal text confirms that role. Card text check required; evaluate it as a castable bridge when the engine exposes cards gained, selection, or setup value, and avoid keeping or committing around it blindly.

- Thundertrap Trainer is a creature-based utility card only if the rules engine exposes the relevant trigger or activation. Card text check required; use it as selection, pressure, or blocker according to legal output, not assumed text.

- Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, Mox Emerald, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Sapphire, Mox Opal, Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault are burst fuel and artifact count. Deploy enough to cast payoffs and empower Paradoxical Outcome or Tolarian Academy, but hold expendable zero-mana artifacts when Outcome needs material to return or when Balance sequencing rewards keeping nonlands.

- Tolarian Academy is the highest-ceiling land and should be sequenced after artifacts when possible. Protect blue access first, then use Academy to power Paradoxical Outcome, planeswalkers, Karn, the Great Creator, or Yawgmoth's Will chains.

- Urza's Saga is pressure, artifact tutoring, and backup win condition. Use it to find Manifold Key, Sensei's Divining Top, Pithing Needle, Vexing Bauble, Mox Opal, or artifact mana according to the visible need; do not rely on it as sole colored mana.

- Underground Sea, Tundra, Island, Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, Scalding Tarn, and Misty Rainforest support blue density, tutor access, and Brainstorm quality. Fetch to preserve required colors first, then optimize shuffle value; avoid exposing Underground Sea or Tundra unnecessarily to Wasteland-style effects when Island can cast the hand.

- Strip Mine is a tempo weapon against a visible land bottleneck, not a default land drop. Use it when denying the opponent's unique mana, Bazaar-style engine land, Workshop-style pressure land, or other known key land matters more than advancing your own blue/black/white mana.

- Otawara, Soaring City is an interactive land slot. Hold it when the channel ability can answer a hate permanent or protect a decisive turn; play it as a land only when mana development is more important than the potential bounce effect.

## Interaction Priorities
- Protect the decisive turn before protecting generic advantage. Spend Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Teferi, Time Raveler, or Narset, Parter of Veils to force through Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Timetwister with Narset, Parter of Veils, or a Yawgmoth's Will turn; avoid trading premium interaction for cards that only slow the opponent by one small step.

- Counter the card that stops the current legal line first. If a visible spell or ability would remove Time Vault, stop Paradoxical Outcome, counter Yawgmoth's Will, answer Karn, the Great Creator before its next activation, or lock artifact mana, treat it as higher priority than a medium threat or draw spell.

- Counter opposing stack interaction at the point of commitment. Use Flusterstorm efficiently in counter wars over Paradoxical Outcome, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, Yawgmoth's Will, Time Walk, or tutor chains; preserve Force of Will or Force of Negation for non-Flusterstormable problems, must-answer permanents on the stack, or opposing payoffs that immediately win.

- Remove hate permanents before spending selection spells that depend on them resolving cleanly. Portable Hole, Teferi, Time Raveler bounce, Otawara, Soaring City, Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, and sideboard Portable Hole should answer visible permanents that shut artifact mana, restrict casting, attack Time Vault, prevent graveyard use, or invalidate Karn, the Great Creator lines.

- Exile or answer graveyard engines before fighting over filler cards. Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Soul-Guide Lantern matter most when the opponent's visible plan uses graveyard recursion, dredge-like volume, or library-to-graveyard conversion; do not over-sideboard these effects into fair blue mirrors unless the opponent has shown graveyard dependence.

- Bounce timing should preserve the kill window. Use Otawara, Soaring City or Teferi, Time Raveler to clear one blocking permanent immediately before a combo or planeswalker turn, not simply because a target exists; if the opponent can recast the permanent before your payoff, wait unless survival requires action.

- Use Pithing Needle only on known activated abilities. Name from visible battlefield, revealed hand, public deck knowledge, or a rules-engine prompt that clearly identifies the relevant object; avoid blind naming when Urza's Saga can later find Pithing Needle with better information.

- Treat Strip Mine as interaction when it denies a unique visible mana source, an engine land, or a land enabling a lethal turn. Do not fire it into redundant mana if keeping blue, black, or white development advances Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Teferi, Time Raveler, Balance, or Paradoxical Outcome.

- Bait with replaceable artifacts and medium engines before exposing the only payoff. Sensei's Divining Top, Vexing Bauble, Mox Opal, Manifold Key without Time Vault, or a noncritical planeswalker can draw interaction; do not bait with Black Lotus, Tolarian Academy mana, Paradoxical Outcome, or Yawgmoth's Will when those are required to win the current turn.

- Ignore damage that does not change the clock or disrupt resources. Against slow creature pressure, prioritize developing mana, selection, and protected combo; against fast creature pressure, elevate Balance, Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, and Time Walk as survival tools.

## Combat And Trading Rules
- Preserve life as a resource until the opposing board creates a two-turn clock. Mana Crypt damage, fetchland damage, Force of Will exile costs, and attacks are acceptable when they buy a decisive Paradoxical Outcome, Karn, the Great Creator, Time Vault line, or protected planeswalker; tighten immediately when visible attacks plus known burn or combat tricks could end the game before the next untap.

- Defend planeswalkers only when their next activation matters. Block for Narset, Parter of Veils if it enables or protects Timetwister, for Teferi, Time Raveler if it shields the combo turn, for Karn, the Great Creator if it can find a decisive sideboard artifact or lock piece, and for Jace, the Mind Sculptor when Brainstorm or bounce stabilizes the game.

- Attack with Snapcaster Mage only when pressure or Time Walk conversion is worth losing a blocker. Keep Snapcaster Mage back against creature decks when it can trade, preserve planeswalker loyalty, or absorb lethal damage; attack against combo or control when the body shortens the clock and the graveyard ability has already been used or is not immediately valuable.

- Use Urza's Saga Constructs as both win condition and shield. Attack when constructs pressure life totals or planeswalkers without exposing lethal retaliation; hold them back when they protect Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Time Raveler, Karn, the Great Creator, or life total long enough to untap into Paradoxical Outcome or Time Vault plus Manifold Key.

- Trade creatures when the trade protects the engine, not because combat is available. Snapcaster Mage, Thundertrap Trainer, and construct tokens can trade for attackers that threaten planeswalkers, shorten the clock below one more setup turn, or force awkward use of Balance; avoid trading if the creature is needed for Time Walk damage or to pressure an opponent who is nearly locked.

- Treat Thundertrap Trainer as text-dependent in combat. Card text check required; use it as attacker, blocker, or utility permanent only according to visible rules-engine abilities, and do not assume it replaces itself, grows, or has evasion without legal output.

- Balance changes combat math before blocks. When Balance is available, prefer lines that deploy artifact mana, reduce your creature count if advantageous, and punish a wide opposing board; do not chump block away the setup if taking damage keeps a stronger Balance line intact.

- Time Walk turns small attacks into real plans. If Snapcaster Mage, construct tokens, or planeswalker activations are present, value Time Walk as extra combat plus untap rather than a blank cantrip; if no board or mana conversion exists, save it unless it safely bridges to combo.

- Against combo and control, combat is secondary pressure. Attack planeswalkers or life totals when it does not reduce protection for your own key permanent, but prioritize stack interaction, tutor timing, and denying opposing engines over creature trades.

- Against artifact or creature-prison pressure, protect mana and board access first. Blocks and trades should buy time for Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Balance, Karn, the Great Creator, or The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale; do not race if visible permanents are already restricting mana or legal spellcasting.

## Selection And Tutor Rules
- Sequence cheap information before irreversible tutors. Use Gitaxian Probe, Sensei's Divining Top activations, Brainstorm, Stock Up, Ancestral Recall, and visible draw steps to learn whether the hand needs mana, protection, Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault, Manifold Key, or a removal answer before spending Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Merchant Scroll, or Karn, the Great Creator.

- Treat restricted tutors as commitment tools, not generic smoothing. Demonic Tutor should normally find the missing kill or survival piece; Vampiric Tutor and Mystical Tutor should set up a protected next draw or same-turn draw with Sensei's Divining Top, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, or Paradoxical Outcome; Merchant Scroll should prioritize Ancestral Recall, Paradoxical Outcome, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, or Mystical Tutor according to the visible stack and clock.

- Find Paradoxical Outcome when artifact count and protection make it explosive. Prefer tutoring for Paradoxical Outcome when multiple nonland artifacts are already visible, at least one blue source or artifact mana path remains after casting it, and the opponent is not showing a hate permanent that must be answered first.

- Find Time Vault or Manifold Key when the other half is visible or tutorable. Prioritize the missing half if protection is available or the opponent is constrained by Teferi, Time Raveler, Vexing Bauble, or taxed mana; delay if the visible board shows Pithing Needle-type effects, artifact removal pressure, or a faster opposing kill that requires interaction first.

- Use Karn, the Great Creator as both selection and threat. If Karn resolves with enough loyalty and the sideboard is accessible through legal engine actions, choose Mycosynth Lattice for a lock posture, Blightsteel Colossus when Tinker or another legal artifact-path line is available, Grafdigger's Cage or Soul-Guide Lantern against graveyard pressure, or portable answers only when the current board demands them.

- Time land drops around Brainstorm and fetchlands. Hold Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Scalding Tarn, or Misty Rainforest before Brainstorm when mana is not needed immediately, then shuffle away redundant lands, dead interaction, or stranded sideboard-role cards; make the land drop first only when casting Ancestral Recall, Balance, Teferi, Time Raveler, Paradoxical Outcome, or protected interaction depends on it.

- Use Urza's Saga selection deliberately. Plan the chapter search around visible needs: Manifold Key for Time Vault, Pithing Needle for a known activated ability, Sensei's Divining Top for smoothing, Mox Opal for mana, or Vexing Bauble for stack pressure; avoid fetching a redundant artifact if the game needs a specific lock or combo object.

- Treat Stock Up, Tezzeret, Cruel Captain, and Thundertrap Trainer as text-dependent selection. Card text check required; follow only rules-engine legal actions for cards seen, cards chosen, cards put into zones, or objects targeted, and do not assume they tutor, draw, surveil, or enable a combo unless the engine exposes that action.

- Bottom or shuffle away excess mana after a functional engine exists. Once Tolarian Academy, Mox Opal, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, or multiple Moxen already supply a winning turn, selection should favor protection, payoff, and hate removal over additional mana unless Paradoxical Outcome needs more returnable artifacts.

## Priority And Stack Rules
- Fight hardest over spells that decide the turn. Use Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and Vexing Bauble pressure for opposing wins, opposing protection over a win, hate that stops your current line, or counter-wars over Paradoxical Outcome, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, Yawgmoth's Will, Time Walk, Karn, the Great Creator, or Time Vault.

- Let low-impact spells resolve when they do not change the current window. Preserve counters if the opponent's spell only replaces itself, adds redundant mana, or pressures slowly while your hand can win or stabilize next turn; spend interaction when that spell finds a known missing piece, attacks your mana, or creates a lock you cannot beat on board.

- Cast Paradoxical Outcome at the safest winning window. Prefer own main phase when floating mana, artifact count, and follow-up land or spell sequencing are clear; use instant speed only when responding to removal, converting threatened artifacts into cards, or exploiting an opponent tapped low without losing access to colored mana.

- Choose Paradoxical Outcome targets from visible function. Return expendable Moxen, Lotus Petal, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Sensei's Divining Top, Mox Opal, Vexing Bauble, and Manifold Key when they can be replayed profitably; leave Time Vault, Pithing Needle, or a critical hate answer on board if returning it breaks the current lock or exposes a must-answer permanent.

- Use Sensei's Divining Top at priority points that improve the next action. Activate before fetches, tutors, draw spells, or end steps when mana is unused; avoid tapping it in a combo turn if that mana or artifact tap status blocks Paradoxical Outcome replay math or Time Vault plus Manifold Key execution.

- Protect graveyard turns before committing Yawgmoth's Will or Snapcaster Mage. Check visible graveyard hate, mana available after the spell, and whether Black Lotus, Lotus Petal, tutors, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, or counters in the graveyard actually convert; do not walk Yawgmoth's Will into visible Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, or similar opponent effects without an answer.

- Resolve Time Vault plus Manifold Key only through legal engine prompts. Once both are visible and usable, activate in the order the rules engine allows, keep enough mana for Manifold Key, and protect the first extra-turn loop from removal or activated-ability disruption if the opponent has open interaction.

- Use Teferi, Time Raveler to narrow stack timing. When Teferi is legal and tactically safe, deploy it before a combo turn to reduce opposing instant-speed responses; use bounce only when it clears a hate permanent, protects a key permanent, or resets a problem that matters before the next opponent main phase.

- Treat optional payments and alternate timing as resource tests. Pay Force of Will exile costs, Force of Negation alternate costs, Flusterstorm copies, fetchland activations, Mana Crypt risk, and any engine-exposed optional costs only when the current spell, survival point, or combo window justifies the resource loss.

- Use combat-step priority only when the window changes outcome. Cast removal, bounce, Time Walk setup, or Paradoxical Outcome in combat only to prevent lethal damage, protect a planeswalker, exploit a tapped-out opponent, or save artifacts from removal; otherwise keep spells for main-phase mana efficiency and tutor clarity.

## Sideboard Map
- Use sideboarding to choose which axis matters before Game 2 and Game 3. This deck remains a blue artifact-combo deck after sideboarding, so keep enough fast mana, blue cards for Force of Will, and compact win access through Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, Tinker, or planeswalker pressure.

- Keep Karn, the Great Creator sideboard access in mind when sideboarding. Bringing in Mycosynth Lattice, Blightsteel Colossus, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, or Tinker changes what Karn can find later, so only move a wish target into the deck when drawing it naturally is more important than preserving Karn flexibility.

Dredge / Bazaar Graveyard Plan
Side in: 4 Leyline of the Void; 1 Grafdigger's Cage; 1 Soul-Guide Lantern; 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Cut: 1 Balance; 1 Teferi, Time Raveler; 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor; 1 Tezzeret, Cruel Captain; 1 Stock Up; 1 Thundertrap Trainer; 1 Portable Hole

- Add role cards: Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale against graveyard decks that commit creatures from the graveyard, rely on graveyard casting, or force a battlefield race before the artifact engine can assemble. Leyline of the Void is strongest in the opening hand; do not keep a weak seven only because Leyline is present if the rest of the hand cannot cast spells or survive hate removal.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive planeswalkers, slow selection, and narrow creature answers when the opponent's main pressure is graveyard recursion rather than ordinary creatures. Keep Pithing Needle when the opponent has a visible or known activated graveyard engine, and keep Force of Will, Force of Negation, Mental Misstep, and Flusterstorm when their interaction or anti-hate spells are the real fight.

Shops / Artifact Prison Plan
Side in: 2 Consign to Memory; 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale; 1 Portable Hole; 1 Prismatic Ending
Cut: 1 Flusterstorm; 1 Force of Negation; 1 Gitaxian Probe; 1 Stock Up; 1 Thundertrap Trainer

- Add role cards: Consign to Memory, Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale against artifact prison, taxing permanents, creature-heavy artifact boards, or colorless threats that compress the combo window. Consign to Memory is a stack tool first; prioritize it against artifact spells, colorless threats, and triggered or activated lines only when the rules engine exposes legal interaction.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: soft stack interaction that misses artifacts, slow cantrip-style cards, and information-only spells when the battlefield will decide whether Tolarian Academy and artifact mana remain usable. Keep Balance when it can reset creature pressure or mana asymmetry, but avoid relying on it if the visible board contains permanents that survive or invalidate the reset.

Blue Combo / Mirror Plan
Side in: 2 Consign to Memory; 1 Tinker; 1 Blightsteel Colossus; 1 Soul-Guide Lantern
Cut: 1 Portable Hole; 1 Balance; 1 Thundertrap Trainer; 1 Stock Up; 1 Island

- Add role cards: Consign to Memory, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, and Soul-Guide Lantern against blue artifact combo, Paradoxical Outcome mirrors, and graveyard-adjacent combo where a faster deterministic threat or narrow hate piece can steal a protected window. Tinker plus Blightsteel Colossus is a commitment line, not a default plan; use it when a legal artifact sacrifice is expendable, opposing bounce or exile interaction is constrained, and the turn cycle favors immediate pressure over building Paradoxical Outcome volume.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal and slow midgame cards when stack positioning matters more than battlefield cleanup. Do not overload on reactive artifacts if doing so lowers blue card density below what Force of Will and Force of Negation need in counter wars.

Creature Tempo / Initiative / Hatebear Plan
Side in: 1 Swords to Plowshares; 1 Prismatic Ending; 1 Portable Hole; 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Cut: 1 Flusterstorm; 1 Gitaxian Probe; 1 Stock Up; 1 Thundertrap Trainer

- Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale against creature decks that present fast clocks, disruptive creatures, or permanent hate that must leave the battlefield before Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault, or Karn can take over. Swords to Plowshares is the cleanest answer to a single creature clock; Prismatic Ending and Portable Hole are better when the problem is a low-cost permanent rather than raw power.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact information and slow selection when life total, planeswalker loyalty, or immediate board access matters. Keep Teferi, Time Raveler when bounce plus stack restriction can clear a hate permanent and protect the combo turn; devalue it when the opponent's board kills it immediately and the hand lacks a follow-up.

- Use Leyline of the Void as a matchup card, not a generic hedge. Bring it when the opponent's plan materially depends on graveyard zones from turn zero; leave it as a Karn-inaccessible sideboard card only when graveyards are incidental or when drawing Leyline after turn one is too low impact for the matchup.

- Use Grafdigger's Cage when graveyard or library casting is specifically constrained by its text. Card text check required for exact affected actions; at runtime, trust only rules-engine legal actions and visible prevention effects, especially around Yawgmoth's Will, Snapcaster Mage, Tinker, and opposing graveyard or library mechanics.

- Use Soul-Guide Lantern when a one-shot graveyard answer with card-flow potential is better than a permanent lock. It is better against slower graveyard recursion, Yawgmoth's Will mirrors, and decks where Karn can find it at the decisive turn; it is worse than Leyline of the Void when the opponent can win before the first normal draw step.

- Use Consign to Memory when colorless or artifact stack interaction is central. It is strong against artifact prison, opposing artifact combo, Eldrazi-style colorless threats, and triggered lines the engine exposes; it is weak against creature-only pressure, resolved permanents it cannot answer, and spell suites where Flusterstorm or Force of Will covers the key turn better.

- Use Tinker and Blightsteel Colossus as a sideboard transformation only when the matchup rewards a compact kill. Tinker is strongest when sacrificing a spare Mox, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, or expendable artifact creates a faster lethal threat than Paradoxical Outcome; Blightsteel Colossus is bad to draw without Tinker or a legal cheat path, and sideboarding it in should be tied to that exact plan.

- Use Mycosynth Lattice primarily as Karn, the Great Creator material. Bring it into the main deck only if drawing it is intentionally part of a slow lock plan; otherwise preserve it for Karn because its natural mana cost is high and it can clog hands that need cheap artifacts, blue interaction, or Paradoxical Outcome velocity.

- Use The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale when creature quantity is the pressure point. It is strong against creature swarms, token boards, and Bazaar-style creature recursion; it is bad against spell combo, single-threat control, or matchups where your colored land count is already strained and an extra land that does not cast blue spells costs too much tempo.

- Use Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, and Portable Hole according to permanent type and timing. Swords to Plowshares answers creatures at instant speed when legal; Prismatic Ending scales with available colors and handles noncreature permanents; Portable Hole is cheap and artifact-count friendly but narrow to low-cost targets and vulnerable as a permanent.

- Reassess after Game 2 using revealed cards, not archetype labels alone. If the opponent showed graveyard hate for Yawgmoth's Will, artifact sweepers for Paradoxical Outcome, activated-ability hate for Time Vault, or creature pressure that punishes planeswalkers, shift emphasis toward the sideboard role cards that answer the visible plan while keeping at least one clean path to win.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Preserve life total and mana access before maximizing card volume. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale when visible creatures or low-cost permanents are the pressure point; reduce main-deck emphasis on Gitaxian Probe, Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, and slow planeswalker lines when the board can kill Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Time Raveler, Karn, the Great Creator, or Tezzeret, Cruel Captain before they convert value. Keep Balance when the visible battlefield makes it a real reset, especially if artifact mana lets Paradoxical Outcome recover faster than the opponent.

- Tempo: Force the opponent to answer mana, combo, and card draw in awkward windows. Prioritize Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and Vexing Bauble around the turn where Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, or Karn, the Great Creator can resolve; avoid spending stack interaction on medium threats if the hand cannot beat the next counter war. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, and Consign to Memory according to the exact threat type. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow selection when the opponent is combining a clock with cheap interaction.

- Control: Build a protected window rather than racing blindly. Value Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Stock Up, Merchant Scroll, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Narset, Parter of Veils when they improve a decisive hand instead of walking a single payoff into open interaction. Prioritize Teferi, Time Raveler when its stack restriction or bounce line is legal and meaningful. Add role cards: Consign to Memory, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, and Soul-Guide Lantern when the matchup hinges on stack fights, artifact threats, or graveyard recursion. Reduce main-deck emphasis on creature removal unless a visible permanent must be removed.

- Combo: Identify whether this deck is the beatdown or the control seat from visible speed and known interaction. Keep Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, and fast mana when they stop the opponent's decisive turn or enable your own. Add role cards: Consign to Memory against artifact, colorless, triggered, or activated combo lines when the rules engine exposes legal interaction; Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Soul-Guide Lantern against graveyard-dependent combo; Tinker and Blightsteel Colossus when a compact protected kill is stronger than assembling Paradoxical Outcome volume. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Balance and narrow removal unless the opponent's combo uses battlefield permanents they actually answer.

- Midrange: Trade only when the exchange preserves a future combo turn. Use Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, Balance, Teferi, Time Raveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Narset, Parter of Veils to manage visible permanents, then pivot quickly into Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, or Yawgmoth's Will. Add role cards: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale against wide creature development, extra Portable Hole and Prismatic Ending against disruptive permanents, and Soul-Guide Lantern if graveyard value is central. Reduce main-deck emphasis on fragile all-in lines when the opponent is showing discard, pressure, and permanent hate.

- Big mana: Punish slow setup with a fast engine or lock before large permanents dominate. Prioritize Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Mox Opal, the five Moxen, Tolarian Academy, Paradoxical Outcome, Time Walk, Timetwister, and tutors that produce an early decisive turn. Add role cards: Consign to Memory against colorless or artifact stack threats, Tinker plus Blightsteel Colossus as a compact clock, and Mycosynth Lattice only when Karn, the Great Creator can realistically convert it into a lock. Reduce main-deck emphasis on low-impact spot removal unless a specific visible permanent blocks the combo.

- Graveyard: Decide before mulligans whether graveyard denial is mandatory. Add role cards: Leyline of the Void when turn-zero pressure on graveyards matters, Grafdigger's Cage when its exact text constrains the opponent's visible plan, and Soul-Guide Lantern when a one-shot answer or Karn, the Great Creator target is sufficient. Card text check required for Grafdigger's Cage in edge cases; trust rules-engine legality over assumptions. Protect Yawgmoth's Will and Snapcaster Mage lines from self-inflicted hate when those cards remain in the plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow noninteractive cards when the opponent can win from the graveyard before Paradoxical Outcome stabilizes.

- Artifact/enchantment: Treat resolved hate permanents as combo bottlenecks, not background noise. Add role cards: Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, Consign to Memory, and Karn, the Great Creator targets according to what the rules engine presents as legal. Use Otawara, Soaring City when a bounce line is legal and buys a decisive turn. Pithing Needle can matter against activated abilities, but choose names only from revealed or public information unless the engine offers a deterministic legal choice. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Flusterstorm when the problem is a resolved permanent rather than a stack fight.

- Go-wide: Convert creature quantity into a liability with Balance or The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. Add role cards: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, and Swords to Plowshares, then preserve enough mana to rebuild with artifact acceleration and Paradoxical Outcome. Do not overcommit planeswalkers into a board that can immediately remove them unless they produce the needed bounce, lock, draw restriction, or tutor effect that turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Gitaxian Probe and slower draw if they do not change the current combat math.

- Single-threat: Answer the threat efficiently and keep the combo plan intact. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares for creatures, Prismatic Ending or Portable Hole for low-cost permanents, and Consign to Memory when the relevant card is fought on the stack and legally interactable. Use Teferi, Time Raveler, Balance, Otawara, Soaring City, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor only when their legal mode actually resets the threat or protects a winning follow-up. Reduce main-deck emphasis on broad creature-swarm tools such as The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale when the matchup presents one decisive body.

- Burn: Treat life total as a resource with a floor, not an endless payment source. Avoid unnecessary Mana Crypt risk, fetch shock-style assumptions, and Gitaxian Probe life payment when life total is compressed and the information does not unlock a protected kill. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares if creatures are the damage source, Prismatic Ending and Portable Hole for cheap damage permanents, and Flusterstorm or Force of Will for decisive burn-stack turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow planeswalkers when the opponent can ignore them and aim damage at the player.

- Removal-heavy decks: Make creature removal awkward by leaning on artifacts, planeswalkers, and spell-based engines. Do not overvalue Snapcaster Mage, Thundertrap Trainer, or Blightsteel Colossus if visible removal, bounce, exile, or sacrifice effects make them poor commitments; Card text check required for Thundertrap Trainer role details. Add role cards: Tinker and Blightsteel Colossus only when the immediate threat is likely to matter, Mycosynth Lattice with Karn, the Great Creator only in slow games, and Soul-Guide Lantern if removal-heavy play also relies on graveyard recursion. Reduce main-deck emphasis on fragile creature plans and keep Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, and Karn lines central.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only: Exact opponents are absent, so treat these notes as archetype heuristics and let revealed cards, legal actions, and public zones override every assumption. Keep the default plan centered on artifact acceleration, protected Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator, and Yawgmoth's Will; sideboard only toward threats the opponent has shown or strongly implied.

- Blue stack mirrors: Prioritize resolving information, mana, and protected engines over raw speed. Gitaxian Probe, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Time Raveler, and tutors matter because they define when Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, and Vexing Bauble should be spent. Likely sideboarding emphasizes Consign to Memory when the opponent presents artifact, colorless, trigger, or activated stack fights, and Tinker plus Blightsteel Colossus when a compact threat is safer than a long Paradoxical Outcome chain.

- Fast combo: Race only when the hand already has mana plus protection or a deterministic tutor path. Priority targets are the opponent's decisive stack action, mana engine, graveyard engine, or permanent that prevents interaction. Likely sideboarding uses Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Soul-Guide Lantern against graveyard dependency; Consign to Memory against legal artifact/colorless/trigger windows; and Tinker plus Blightsteel Colossus when the opponent cannot easily answer a fast creature kill.

- Creature pressure and go-wide boards: Stabilize without losing combo density. Balance, Portable Hole, Teferi, Time Raveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Otawara, Soaring City, and sideboard Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale are the likely tools. Priority targets are hate creatures, lethal attackers, and permanents that tax or shut off the artifact plan. Do not spend premium interaction on small damage if a Paradoxical Outcome or Time Walk turn can win first.

- Permanent-hate decks: Treat every resolved hate permanent as a sequencing puzzle. Karn, the Great Creator can either find a sideboard artifact plan or become part of a Mycosynth Lattice lock, but only commit that line when mana and board state make the follow-up realistic. Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Otawara, Soaring City, Teferi, Time Raveler, Pithing Needle, and Consign to Memory should answer the specific visible bottleneck rather than generic pressure.

- Big mana and colorless shells: Push a decisive window before the opponent's permanents dominate. Tolarian Academy, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Mox Opal, the five Moxen, and Lotus Petal create the speed advantage; Strip Mine can matter when a public land is central. Likely sideboarding favors Consign to Memory, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, and sometimes Mycosynth Lattice with Karn, the Great Creator.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: This deck can draw explosive artifacts without enough colored mana for Ancestral Recall, Balance, Demonic Tutor, tutors, or interaction. Do not assume Tolarian Academy fixes colors; sequence fetch lands, Underground Sea, Tundra, Island, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, and Lotus Petal around the colored spell that matters this turn.

- Matchup risk: The wrong role loses games quickly. Against faster combo, become the protected interaction deck; against slow disruption, become the engine deck; against pressure, become a stabilizing combo deck. Revealed cards and legal actions should override archetype labels.

- Draw risk: Paradoxical Outcome, Timetwister, Yawgmoth's Will, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Stock Up, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Thundertrap Trainer can pull in different directions. Card text check required for Stock Up and Thundertrap Trainer; use them only according to rules-engine legal actions and visible text.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Cutting too many artifacts or cheap spells weakens Paradoxical Outcome, Mox Opal, Tolarian Academy, Karn, the Great Creator, and Yawgmoth's Will turns. Sideboard cards must solve a matchup problem, not merely look powerful.

- Graveyard risk: Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Soul-Guide Lantern can also change the value of Snapcaster Mage and Yawgmoth's Will. Card text check required for Grafdigger's Cage edge cases; let engine legality decide whether a graveyard line is available.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Balance can be a reset, but it can also punish your own battlefield or hand if sequenced carelessly. Creature removal can make Snapcaster Mage, Thundertrap Trainer, and Blightsteel Colossus less reliable as closers.

- Closer risk: Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator plus Mycosynth Lattice, Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus, planeswalker pressure, and Paradoxical Outcome chains each require different protection. Do not commit the closer that loses to the visible answer when another legal line waits.

- Interaction risk: Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Consign to Memory, and Teferi, Time Raveler are finite. Spend them on the opponent's decisive window or on protecting your own, not on low-impact bait unless the rules-engine state makes it necessary.

- Sequencing risk: Tutors create delayed obligations. Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Merchant Scroll, Demonic Tutor, Karn, the Great Creator, and Urza's Saga should be chosen with the next draw step, available mana, known disruption, and immediate legal follow-up in mind.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Match result: Record the public turn, phase, and legal action that decided the game. Classify the deciding line as Paradoxical Outcome engine, Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator pressure or Mycosynth Lattice access, Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus, planeswalker advantage, Balance reset, opponent hate permanent, opponent combo, creature pressure, or mana failure.

- Mulligans: Check whether each keep had at least one realistic plan from visible cards: fast artifact mana plus payoff, colored mana plus interaction, tutor plus mana, or sideboard hate plus a clock. Flag keeps where Force of Will or Force of Negation lacked a blue card, where Mox Opal lacked artifact density, or where Leyline of the Void was kept without enough follow-up pressure.

- Mana: Track whether Tolarian Academy, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Sol Ring, Lotus Petal, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Ruby, Mox Emerald, and Mox Opal produced decisive tempo or stranded colored spells. Note every game where Ancestral Recall, Balance, Demonic Tutor, Paradoxical Outcome, Teferi, Time Raveler, or Yawgmoth's Will was delayed by color access.

- Velocity: Identify which card-flow pieces converted into action and which stalled. Review Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Sensei's Divining Top, Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, Timetwister, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Narset, Parter of Veils, Snapcaster Mage, and Yawgmoth's Will for cards gained, mana spent, and whether the follow-up mattered.

- Engine commitment: For every Paradoxical Outcome, record returned nonland permanents, floating mana, cards drawn, protection available, and whether waiting one turn was safer or fatal. For every Yawgmoth's Will, record graveyard resources, mana available after casting it, and whether the line ended the game or merely recycled low-impact spells.

- Tutor quality: Review Demonic Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Merchant Scroll, Karn, the Great Creator, and Urza's Saga by the card or artifact selected and the next two turns of payoff. Flag tutors that found power without protection when interaction was visible, or protection without a real clock when the opponent was ahead.

- Interaction quality: Record what Force of Will, Force of Negation, Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Consign to Memory, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, Otawara, Soaring City, and Pithing Needle answered. Mark whether each answer stopped the opponent's decisive window, protected this deck's decisive window, or traded for a low-impact action.

- Sideboard impact: For each post-board game, record whether Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Consign to Memory, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Portable Hole, Tinker, Blightsteel Colossus, or Mycosynth Lattice affected the public game state. Note any sideboard card stranded by mana, timing, or lack of a target.

- Closing discipline: Check whether the deck chose the fastest safe closer available from public information. Compare Time Vault plus Manifold Key, Karn, the Great Creator plus Mycosynth Lattice, Tinker into Blightsteel Colossus, planeswalker advantage, Time Walk pressure, and repeated Paradoxical Outcome turns.

- Mistake review: Flag missed land drops, premature fetches, unnecessary artifact exposure before Balance, weak Force pitch choices, avoidable Mana Crypt damage races, and passes with legal engine or protection actions available.

## First Tuning Questions

- Card quantities: Is one Paradoxical Outcome enough, or do losses show too many games where artifact mana assembled without a draw engine? If the engine is hard to find, test whether the tutor package is compensating or whether the main deck needs more direct velocity.

- Mana structure: Are two Island, two Tundra, two Underground Sea, fetch lands, Lotus Petal, and the five Moxen producing enough white, blue, and black at the right times? If Balance, Teferi, Time Raveler, Demonic Tutor, or Yawgmoth's Will are frequently stranded, tune colored sources before changing threats.

- Protection balance: Are four Force of Will, Force of Negation, two Flusterstorm, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, and Teferi, Time Raveler too much protection against fair decks or too little against combo? Use logs to separate dead interaction from interaction spent on the wrong object.

- Engine conflict: Do Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger's Cage, and Soul-Guide Lantern reduce Snapcaster Mage or Yawgmoth's Will value often enough to change post-board plans? Keep graveyard hate only when its opponent-facing effect outweighs lost recursion.

- Closer package: Is Tinker plus Blightsteel Colossus winning games that Paradoxical Outcome cannot, or is Blightsteel Colossus too often stranded? If Karn, the Great Creator plus Mycosynth Lattice closes more reliably, protect sideboard space for that route.

- Removal spread: Are Portable Hole, Prismatic Ending, Swords to Plowshares, Balance, Otawara, Soaring City, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale answering the right hate and pressure? If creature pressure beats the deck before the engine turn, add role cards that stabilize without weakening artifact density.

- Role conflict: Are post-board games losing because the deck becomes half-control and half-combo without a coherent plan? Reduce main-deck emphasis on the cards that were repeatedly low-impact in that matchup, while preserving enough artifacts, blue cards, and tutors for the primary engine.

- Underperformer test: Which of Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, Pithing Needle, Portable Hole, Sensei's Divining Top, Narset, Parter of Veils, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain failed to convert mana into advantage? Card text check required for Stock Up, Thundertrap Trainer, and Tezzeret, Cruel Captain before making final cuts from logs.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Pregame Mulligan Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: pregame, mulligan
Cards: Black Lotus; Mana Crypt; Mana Vault; Sol Ring; Mox Sapphire; Paradoxical Outcome; Force of Will; Force of Negation; Ancestral Recall; Demonic Tutor
Phase windows: opening hand, mulligan, Leyline reveal
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan, action:keep, action:mulligan
Use when: deciding whether the opener has mana, blue count, interaction, and a path to velocity or lock assembly.
Avoid when: hand quality cannot be inferred from visible hand and known matchup context.
Instructions: Keep hands with fast mana plus payoff, tutor plus mana, or hate plus functional mana; reject hands with only artifacts and no draw/tutor unless Time Vault plus Manifold Key or Karn, the Great Creator is already supported.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Artifact Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, priority
Cards: Mox Emerald; Mox Jet; Mox Pearl; Mox Ruby; Mox Sapphire; Mox Opal; Black Lotus; Lotus Petal; Mana Crypt; Mana Vault; Sol Ring; Sensei's Divining Top
Phase windows: first main, pre-combo main phases
Runtime cues: action:cast Mox, action:cast Black Lotus, action:cast Lotus Petal, action:cast Mana Crypt, action:cast Mana Vault, action:cast Sol Ring
Use when: deploying enabling permanents before a draw spell, Tolarian Academy turn, or Paradoxical Outcome turn.
Avoid when: Balance is planned, opponent hate punishes artifacts, or keeping an artifact hidden changes Force pitch or storm sequencing.
Instructions: Prefer zero-mana artifacts that increase immediate mana, metalcraft, and Paradoxical Outcome count; delay sacrifice artifacts if their mana must be reserved for a specific spell.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tolarian Academy Mana Burst
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, priority
Cards: Tolarian Academy; Urza's Saga; Mox Opal; Black Lotus; Mana Crypt; Mana Vault; Sol Ring; Paradoxical Outcome
Phase windows: main phases, combo turn
Runtime cues: action:play Tolarian Academy, action:activate Tolarian Academy, action:tap Tolarian Academy
Use when: artifact count and hand contents make Tolarian Academy a burst-mana source.
Avoid when: Strip Mine risk, color requirements, or land-drop alternatives are more important from visible information.
Instructions: Sequence artifact deployment before tapping Tolarian Academy when legal; preserve colored sources for Demonic Tutor, Balance, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Yawgmoth's Will.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Paradoxical Outcome Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, mana, selection, interaction
Cards: Paradoxical Outcome; Force of Will; Force of Negation; Flusterstorm; Teferi, Time Raveler; Vexing Bauble; Ancestral Recall
Phase windows: main phases, opponent end step if legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Paradoxical Outcome
Use when: deciding whether to start the engine by casting Paradoxical Outcome.
Avoid when: visible stack pressure, known interaction, insufficient return targets, or no follow-up mana makes waiting better.
Instructions: Cast Paradoxical Outcome when returned artifacts produce a new hand and enough mana to continue, or when waiting exposes the deck to lethal, lock pieces, or discard.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Paradoxical Outcome Target Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection, mana
Cards: Paradoxical Outcome; Mox Emerald; Mox Jet; Mox Pearl; Mox Ruby; Mox Sapphire; Mox Opal; Mana Crypt; Mana Vault; Sol Ring; Sensei's Divining Top; Manifold Key
Phase windows: Paradoxical Outcome target prompt
Runtime cues: action:target Mox, action:target Mana Crypt, action:target Mana Vault, action:target Sol Ring, action:target Sensei's Divining Top
Use when: choosing nonland nontoken permanents to return for Paradoxical Outcome.
Avoid when: a permanent must stay to pay for a visible tax, hold Time Vault access, or maintain a lock.
Instructions: Route target count through reasoning; maximize cards and replayable mana while retaining any permanent required for the current stack or win line.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Time Vault Combo Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, mana, selection
Cards: Time Vault; Manifold Key; Karn, the Great Creator; Demonic Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Tezzeret, Cruel Captain
Phase windows: main phases, artifact activation prompts
Runtime cues: action:cast Time Vault, action:cast Manifold Key, action:activate Manifold Key, action:activate Time Vault
Use when: deciding whether to commit Time Vault plus Manifold Key or tutor for the missing piece.
Avoid when: visible artifact removal, Needle effects, or inability to protect the line makes another closer safer.
Instructions: Assemble Time Vault plus Manifold Key when both pieces are visible or one tutor finds the missing piece and mana remains to advance the lock.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Manifold Key Untap
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority
Cards: Manifold Key; Time Vault
Phase windows: main phase, artifact activation prompt
Runtime cues: action:activate Manifold Key targeting Time Vault
Use when: Time Vault and Manifold Key are controlled by the pilot, Manifold Key is untapped, required activation mana is available, and a legal action text targets Time Vault.
Avoid when: Time Vault is absent from the visible battlefield or action text does not name Time Vault.
Instructions: Choose the legal Manifold Key action that targets Time Vault.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Karn Lock And Wish Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, selection, sideboard
Cards: Karn, the Great Creator; Mycosynth Lattice; Grafdigger's Cage; Soul-Guide Lantern; Blightsteel Colossus
Phase windows: main phases, Karn loyalty prompts
Runtime cues: action:activate Karn, the Great Creator, action:choose Mycosynth Lattice, action:choose Grafdigger's Cage, action:choose Soul-Guide Lantern
Use when: Karn, the Great Creator can find a sideboard artifact or pressure opposing artifact mana.
Avoid when: Karn dies immediately on board, mana cannot cast the selected card, or graveyard hate conflicts with Yawgmoth's Will more than it hurts opponent.
Instructions: Prioritize Mycosynth Lattice when it creates a lock soon; otherwise choose the hate artifact that addresses the visible opponent engine.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tinker Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, selection, interaction
Cards: Tinker; Blightsteel Colossus; Force of Will; Force of Negation; Flusterstorm; Teferi, Time Raveler
Phase windows: post-board main phases
Runtime cues: action:cast Tinker
Use when: deciding whether to convert an artifact into Blightsteel Colossus.
Avoid when: visible exile, bounce, sacrifice edict, counter pressure, or missing artifact fodder makes Tinker fragile.
Instructions: Cast Tinker when the public board supports a fast lethal clock or when combo engine access is disrupted and protection is available.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Tinker Payoff
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Tinker; Blightsteel Colossus
Phase windows: Tinker library selection prompt
Runtime cues: action:choose Blightsteel Colossus, action:target Blightsteel Colossus Tinker
Use when: Tinker has resolved, Blightsteel Colossus is a visible legal library or sideboard selection by action text, and no other exact Tinker target is specified by the current policy.
Avoid when: action text does not name Blightsteel Colossus.
Instructions: Choose Blightsteel Colossus as the Tinker payoff.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Spending Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction, priority
Cards: Force of Will; Force of Negation; Flusterstorm; Mental Misstep; Vexing Bauble; Consign to Memory
Phase windows: stack priority, opponent combo turn, own combo protection window
Runtime cues: action:cast Force of Will, action:cast Force of Negation, action:cast Flusterstorm, action:cast Mental Misstep, action:cast Consign to Memory
Use when: deciding whether to counter a spell or protect a decisive stack action.
Avoid when: the spell is low impact, pitch cost removes the only engine, or saving permission protects a nearer win.
Instructions: Spend permission on opponent wins, hate that stops the engine, or interaction aimed at Paradoxical Outcome, Tinker, Karn, the Great Creator, or Time Vault.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tutor And Topdeck Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection, priority
Cards: Demonic Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Mystical Tutor; Merchant Scroll; Brainstorm; Sensei's Divining Top; Ancestral Recall; Timetwister; Yawgmoth's Will
Phase windows: main phases, end step, draw-step setup, search prompts
Runtime cues: action:cast Demonic Tutor, action:cast Vampiric Tutor, action:cast Mystical Tutor, action:cast Merchant Scroll, action:activate Sensei's Divining Top
Use when: choosing a searched card or arranging the next draw.
Avoid when: visible lock pieces, life pressure, or known Narset, Parter of Veils effects change draw value.
Instructions: Find the missing axis: mana, engine, protection, Time Vault piece, or answer; do not tutor generically when a specific public threat must be answered.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Draw-Seven And Graveyard Engine Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, mana, selection
Cards: Timetwister; Yawgmoth's Will; Narset, Parter of Veils; Snapcaster Mage; Lotus Petal; Black Lotus
Phase windows: main phases, combo turn
Runtime cues: action:cast Timetwister, action:cast Yawgmoth's Will, action:cast Snapcaster Mage
Use when: deciding whether to reload hands or replay graveyard resources.
Avoid when: graveyard hate is active, opponent benefits more from Timetwister, or mana after resolution cannot continue.
Instructions: Use Yawgmoth's Will when graveyard spells and artifacts produce immediate progress; use Timetwister when hand is exhausted and opponent restriction effects favor this deck.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Hate Permanent Answer Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction, priority, selection
Cards: Portable Hole; Prismatic Ending; Swords to Plowshares; Otawara, Soaring City; Balance; Pithing Needle; Consign to Memory
Phase windows: main phases, stack priority, opponent permanent pressure
Runtime cues: action:cast Portable Hole, action:cast Prismatic Ending, action:cast Swords to Plowshares, action:channel Otawara, Soaring City, action:cast Balance
Use when: visible permanents restrict artifacts, graveyards, casting, planeswalkers, or combat survival.
Avoid when: the answer does not unlock a current plan or spending it exposes the combo to a stronger visible threat.
Instructions: Remove hate that blocks Paradoxical Outcome, Time Vault, Karn, the Great Creator, Tinker, or survival before answering generic pressure.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Minimalism
Priority: Low
Decision families: combat
Cards: Snapcaster Mage; Thundertrap Trainer; Blightsteel Colossus; Tezzeret, Cruel Captain; Jace, the Mind Sculptor; Narset, Parter of Veils; Karn, the Great Creator
Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers, planeswalker defense
Runtime cues: action:attack, action:block
Use when: combat choices involve chip damage, planeswalker defense, or Blightsteel Colossus lethal pressure.
Avoid when: exactly one forced legal combat action exists; let the engine submit it from legal actions.
Instructions: Preserve creatures for planeswalker defense unless attacking advances lethal or poison pressure; treat Blightsteel Colossus attacks as a primary closer once protected.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard, pregame
Cards: Leyline of the Void; Grafdigger's Cage; Soul-Guide Lantern; Consign to Memory; The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale; Swords to Plowshares; Prismatic Ending; Portable Hole; Tinker; Blightsteel Colossus; Mycosynth Lattice
Phase windows: sideboarding, opening hand after sideboarding
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard, action:submit sideboard
Use when: choosing a post-board configuration from legal registered swaps.
Avoid when: exact matchup identity is unknown; favor flexible interaction and preserve the combo core.
Instructions: Add graveyard hate versus graveyard engines, removal versus creatures and hate permanents, Consign to Memory versus colorless or triggered threats, and Tinker package when a fast creature kill is strategically valuable.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Leyline Reveal
Priority: Medium
Decision families: pregame, interaction
Cards: Leyline of the Void
Phase windows: opening hand pregame reveal
Runtime cues: action:put Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield
Use when: Leyline of the Void is in the opening hand and the legal action text puts it onto the battlefield before the game begins.
Avoid when: action text does not name Leyline of the Void.
Instructions: Put Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield from the opening hand.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes
