# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Azorius Control is an Explorer blue-white control deck registered as 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards, and the active validation contract reports the list as format-legal for Explorer. The primary archetype tags are `control` and `control`; treat the duplicate tag as confirmation that the strategy should default to reactive resource management, permission discipline, sweepers, planeswalker advantage, and late-game inevitability rather than tempo racing or proactive creature pressure.

The list is a hybrid-stock Azorius Control build: the structural core is recognizable control, but the exact card-selection suite, lock pieces, sideboard configuration, and top-end package are deck-specific enough that Veles should not import generic assumptions from other Azorius shells. No runtime decision should assume absent cards, hidden answers, or common format tools outside this registered 75; policy should reason from visible legal actions involving cards such as No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, High Noon, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Narset, Parter of Veils, The Wandering Emperor, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, Erode, Rest in Peace, Mystical Dispute, Hallowed Moonlight, Kutzil's Flanker, and Ultima only when those names are actually present in hand, battlefield, graveyard, exile, stack, sideboard plan, or logged public information.

The mana base validates as a two-color Azorius configuration with enough registered blue and white sources to support control sequencing, but Veles must still respect runtime tapped-land states, available colors, land-play legality, and payment prompts. Deserted Beach, Floodfarm Verge, Hallowed Fountain, Meticulous Archive, Petrified Hamlet, Island, Plains, Field of Ruin, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Otawara, Soaring City create a mana plan with colored requirements, utility-land opportunity costs, and late-game creature-land pressure; do not assume every land can produce every required color at the moment a spell is legal.

The role concern is that this deck wins by surviving the opponent's early development, trading efficiently on stack or battlefield, then converting stable boards into planeswalker, creature-land, card-advantage, or top-end pressure. The pilot should be conservative with life total against fast starts, conservative with tap-out threats against unknown interaction, and willing to spend removal or sweepers before falling behind on board. The deck has powerful stabilizers but can lose by mis-sequencing lands, overusing exile-pitch removal, firing permission into low-impact spells, or passing through a window where a sweeper or planeswalker is necessary.

The legality concern is that several cards require exact engine confirmation before strategic shortcuts are trusted. Card text check required for Consult the Star Charts, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, Erode, Kutzil's Flanker, Ultima, Floodfarm Verge, Petrified Hamlet, and High Noon if the rules engine presents unfamiliar modes, costs, restrictions, or triggered decisions. When Forge or another rules engine exposes legal action text for these cards, obey that legal action text over any heuristic in this guide.

Opponent information status is unspecified beyond the active format and deck registration, so default matchup policy should use visible board state, public zones, revealed cards, known companion or deck-registration metadata if supplied, and recent logged actions. Do not infer hidden hand contents from archetype alone; use archetype-level expectations only as tie-breakers after legal actions, visible pressure, mana availability, stack context, and known public information have been evaluated.

## Thesis
Azorius Control assembles land stability, permission, instant-speed removal, sweepers, and planeswalker inevitability before asking the opponent to beat repeated high-quality answers. The deck wants to trade early resources with No More Lies, Change the Equation, Dovin's Veto, March of Otherworldly Light, and Get Lost, reset battlefield pressure with Supreme Verdict or Farewell, then win after stabilization through Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, Hall of Storm Giants, or Restless Anchorage.

Prioritize survival first when the opponent has visible pressure, because the deck's late-game cards are only meaningful if life total, mana, and board position remain intact. Use card selection and draw from Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to hit land drops, find the correct answer class, and avoid spending premium interaction on low-impact plays. Card text check required for Consult the Star Charts if the engine presents unfamiliar costs, modes, or timing; use the legal action text at runtime.

Win by making the game small, not by racing from the opening turns. This deck is not trying to curve creatures into combat, protect one fragile threat at all costs, or force a tap-out threat into unknown stack interaction unless waiting is worse. It should usually preserve flexible mana, answer the opponent's most dangerous axis, and convert stability into incremental pressure from planeswalkers, creature lands, or large stabilizing permanents.

Prioritize known legal actions and visible information over archetype assumptions. Do not assume hidden sweepers, counterspells, removal, or sideboard cards exist unless they are in hand, public zones, revealed information, or the current sideboard plan. Treat High Noon, Erode, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, Kutzil's Flanker, Ultima, Floodfarm Verge, and Petrified Hamlet as conditional tactical objects when exact text is not exposed; Card text check required before relying on non-obvious lines.

## Role Package
- Threats: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, Hall of Storm Giants, and Restless Anchorage are the actual closing package. Commit them after the opponent's visible pressure is controlled or when the legal action window shows that tapping out is necessary to prevent losing tempo, life, or resources.

- Payoffs: Supreme Verdict and Farewell are stabilization payoffs that convert early one-for-one trades into a reset board. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and The Wandering Emperor are advantage payoffs that turn an empty or managed battlefield into inevitability. Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Emeritus of Ideation are registered top-end or stabilizing payoffs, but Card text check required before assuming exact life, body, card, token, or emblem outcomes.

- Engines: Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Stock Up, and Consult the Star Charts are the main ways to keep answer density high. High Noon is a potential rule-setting engine against decks trying to chain multiple spells, but Card text check required and the pilot should not deploy it blindly when the deck itself needs multiple-spell recovery turns.

- Velocity: Stock Up and Consult the Star Charts are the primary velocity cards, with Narset, Parter of Veils also serving as selection when legal action text exposes a search or reveal choice. Use velocity to find missing land drops, sweepers, permission, or a win condition; do not spend a whole turn on velocity when a visible lethal or near-lethal board requires March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, or The Wandering Emperor.

- Interaction: No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, Erode, and Field of Ruin form the answer suite. Spend narrow answers before flexible answers when visible legal targets are comparable, preserve sweepers when the opponent is extending into them, and avoid countering replaceable low-impact spells if a known or visible higher-impact threat is likely to matter more.

- Protection: Protection means permission, timing, and mana discipline rather than dedicated shield cards. No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Mystical Dispute after sideboard, and open mana protect planeswalkers and life total by stopping the opponent's key spell before it resolves; do not treat any absent protection card as available.

- Recursion: No explicit recursion module is registered in the main deck or sideboard. Do not build plans around returning cards from graveyard unless the rules engine exposes a legal action from a registered card that actually does so.

- Mana: Deserted Beach, Floodfarm Verge, Hallowed Fountain, Meticulous Archive, Petrified Hamlet, Island, Plains, Field of Ruin, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Otawara, Soaring City must support double-color control turns while leaving interaction open. Sequence lands to keep early blue-white access for No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Stock Up, and Supreme Verdict, while recognizing that utility lands and creature lands are win conditions only after color needs are satisfied.

- Sideboard modules: Rest in Peace is the graveyard-pressure module; Mystical Dispute and the second Dovin's Veto are stack-interaction modules; Hallowed Moonlight is the conditional creature-entry or token-style disruption module when legal text supports it; Kutzil's Flanker is a flexible sideboard body or interaction card with Card text check required; Ultima, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and extra Beza, the Bounding Spring are matchup-specific top-end or stabilization modules that should enter only when the opponent's pressure pattern makes their roles better than main-deck answers.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is the cleanest inevitability plan after the battlefield is stable. Set up by trading with No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, or Farewell until Teferi can resolve with enough life and mana to survive the next attack. Execute by using Teferi to generate cards and mana over multiple turns, answer one dangerous permanent when the legal loyalty action supports it, and protect Teferi with open permission rather than tapping out for extra value. Prioritize this line against midrange, control, and low-pressure boards where the opponent must overextend or fight on the stack to keep up.

- The Wandering Emperor is the main stabilize-then-pressure win path against creature decks. Set up by preserving four mana and inviting attacks when the opponent's visible attackers can be punished by a legal exile, token, counter, or combat action. Execute by removing a key attacker, producing a body, or growing a creature land or token only when that action improves survival or creates a protected clock. Disruption to respect is haste pressure, multiple attackers, planeswalker removal, and stack interaction before combat; prioritize this line when the opponent must attack to progress and a flash-speed planeswalker changes combat math.

- Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage close games without committing another spell into permission or sweepers. Set up by hitting land drops, preserving life, and using Field of Ruin only when the opponent's land is more dangerous than your own creature-land clock. Execute by activating only when the rules engine shows enough mana remains for relevant interaction or when the opponent is shields-down and the attack meaningfully shortens the clock. Prioritize creature-land pressure after sweepers, against opposing countermagic, or when all major spell threats have been traded away.

- Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Emeritus of Ideation are top-end win or stabilization paths, but Card text check required before relying on exact token, card, life, combat, or emblem outcomes. Set up by making sure the opponent cannot immediately undo the permanent with visible board pressure. Execute only according to current legal actions and visible text. Prioritize these cards when their exposed legal actions stabilize the board while creating a clock, or when Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and The Wandering Emperor are unavailable or too exposed.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Supreme Verdict and Farewell are not finishers, but they create the turns that make every finisher lethal. Use them to reset boards that one-for-one interaction cannot contain, then convert the empty battlefield into Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, or a top-end permanent. Do not delay a sweeper just to preserve a future token if visible damage threatens life total or planeswalker survival.

- Narset, Parter of Veils plus Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts is the card-flow backup plan. Use selection to find the missing piece: sweeper when behind on board, permission when ahead with a planeswalker, removal for a single must-answer permanent, or a creature land/top-end threat when the game has become resource-light. Card text check required for Consult the Star Charts if modes, timing, or costs are not obvious from the engine prompt.

- High Noon can function as a rule-pressure or pacing tool when the opponent needs multi-spell turns to break through. Card text check required before treating it as a lock. Deploy it when your plan is to make one high-impact play per turn with mana held up, not when you need Stock Up plus interaction or removal plus sweeper in the same turn to recover.

- Get Lost, March of Otherworldly Light, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, Erode, and Field of Ruin create fallback wins by preventing a single permanent from dominating the game. Spend the answer that matches the current threat with the least future flexibility lost. Card text check required for Erode if the target class or extra effect is unclear.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, prioritize actions that remove immediate damage before actions that gain abstract card advantage. March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire are preferred over Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts unless selection is the only legal route to a stabilizer.

- When behind on board, stop planning for perfect value and force the opponent to rebuild. Use Supreme Verdict when multiple creatures threaten life total or planeswalkers, use Farewell when the problem spans several permanent or graveyard axes, and use spot interaction only when one visible permanent is the actual bottleneck.

- When behind on cards, protect engines instead of trading down. Resolve Narset, Parter of Veils, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria when the board allows it, then choose interaction that answers the highest-impact visible card rather than the first legal target.

- When behind on mana, keep color access and land drops ahead of creature-land ambition. Avoid activating Hall of Storm Giants or Restless Anchorage if it prevents No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, or The Wandering Emperor from being available in the same critical turn.

- When the opponent uses graveyard recursion or combo pressure, move from inevitability to interruption. Main-deck Farewell, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, No More Lies, High Noon, Erode, and Field of Ruin are the relevant tools only when legal text and visible targets support them; after sideboard, Rest in Peace, Hallowed Moonlight, Mystical Dispute, and the extra Dovin's Veto become the dedicated emergency axes.

- When win conditions are removed, win with lands and patience. Preserve Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage, recycle pressure through The Wandering Emperor tokens if legal, and avoid conceding strategic ground unless the rules engine shows no survivable line.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable buffer only until creature pressure threatens a two-turn clock. Spend early life to preserve No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, or Stock Up when the opponent is not presenting lethal pressure; stop spending life once March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Supreme Verdict, Beza, the Bounding Spring, or Farewell is needed to reset the race.

- Cards are the deck's main inevitability resource. Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Emeritus of Ideation, and Elspeth, Storm Slayer are the engines or reloads, but Card text check required for Consult the Star Charts, Emeritus of Ideation, and Elspeth, Storm Slayer before relying on exact modes or outputs. Use selection to find land drops through turn five, then shift to finding the answer category the visible board demands.

- Mana is protection, not just acceleration. Hold open No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, or Otawara, Soaring City when the opponent can make a decisive play; tap out for Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, or a top-end permanent only when the board, stack, and known information make waiting worse.

- Board presence is mostly defensive until the opponent is exhausted. The deck converts empty boards into Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, or Emeritus of Ideation pressure; do not expose creature lands or planeswalkers when a visible attack or legal removal line makes them poor blockers or short-lived threats.

- Graveyard and exile are control axes rather than normal engines. Main deck Farewell can reset graveyards or exiled/permanent categories only when its legal modes support that line, while March of Otherworldly Light and temporary exile-style effects should be chosen by present threat class, not by abstract card value. After sideboard, Rest in Peace is the dedicated graveyard conversion card and should be treated as a bullet that can reduce the need to spend Farewell on graveyards.

- Lands are both mana and late-game threats. Preserve Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage when they are likely to win after sweepers, but use Field of Ruin when a visible opposing land is more dangerous than your future creature-land clock. Utility lands are resources with opportunity costs because activating them can turn off countermagic, removal, sweepers, or The Wandering Emperor.

- Sacrifice fodder is not a planned resource in this registered list. If the engine presents sacrifice or discard costs, choose from visible legal options according to survival and card quality; do not assume tokens or low-value permanents exist unless the current state exposes them.

- Tempo is created by forcing one meaningful exchange per opponent turn. No More Lies, Change the Equation, Dovin's Veto, Get Lost, March of Otherworldly Light, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, Supreme Verdict, and The Wandering Emperor buy turns; Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria turn those bought turns into an advantage.

- Information is a defensive resource. Use visible hand, revealed cards, graveyards, exile, stack contents, land counts, and previous decisions to decide whether to counter, sweep, or save interaction. Do not infer exact hidden cards beyond archetype guidance.

- Sideboard bullets convert matchups into narrower games. Rest in Peace attacks graveyard reliance, Mystical Dispute and the extra Dovin's Veto improve stack fights, Hallowed Moonlight handles legal creature-entry or graveyard-entry pressure only when its text applies, Kutzil's Flanker is conditional graveyard or combat interaction with Card text check required if the prompt is unclear, and extra Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, plus Ultima shift the threat or stabilization mix.

## Mana Guide
- Keep hands that cast early interaction and hit land drops. A strong opener normally has two or three lands, both colors by turn two, and either No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Change the Equation, Dovin's Veto, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, or a clear path to Supreme Verdict. Mulligan hands that cannot produce white and blue by turn three unless the legal matchup context is extremely slow and the hand has multiple draw or selection actions.

- Prioritize untapped blue-white access before utility. Hallowed Fountain, Floodfarm Verge, Deserted Beach, Meticulous Archive, Island, and Plains should be sequenced to make No More Lies and March of Otherworldly Light available early, then Supreme Verdict, The Wandering Emperor, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, and Farewell later. Card text check required for Floodfarm Verge and Meticulous Archive if exact entry conditions or secondary abilities matter.

- Play tapped lands when the turn has no required response window. Deserted Beach, Restless Anchorage, Hall of Storm Giants, Meticulous Archive, or other tapped entries are best used on turns where the opponent cannot punish the lost mana or when the deck already has the exact one-mana or two-mana answer available.

- Sequence utility lands around colored commitments. Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City are lands until their channel-style legal action is tactically better than making mana; Field of Ruin is a land until an opposing land demands an answer; Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage are finishers only after interaction mana is no longer essential.

- Delay land play before draw or selection when land choice depends on new information. If casting Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts before the land drop is legal and safe, wait to choose the land until after seeing the selected card. Play land first when you need exact mana to cast the draw spell, hold up No More Lies, represent March of Otherworldly Light, or preserve a legal response shown by the engine.

- Preserve double-white and double-blue futures. Supreme Verdict and The Wandering Emperor push toward reliable white, while No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Stock Up, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria require blue access; avoid Field of Ruin or creature-land activation lines that strand these colors.

- Spend flexible mana last when paying costs. Keep white available for March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Supreme Verdict, and Farewell; keep blue available for No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Otawara, Soaring City, Stock Up, Narset, Parter of Veils, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Follow exact engine payment options over preference when the legal action is constrained.

- Activate creature lands only when the remaining mana still covers the necessary response or when attacking is the decisive use of the turn. Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage are strongest after sweepers, against empty boards, or when the opponent's mana and visible options make interaction unlikely.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: Keep two- or three-land hands with both colors, an early answer, and a card-advantage bridge. Hallowed Fountain, Floodfarm Verge, Deserted Beach, Island, Plains, or Meticulous Archive plus No More Lies or March of Otherworldly Light and Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts is the default keep pattern.

- Strong keep: Keep hands with early interaction into a turn-four reset or planeswalker. No More Lies, Get Lost, March of Otherworldly Light, or Change the Equation plus Supreme Verdict, The Wandering Emperor, Narset, Parter of Veils, or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria gives the deck a complete defensive arc.

- Medium keep: Keep three- or four-land hands with Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, and one interaction spell when the lands cast both colors by turn three. These hands are slower but acceptable because selection finds the correct mix of Supreme Verdict, No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, or a finisher.

- Medium keep: Keep a reactive one-answer hand on the draw only when the mana is excellent and the matchup is not visibly fast. A hand such as multiple lands, No More Lies, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria can recover, but it must respect early battlefield pressure.

- Risky keep: Avoid two-land hands that need a third or fourth land before doing anything meaningful. Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts can help, but a hand with only expensive cards such as Farewell, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, or Beza, the Bounding Spring is not functional without early interaction.

- Automatic ship: Mulligan zero-land, one-land, six-land, and color-broken hands unless the engine exposes an exceptional legal reason. A hand that cannot produce both white and blue by turn three, cannot answer a creature, and cannot cast Stock Up or Consult the Star Charts should be shipped.

- Automatic ship: Mulligan hands that are only finishers and sweepers against unknown opponents. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, Farewell, and Supreme Verdict need early lands and answers around them.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Against fast creature decks, prioritize March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, The Wandering Emperor, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and untapped white mana. High Noon is keepable when the visible or known matchup relies on multiple spells per turn, but Card text check required for exact lock timing.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Against stack-heavy or slower decks, prioritize No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Narset, Parter of Veils, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. March of Otherworldly Light and Get Lost are still useful only when visible permanents or known archetype pressure justify them.

- Play/draw: On the play, keep leaner hands with No More Lies because the first counter window matters more. On the draw, demand cheaper battlefield interaction or a reliable catch-up card such as Supreme Verdict, The Wandering Emperor, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Stock Up, or Consult the Star Charts.

- Trap hand: Do not keep a hand because it has Hall of Storm Giants or Restless Anchorage as a future win condition. Creature lands are excellent closers, but they do not replace early colored mana, No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Stock Up, or Supreme Verdict.

- Trap hand: Do not keep double Field of Ruin or too many utility lands when colored spells are stranded. Field of Ruin, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, Hall of Storm Giants, and Restless Anchorage are powerful only after the hand can cast its blue-white interaction.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1: Lead with the land that makes turn-two interaction most likely. Prefer untapped Hallowed Fountain, Island, Plains, Floodfarm Verge, or the least costly blue-white source when No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Change the Equation, or Dovin's Veto may be needed; use tapped setup lands only when no one-mana or two-mana response is required.

- Turn 1 deviation: Preserve Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City as lands unless the engine presents a legal channel-style action that answers a visible threat better than making mana. Do not spend Field of Ruin early unless an opposing land is already a public, immediate problem.

- Turn 2: Hold up No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Change the Equation, Dovin's Veto, or Get Lost when the opponent can present a meaningful spell or permanent. Cast High Noon only when its legal text clearly constrains the opposing plan more than your own need to double-spell later; Card text check required if the engine prompt is ambiguous.

- Turn 2 deviation: If the opponent has not created pressure and the hand needs velocity, cast Consult the Star Charts or prepare Stock Up according to legal timing and mana. Delay the land drop before selection when doing so can improve the land choice without losing a needed response.

- Turn 3: Stabilize the stack or refill before falling behind. Prefer Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Narset, Parter of Veils, No More Lies plus removal, or a clean Get Lost/March of Otherworldly Light line over tapping out for a fragile threat.

- Turn 3 deviation: Cast Supreme Verdict planning begins here. If the opponent is committing multiple creatures and your life total can absorb one more attack, save spot removal for threats that survive or punish the sweeper; if survival is at risk, use March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, or The Wandering Emperor timing if legal.

- Turns 4-5: Prioritize survival plus card advantage. Supreme Verdict clears wide boards, The Wandering Emperor stabilizes combat or creates pressure when legal, Beza, the Bounding Spring can catch up when its visible effect is relevant, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria should be cast only when you can protect it or untap into interaction.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: Use Farewell as a broad reset only when the legal modes match the actual problem. Do not exile your own winning resources or graveyard-independent pressure unless the visible board, graveyard, exile, or artifact/enchantment state makes the reset necessary.

- Late game: Convert answers into inevitability after the opponent is low on material. Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, and Beza, the Bounding Spring are finishers or stabilizers; Card text check required for exact Elspeth, Storm Slayer and Emeritus of Ideation tactical modes.

- Late game deviation: Keep passing with mana open when legal actions show useful interaction and the opponent still has live threats. Activate Hall of Storm Giants or Restless Anchorage only when the attack does not expose lethal counterpressure or turn off No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Otawara, Seat of the Empire, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire response lines.

## Card Roles
- No More Lies is the default early permission spell and should be held for spells that either create immediate pressure, invalidate a sweeper plan, or protect the opponent from your next reset. Use it aggressively on turns two through four when the opponent is curving out, but do not spend it on low-impact setup when Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Supreme Verdict, or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria will win a longer exchange. The common mistake is passing forever with No More Lies while creatures already on board deal too much damage.

- March of Otherworldly Light is the flexible cheap answer that lets the deck survive while keeping mana open. Use it on visible creatures, artifacts, or enchantments that will matter before Supreme Verdict or Farewell can clean up; pitch extra white cards only when the life total, planeswalker protection, or a must-answer permanent makes tempo more important than card count. Preserve March of Otherworldly Light against creature lands, cheap recursive threats, and early snowball permanents when other interaction can cover the stack.

- Get Lost is the clean permanent answer for threats that counterspells missed, especially creatures and planeswalkers that pressure Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or The Wandering Emperor. Cast it when the target will generate more advantage than the opponent's compensation, and avoid using it on a replaceable creature shortly before Supreme Verdict. Against slow decks, save Get Lost for resolved walkers or singular engines; against aggro, spend it earlier when life total matters more than perfect value.

- Supreme Verdict is the main catch-up button against creature boards. Plan around it from turn three onward by avoiding unnecessary one-for-one removal into creatures that will die anyway, then cast it when the opponent's board, your life total, and your follow-up make waiting worse. The mistake is waiting for maximum value while falling into burn, haste, creature-land, or planeswalker follow-up range.

- Farewell is the broad reset for boards that Supreme Verdict cannot solve. Choose its legal modes according to visible zones and permanent types, and avoid exiling your own graveyard, creature lands, or win-condition material unless the opposing battlefield or graveyard demands it. It is strongest against recursive, artifact/enchantment, token, or multi-axis boards and weakest when a cheaper Supreme Verdict or spot answer preserves more of your own inevitability.

- The Wandering Emperor is both stabilizer and win condition, so treat it as an instant-speed combat tool before treating it as a threat. Deploy it when the engine exposes a legal timing window that removes an attacker, creates a blocker, or pressures an opposing planeswalker without tapping out into a decisive spell. Protect it with No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, or March of Otherworldly Light when possible; do not expose it just to make a token into a board that Supreme Verdict must soon clear.

- Teferi, Hero of Dominaria is the premier late-game engine and should usually enter only when you can protect it or immediately regain mana/value according to legal actions. Use Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to bury slow opponents, answer a single resolved permanent when the engine offers that line, and force the opponent to act into your permission. The mistake is tapping out for Teferi, Hero of Dominaria while behind to multiple attackers and no immediate protection.

- Stock Up is a card-advantage and selection bridge that finds land drops, sweepers, and permission. Cast it when the opponent gives a safe window or when missing the next land or answer is more dangerous than leaving up interaction. Against pressure, prefer Stock Up only if it can find a concrete stabilizer in time; against control, it is a key way to reload while trading one-for-one.

- Consult the Star Charts is a velocity spell whose exact tactical ceiling depends on its current rules text. Card text check required; use it conditionally as early selection when legal timing and mana allow, especially to find lands, No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Supreme Verdict, or late-game engines. Do not cast Consult the Star Charts into a turn where a visible opposing threat must be countered or removed unless the legal action list shows no meaningful interaction to hold.

- High Noon is a matchup-dependent constraint piece. Card text check required for exact restrictions and sacrifice/activation timing, but generally deploy it when the opponent's visible or known plan relies on chaining multiple spells and your hand can operate at one spell per turn with instant-speed interaction. Do not cast High Noon automatically against fair creature decks if it prevents the double-spell recovery turn needed to stabilize.

- Dovin's Veto is the hard shield against noncreature haymakers and should be saved for spells that No More Lies, Change the Equation, or board answers cannot efficiently cover. Use it to protect Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Farewell, or a winning position from sweepers, planeswalkers, combo pieces, and card-advantage bursts. Do not spend Dovin's Veto on a minor cantrip unless the opponent's visible sequence makes that spell decisive.

- Change the Equation is narrow permission and must follow legal text. Card text check required for exact target restrictions; use it when the spell matches and the exchange prevents tempo loss, protects a planeswalker, or stops a key aggressive/combo action. Avoid holding it too long in matchups where visible legal targets are scarce.

- Erode is a singleton interaction slot with conditional text. Card text check required; treat it as a specialized answer or disruption piece only when the engine's legal action text clearly identifies the target or mode. Do not substitute it for confirmed removal or permission if its legality or effect is unclear.

- Narset, Parter of Veils is a control mirror and card-flow pressure card. Cast it when the battlefield is stable enough that Narset, Parter of Veils can either find interaction through the engine's legal selection action or constrain opposing draw effects. Do not run it out into attackers that will immediately remove it unless absorbing that attack protects life total or another planeswalker.

- Beza, the Bounding Spring is a stabilizing catch-up creature whose exact benefits depend on visible game state. Card text check required for exact triggered outputs; cast it when behind on life, board, cards, or mana only if the legal text shows relevant material, and avoid deploying it into an obvious sweeper you intend to cast next. It is most valuable against aggression and weakest when the opponent ignores creatures or answers it cleanly.

- Elspeth, Storm Slayer is a singleton finisher or stabilizer. Card text check required; commit it only after checking visible pressure, available protection, and whether Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or The Wandering Emperor is the safer planeswalker line. Do not tap out for Elspeth, Storm Slayer when a known stack fight or lethal board requires mana open.

- Emeritus of Ideation is a singleton value threat with uncertain exact rules text. Card text check required; use it as a late-game engine only when the board is stable or when its visible legal action immediately affects survival or card flow. In removal-heavy matchups, prefer to deploy it after trading resources so it is not the opponent's easiest target.

- Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City are lands first and interaction second. Make land drops with them when colors are needed, but preserve them when the mana base is already stable and the channel-style legal action can answer an attacker, blocker, planeswalker pressure, or resolved permanent at instant speed. Do not hold them so long that missed land drops strand Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Farewell, or Supreme Verdict.

- Field of Ruin is utility interaction for opposing creature lands and problem lands, not a substitute for colored mana. Use it once blue-white requirements are secure and the opposing land is a real public threat. Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage are finishers after stabilization; activate them only when the attack does not turn off needed permission, removal, or survival mana. Hallowed Fountain, Floodfarm Verge, Deserted Beach, Meticulous Archive, Petrified Hamlet, Island, and Plains should be sequenced to make early blue-white interaction reliable before utility value.

## Interaction Priorities

- Counter decisive noncreature spells before medium creatures when your hand already contains Supreme Verdict, Farewell, March of Otherworldly Light, or The Wandering Emperor. Spend Dovin's Veto on planeswalkers, combo pieces, sweepers that undo your stabilized board, and large card-advantage spells; use No More Lies first when the opponent can still be taxed and save Dovin's Veto for spells that must resolve or fail.

- Remove threats that invalidate your sweepers before threats that merely deal damage. Use Get Lost, March of Otherworldly Light, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, and The Wandering Emperor on haste threats, creature lands, protected attackers, planeswalkers about to generate repeated value, and permanents that High Noon cannot contain.

- Exile graveyard, artifact, enchantment, or creature clusters with Farewell only when the selected modes materially reset the game or cut off a known public engine. Do not fire Farewell just to answer one normal creature unless life total, planeswalker protection, or lack of other legal answers makes waiting worse.

- Sweep creature boards with Supreme Verdict when the opponent has committed enough public pressure that one-for-one removal will lose the race. Prefer Supreme Verdict over spot removal when it catches multiple attackers, protects a planeswalker follow-up, or preserves March of Otherworldly Light for a noncreature permanent.

- Bounce with Otawara, Soaring City when tempo matters more than permanent removal. Prioritize bounced targets that are attacking a planeswalker, carrying counters or attachments, threatening lethal, or forcing a bad Supreme Verdict; avoid bouncing low-impact permanents that the opponent can replay without losing tempo.

- Discard is not a registered Azorius Control function. If a legal discard action appears, treat it as effect-specific and follow engine text; otherwise never plan around stripping hidden cards from the opponent's hand.

- Bait permission with lower-stakes card flow when the matchup is a stack fight. Consult the Star Charts, Stock Up, Narset, Parter of Veils, High Noon, or a nonessential planeswalker activation can draw interaction before Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Farewell, or Dovin's Veto protection becomes decisive.

- Ignore small creatures temporarily when a sweeper is imminent and life total remains above danger. At 11 or more life, it is often correct to take a hit to preserve March of Otherworldly Light or Get Lost for a creature land, planeswalker, or post-sweeper threat; at 6 or less life, answer even medium attackers if no guaranteed stabilization line is visible.

- Change interaction priorities by archetype rather than card type alone. Against aggro, preserve life and sweep on time; against midrange, answer engines and planeswalkers before replaceable bodies; against control, fight over card advantage and finishers; against combo, hold counters for the spell or permanent that actually converts setup into a win.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Treat combat as a survival puzzle until a planeswalker or creature land can win safely. Do not attack with Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, or tokens from The Wandering Emperor if that attack turns off mana needed for No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, or a channel action.

- Protect planeswalkers only when the protection preserves future control of the game. Block or spend removal to defend Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Narset, Parter of Veils, The Wandering Emperor, or Elspeth, Storm Slayer when the planeswalker will draw cards, answer threats, or force the opponent to overcommit; let a low-loyalty planeswalker die if saving it costs the only answer to lethal.

- Use The Wandering Emperor as a combat swing before using it as a normal threat. Prioritize legal lines that exile a tapped attacker, create an emergency blocker, or alter a trade in your favor; avoid making a token into a board you already intend to clear with Supreme Verdict or Farewell.

- Trade Beza, the Bounding Spring and Emeritus of Ideation only when the trade buys a full turn, saves a planeswalker, or prevents lethal. If their visible text or triggered value has already mattered, trading them for a real attacker is acceptable; if they are your only stabilizing permanent, avoid low-value attacks.

- Activate Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage after stabilization, not during fragile parity. Attack with creature lands when the opponent has low pressure, few visible profitable blocks, and your remaining mana still covers the most important legal interaction; hold them back when Field of Ruin-style utility or untapped blue-white mana is more important.

- Block aggressively below 8 life and conservatively above 12 life. At high life, preserve resources for sweepers and card draw; at low life, trade tokens, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and expendable bodies for damage prevention even if the exchange looks card-neutral.

- Pressure opposing planeswalkers when the attack does not expose lethal or break permission shields. Creature-land attacks and The Wandering Emperor tokens should redirect combat toward a planeswalker that will snowball, but ignore a nearly spent planeswalker if killing it gives the opponent a clean attack back at Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or your life total.

- Change combat posture by matchup. Against aggro, block early and value life above card advantage; against midrange, force them to extend into Supreme Verdict; against control, attack only when you can still fight on the stack; against combo, combat damage is secondary unless a fast clock forces them to act before setup is complete.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Use legal engine text as the authority for every selection effect. Consult the Star Charts, Stock Up, Emeritus of Ideation, Erode, Ultima, and Elspeth, Storm Slayer require card text checks before hardcoding pick orders; when Veles shows exact choices, choose for the current survival, land-drop, or permission need rather than assuming hidden library contents.

- Prioritize land stability over abstract card quality in the first four turns. Keep or select untapped blue-white access, a fourth land for Supreme Verdict, and a fifth land for Teferi, Hero of Dominaria before speculative finishers when the opponent is presenting pressure.

- Treat Consult the Star Charts and Stock Up as pseudo-selection, not true tutoring. Use them to assemble land drops, cheap interaction, sweepers, or a protected planeswalker curve; avoid spending early mana on card flow if No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Change the Equation, or Dovin's Veto must stay available for a visible threat window.

- Select answers before finishers while behind. When facing creatures, value Supreme Verdict, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and Farewell above Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or Hall of Storm Giants pressure; when stable, shift toward planeswalkers and repeated card flow.

- Select permission by matchup and timing. No More Lies is strongest while the opponent still has constrained mana; Dovin's Veto is reserved for noncreature spells that must not resolve; Change the Equation is conditional and requires visible legality before being treated as an answer.

- Use Narset, Parter of Veils to find interaction, card flow, or a closing planeswalker according to board state. Do not take a slow card over a needed sweeper or removal spell just because Narset, Parter of Veils is a card-advantage engine.

- Use Field of Ruin as utility selection only when color stability is already protected or the opposing land is strategically important. If activating Field of Ruin would prevent holding No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, March of Otherworldly Light, Otawara, Soaring City, or The Wandering Emperor, delay unless the target land is enabling lethal, a combo line, or a creature-land kill.

- Sequence Meticulous Archive and other tapped lands around decision pressure. Play tapped lands early when the hand already covers early interaction; keep untapped Hallowed Fountain, Floodfarm Verge, Island, Plains, Deserted Beach, or Petrified Hamlet available when the next opponent turn may require a counterspell or instant removal.

- Bottom or decline low-impact redundant expensive cards when survival is unsettled. Extra Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Farewell, or creature lands are worse than live mana, cheap interaction, and sweepers until the board is stable.

- Value graveyard interaction from sideboard cards only when public information supports it. Rest in Peace, Hallowed Moonlight, and Kutzil's Flanker should be selected or held for visible graveyard, recursion, or creature-entry pressure; do not treat them as generic card-quality picks in unknown boards.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Hold priority discipline as the deck's main advantage. Pass with mana open when the opponent must act into No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, or Otawara, Soaring City; tap out only when the resolved permanent or sweeper changes the game immediately.

- Counter on the stack before spending permanent removal when the spell creates repeated value or invalidates your hand. Let ordinary creatures resolve if Supreme Verdict, Farewell, The Wandering Emperor, or March of Otherworldly Light already answers the board more efficiently.

- Let low-impact spells resolve when your answer must be saved for a decisive spell. Do not use Dovin's Veto on cantrips, small setup, or replaceable threats unless the matchup context makes that spell the actual engine or the opponent is about to convert it into a known lethal line.

- Cast The Wandering Emperor at instant speed when combat gives the best exchange. Prefer responding after attackers are declared if a legal exile or token line changes combat; avoid main-phase deployment unless protecting it is easy or the loyalty ability is required immediately.

- Use March of Otherworldly Light at the latest safe point. Waiting can expose more information, but respond before damage, triggered value, a planeswalker activation, or a sacrifice window makes the target less useful to exile.

- Use Get Lost when the target is more dangerous than the replacement value the opponent receives. Aim it at planeswalkers, must-answer creatures, or permanents that cannot wait for Farewell; avoid firing it at a minor creature that a sweeper will cleanly answer.

- Channel Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City as spells only when land count and colored mana remain functional. These channels are strong because they bypass normal spell timing constraints, but losing a land can make Supreme Verdict, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Farewell, or double-spell turns late.

- Activate Teferi, Hero of Dominaria with stack protection in mind. If the engine offers an end-step untap pattern, preserve mana for No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, March of Otherworldly Light, or Get Lost; if card text or legality is unclear, follow the displayed legal action and do not assume an untap outcome.

- Resolve High Noon only when its rule text constrains the opponent more than your own need to double-spell. Card text check required for exact timing and activated abilities; treat it as a stack-shaping prison piece only when visible legal actions confirm the effect.

- Time Rest in Peace before graveyard payoffs resolve when possible. If a graveyard spell or trigger is already on the stack, use Veles-visible legality to determine whether Rest in Peace, Hallowed Moonlight, Kutzil's Flanker, counterspells, or passing actually answers that object.

- Spend Farewell after opponents commit resources unless immediate survival requires it. Choose only modes the engine presents as legal and useful; respect that your own graveyard, creatures, artifacts, enchantments, or planeswalkers may be affected according to the shown rules text.

- Do not auto-pay or auto-decline optional costs from unfamiliar cards. Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Erode, and Ultima need card text checks; choose optional triggers or payments only when Veles shows the exact effect and the visible board makes the exchange favorable.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard by opposing axis, not by card fame. Keep the deck’s baseline as instant-speed Azorius control, then add sideboard cards that answer the opponent’s visible pressure: graveyard dependence, blue stack fights, creature rushes, noncast creature entry, or long-game planeswalker wars.

- Preserve enough cheap interaction after every plan. No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Change the Equation, and Dovin's Veto should not all be reduced at once unless the opponent gives almost no targets for that class.

Graveyard engine or reanimation pressure
Role cards: 4 Rest in Peace; 1 Hallowed Moonlight; 2 Kutzil's Flanker; 1 Dovin's Veto
Trim roles: 2 High Noon; 1 Erode; 1 Beza, the Bounding Spring; 1 Emeritus of Ideation; 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer; 1 Farewell; 1 Get Lost

Blue control, blue tempo, or stack-combo pressure
Role cards: 1 Dovin's Veto; 2 Mystical Dispute; 1 Emeritus of Ideation; 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer; 1 Ultima
Trim roles: 2 Supreme Verdict; 2 March of Otherworldly Light; 1 Beza, the Bounding Spring; 1 Erode

Low-curve creature aggression or burn-leaning pressure
Role cards: 2 Beza, the Bounding Spring; 2 Kutzil's Flanker; 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Trim roles: 1 Narset, Parter of Veils; 1 Dovin's Veto; 1 Change the Equation; 1 Emeritus of Ideation; 1 Farewell

Creature-heavy midrange with resilient threats
Role cards: 2 Beza, the Bounding Spring; 1 Elspeth, Storm Slayer; 1 Emeritus of Ideation; 1 Ultima
Trim roles: 1 Dovin's Veto; 1 Change the Equation; 2 High Noon; 1 Narset, Parter of Veils

- Add role cards: Rest in Peace is the primary graveyard lock. Bring it against decks whose visible plan uses graveyard casting, reanimation, recursion, death triggers, escape-like resource loops, or large graveyard scaling. It is poor when the opponent’s graveyard is incidental and the game is decided by board tempo or planeswalkers.

- Add role cards: Hallowed Moonlight is the precise noncast-creature-entry answer. Bring it when the opponent presents reanimation, blink, token-burst, collected-creature, or cheat-entry lines where Veles shows it can interact; it is poor against ordinary cast creature curves and control mirrors with few creature-entry events.

- Add role cards: Kutzil's Flanker is a flexible stabilizer when its legal modes matter. Use it against graveyard pressure, racing boards, and creature decks where a flash body or life-buffer mode is relevant; Card text check required for exact modal choices, and it is poor against spell-only control or combo when a small body does not pressure or protect planeswalkers.

- Add role cards: Mystical Dispute is for blue stack fights. Bring it when opposing blue spells, counter-wars, draw engines, flash threats, or combo protection are central; it is poor against nonblue creature decks where Supreme Verdict, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Beza, the Bounding Spring, and The Wandering Emperor define survival.

- Add role cards: the sideboard Dovin's Veto increases hard permission density. Bring it against noncreature engines, planeswalkers, sweepers, card-flow mirrors, combo pieces, and protected late-game spells; it is poor when the opponent mostly wins through creature combat and your answer must affect the battlefield.

- Add role cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring shifts the deck toward stabilizing on board. Bring extra copies against creature pressure, red pressure, and midrange games where life, bodies, or catch-up resources matter; it is poor when the opponent ignores combat, fights only on the stack, or punishes four-mana sorcery-speed development.

- Add role cards: Elspeth, Storm Slayer is an additional post-board threat or stabilizer only when its displayed text fits the matchup. Card text check required; bring it for long games or creature boards if Veles confirms the loyalty actions change pressure, and avoid it when tapping low before a decisive opposing turn is unsafe.

- Add role cards: Emeritus of Ideation is a long-game card-advantage or pressure candidate only after text verification. Card text check required; bring it when the matchup rewards another resilient engine, and avoid it against fast creature starts where the first job is answering the board.

- Add role cards: Ultima is a narrow high-impact slot until text is verified. Card text check required; bring it only when the legal card text shown by Veles answers the opponent’s axis or creates a decisive late-game swing, and avoid it when it is expensive, conditional, or redundant with Farewell, Supreme Verdict, Get Lost, and planeswalkers.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Supreme Verdict loses value when the opponent has few creatures or mostly plays flash threats into stack fights. Keep at least some sweep power when creature-lands, token makers, or sideboard creatures are likely.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: High Noon is matchup-dependent and needs card text verification. Keep it when one-spell pacing constrains the opponent more than Azorius Control; reduce its role when you must double-spell to catch up or hold multiple cheap answers.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Farewell is powerful but slow. Keep it against boards that go wide across zones or permanent types, and reduce its role against fast pressure where four- and five-mana stabilization matters sooner.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: Narset, Parter of Veils is strongest in card-flow mirrors. Reduce its role against creature aggression if protecting it costs life or tempo, but keep it when opposing draw engines are a real visible plan.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: March of Otherworldly Light and Get Lost should be adjusted by target density. Keep March of Otherworldly Light when exile matters or cheap permanent interaction is needed; keep Get Lost when planeswalkers or must-answer creatures matter more than the opponent’s replacement value.

Explicit Sideboard Repair Plans

These balanced plans are legal Veles candidates built from the registered sideboard and main deck. Use them as baseline sideboarding options only when the matchup role fits; keep the role guidance above as the strategic source of truth.

Legal repair plan 1
Side in: Dovin's Veto; Emeritus of Ideation; Hallowed Moonlight; Rest in Peace
Cut: 4 Consult the Star Charts

Legal repair plan 2
Side in: Emeritus of Ideation; Hallowed Moonlight; 2 Rest in Peace
Cut: 3 Consult the Star Charts; Deserted Beach

Legal repair plan 3
Side in: Hallowed Moonlight; 3 Rest in Peace
Cut: 2 Consult the Star Charts; 2 Deserted Beach

Legal repair plan 4
Side in: 4 Rest in Peace
Cut: Consult the Star Charts; 3 Deserted Beach

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Preserve life first and cards second. Keep hands that produce early white mana for March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, No More Lies, and Supreme Verdict, then use The Wandering Emperor or Beza, the Bounding Spring to turn stabilization into a board swing. Add role cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring, Kutzil's Flanker, and Elspeth, Storm Slayer if the matchup is decided by combat or life total; Card text check required for exact Elspeth, Storm Slayer and Kutzil's Flanker choices. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Narset, Parter of Veils, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, and slow engines when they do not affect the board before lethal pressure arrives.

- Burn: Treat every point of life as a card. Favor untapped white-blue sources that let you answer creatures without taking unnecessary shock-land damage from Hallowed Fountain, and do not spend March of Otherworldly Light on a low-impact permanent if The Wandering Emperor, Beza, the Bounding Spring, or Supreme Verdict can stabilize soon. Add role cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring and Kutzil's Flanker when visible text provides life, body, or graveyard pressure relief. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Farewell, Narset, Parter of Veils, Emeritus of Ideation, and expensive card draw if the opponent is shortening the game.

- Go-wide creature decks: Save sweepers for board texture, not raw creature count alone. Use Get Lost or March of Otherworldly Light on an engine creature when it prevents multiple future bodies, but prefer Supreme Verdict or Farewell when the opponent has committed enough battlefield material that one-for-one answers fall behind. Add role cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring and Elspeth, Storm Slayer for catch-up board presence; Card text check required for Elspeth, Storm Slayer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Dovin's Veto and Change the Equation unless the visible opponent plan relies on noncreature payoff spells.

- Single-threat decks: Answer the threat cleanly and avoid over-sweeping empty boards. March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, and Field of Ruin matter more than Supreme Verdict when the opponent commits one large creature, planeswalker, land threat, or protected permanent at a time. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto and Mystical Dispute only when the single threat is backed by blue or noncreature stack pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: extra Supreme Verdict lines unless the opponent can pivot into multiple attackers.

- Tempo: Win the mana exchange before trying to win the card exchange. Prioritize untapped lands, cheap interaction, and passing with No More Lies, Change the Equation, Dovin's Veto, Get Lost, or March of Otherworldly Light available; cast Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, or Elspeth, Storm Slayer only when Veles shows the opponent cannot punish the tap-out or when waiting is worse. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute, Dovin's Veto, and Emeritus of Ideation in blue tempo mirrors where stack fights define turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Farewell and slow sorcery-speed threats.

- Control: Protect mana development and resolve a durable source of advantage. Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, and creature-lands like Hall of Storm Giants and Restless Anchorage are your main pressure points; do not fire No More Lies into low-impact bait if a planeswalker, draw engine, or opposing finisher is likely next. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Ultima if their visible text matters in long games. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Supreme Verdict and some March of Otherworldly Light when target density is low.

- Combo: Identify the axis, then spend permission on the enabling spell rather than the cleanup spell when possible. Keep No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Narset, Parter of Veils, and High Noon when their visible text constrains the opponent’s sequence; Card text check required for High Noon and Change the Equation if the runtime text is unavailable. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute against blue combo, Hallowed Moonlight against noncast creature-entry combo, and Rest in Peace against graveyard combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Supreme Verdict and creature-only removal unless the combo uses battlefield creatures as required pieces.

- Big mana: Counter the payoff and pressure the mana when the legal line is visible. Field of Ruin should target utility lands or creature-lands when that disrupts the opponent’s next decisive turn, while No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, and Narset, Parter of Veils should be held for high-impact spells over replaceable setup. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute if blue, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Ultima when long-game text is relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Get Lost and Supreme Verdict if the opponent presents few creatures or planeswalkers.

- Midrange: Trade one-for-one early, then force them to answer planeswalkers and card draw. March of Otherworldly Light and Get Lost should answer threats that snowball or attack planeswalkers, Supreme Verdict should punish overextension, and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or The Wandering Emperor should take over once both players are low on resources. Add role cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima for grindy post-board games. Reduce main-deck emphasis: High Noon if it slows your catch-up double-spell turns more than it constrains the opponent.

- Graveyard decks: Establish Rest in Peace before spending premium answers on recursive threats when possible. Use Hallowed Moonlight only for the exact noncast-entry window Veles exposes, and use Kutzil's Flanker when its visible mode attacks the graveyard or stabilizes combat. Keep Farewell if the opponent spreads resources across graveyard, artifacts, enchantments, or creatures. Add role cards: Rest in Peace, Hallowed Moonlight, Kutzil's Flanker, and Dovin's Veto. Reduce main-deck emphasis: High Noon, Narset, Parter of Veils, and slow threats if graveyard containment is the only urgent job.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: Keep exile and broad cleanup available. March of Otherworldly Light is the main cheap answer, Erode may be a dedicated answer but needs card text check, and Farewell is the reset when the opponent commits multiple permanent types. Do not spend Get Lost on a minor permanent if a must-answer planeswalker or creature is likely and March of Otherworldly Light already covers the artifact or enchantment. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto for noncreature engines and Ultima only if its visible text answers the axis. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Supreme Verdict when creatures are incidental.

- Removal-heavy decks: Stop trying to protect every creature token and lean into planeswalkers, lands, and card flow. The Wandering Emperor, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, and Narset, Parter of Veils punish opponents who overload on creature removal. Add role cards: Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute against blue removal shells, and Ultima when its text is a resilient threat or swing. Reduce main-deck emphasis: March of Otherworldly Light and Supreme Verdict only when the opponent’s post-board threat count visibly drops.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: Exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards and Veles legal-action output override every assumption here. Treat these notes as priority shortcuts for Explorer archetype classes, not as certainty about hidden cards, sideboard contents, or future lines.

- Fast creature decks: Preserve life total first and card advantage second until a sweeper or stabilizer is legal. Priority targets are haste threats, wide-board enablers, creatures that make Supreme Verdict awkward, and attackers that threaten The Wandering Emperor or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria on the next combat. Add role cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Kutzil's Flanker when visible text supports life, bodies, or combat stabilization. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Narset, Parter of Veils, and slow draw when the opponent is mostly battlefield pressure.

- Blue tempo and control: Fight on mana efficiency and protect the first durable advantage source. Priority targets are opposing card-advantage spells, planeswalkers, permission shields around a decisive threat, and creature-lands that pressure your walkers. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute, Dovin's Veto, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Ultima if visible card text is relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Supreme Verdict, Farewell, and some March of Otherworldly Light when the opponent presents few targets.

- Graveyard and recursion decks: Put containment ahead of normal one-for-one trading. Priority targets are graveyard engines, recursive threats, reanimation effects, and sacrifice loops that make Get Lost or Supreme Verdict inefficient. Add role cards: Rest in Peace, Hallowed Moonlight, Kutzil's Flanker, and Dovin's Veto. Reduce main-deck emphasis: High Noon, Narset, Parter of Veils, and slow finishers when the visible game is about stopping graveyard access.

- Combo and spell-chain decks: Identify the bottleneck and counter the enabler when Veles shows it on the stack. Priority targets are the spell that unlocks the sequence, the payoff if the enabler has already resolved, and any protection spell that would make later answers invalid. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute, Hallowed Moonlight for noncast creature-entry lines, and Rest in Peace for graveyard combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Supreme Verdict, Get Lost, and March of Otherworldly Light unless visible permanents are required combo pieces.

- Big mana and slow permanent decks: Use Field of Ruin and permission to keep the opponent from converting setup into a decisive permanent. Priority targets are utility lands, creature-lands, planeswalkers, noncreature engines, and high-impact permanents that survive Supreme Verdict. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute when blue, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Ultima if it is a long-game answer or finisher. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Get Lost and Supreme Verdict when creature density is low.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: The deck needs early untapped white and blue while also carrying Deserted Beach, Floodfarm Verge, Petrified Hamlet, Meticulous Archive, Field of Ruin, Restless Anchorage, Hall of Storm Giants, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Otawara, Soaring City. Do not keep hands that cannot cast No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, or Supreme Verdict on the relevant turns unless the matchup is visibly slow.

- Matchup risk: Creature pressure can punish hands built around Consult the Star Charts, Stock Up, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, and Farewell. Against fast boards, delay expensive card flow until a legal answer stabilizes combat or Veles shows the opponent cannot add lethal pressure.

- Draw risk: Stock Up and Consult the Star Charts are strong only when the next turn cycle is survivable. If the opponent has visible pressure, prefer March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Supreme Verdict, or Beza, the Bounding Spring over drawing cards into a battlefield already lost.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Adding too many narrow cards can weaken the core control shell. Keep enough main-deck answer diversity that March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, and planeswalker closers still cover unknown threats after revealed cards change the diagnosis.

- Graveyard risk: Rest in Peace can be decisive, but drawing multiple copies or casting it late can waste tempo. Use Hallowed Moonlight and Kutzil's Flanker only when their visible modes match the opponent’s current line; do not spend them as generic spells without a legal tactical purpose.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Supreme Verdict and Farewell are powerful but can strand planeswalkers or miss single threats if timed poorly. Do not sweep away minor boards when March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, The Wandering Emperor, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, or Otawara, Soaring City handles the only relevant object.

- Closer risk: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima require different protection windows. Card text check required for Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima; commit them only when legal text and visible board justify the tap-out.

- Interaction risk: No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, and Mystical Dispute lose value if spent on bait. Save permission for engines, planeswalkers, combo bottlenecks, and threats that invalidate your current answer suite.

- Sequencing risk: High Noon, Narset, Parter of Veils, and creature-land activations can conflict with double-spell catch-up turns. Before choosing them, verify the next legal sequence still leaves mana for removal, permission, or the required sweeper.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: Identify whether the game turned on survival, mana, permission timing, card velocity, a resolved planeswalker, a creature-land clock, graveyard containment, or a missed closing window.

- Mulligans: Record whether each keep had early untapped white and blue, at least one relevant answer among No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, Change the Equation, or Dovin's Veto, and a plan to reach Stock Up, Consult the Star Charts, The Wandering Emperor, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, or Farewell.

- Mana: Note every game where Deserted Beach, Floodfarm Verge, Petrified Hamlet, Meticulous Archive, Field of Ruin, Restless Anchorage, Hall of Storm Giants, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, or Otawara, Soaring City caused a missed turn-two answer, turn-three draw spell, turn-four Supreme Verdict, or protected planeswalker turn.

- Velocity: Check whether Consult the Star Charts and Stock Up were cast before the board was stable, after the board was stable, or stranded while interaction was required. Mark draws as successful only when they found a live answer, land, or closer before the opponent converted pressure.

- Engines: Track whether High Noon, Narset, Parter of Veils, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima advanced the visible position. Card text check required for Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima when judging why they succeeded or failed.

- Removal: Record whether March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Otawara, Soaring City answered the threats that mattered or were spent on objects later invalidated by a better sweeper, exile effect, bounce line, or planeswalker defense.

- Permission: Review each No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, and Mystical Dispute decision for target quality, mana efficiency, and whether passing would have preserved a stronger answer for the next visible spell.

- Sideboard: For each match, record which role cards were added, which main-deck emphasis was reduced, and whether Rest in Peace, Hallowed Moonlight, Kutzil's Flanker, Mystical Dispute, Dovin's Veto, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, or Ultima had legal, timely targets or sat idle.

- Closing: Note whether wins were closed by Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Emeritus of Ideation, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, or Ultima, and whether the deck gave the opponent extra draw steps after control was established.

- Role: Record whether the pilot correctly shifted from answer-first control to proactive closure once shields were adequate, especially after Supreme Verdict, Farewell, Rest in Peace, High Noon, Narset, Parter of Veils, or a protected planeswalker resolved.

- Mistakes: Flag avoidable losses from tapping out into known interaction, sequencing Field of Ruin over colored mana, activating creature-lands into visible removal, casting draw spells under lethal pressure, or holding removal until a sweeper that never became legal.

- Stranded cards: List cards stranded in hand and why: missing color, missing target, wrong matchup, too expensive, redundant legendary/permanent role, or unsafe tap-out window.

- Over/underperformers: Separate card performance by matchup class, not raw memory. A card overperformed only if it changed the game from the visible state; a card underperformed only if it was drawn or legally available and failed to matter.

## First Tuning Questions
- Card quantities: Does the main deck need more early interaction if No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, and Supreme Verdict were not enough against fast creature pressure?

- Card quantities: Are four Consult the Star Charts plus three Stock Up too much velocity when early turns require leaving mana open, or did those cards reliably find the stabilizer on time?

- Mana: Do Petrified Hamlet, Deserted Beach, Floodfarm Verge, Meticulous Archive, Field of Ruin, Restless Anchorage, Hall of Storm Giants, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Otawara, Soaring City support turn-two interaction and turn-four Supreme Verdict often enough?

- Aggro plan: Should the configuration lean harder on Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Kutzil's Flanker, Supreme Verdict, Farewell, and cheap exile if losses mostly came before Teferi, Hero of Dominaria could matter?

- Control plan: Should the configuration emphasize Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute, Narset, Parter of Veils, Emeritus of Ideation, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and Ultima more if mirrors were decided by protected advantage sources rather than battlefield cleanup?

- Closers: Are Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, The Wandering Emperor, Hall of Storm Giants, Restless Anchorage, Beza, the Bounding Spring, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima enough to end games before opponents rebuild?

- Sideboard slots: Did Rest in Peace appear in matchups where it had no text, or did graveyard opponents still win through it because the deck lacked pressure, permission, or follow-up removal?

- Sideboard slots: Did Hallowed Moonlight, Kutzil's Flanker, Mystical Dispute, and the extra Dovin's Veto line up with actual legal actions, or were they narrow cards without enough visible targets?

- Role conflicts: Did High Noon restrict the deck’s own catch-up turns with Consult the Star Charts, Stock Up, permission, and removal, or did it successfully compress opposing spell chains?

- Role conflicts: Did Narset, Parter of Veils, High Noon, Rest in Peace, and Farewell overlap constructively, or did too many non-closing control pieces leave the deck stabilized but unable to win?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Mulligan For Colored Interaction And Land Progression
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: No More Lies; March of Otherworldly Light; Get Lost; Supreme Verdict; Change the Equation; Dovin's Veto; Stock Up; Consult the Star Charts
Phase windows: opening hand, mulligan, post-mulligan bottom
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible hand; visible lands
Use when: deciding keep, mulligan, or bottom for any opener.
Avoid when: the engine exposes mandatory keep or no mulligan choice.
Instructions: Keep hands that produce early white and blue, cast a relevant answer by turn two or three, and have a path to four mana. Ship hands with slow lands only and no early answer against unknown opponents. Bottom expensive duplicate closers before unique cheap interaction unless the matchup is visibly slow.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Land Sequencing For Interaction
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Deserted Beach; Floodfarm Verge; Hallowed Fountain; Meticulous Archive; Petrified Hamlet; Island; Plains; Field of Ruin; Restless Anchorage; Hall of Storm Giants; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; Otawara, Soaring City
Phase windows: main phase, land play
Runtime cues: action:play; visible hand; available mana next turn
Use when: choosing the land drop before holding up No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, or Change the Equation.
Avoid when: a legal land choice is forced by the only land in hand.
Instructions: Prioritize untapped access to both white and blue before utility lands. Delay Field of Ruin, Restless Anchorage, and Hall of Storm Giants when they would prevent turn-two permission, turn-three velocity, or turn-four Supreme Verdict. Preserve Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire and Otawara, Soaring City as spell-like lands when colored mana is already stable.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction, priority
Cards: No More Lies; Dovin's Veto; Change the Equation; Mystical Dispute
Phase windows: opponent spell on stack, own spell on stack, planeswalker fight
Runtime cues: stack; action:cast No More Lies; action:cast Dovin's Veto; action:cast Change the Equation; action:cast Mystical Dispute
Use when: a counterspell is legal and the stack contains a visible spell.
Avoid when: the only legal choice is resolving a mandatory trigger.
Instructions: Spend permission on threats that beat current removal, card-advantage engines that outscale Stock Up and Consult the Star Charts, opposing permission that stops Teferi, Hero of Dominaria or The Wandering Emperor, and combo pieces that cannot be answered later. Do not counter low-impact creatures that Supreme Verdict, Farewell, March of Otherworldly Light, or Get Lost already cover unless life total or timing forces it.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tap-Out Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, mana
Cards: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria; The Wandering Emperor; Narset, Parter of Veils; Elspeth, Storm Slayer; Emeritus of Ideation; High Noon; Farewell; Beza, the Bounding Spring; Ultima
Phase windows: own main phase, post-combat main phase
Runtime cues: action:cast; action:activate; visible attackers; stack empty
Use when: choosing whether to spend most or all mana on a permanent, sweeper, or finisher.
Avoid when: opponent has lethal on board and an available answer is legal now.
Instructions: Tap out only when the play stabilizes the visible board, locks a key axis, or starts a protected clock. Prefer passing with permission when the opponent’s likely next spell is more dangerous than the current board. Card text check required for Elspeth, Storm Slayer, Emeritus of Ideation, and Ultima; use their legal actions only when visible text or prior validation confirms the role.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sweeper Timing Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction, priority
Cards: Supreme Verdict; Farewell
Phase windows: own main phase, emergency stabilization turn
Runtime cues: action:cast Supreme Verdict; action:cast Farewell; visible battlefield
Use when: a sweeper is legal and opposing battlefield pressure is visible.
Avoid when: a cheaper answer handles the only relevant threat while preserving your own winning board.
Instructions: Cast Supreme Verdict when waiting risks lethal, planeswalker collapse, or a board that will grow beyond spot removal. Cast Farewell when exile mode or broad cleanup is necessary and the delay is survivable. Do not sweep away your own stable closer unless the opponent’s visible board or graveyard axis demands it.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Spot Removal Target Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction, priority, combat
Cards: March of Otherworldly Light; Get Lost; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; Otawara, Soaring City; Erode
Phase windows: opponent combat, end step, own main phase, stack response
Runtime cues: action:cast March of Otherworldly Light; action:cast Get Lost; action:channel Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire; action:channel Otawara, Soaring City; action:cast Erode
Use when: a removal, exile, bounce, or erosion action is legal with visible targets.
Avoid when: a sweeper is legal next turn and life total plus planeswalker loyalty can absorb the damage.
Instructions: Answer the threat that most changes the next combat, protects an opposing engine, or invalidates your planeswalker plan. Prefer March of Otherworldly Light for exile-sensitive targets when card economy is acceptable. Use Get Lost when the target must die now despite any drawback. Card text check required for Erode; route through light reasoning until verified.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: High Noon Deployment Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, interaction
Cards: High Noon
Phase windows: own main phase, pre-combat main phase, post-board setup
Runtime cues: action:cast High Noon; stack empty; visible hand
Use when: High Noon is legal and the opponent’s deck or visible play pattern rewards multiple spells in a turn.
Avoid when: your hand requires same-turn removal plus draw, sweeper plus permission, or double-spell catch-up.
Instructions: Cast High Noon before the opponent’s explosive turn when your current hand can operate one spell at a time. Delay it when it strands Consult the Star Charts, Stock Up, No More Lies, March of Otherworldly Light, or Get Lost in sequences needed to survive.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Card Velocity Window
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection, priority
Cards: Consult the Star Charts; Stock Up; Narset, Parter of Veils
Phase windows: own main phase, opponent end step when legal, stable board
Runtime cues: action:cast Consult the Star Charts; action:cast Stock Up; action:activate Narset, Parter of Veils
Use when: a draw or selection action is legal.
Avoid when: the visible board requires immediate removal, sweeper, or permission this turn.
Instructions: Use velocity after answering the current must-answer threat or when digging is the only route to a missing land or sweeper. Prioritize finding land four, Supreme Verdict, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, and permission before redundant finishers. Protect Narset, Parter of Veils if her static role matters in the visible matchup.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Planeswalker Protection And Activation
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, combat, selection
Cards: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria; The Wandering Emperor; Narset, Parter of Veils; Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Phase windows: own main phase, opponent combat, planeswalker activation prompt
Runtime cues: action:activate Teferi, Hero of Dominaria; action:activate The Wandering Emperor; action:activate Narset, Parter of Veils; action:activate Elspeth, Storm Slayer
Use when: a planeswalker activation or flash planeswalker line is legal.
Avoid when: the planeswalker dies immediately to visible attackers and another answer stabilizes better.
Instructions: Choose activations that preserve the walker when the walker is the win condition, and choose card advantage when the battlefield is already controlled. Use The Wandering Emperor in combat to punish attacks or stabilize life when legal. Card text check required for Elspeth, Storm Slayer; evaluate only from visible legal options.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Creature-Land Closing Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat, mana, priority
Cards: Hall of Storm Giants; Restless Anchorage
Phase windows: own main phase, combat, opponent end step after shields
Runtime cues: action:activate Hall of Storm Giants; action:activate Restless Anchorage; action:attack with Hall of Storm Giants; action:attack with Restless Anchorage
Use when: creature-land activation or attack is legal.
Avoid when: activation removes mana needed for permission or exposes the land to visible removal without advancing lethal pressure.
Instructions: Start attacking after control is established or when the opponent will outscale a passive game. Keep mana open instead when No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, Change the Equation, Mystical Dispute, March of Otherworldly Light, or Get Lost is required for the next stack or combat.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Survival Blocks
Priority: High
Decision families: combat
Cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring; Kutzil's Flanker; The Wandering Emperor; Restless Anchorage; Hall of Storm Giants
Phase windows: declare blockers, combat damage prevention, emergency combat
Runtime cues: action:block; visible attackers; visible blockers
Use when: blockers are legal and incoming combat threatens lethal, planeswalkers, or a forced low-life state.
Avoid when: the only legal block sacrifices a crucial win condition and life total remains safe.
Instructions: Preserve life total over card advantage when burn, haste, or follow-up pressure is visible. Protect Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Narset, Parter of Veils, Elspeth, Storm Slayer, and The Wandering Emperor only when their next activation changes the game. Card text check required for Beza, the Bounding Spring and Kutzil's Flanker if their combat stats or abilities matter.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic No-Block Pass
Priority: Low
Decision families: combat
Cards: none
Phase windows: declare blockers
Runtime cues: action:no blocks
Use when: the legal action list contains `no blocks`, there are zero legal blocker assignments, and incoming damage is not lethal according to visible state.
Avoid when: any legal blocker assignment exists or visible damage is lethal.
Instructions: Select the no-block action only when the engine exposes no legal blocking alternatives and visible damage does not end the game.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Containment Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard, interaction, priority
Cards: Rest in Peace; Hallowed Moonlight; Kutzil's Flanker; Farewell
Phase windows: post-board main phase, opponent graveyard action, response window
Runtime cues: action:cast Rest in Peace; action:cast Hallowed Moonlight; action:cast Kutzil's Flanker; action:cast Farewell
Use when: a graveyard or creature-entry hate card is legal and opponent graveyard, exile, or stack context shows dependency.
Avoid when: the opponent’s visible plan ignores graveyards and the hate card costs a needed answer window.
Instructions: Deploy Rest in Peace early when graveyard dependence is visible or strongly identified by matchup guide. Hold Hallowed Moonlight for a stack or entry event when the legal text indicates it applies. Card text check required for Kutzil's Flanker; use only when visible modes or text confirm relevance.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard, pregame
Cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring; Dovin's Veto; Elspeth, Storm Slayer; Emeritus of Ideation; Hallowed Moonlight; Kutzil's Flanker; Mystical Dispute; Rest in Peace; Ultima; High Noon; Supreme Verdict; Farewell; Get Lost; March of Otherworldly Light; Consult the Star Charts; Stock Up; Change the Equation
Phase windows: sideboard after game, pregame sideboard lock
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; matchup label; game number; revealed cards
Use when: choosing a legal sideboard configuration after Game 1 or Game 2.
Avoid when: no sideboard prompt is active.
Instructions: Add cards that answer the opponent’s proven axis, then reduce main-deck emphasis that lacks legal targets. Against graveyard decks, prioritize Rest in Peace and relevant backup hate. Against control, prioritize Dovin's Veto, Mystical Dispute, extra threats, and resilient advantage. Against creature pressure, prioritize Beza, the Bounding Spring and removal/sweeper density.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Sideboard Submit After Selected Plan
Priority: Low
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: none
Phase windows: sideboard confirmation
Runtime cues: action:submit sideboard
Use when: the current sideboard state already matches the selected legal plan and the only remaining legal action is submit or lock.
Avoid when: any planned sideboard card count differs from the visible current deck configuration.
Instructions: Submit only after verifying the registered 60 plus 15 is preserved and all visible sideboard deltas match the selected plan.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mandatory Mana Payment Execution
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: Hallowed Fountain; Deserted Beach; Floodfarm Verge; Meticulous Archive; Island; Plains; Petrified Hamlet
Phase windows: mana payment prompt
Runtime cues: action:pay
Use when: a spell or ability is already selected, the engine asks for a payment, and exactly one legal payment action is shown.
Avoid when: multiple payment actions differ by leaving up No More Lies, Dovin's Veto, March of Otherworldly Light, Get Lost, or Mystical Dispute.
Instructions: Choose the sole legal payment action when no mana-source choice remains. Route all competing source selections through light-model because future interaction depends on leftover colors.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Unknown Text Safeguard
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, interaction, selection, combat
Cards: Beza, the Bounding Spring; Consult the Star Charts; Elspeth, Storm Slayer; Emeritus of Ideation; Erode; Stock Up; Kutzil's Flanker; Ultima
Phase windows: any legal prompt involving listed cards
Runtime cues: action:cast; action:activate; action:choose; card text missing
Use when: a listed card appears in a legal action and the runtime card-text cache lacks verified text.
Avoid when: verified rules text and engine legal options are available.
Instructions: Treat legal actions as authoritative but do not infer hidden modes, triggers, or outcomes. Prefer lines whose visible labels directly solve the current problem. Write Card text check required in the decision reason when choosing or declining the action depends on unverified text.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
