# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Izzet Prowess is a Modern aggressive tempo deck built around cheap threats and dense one-mana spell volume. Registered main deck count validates to 60 cards, and registered sideboard count validates to 15 cards. Current tags are aggro, tempo, prowess, and spells; duplicated tag entries collapse to the same four role labels.

- Format status: Modern is the declared format, but runtime legality must be confirmed by the active rules engine and current card database before official testing. Card-name or legality uncertainty should stop at validation rather than be repaired by substitution.
- Stock/rogue/hybrid status: This is a hybrid Izzet Prowess shell. The stock core is 4 Monastery Swiftspear, 4 Dragon's Rage Channeler, 4 Slickshot Show-Off, 4 Lightning Bolt, 4 Lava Dart, 4 Mishra's Bauble, 4 Expressive Iteration, 4 Preordain, fetchlands, and Steam Vents. The rogue or custom-leaning elements are 1 Stormchaser's Talent, 1 Boomerang Basics, 1 Flashback, 4 Cori-Steel Cutter, and 2 Eddymurk Crab in the sideboard; card text check required for any tactical line involving unfamiliar or newly printed entries.
- Mana validation: The deck is primarily blue-red with splashless red pressure and blue selection. 3 Bloodstained Mire and 2 Arid Mesa can support red fetch sequencing but may not find every blue source; 4 Scalding Tarn, 4 Steam Vents, 1 Thundering Falls, and 2 Fiery Islet are the cleanest blue-access structure. Any keep that needs early Preordain or Expressive Iteration must have visible blue access or a realistic fetch path.
- Role validation: The deck should be piloted as threat-first pressure with tempo discipline, not as a long-game control deck. Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, and Cori-Steel Cutter are the main pressure engines; Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Mutagenic Growth, Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, and Expressive Iteration convert low mana into combat damage, card flow, and threat scaling.
- Legality and card-text concerns: Card text check required for Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Flashback, Cori-Steel Cutter, Thundering Falls, Consign to Memory, Eddymurk Crab, and any exact interaction involving those cards. Do not infer token creation, targeting rules, cost reduction, graveyard permissions, or trigger timing unless the rules engine exposes legal actions.
- Sideboard identity: The sideboard is configured for stack interaction, artifact pressure, graveyard decks, extra burst damage, larger removal, and alternate threats. Consign to Memory, Spell Pierce, Tormod's Crypt, Meltdown, Unholy Heat, Assault Strobe, and Eddymurk Crab must be mapped to exact matchups only after opponent archetype and visible threats are known.
- Opponent information status: No specific opponent decklist is supplied for this guide. Matchup guidance must therefore use broad archetype categories and runtime-visible public information; hidden cards, exact sideboard contents, and opponent hand composition must never be assumed.

## Thesis
Izzet Prowess assembles an early threat, cheap spell density, and a compressed damage turn before the opponent can stabilize. The main plan is to deploy Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter, then convert Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Mutagenic Growth, and Expressive Iteration into pressure, card selection, and lethal reach.

Prioritize threat plus velocity over reactive perfection. A hand with a one-mana threat and multiple cheap spells is usually closer to the deck's identity than a hand full of interaction, lands, or expensive card flow; a hand with only spells and no early threat needs a clear Preordain or Mishra's Bauble path to find one quickly.

Win by forcing the opponent to answer the board while every untapped red source represents damage. Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart are both removal and reach, Mutagenic Growth is both protection and burst, and Expressive Iteration is the main way to reload without conceding tempo; sequence them according to legal actions and visible blockers rather than assuming a goldfish kill.

Do not play as a long-game control deck. Spell Pierce, Consign to Memory, Unholy Heat, Tormod's Crypt, and Meltdown can buy windows after sideboarding, but the deck is not trying to trade one-for-one forever; use interaction to protect pressure, break a stabilizing permanent, stop a decisive spell, or clear the path for a lethal attack.

Respect rules-engine output for unfamiliar or custom-leaning cards. Card text check required for Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Flashback, Cori-Steel Cutter, Thundering Falls, Consign to Memory, and Eddymurk Crab; use them only through visible legal actions, exposed triggers, and engine-confirmed timing.

## Role Package
- Threats: Monastery Swiftspear is the cleanest turn-one pressure card and rewards every cheap spell. Dragon's Rage Channeler turns spell volume into selection and graveyard pressure; do not assume delirium unless visible card types support it. Slickshot Show-Off is the explosive evasive threat when the rules engine exposes it as castable or playable. Cori-Steel Cutter is a primary pressure card, but card text check required before relying on token, trigger, equip, or combat assumptions. Stormchaser's Talent is a one-copy supplemental threat or engine; card text check required.

- Payoffs: The deck's payoff is cumulative combat damage plus burn reach, not a single protected finisher. Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, Dragon's Rage Channeler, and Cori-Steel Cutter should receive the first wave of cheap spells when the board can convert triggers into damage. Assault Strobe is a sideboard burst payoff; use only when the target, timing, and blockers make the exposed legal action materially advance lethal or near-lethal pressure.

- Engines: Mishra's Bauble is a zero-mana spell for trigger density, graveyard texture, and delayed card flow. Expressive Iteration is the highest-value reload spell and should usually be cast when land drop, mana, and immediate use of the exiled card are visible. Dragon's Rage Channeler is also an engine because surveil-like selection, if exposed by Forge, turns excess spells into better draw steps. Cori-Steel Cutter may be an engine if its current card text creates repeatable material; card text check required.

- Velocity: Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, Expressive Iteration, and Fiery Islet keep low-land pressure hands functioning. Use Preordain to find missing land, threat, or lethal spell according to the current hand, not generically. Use Expressive Iteration after cheap plays when possible, but do not delay a lethal or survival action merely to maximize card advantage.

- Interaction: Lightning Bolt is the flexible baseline for creatures, planeswalkers if legal, and opponent life total. Lava Dart is efficient against small creatures and combines with spell-trigger turns, but sacrificing Mountain is a real cost. Unholy Heat handles larger threats after sideboard when its condition is live or its base mode is sufficient. Spell Pierce and Consign to Memory protect tempo against expensive or decisive noncreature lines; card text check required for Consign to Memory. Meltdown is the artifact reset sideboard module.

- Protection: Mutagenic Growth protects a creature from damage-based interaction when legal and also pushes lethal damage. Spell Pierce protects threats from removal or sweepers after sideboarding, but only when the opponent's visible mana and stack action make it live. Do not spend protection on a low-impact creature if saving it prevents a stronger follow-up or lethal line.

- Recursion: Lava Dart is the main known recursive card, using its graveyard mode only when the legal action is exposed and the Mountain cost is acceptable. Flashback is a one-copy card with card text check required; do not infer that it grants recursion or changes graveyard permissions unless the engine exposes the legal action.

- Mana: The mana module is red-first with blue selection. Steam Vents, Scalding Tarn, Thundering Falls, and Fiery Islet are the primary blue-access cards; Bloodstained Mire and Arid Mesa are mainly red fetch support unless the current engine card database confirms a legal blue source path. Mountain preserves life and fuels Lava Dart, while Fiery Islet converts flooding into cards.

- Sideboard modules: Consign to Memory and Spell Pierce are stack-interaction modules. Tormod's Crypt is the graveyard module. Meltdown is the artifact module. Unholy Heat is the larger-removal module. Assault Strobe is the burst module. Eddymurk Crab is an alternate threat or stabilizing module only after card text check required confirms its role.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Monastery Swiftspear spell-combat kill: Set up with a red source, Monastery Swiftspear, and at least two cheap spells such as Mishra's Bauble, Lava Dart, Lightning Bolt, Preordain, or Mutagenic Growth. Execute by converting legal spell casts into prowess damage before combat damage, while holding Mutagenic Growth when it can either protect from visible damage-based interaction or create lethal. Prioritize this path when Monastery Swiftspear is deployed on turn one, the opponent has few visible blockers, or the hand contains enough velocity to keep attacking through the first removal spell.

- Slickshot Show-Off burst kill: Set up by preserving a clear attack window for Slickshot Show-Off and stocking cheap spells that can be cast in the same turn. Execute only through engine-confirmed legal timing, then stack Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Expressive Iteration, and Mutagenic Growth around the visible blocker and removal situation. Prioritize this path when evasion or a low-blocker battlefield makes one large combat step better than spreading damage across multiple turns.

- Dragon's Rage Channeler pressure plus selection: Set up with Dragon's Rage Channeler and a stream of noncreature spells; do not assume delirium unless the visible graveyard has the required card types. Execute by using Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Lava Dart, Lightning Bolt, and Expressive Iteration to improve draws while attacking whenever legal combat is favorable. Prioritize this path when the opening hand needs card quality, when the opponent is likely to trade resources early, or when the game will be won by maintaining threat density rather than a single all-in attack.

- Cori-Steel Cutter material-pressure line: Set up with Cori-Steel Cutter when the engine exposes a legal cast or activation that creates pressure. Card text check required before assuming token production, equipment behavior, trigger timing, or combat stats. Execute by following visible rules output and pairing the permanent with cheap spells only when the resulting legal actions clearly increase damage, board presence, or lethal reach. Prioritize this path when creature removal threatens Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Slickshot Show-Off and a more resilient permanent-based threat is available.

- Burn reach finish: Set up by tracking opponent life, visible blockers, and graveyard Lava Dart permissions. Execute with Lightning Bolt to the opponent when legal and lethal or when combat damage plus burn forces a win before stabilization; use Lava Dart from hand or graveyard only when the Mountain cost does not break the next required play. Prioritize this path when attacks are stalled, the opponent is at low life, or preserving creatures is less important than converting known cards into immediate damage.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Expressive Iteration reload pressure: Use Expressive Iteration to rebuild after removal or to find the next threat, burn spell, or land drop. The strongest execution point is when current mana and land-drop status let the exiled card be used immediately; do not cast it purely for value if a legal attack, protection spell, or burn line is already lethal.

- Preordain and Mishra's Bauble smoothing: Use Preordain to find the missing piece named by the current hand: threat when threatless, land when stuck, burn when racing, or protection when a single creature matters. Use Mishra's Bauble as a zero-mana spell for trigger density and delayed card flow, but respect that the replacement card arrives later rather than solving the current stack immediately.

- Lava Dart recursion pressure: Use Lava Dart's graveyard mode only when the legal action is visible and sacrificing Mountain still leaves enough mana for the turn's required Lightning Bolt, Preordain, Expressive Iteration, or creature deployment. This line is strongest against one-toughness creatures, planeswalker or opponent life totals when legal, and prowess turns where the extra spell matters as much as the damage.

- Mutagenic Growth tempo swing: Use Mutagenic Growth as a combat-damage amplifier when it changes the clock, wins combat, protects a key attacker, or creates lethal. Avoid spending it just because it is free if the visible board suggests a better future protection window for Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Slickshot Show-Off.

- Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, and Flashback are conditional alternate resources. Card text check required for all three; use them only when the rules engine exposes legal actions and the visible result advances pressure, recovers cards, clears a blocker, or protects tempo.

## Emergency Lines
- Behind on life: Shorten the clock instead of trying to stabilize indefinitely. Favor legal attacks, burn to opponent when it creates a faster race, and Mutagenic Growth for lethal or survival math; use Lightning Bolt or Lava Dart on creatures only when the blocker or attacker changes the race materially.

- Behind on board: Clear the creature that prevents the most damage from connecting or threatens the fastest loss. Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart are the main-board tools; preserve Lava Dart's Mountain cost unless removing a small creature unlocks attacks, prevents lethal, or adds the spell count needed for a decisive turn.

- Behind on cards: Use Expressive Iteration and Preordain to rebuild toward threat plus cheap spell density. Do not keep trading Lightning Bolt for low-impact targets if the opponent's life total is already within burn-and-combat range.

- Behind on mana: Fetch and sequence lands to cast the visible hand before maximizing damage. Prioritize red access for Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, and Slickshot Show-Off; add blue when Preordain or Expressive Iteration is needed to escape the mana pinch.

- Engine or threat removed: Redeploy the next threat rather than hoarding spells with no payoff. If no threat is visible, use Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, and Expressive Iteration to find Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter before committing Mutagenic Growth as mere damage.

- Opponent combo or graveyard recursion pressure: Race unless a visible legal action directly disrupts the decisive turn. Main deck disruption is limited, so convert creatures and burn into the fastest clock; after sideboard, the relevant emergency tools are Tormod's Crypt, Spell Pierce, Consign to Memory, Unholy Heat, Meltdown, Assault Strobe, and Eddymurk Crab only when boarded and legally available.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable tempo resource, not a cushion. Use Steam Vents untapped, Fiery Islet mana, fetch lands, and Mutagenic Growth life payment when the gained mana or spell count changes a turn cycle, protects pressure, or creates lethal; decline life payments when the visible race says one extra opposing attack or burn spell would become decisive.

- Hand cards convert into damage only when a threat or engine is present. Prioritize keeping Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter on board before emptying Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, and Mutagenic Growth for low-impact spell count.

- Mana is the bottleneck for burst turns despite the low curve. Save zero-mana and alternate-cost effects such as Mishra's Bauble, Mutagenic Growth, and graveyard Lava Dart for turns where they add prowess-style pressure, enable Slickshot Show-Off combat math, or let Expressive Iteration plus a played exiled card happen in the same turn.

- Board presence is a premium resource because most spells need a body to multiply damage. Protect or replace the first threat before chasing marginal card selection; a hand of spells without Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter should use Preordain and Expressive Iteration to find pressure.

- Graveyard value is conditional and visible. Count card types for Dragon's Rage Channeler only from the revealed graveyard, use Lava Dart from graveyard only when the engine exposes the legal action, and treat Unholy Heat after sideboard as stronger only when the graveyard state actually supports the required text; Card text check required for any uncertain threshold.

- Exile is mostly a short-term decision zone. With Expressive Iteration, choose and sequence so the exiled card can be played this turn when possible; do not exile a card that the current mana, land drop, or timing rules cannot use unless the engine offers no better legal selection.

- Lands are both mana and costs. Mountain supports Lava Dart recursion, fetch lands fix colors and thin future draws only incidentally, Fiery Islet can turn excess land into a card later, and Thundering Falls should be treated as a tapped setup land unless the rules engine shows otherwise.

- Sacrifice fodder is scarce. Do not sacrifice Mountain to Lava Dart or Fiery Islet to draw unless the resulting spell, card, or damage matters more than keeping mana for Lightning Bolt, Preordain, Expressive Iteration, sideboard interaction, or future double-spell turns.

- Tempo is the deck's main exchange rate. Trade cards for life-total pressure, blockers removed, or protected attacks; avoid fair one-for-one lines that leave the opponent stable and the Veles player without a threat.

- Information comes from public zones and rules-engine prompts. Use Mishra's Bauble, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil-style decisions when legally shown, fetch decisions, and opponent revealed cards only as visible data; never assume hidden removal, combo pieces, or land drops beyond public information.

- Sideboard bullets are role resources, not generic upgrades. Consign to Memory, Spell Pierce, Tormod's Crypt, Meltdown, Unholy Heat, Assault Strobe, and Eddymurk Crab should be valued by the matchup problem they answer and by whether they preserve the deck's pressure density.

## Mana Guide
- Fetchland matrix: `Scalding Tarn` is the best fetch because it cleanly finds `Steam Vents`, `Mountain`, or `Thundering Falls` according to the current turn. `Bloodstained Mire` and `Arid Mesa` should usually find `Mountain` when the hand is red-heavy or life is under pressure, and should find `Steam Vents` only when the current or next turn needs blue for `Preordain`, `Expressive Iteration`, `Consign to Memory`, or `Spell Pierce`. Do not crack a fetch just for thinning if `Mishra's Bauble`, `Dragon's Rage Channeler`, or a known top card makes the shuffle decision strategically relevant.

- One-land keeps require the one land to cast the first threat or the first smoothing spell. `Steam Vents` is the best one-land keep because it supports red threats and blue selection; `Mountain` is keepable with red pressure plus `Mishra's Bauble` or burn; `Fiery Islet` is riskier because repeated mana costs life; `Thundering Falls` is a keep only when entering tapped does not skip the first meaningful action. Two-land hands should prefer one painless or fetchable red source plus one blue source so `Lightning Bolt`, `Lava Dart`, `Slickshot Show-Off`, `Preordain`, and `Expressive Iteration` all stay live.

- Land-before-draw rule: play `Mountain`, `Steam Vents`, or `Fiery Islet` before drawing when the turn already requires guaranteed mana for a threat, burn spell, or sideboard answer. Draw-before-land is better when `Preordain`, `Mishra's Bauble`, or `Expressive Iteration` can determine whether the land drop should be `Steam Vents`, `Mountain`, `Thundering Falls`, or `Fiery Islet`; with `Expressive Iteration`, preserve the land drop when legal so an exiled land can be played from the Iteration pile.

- Prioritize red as the first color because the deck's pressure and burn are red-heavy. Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Slickshot Show-Off, Mutagenic Growth support turns, and many combat kills require reliable red before blue smoothing matters.

- Add blue early when the hand needs selection or reload. Preordain and Expressive Iteration justify Steam Vents, Thundering Falls, or Fiery Islet access, especially in hands that need to find a second threat, a second land, or the final burn spell.

- Keep one-land hands only when the land casts the visible plan and the cheap selection is legal. A one-land hand with red threat plus Mishra's Bauble and Preordain is more plausible with blue-red access; a one-land hand without a threat, without Preordain, or with only Fiery Islet pain as repeated mana should be treated cautiously.

- Fetch for untapped Steam Vents when the turn needs both colors immediately. Fetch basic Mountain when the hand is red-dense, life is under pressure, or Lava Dart's future sacrifice cost matters more than blue access; fetch Thundering Falls only when a tapped land is acceptable and the engine confirms the desired timing.

- Sequence tapped and utility lands before burst turns. If Thundering Falls is the land for the game, play it on a turn where no one-mana threat or interaction is being sacrificed; if Fiery Islet is the second or third land, account for life payments before choosing an all-in race.

- Play land before draw when the current turn requires guaranteed mana. If casting Expressive Iteration, prefer holding the land drop until after the spell when legal and useful, so an exiled land can be played; if casting Preordain or using Mishra's Bauble without needing mana first, delay fetch or land decisions when the visible line benefits from new information.

- Preserve Mountain when Lava Dart recursion is strategically relevant. Sacrifice Mountain only for lethal, to remove a decisive one-toughness creature, to add a needed spell trigger, or to prevent an immediate loss; avoid cutting off Expressive Iteration or double-spell turns for one damage.

- Spend Fiery Islet as a card only after mana is excess. Sacrifice it when flooding, digging for lethal, or recovering from removal; keep it when the next turn needs blue-red mana or when life total makes repeated pain risky but the land still casts spells.

- Sideboard mana must be planned before the turn starts. Hold blue for Consign to Memory or Spell Pierce when those cards are the reason for the keep, hold red for Unholy Heat or Meltdown when creature or artifact pressure is visible, and avoid optional Mutagenic Growth or Lava Dart costs that strand the boarded answer.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: one or two lands with Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler, at least one cheap spell, and either Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Lightning Bolt, or Lava Dart. This hand starts pressure, uses mana immediately, and can convert later Mutagenic Growth or Expressive Iteration into damage instead of recovery.

- Strong keep: two lands, Slickshot Show-Off, Preordain or Mishra's Bauble, and two cheap spells such as Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, or Mutagenic Growth. This hand can sculpt turn 1, commit Slickshot Show-Off on turn 2, and threaten a turn 3 burst without needing hidden draws.

- Medium keep: Cori-Steel Cutter plus two lands and several one-mana spells is acceptable when the hand also has Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Preordain. Treat Cori-Steel Cutter hands without a first threat or selection as slower engine hands that need a matchup reason.

- Risky keep: one land plus Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, and a one-mana threat is playable on the draw or when the land casts the threat and selection. Ship one-land hands with only Expressive Iteration as smoothing, with no threat, or with Fiery Islet as repeated painful mana under visible fast pressure.

- Automatic ship: zero-land hands, five-land hands without Fiery Islet plus Expressive Iteration, and hands with no Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, Preordain, or Mishra's Bauble. Also ship spell-heavy hands that cannot cast a turn 1 or turn 2 meaningful play.

- Trap hand: multiple Mutagenic Growth, Lava Dart, and Lightning Bolt with no creature or Cori-Steel Cutter looks explosive but does not multiply damage. Keep only if Preordain or Mishra's Bauble can immediately dig for pressure and the matchup rewards burn-only tempo.

- Trap hand: Expressive Iteration with one land and no Preordain is not a reliable keep because the card is strongest after land two. Keep only when Mishra's Bauble plus the draw step give enough visible looks and the first land casts the early plan.

- Play/draw: on the play, demand a turn 1 threat or Preordain into a clear turn 2 threat plan. On the draw, accept slightly slower hands with two lands, Expressive Iteration, and interaction because the extra card improves land and threat density.

- Matchup-dependent: against fast creature decks, prioritize Monastery Swiftspear, Lava Dart, Lightning Bolt, and Unholy Heat after sideboard over slow selection piles. Against graveyard or artifact plans, keep Tormod's Crypt or Meltdown only when the rest of the hand still applies pressure.

- Card text check required: keep decisions involving Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Flashback, Eddymurk Crab, or Assault Strobe should rely on visible legal actions and confirmed text. Do not treat any of these as protection, reach, or a combo piece unless the engine exposes that function.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 priority: deploy Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler before spending cantrips when the mana supports it. If no threat is available, use Preordain to find one; use Mishra's Bauble when it improves the next draw or adds a low-cost spell for a later Dragon's Rage Channeler or prowess turn.

- Turn 1 deviation: cast Lightning Bolt or Lava Dart only when a visible opposing creature will block, race, or enable a faster opposing engine. Avoid firing burn at the opponent on turn 1 unless the hand already has threat density and a clear damage race.

- Turn 2 priority: add Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, or a second cheap threat while keeping at least one cheap spell for pressure. If the first threat survived, sequence Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, or Mutagenic Growth to push damage only when the attack or card selection matters.

- Turn 2 Expressive Iteration rule: cast Expressive Iteration only when the land drop and mana make the exiled card realistically playable this turn. Prefer waiting until turn 3 if casting it now would strand the exile card or skip adding a threat.

- Turn 3 priority: choose between burst damage and reload based on visible board state. With Slickshot Show-Off or multiple attackers, chain cheap spells before combat when triggers matter; with removal-heavy opposition or no board, use Expressive Iteration or Preordain to rebuild instead of dumping burn.

- Turn 3 deviation: hold Mutagenic Growth when the opponent has open mana and the pump is not lethal or protective through visible combat. Use Mutagenic Growth aggressively when it changes lethal math, wins combat, or lets a creature survive damage shown by the rules engine.

- Turns 4-5 priority: convert every card into either lethal pressure, a blocker removed, or a new card. Use Fiery Islet only when extra mana is no longer needed, preserve Mountain for Lava Dart recursion when that damage or spell count is decisive, and keep Expressive Iteration lines mana-aware.

- Turns 4-5 sideboard arc: leave mana open for Consign to Memory or Spell Pierce only when the opposing deck's visible plan makes that interaction worth delaying damage. Use Meltdown, Tormod's Crypt, or Unholy Heat when the target class is visible and the play advances survival or lethal pressure.

- Late-game priority: topdeck mode favors live threats, Expressive Iteration, Fiery Islet draws, graveyard Lava Dart, and burn to finish the opponent. Do not spend Lightning Bolt or Lava Dart on low-impact targets if the opponent is within burn range and the board does not require immediate stabilization.

- Late-game deviation: if the opponent stabilizes with blockers or high life, rebuild around Dragon's Rage Channeler, Cori-Steel Cutter, Slickshot Show-Off, and cantrips rather than making isolated attacks. Treat every legal action as a question of whether it adds a threat, finds reach, or prevents the next decisive opposing turn.

## Card Roles
- Dragon's Rage Channeler is the best turn 1 threat when the hand can cast multiple noncreature spells and use surveil to fix draws. Cast it before Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Lava Dart, or Lightning Bolt when possible so those spells generate selection and graveyard progress; hold it only when a visible opposing removal spell or blocker makes a second threat-first line better. Treat delirium as a damage and card-quality plan, not a certainty, and do not assume the forced-attack drawback is harmless when the opponent has visible profitable blocks.

- Monastery Swiftspear is the cleanest pressure threat and should usually enter before nonessential cantrips. Cast it early, then sequence Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Lava Dart, Lightning Bolt, Mutagenic Growth, and Expressive Iteration around combat so prowess triggers convert into damage or combat survival. Avoid spending all cheap spells before attacking when the opponent has open interaction and no lethal pressure, because Monastery Swiftspear loses much of its threat value if the pump turn is answered.

- Slickshot Show-Off is the burst threat that rewards spell density and careful timing. Prefer casting it with at least one follow-up spell available soon, and avoid exposing it into obvious removal when a cheaper threat can test the opponent first. Use it as a commitment point: if the visible board offers lethal or near-lethal with cheap spells, prioritize precombat spell sequencing; if not, preserve enough resources that Slickshot Show-Off is not just a fragile two-mana attacker.

- Cori-Steel Cutter is the slower engine threat and should be prioritized when the game is likely to revolve around repeated noncreature spells rather than one immediate combat step. Cast it when the hand can keep triggering it across turns, especially with Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, Lava Dart, Lightning Bolt, and Expressive Iteration. Do not keep or play Cori-Steel Cutter as a standalone win condition when the visible board demands immediate blocking, removal, or lethal setup unless the engine output is already confirmed by legal actions.

- Lightning Bolt is both reach and the most efficient way to clear blockers. Use it on creatures when a visible target will block a high-damage attack, shorten the opponent's clock, or enable an engine; aim it at the opponent when it contributes to lethal math or preserves future topdeck reach. Do not fire Lightning Bolt into open prevention, protection, or counterplay unless the rules engine shows the line is legal and the damage is still worth the card.

- Lava Dart is a spell-count card, small-creature answer, and late reach source. Cast the front half when it kills a visible creature, adds a decisive prowess trigger, or sets up lethal; use the graveyard line only when sacrificing Mountain will not cut off necessary red mana or Expressive Iteration follow-up. Avoid sacrificing the only Mountain casually, especially when the hand needs repeated red sources or sideboard interaction.

- Mutagenic Growth is a burst, protection, and combat-math card rather than a generic cantrip. Use it when it creates lethal, saves a creature from visible damage, wins combat, or turns a blocked attacker into a favorable exchange. Be cautious with life payment against fast decks and do not cast it just to trigger prowess when the extra damage is not relevant or the opponent can answer the creature in response.

- Mishra's Bauble is free spell count, draw smoothing, and graveyard fuel. With Dragon's Rage Channeler, cast it after the Channeler when possible so surveil can shape the delayed draw; with Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter, save it for turns where the free spell changes combat or engine output. Do not crack timing blindly if a known top card, fetch land, or Preordain line creates a better draw decision.

- Preordain is the main low-cost sculpting spell and should usually find missing pieces: first a threat, then land two, then lethal reach or protection. Cast it before committing to weak keeps or uncertain Expressive Iteration turns, but after a turn 1 Dragon's Rage Channeler when surveil value matters. Bottom low-impact extras when the visible game requires pressure, and keep removal or lands when the board shows a concrete need.

- Expressive Iteration is the reload spell that becomes strongest when the deck can play the exiled card immediately. Prefer casting it with two or more available mana and an unplayed land drop, especially on turn 3 or later; avoid turn 2 casts that exile an uncastable card or delay deploying Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, or a one-mana threat. In topdeck mode, it is often the best route to rebuild after removal, but it still must respect mana and visible pressure.

- Stormchaser's Talent is a one-copy role card with tactical use conditional on confirmed rules text. Card text check required: if legal actions show it creates or improves a prowess threat, treat it as a pressure engine; if legal actions show graveyard recursion or copying, use it only when the visible target spell and mana make that line concrete. Do not assume protection, reach, or inevitability from the name alone.

- Boomerang Basics is a one-copy role card with tactical use conditional on confirmed rules text. Card text check required: use only the choices exposed by the rules engine, and prefer lines that remove a blocker, disrupt a high-impact permanent, or create lethal tempo when the action text confirms that function. Do not treat it as generic bounce, mana denial, or protection unless the visible legal action says so.

- Flashback is a one-copy role card with tactical use conditional on confirmed rules text. Card text check required: if the engine exposes it as recursion or an additional spell source, value it when the graveyard contains a high-impact exact card and mana supports the follow-up. Do not assume it grants flashback broadly or enables any graveyard line unless the legal action text identifies the exact card or effect.

- Steam Vents is the primary untapped blue-red source and should often enter untapped when the hand needs turn 1 Dragon's Rage Channeler, Monastery Swiftspear, Preordain, Mishra's Bauble sequencing, or turn 2 Slickshot Show-Off. Preserve life when the opening hand already has the required color and no urgent spell requires shock mana.

- Scalding Tarn, Bloodstained Mire, and Arid Mesa are color-fixing, graveyard, and draw-manipulation tools. Use fetch lands to find Steam Vents, Mountain, or Thundering Falls according to the needed colors, current life total, and whether Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, or Dragon's Rage Channeler has revealed a top-card reason to shuffle. Do not fetch casually under a low life total when Fiery Islet or Mutagenic Growth may also cost life.

- Mountain is important because Lava Dart can require sacrificing a Mountain and because painless red mana matters against fast decks. Avoid using the last Mountain as a Lava Dart cost unless the damage, spell count, or creature kill is decisive.

- Fiery Islet is a painful dual source early and a redraw late. Use it when color access is worth the life, then sacrifice it once extra mana is less valuable than another spell, especially in stalled boards or after flooding. Do not lean on repeated Fiery Islet activations against aggressive pressure unless the draw is needed to survive or win immediately.

- Thundering Falls is a one-copy land that should be treated according to legal actions and visible tempo. Card text check required for any non-mana tactical function; if it enters tapped or has surveil-like utility, weigh that setup value against the deck's need to spend mana on the first two turns.

## Interaction Priorities

- Remove blockers before spending reach when a creature attack represents more damage than Lightning Bolt to face. Prioritize visible creatures that block Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Cori-Steel Cutter tokens profitably; use Lightning Bolt or Lava Dart on the blocker when that unlocks a larger attack this turn or preserves a lethal attack next turn.

- Kill small mana creatures and combo enablers early when the opponent's deck can outscale the race. Lava Dart is best against one-toughness creatures because the graveyard half can also add spell count later; Lightning Bolt is for higher-toughness creatures, must-kill threats, or blockers that would otherwise force a bad combat.

- Save Unholy Heat for creatures or planeswalkers Lightning Bolt cannot cleanly answer. After sideboarding, treat Unholy Heat as the high-ceiling removal spell and avoid spending it on a target that Lava Dart or Lightning Bolt can handle unless survival, lethal, or tempo requires it.

- Counter payoff spells before setup spells when using Spell Pierce or Consign to Memory. Spell Pierce should usually protect a threat, stop a sweeper, stop a large noncreature payoff, or win a stack fight during a lethal turn; do not spend it on low-impact cantrips unless the opponent is constrained on mana and the tempo swing is concrete.

- Use Consign to Memory on high-impact legal targets only when the counter or trigger interaction matters this turn cycle. Against artifact, colorless, Eldrazi, or triggered-engine decks, hold it for the spell, ability, or trigger that changes the race; against fair creature decks, board and cast it only when the matchup presents real targets.

- Exile graveyards with Tormod's Crypt at the last safe moment before the opponent gains value. Do not fire it just because cards are present; use it when a visible graveyard spell, recursion trigger, reanimation line, delirium-style payoff, escape-style resource, or death-trigger chain is about to matter according to legal actions and public information.

- Use Meltdown as a tempo reset, not as a generic sideboard spell. Cast it when the artifact board is worth spending mana and a card, especially if it clears blockers, mana artifacts, artifact creatures, or lock pieces that prevent attacks; avoid destroying incidental artifacts if the opponent can ignore the exchange and keep racing.

- Treat Boomerang Basics as conditional interaction until card text is confirmed. Card text check required: if legal actions show it can bounce a blocker, land, spell, or permanent, prefer the bounce line only when it creates lethal tempo, buys a full turn, or removes a critical obstacle; do not assume generic bounce or mana denial from the name alone.

- Bait removal and counters with the lowest necessary commitment before exposing the best threat. Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler can draw early interaction; Slickshot Show-Off and Cori-Steel Cutter are higher payoff when protected by mana, Spell Pierce, Mutagenic Growth, or a follow-up spell chain.

- Ignore low-impact creatures when racing is already favored. Do not waste Lightning Bolt on a creature that cannot block profitably, cannot race the current board, and does not enable the opponent's engine; point damage upstairs or preserve removal for the next relevant blocker.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack when spell sequencing makes the combat step materially better than waiting. Monastery Swiftspear and Slickshot Show-Off reward casting spells before damage, but do not cast every spell precombat if the opponent may remove the creature in response and the spell would be stronger after blocks or as reach.

- Preserve the first threat when the hand contains engine density but few creatures. Mutagenic Growth should protect Dragon's Rage Channeler, Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, or an important Cori-Steel Cutter body from damage-based removal or combat damage when saving it preserves several future spell triggers.

- Trade creatures only when the exchange protects tempo or life total. A Monastery Swiftspear trade is acceptable if it removes a blocker and leaves Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, or Cori-Steel Cutter to finish the game; trading Slickshot Show-Off is poor unless it creates lethal damage, prevents lethal crackback, or forces the opponent to spend multiple resources.

- Count life payments as combat resources against aggressive decks. Steam Vents, Fiery Islet, fetch lands, and Mutagenic Growth can make attacks stronger, but avoid paying life when the opponent can win the return race with visible creatures or burn-like public information.

- Block rarely, but block decisively when the race is lost on visible damage. Use expendable tokens, a spent Dragon's Rage Channeler, or a low-value Monastery Swiftspear to preserve enough life for a lethal backswing; avoid blocking with Slickshot Show-Off unless survival or a winning counterattack requires it.

- Use Lava Dart after blocks when one damage changes combat math. The front half can finish a damaged blocker, and the graveyard half can add another trigger or point of damage; sacrifice Mountain only when the resulting kill, protection from lethal, or face damage is worth losing that mana source.

- Hold Mutagenic Growth through blocks when the opponent must make a bad block without knowing it. Cast it after blockers are declared if legal and useful, especially to save a creature, win a trade, or convert a chump block into lethal pressure.

- Shift archetype posture by matchup speed. Against slower decks, preserve threats and attack relentlessly while saving Spell Pierce for sweepers or stabilizers; against faster creature decks, remove blockers and race only when life math supports it; against combo or graveyard decks, pressure quickly while keeping the specific sideboard interaction that stops their decisive turn.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Treat this deck as pseudo-selection, not tutor selection. There are no true tutor effects in the registered list, so runtime decisions should optimize Preordain, Expressive Iteration, Mishra's Bauble, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil triggers, fetch lands, and graveyard setup rather than searching for a named card on demand.

- Use Preordain to solve the next two turns before chasing maximum damage. Keep a missing land when the hand already has Dragon's Rage Channeler, Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter; keep a threat when the hand has lands and spells but no durable attacker; keep Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Mutagenic Growth, or sideboard interaction when visible board state makes that effect immediately relevant.

- Bottom low-impact duplicates when they do not change the current race. Extra lands after the second or third mana source, redundant Mishra's Bauble with no Dragon's Rage Channeler or delirium pressure, and excess expensive or conditional cards should go bottom unless Expressive Iteration, Cori-Steel Cutter, Stormchaser's Talent, or a sideboard plan makes the mana/card count matter.

- Sequence Mishra's Bauble around information and triggers. Cast it before combat when prowess, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil, Cori-Steel Cutter spell-count, or Slickshot Show-Off damage matters; hold it briefly when the choice of target for the Bauble look changes fetch timing, Preordain decisions, or whether to commit a one-turn kill.

- Pair Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil with graveyard needs. Keep cards on top when they are immediately castable or fix the next land drop; mill cards when delirium, Lava Dart flashback, or future Expressive Iteration value is more important than drawing that card naturally.

- Use fetch lands as selection tools after top-card information. If Mishra's Bauble or Dragon's Rage Channeler shows an unwanted top card, crack Bloodstained Mire, Scalding Tarn, or Arid Mesa before the draw when life and mana allow; if the top card is wanted, avoid unnecessary shuffling unless landfall, color, or deck-thinning assumptions are irrelevant to the legal action.

- Cast Expressive Iteration when the exiled-card window can be used. Prefer it with a land drop available, one or two mana still usable afterward, and a hand that can cast at least one cheap spell from exile; avoid using it as a blind precombat spell if the likely exiled card cannot be played this turn and combat damage already requires mana.

- Choose Expressive Iteration piles by immediacy. Put the best next-turn card into hand, exile a land or cheap spell that can be played this turn, and bottom the card least likely to matter before the game ends; do not exile a reactive Spell Pierce, Consign to Memory, or Tormod's Crypt line unless the current turn can legally use it.

- Treat Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, and Flashback as card-text-sensitive selection inputs. Card text check required: when legal actions expose draw, recursion, bounce, or spell-copy choices from those cards, prioritize the option that preserves pressure, unlocks lethal, or recovers a specific visible resource without assuming unavailable modes.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Spend priority on board-changing spells before decorative spell count. Cast Dragon's Rage Channeler, Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter at the earliest safe main-phase point when the threat is needed; cast Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, and Mutagenic Growth around that threat only when the resulting trigger, surveil, token, or damage changes the turn.

- Keep instant-speed damage flexible until blockers, removal, or lethal math are clear. Lightning Bolt can remove a blocker, answer a creature, or finish the opponent; choose the face line only when visible life totals and available follow-up spells make the race or kill more valuable than preserving interaction.

- Use Lava Dart as two separate stack resources. The front half is cheap damage and a spell trigger; the graveyard half is a later trigger or final point, but sacrificing Mountain is a real cost, so flash it back only for lethal, a decisive combat exchange, an important one-toughness target, or a needed second spell for Cori-Steel Cutter-style sequencing.

- Hold Mutagenic Growth for the last useful priority window when possible. Use it after blockers, in response to damage-based removal, or during a lethal attack when the opponent has committed; cast it proactively only when a prowess trigger, Slickshot Show-Off burst, or Cori-Steel Cutter timing requirement is worth exposing the creature.

- Let low-impact opposing spells resolve when pressure is winning. Do not spend Spell Pierce or Consign to Memory on cantrips, setup, or expendable artifacts unless the legal target is the opponent's only way to survive, stabilize, combo, or interact with the current threat.

- Fight on the stack for threats and lethal turns. Spell Pierce should protect Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or a lethal Lightning Bolt line when the opponent's spell would break the attack; Consign to Memory should be reserved for the visible artifact, colorless, triggered, or high-impact spell/ability it was sideboarded to answer.

- Fire Tormod's Crypt in response to the graveyard action, not at the first graveyard card. Use it when the opponent commits a legal recursion, escape-style, delirium-style, reanimation, death-trigger, or graveyard-count payoff; waiting preserves pressure and avoids giving the opponent a fresh graveyard to rebuild.

- Cast Meltdown only when the stack and battlefield justify the tempo loss. Use it before combat if it clears artifact blockers or mana that would change blocks; use it after developing a threat only if delaying does not let the opponent untap into a better board.

- Respect optional payments and copied-spell prompts as tactical choices. Pay life for Mutagenic Growth only when the damage, protection, or trigger matters more than the life; make any Stormchaser's Talent, Flashback, Boomerang Basics, or Assault Strobe prompt conditional on visible legal text because card text check required for non-obvious modes.

- Pass priority deliberately when the stack favors waiting. If the opponent is tapped low, shields are down, and the current attack is already lethal or nearly lethal, preserve resources; if a visible removal spell, sweeper, graveyard action, or blocker would change the outcome, hold priority with the matching instant or sideboard card available.

## Sideboard Map

- Role-board by opposing axis, not by card novelty. Izzet Prowess should sideboard to preserve the one-threat-plus-spells plan while changing which cheap spells interact profitably; keep enough Dragon's Rage Channeler, Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, and Expressive Iteration density that post-board hands still attack quickly.

- Consign to Memory is for colorless spells, triggered abilities, and artifact-adjacent or Eldrazi-style turns where one blue mana can stop the card that matters. Add role cards against colorless big-mana decks, artifact combo, cascade-like trigger decks, decks relying on high-impact triggered abilities, and opponents whose stabilizing card is colorless rather than merely expensive. Reduce main-deck emphasis on low-impact pump or selection when the matchup is decided by stopping one visible payoff. Consign to Memory is poor against creature-swarm decks, red removal races, and opponents whose key cards are colored creatures or cheap removal.

- Spell Pierce is the cheap protection and tempo-counter slot. Add role cards against control, combo, cascade-style noncreature turns, removal-heavy midrange, planeswalker or sweeper decks, and matchups where protecting Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, Monastery Swiftspear, or a lethal Lightning Bolt line matters more than adding more damage. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow card advantage or conditional pump when the opponent's best card is a noncreature spell. Spell Pierce gets worse when games go long, when the opponent has abundant spare mana, or when their relevant interaction is mostly creatures, battlefield abilities, or already-resolved permanents.

- Unholy Heat is the large-creature answer that becomes much better when delirium is realistic. Add role cards against creature decks with blockers too large for Lightning Bolt or Lava Dart, against midrange threats that halt combat, and against planeswalker lines where direct damage to the player is less urgent than clearing the board. Reduce main-deck emphasis on narrow burst-damage cards when the opponent can force trades or present oversized blockers. Unholy Heat is weakest when delirium cannot be assembled, when the opponent has few creatures or planeswalkers, or when the race is decided before a removal spell matters.

- Tormod's Crypt is graveyard interaction that costs no mana but costs a card and a spell slot. Add role cards against graveyard combo, reanimation, escape-style pressure, dredge-style engines, delirium-reliant threats, and decks whose public graveyard is a visible resource. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slower selection or redundant card-advantage spells when a single graveyard window decides the game. Tormod's Crypt is poor when the opponent uses the graveyard incidentally, when it does not stop their battlefield, or when drawing it instead of a spell leaves a threat too small to race.

- Meltdown is the artifact battlefield reset. Add role cards against artifact aggro, artifact mana, artifact combo, Urza's Saga-style artifact boards, and decks that build blockers or mana rocks faster than Lightning Bolt can answer. Reduce main-deck emphasis on one-for-one burn when the opponent's artifacts are numerous or when a single scalable spell can open combat. Meltdown is bad when only one artifact is relevant, when the opponent's pressure is creature-based without artifacts, or when spending mana sorcery-speed prevents a lethal prowess turn.

- Assault Strobe is the one-card burst finisher. Add role cards against opponents with light removal, low blocker density, combo decks that force a speed race, and matchups where one protected Slickshot Show-Off, Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Cori-Steel Cutter token can end the game immediately. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slower value only when the matchup rewards a concentrated kill. Assault Strobe is bad into open removal, dense blockers, fog/prevention effects, and board states where no creature can safely connect; because it is a sorcery, do not treat it as protection.

- Eddymurk Crab is sideboard pressure or interaction only if its visible card text supports the role shown by the rules engine. Card text check required. Add role cards when the legal action text shows it improves the matchup's required axis, such as adding a hard-to-answer threat, slowing combat, or interacting with a visible card type. Reduce main-deck emphasis on the least relevant low-impact spell only after confirming the card's runtime role. Eddymurk Crab is bad when its text is not known, when it does not affect the opponent's decisive axis, or when it slows the deck below the opponent's clock.

Artifact Aggro / Artifact Combo
Side in: 2 Meltdown, 2 Unholy Heat, 2 Spell Pierce
Cut: 1 Assault Strobe? invalid

Artifact Aggro / Artifact Combo Balanced Plan
Side in: 2 Meltdown, 2 Unholy Heat, 2 Spell Pierce
Cut: 1 Stormchaser's Talent, 1 Boomerang Basics, 1 Flashback, 3 Mutagenic Growth

- Plan notes: Meltdown is the highest-impact card when the opponent presents multiple artifacts, Unholy Heat answers large artifact creatures or nonartifact blockers, and Spell Pierce protects tempo against noncreature payoffs. Keep Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart when they clear small blockers or finish the opponent after Meltdown opens the board. Preserve enough cheap spells for Cori-Steel Cutter and Slickshot Show-Off; do not overload on reactive cards if the opponent's artifact count is low in the revealed game.

Graveyard Combo / Graveyard Pressure Balanced Plan
Side in: 2 Tormod's Crypt, 2 Spell Pierce, 2 Unholy Heat
Cut: 1 Stormchaser's Talent, 1 Boomerang Basics, 1 Flashback, 3 Mutagenic Growth

- Plan notes: Tormod's Crypt handles the decisive graveyard window while Spell Pierce fights enablers, protection, or payoff spells. Unholy Heat comes in when graveyard decks also present creatures that must be removed, especially if delirium will naturally occur through Mishra's Bauble, fetch lands, cheap instants, sorceries, and creatures. Avoid firing Tormod's Crypt only to reduce card count; wait for a visible legal action or a public graveyard state where exiling the graveyard changes the opponent's next play.

Colorless Big Mana / Trigger-Payoff Balanced Plan
Side in: 4 Consign to Memory, 2 Spell Pierce, 1 Assault Strobe
Cut: 1 Stormchaser's Talent, 1 Boomerang Basics, 1 Flashback, 4 Lava Dart

- Plan notes: Consign to Memory is the defining sideboard card when the opponent's payoff is a colorless spell or triggered ability. Spell Pierce covers colored setup, sweepers, or protection when the opponent must spend early turns developing mana. Assault Strobe raises the chance of ending the game before big mana dominates. Lava Dart loses value when the opponent has few one-toughness creatures; keep it only if revealed targets make the front half and flashback matter.

Removal-Heavy Control / Combo Balanced Plan
Side in: 2 Spell Pierce, 1 Assault Strobe, 2 Eddymurk Crab
Cut: 1 Boomerang Basics, 1 Flashback, 3 Lava Dart

- Plan notes: Spell Pierce protects the threat or disrupts the opponent's pivotal noncreature spell. Assault Strobe is for closing while the opponent is tapped low or after Spell Pierce can protect the creature. Eddymurk Crab requires card text confirmation; use this plan only when its visible role is better than low-damage Lava Dart in the matchup. If Eddymurk Crab is not confirmed, prefer only the smaller Spell Pierce plus Assault Strobe adjustment and keep the main-deck spell density stable.

Creature Midrange / Large Blockers Balanced Plan
Side in: 2 Unholy Heat, 2 Spell Pierce
Cut: 1 Stormchaser's Talent, 1 Boomerang Basics, 2 Mutagenic Growth

- Plan notes: Unholy Heat clears blockers that invalidate small prowess attacks, while Spell Pierce protects a key threat from removal or stops a noncreature stabilizer. Keep Lightning Bolt as both removal and reach. Keep some Mutagenic Growth when combat math matters, but avoid hands where pump spells are the only way to beat every blocker.

- Archetype rule: against fast creature decks, add removal before counters unless the opponent's best stabilizer is noncreature. Unholy Heat and Meltdown should change combat immediately; Spell Pierce should only enter when it has visible targets such as sweepers, pump, combo pieces, or removal that would break a lethal attack.

- Archetype rule: against slow decks, add protection and burst without diluting threats. Spell Pierce and Assault Strobe are strongest when they help one creature survive and deal lethal; Consign to Memory joins only when the opponent's relevant spell or triggered ability is colorless or otherwise legally targetable.

- Archetype rule: against graveyard decks, Tormod's Crypt is a timing card, not a decorative spell trigger. Cast it when mana efficiency matters or when a spell trigger is useful, but activate it only when the public graveyard or stack shows a concrete payoff, recursion attempt, or threshold that must be denied.

- Archetype rule: against artifact boards, Meltdown should be planned around your own turn structure. Cast it before committing combat damage when it removes blockers or mana that affects blocks; delay it only when a threat-first line produces more damage and the opponent cannot punish the delay.

- Role-change rule: Dragon's Rage Channeler becomes more important in post-board games with Unholy Heat because surveil and card-type diversity support delirium. Mishra's Bauble, fetch lands, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Preordain, Expressive Iteration, and creature deaths should be valued partly by whether they turn on Unholy Heat without sacrificing lethal pressure.

- Role-change rule: Mutagenic Growth loses value when the opponent's interaction is exile, bounce, sacrifice, or counterplay rather than damage. Keep it higher when it wins combat, beats damage-based removal, or turns Slickshot Show-Off into lethal; reduce its emphasis when sideboard interaction must answer a noncombat axis.

- Role-change rule: Lava Dart is matchup-polar. Keep it high against one-toughness creatures, planeswalker pressure at low loyalty, and lethal spell-count turns; reduce its emphasis against large blockers, colorless big-mana decks, and graveyard matchups where sacrificing Mountain or spending a card on one damage does not change the race.

- Role-change rule: Expressive Iteration remains a post-board glue card unless the matchup is too fast for a two-mana selection turn. Keep it when sideboard cards are high-impact and the game may go to turn four or later; reduce emphasis only when every mana must become immediate damage, pressure, or interaction.

## Matchup Guidance
- Aggro: Race with a threat-first plan, then use Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, and Unholy Heat to remove blockers or attackers only when the exchange changes the next combat step. Add role cards: Unholy Heat against large creatures, Meltdown against artifact creature boards, and Eddymurk Crab only after card text is confirmed as relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Flashback, and extra Mutagenic Growth when pump does not win combat or protect a creature from damage. Keep Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler hands that cast multiple spells early; avoid slow Expressive Iteration turns when the opponent can force lethal before the extra card matters.

- Burn: Protect life total by treating fetch-shock sequencing as part of the matchup, not an afterthought. Prefer basic Mountain or tapped Thundering Falls when legal tempo loss is acceptable, and avoid unnecessary Steam Vents damage unless it enables a faster lethal line or required blue spell. Add role cards: Spell Pierce for noncreature burn or anti-creature interaction, Unholy Heat if the opponent presents creatures that must be answered, and Assault Strobe only when the race is decided by one protected attack. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Flashback and Boomerang Basics if their text does not immediately affect damage, life, or blockers. Mutagenic Growth is strong only when it creates lethal, saves a threat from damage, or wins a race without costing life at a critical point.

- Go-wide creature decks: Use Lava Dart and Lightning Bolt to break up early boards before they turn every combat into a forced block. Add role cards: Meltdown if the board is artifact-heavy, Unholy Heat for oversized payoff creatures, and Eddymurk Crab only with confirmed card text. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Assault Strobe-style burst plans when one blocker or token can absorb the combat step, and reduce reliance on single pump spells unless Slickshot Show-Off can attack over the board. Prioritize Cori-Steel Cutter and repeated cheap spells when they create enough board presence to race, but do not sacrifice Mountain to Lava Dart unless the flashback changes a visible combat, lethal clock, or prowess count.

- Control: Commit one cheap threat early, then use Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil, and Expressive Iteration to keep drawing action without overextending into a reset. Add role cards: Spell Pierce, Assault Strobe, and Eddymurk Crab only after card text confirms it improves pressure or resilience. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Lava Dart when there are no one-toughness targets and Boomerang Basics or Flashback unless confirmed text answers a specific control axis. Preserve fetch lands for Dragon's Rage Channeler and card-type management when possible, and choose priority passes carefully when holding Lightning Bolt because end-step reach may be better than main-phase damage.

- Removal-heavy decks: Lead with redundancy and card flow instead of a single all-in pump line. Add role cards: Spell Pierce to protect Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter from visible interaction; Assault Strobe when the opponent is tapped low or already forced to answer another threat; Eddymurk Crab if confirmed as a resilient threat or pressure card. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mutagenic Growth against exile, bounce, sacrifice, or destroy effects it cannot stop. Do not spend Mishra's Bauble or Preordain lazily; every surveil, selection, and graveyard card type can matter for Dragon's Rage Channeler and Unholy Heat.

- Tempo mirrors: Fight over mana efficiency and board initiative, not raw card count. Add role cards: Spell Pierce for opposing interaction and tempo plays, Unholy Heat for larger threats, and Assault Strobe only when a protected attack ends the game. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow two-mana spells when holding up mana is more important, and reduce Lava Dart only if there are no small creatures. Sequence Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler so each spell either adds damage, filters toward more action, or keeps up protection; avoid tapping low for Expressive Iteration if the opponent can untap and steal the race.

- Midrange: Use early pressure to force awkward removal, then reload with Expressive Iteration and Preordain before large blockers stabilize. Add role cards: Unholy Heat for blockers that Lightning Bolt cannot answer, Spell Pierce for removal or stabilizing noncreature spells, and Assault Strobe when a single evasive or pumped Slickshot Show-Off attack can close. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Lava Dart when one damage is low impact, and Mutagenic Growth when combat is not the axis. Dragon's Rage Channeler is a premium card because surveil improves draw quality and helps turn on delirium for Unholy Heat.

- Single-threat decks: Identify whether the visible threat must be removed, raced, or ignored for one turn. Add role cards: Unholy Heat for the large creature plan, Spell Pierce for protection or the threat spell if legally targetable, and Consign to Memory when the decisive threat, spell, or triggered ability is colorless and legal for it. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Lava Dart unless it contributes to lethal, delirium, or a multi-spell turn. Use Lightning Bolt on the opponent only when the threat cannot be answered profitably and the fastest damage line is the only realistic plan.

- Combo: Present the fastest clock that still leaves interaction for the opponent's pivotal stack window. Add role cards: Spell Pierce against noncreature enablers or payoff spells, Consign to Memory when the combo relies on colorless spells or triggered abilities it can legally answer, Tormod's Crypt against graveyard-dependent combo, and Assault Strobe when shortening the clock is more important than grinding. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal that lacks targets and Lava Dart when one damage does not disrupt the combo. Do not fire Spell Pierce into a low-value setup spell if the opponent's visible mana and public game state suggest a more decisive spell is coming.

- Graveyard decks: Deploy pressure while holding Tormod's Crypt for the graveyard state that matters. Add role cards: Tormod's Crypt, Spell Pierce for enablers or payoff spells, and Unholy Heat when creatures are part of the plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Flashback, and some Mutagenic Growth if they do not affect the graveyard race. Activate Tormod's Crypt only when a public graveyard, stack object, or visible threshold makes exile immediately relevant; casting it for spell count is acceptable only when that spell count materially advances Cori-Steel Cutter, Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, or lethal damage.

- Artifact or enchantment decks: Use Meltdown as the highest-impact artifact-board reset, but still keep enough pressure to punish recovery. Add role cards: Meltdown, Unholy Heat for large artifact creatures, Spell Pierce for noncreature payoffs, and Consign to Memory when colorless spells or triggered abilities are central and legal targets. Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact pump if blockers invalidate combat, and Lava Dart if the opponent's battlefield is too large for one damage. For enchantment-heavy opponents, Card text check required for Boomerang Basics, Flashback, and Eddymurk Crab before assigning them a role; do not assume an answer exists without legal action text.

- Big mana: Kill quickly while using narrow interaction on the first payoff that changes the game. Add role cards: Consign to Memory for colorless spells or triggered abilities, Spell Pierce for setup or stabilizers, and Assault Strobe to compress the clock. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Lava Dart when there are no small targets, and creature removal unless the opponent's visible threats require it. Keep hands with a threat plus cantrips over reactive-only hands; a delayed answer without pressure usually gives the opponent time to make every answer too small.

- General runtime rule: Let legal actions and visible information override these matchup heuristics every time. Use Preordain, Expressive Iteration, Mishra's Bauble, Dragon's Rage Channeler, and fetch lands to find the sideboard role cards that matter, but do not name or play around exact hidden cards unless revealed, logged, or strongly implied by public game actions.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only notes: Exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards, public actions, and legal Veles actions override every assumption below. Treat the first revealed threat, removal spell, graveyard object, artifact engine, or big-mana payoff as the real matchup signal, then use Preordain, Expressive Iteration, Mishra's Bauble, fetch lands, and Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil to bias toward the relevant sideboard role cards.

- Creature-pressure opponents: Preserve life total only when it protects a winning attack or another full turn of spells. Likely sideboarding adds Unholy Heat for larger creatures and may keep Lava Dart if one-toughness creatures are visible; priority targets are blockers that stop Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Cori-Steel Cutter pressure. Do not spend Lightning Bolt on the opponent if a visible creature will erase more damage over the next attack step.

- Removal-heavy opponents: Force them to answer multiple threats instead of one oversized combat. Likely sideboarding adds Spell Pierce and possibly Eddymurk Crab after Card text check required; priority targets are removal, sweepers, and stabilizing noncreature spells that would strand Mutagenic Growth or Assault Strobe. Avoid all-in Assault Strobe or Mutagenic Growth lines unless opponent mana, hand information, or stack state makes interaction unlikely.

- Graveyard opponents: Apply pressure while holding Tormod's Crypt until a public graveyard state matters. Likely sideboarding adds Tormod's Crypt, Spell Pierce, and sometimes Unholy Heat; priority targets are graveyard enablers on stack, payoff spells, and public graveyard thresholds. Do not activate Tormod's Crypt merely for spell count unless the spell count creates immediate lethal or a decisive Cori-Steel Cutter, Monastery Swiftspear, or Slickshot Show-Off turn.

- Artifact opponents: Treat Meltdown as a swing card, not a license to keep slow hands. Likely sideboarding adds Meltdown, Consign to Memory when colorless spells or triggers are legal targets, and Unholy Heat for large artifact creatures; priority targets are artifact boards that block profitably, mana engines, and payoff permanents. Keep enough threats after sideboarding so Meltdown is followed by damage, not just parity.

- Big-mana and colorless opponents: Shorten the clock and spend narrow interaction only on payoff windows. Likely sideboarding adds Consign to Memory, Spell Pierce, and Assault Strobe; priority targets are colorless spells or triggered abilities legal for Consign to Memory, setup spells legal for Spell Pierce, and stabilizers that stop combat. Reactive hands without Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, or strong selection are risky.

- Combo opponents: Race first, interact at the pivotal visible window second. Likely sideboarding adds Spell Pierce, Consign to Memory when legal, Tormod's Crypt if public graveyard dependency appears, and Assault Strobe when speed matters more than resilience; priority targets are payoff spells, engine triggers, and graveyard conversion points. Do not waste interaction on low-impact setup when the opponent's mana and public sequence imply a more decisive action is coming.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: Steam Vents, fetch lands, Fiery Islet, Mountain, and Thundering Falls must support one-mana threats, red removal, blue selection, and multi-spell turns without needless shock damage. Fetch choices should preserve red for Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Monastery Swiftspear, Slickshot Show-Off, and Mutagenic Growth turns while still enabling Preordain and Expressive Iteration.

- Matchup risk: The deck can misidentify the opponent and sideboard into narrow answers without pressure. Keep the core damage plan intact unless public information proves Meltdown, Tormod's Crypt, Consign to Memory, Spell Pierce, Unholy Heat, Assault Strobe, or Eddymurk Crab changes the actual game.

- Draw risk: Hands with spells but no threat often fail to convert prowess triggers into damage. Mulligan or select toward Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter unless the hand has exceptional interaction plus Preordain or Expressive Iteration.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Cutting too many Lava Dart, Mutagenic Growth, Mishra's Bauble, or cheap cantrips reduces spell density for prowess-style turns. Sideboard cards must either protect damage, answer a visible axis, or accelerate a kill.

- Graveyard risk: Dragon's Rage Channeler and Unholy Heat care about graveyard texture, while opponents may punish graveyard reliance. Use Mishra's Bauble, fetch lands, Lava Dart, and card-type diversity deliberately, but do not assume delirium or flashback-style value without rules-engine confirmation.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Single-threat hands lose badly to visible removal or sweepers. Sequence redundant threats, hold Spell Pierce when sideboarded, and avoid Mutagenic Growth or Assault Strobe exposure into open mana unless the attack is lethal or waiting is worse.

- Closer risk: Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart can finish games, but spending them early may leave the opponent alive at low life. Track exact visible damage from attackers, prowess triggers, Mutagenic Growth, Assault Strobe, and burn before choosing creature removal over face damage.

- Interaction risk: Consign to Memory, Spell Pierce, Unholy Heat, Meltdown, and Tormod's Crypt are powerful only in the right window. Let legal target text decide what can be answered, and never assume a spell can counter, exile, destroy, or prevent something without a legal action.

- Sequencing risk: Expressive Iteration, Preordain, Mishra's Bauble, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil, fetch lands, and Lava Dart timing can change every later choice. Prioritize sequencing that preserves mana, maximizes known draws, fills useful card types, and keeps lethal or protection available.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Record whether each win or loss was decided by an unanswered Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, Cori-Steel Cutter, burn reach from Lightning Bolt or Lava Dart, sideboard interaction, mana failure, or inability to close after early damage.

- Mulligans: Note whether the opening hand contained at least one credible threat among Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter, and whether keeping a no-threat hand was rescued by Preordain, Expressive Iteration, or Mishra's Bauble.

- Mana: Track whether Steam Vents, Mountain, Thundering Falls, Fiery Islet, Bloodstained Mire, Scalding Tarn, and Arid Mesa produced the needed red and blue timing without excessive shock or pain damage. Flag hands where Expressive Iteration or Preordain was delayed by missing blue, or Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, and Slickshot Show-Off were delayed by missing red.

- Velocity: Count turns where the deck cast two or more spells with a threat in play, and separate true pressure turns from cantrip-only turns that did not add damage. Mark whether Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Expressive Iteration, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil, and fetch lands improved draw quality or merely spent mana and time.

- Engine performance: Record whether Cori-Steel Cutter created meaningful pressure before removal or blockers stabilized. Note whether Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, and Flashback were cast, stranded, or selected away; Card text check required before assigning precise tactical credit to those singletons.

- Removal use: Review every Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, Unholy Heat, Meltdown, and Tormod's Crypt decision for whether it protected attacks, removed a blocker, answered a decisive public engine, or should have gone to the opponent's life total. Flag Lava Dart flashback choices that sacrificed a Mountain or red source before the damage swing justified the mana loss.

- Sideboard impact: For each post-board game, identify which sideboard card actually mattered: Consign to Memory, Assault Strobe, Unholy Heat, Spell Pierce, Tormod's Crypt, Meltdown, or Eddymurk Crab. Mark sideboard cards that stayed stranded, lacked legal targets, or reduced threat density without improving the matchup.

- Closing discipline: Check whether the pilot counted exact damage from attackers, prowess-style triggers, Mutagenic Growth, Assault Strobe, Lightning Bolt, and Lava Dart before passing, trading, or spending burn on creatures. Flag losses where the opponent survived at low life after burn was used too defensively.

- Role accuracy: Record whether the pilot correctly stayed aggro, shifted into tempo with Spell Pierce or Consign to Memory, or tried to play control without enough card advantage. Flag games where interaction was held too long while the opponent stabilized.

- Mistakes and stranded cards: List visible sequencing errors involving fetch lands, Mishra's Bauble timing, Expressive Iteration timing, Mutagenic Growth exposure, Assault Strobe all-in attacks, and priority passes into open removal. Name overperformers and underperformers by exact card name.

## First Tuning Questions

- Threat count question: If too many games start without Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Slickshot Show-Off, or Cori-Steel Cutter, should Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, Flashback, or a flex spell become an additional reliable threat or threat-adjacent card after card text checks?

- Spell-density question: If Cori-Steel Cutter, Monastery Swiftspear, and Slickshot Show-Off underperform because the deck cannot chain spells, should the mix of Mutagenic Growth, Mishra's Bauble, Preordain, Expressive Iteration, Lava Dart, and Lightning Bolt be adjusted toward cheaper velocity rather than reactive cards?

- Mana question: If Steam Vents and Fiery Islet damage causes losses against fast opponents, should the land mix change toward more painless red access, or is the blue requirement for Preordain and Expressive Iteration too important to reduce? Track whether Thundering Falls enters at awkward times.

- Graveyard question: If Dragon's Rage Channeler or Unholy Heat misses key thresholds, should the deck increase card-type diversity, preserve Mishra's Bauble and fetch sequencing more carefully, or accept that graveyard pressure from opponents makes those cards less reliable post-board?

- Removal question: If large blockers or creature engines dominate, are 2 Unholy Heat enough, or should main-deck Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart use patterns change before adding more removal slots?

- Closing question: If opponents stabilize at one to five life, should Assault Strobe become a more central post-board closer, should Mutagenic Growth counts change, or should burn be reserved more aggressively for face damage?

- Sideboard-slot question: If Consign to Memory, Spell Pierce, Tormod's Crypt, Meltdown, or Eddymurk Crab lacks legal targets in repeated matchups, should those slots move toward broader interaction or additional threats? Card text check required before tuning around Eddymurk Crab.

- Role-conflict question: If sideboarding makes the deck slower without gaining inevitability, should plans reduce main-deck emphasis less aggressively and preserve more Mishra's Bauble, Lava Dart, Preordain, and threat density?

- Singleton question: If Stormchaser's Talent, Boomerang Basics, and Flashback repeatedly look low-impact, stranded, or unclear, should they be consolidated into cards that support the primary pressure plan more consistently after exact text verification?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Mulligan To Threat Plus Mana
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Slickshot Show-Off; Cori-Steel Cutter; Steam Vents; Mountain; Scalding Tarn; Bloodstained Mire; Arid Mesa; Preordain; Mishra's Bauble
Phase windows: pregame
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible opening hand
Use when: choosing keep or mulligan for any opening hand.
Avoid when: rules-engine output has already locked the keep decision.
Instructions: Keep hands with red mana, at least one credible threat, and enough cheap spells to convert early turns into damage. Mulligan hands with no threat unless Preordain or Mishra's Bauble plus stable mana clearly finds one before the opponent stabilizes. Value blue mana for Preordain and Expressive Iteration, but do not keep blue-only hands that cannot cast red threats or burn.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Threat Deployment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Slickshot Show-Off; Cori-Steel Cutter; Steam Vents; Mountain; Scalding Tarn; Bloodstained Mire; Arid Mesa
Phase windows: turn one through turn three main phases
Runtime cues: action:cast Monastery Swiftspear; action:cast Dragon's Rage Channeler; action:cast Slickshot Show-Off; action:cast Cori-Steel Cutter
Use when: a legal threat-cast action is available before the first real pressure source is on the battlefield.
Avoid when: visible interaction, tapped mana, or a sideboard role makes holding a threat materially safer.
Instructions: Lead with the threat that converts the most immediate spells into damage while preserving red mana. Prefer earlier board presence over sculpting unless the current hand lacks follow-up spells or must find land.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fetch And Shock For Functional Colors
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; selection
Cards: Scalding Tarn; Bloodstained Mire; Arid Mesa; Steam Vents; Mountain; Thundering Falls; Fiery Islet; Expressive Iteration; Preordain; Lightning Bolt; Lava Dart
Phase windows: all phases with land or fetch decisions
Runtime cues: action:activate Scalding Tarn; action:activate Bloodstained Mire; action:activate Arid Mesa; action:play Steam Vents; action:play Mountain; action:play Thundering Falls; action:play Fiery Islet
Use when: choosing land drops, fetch targets, or whether a shock land should enter untapped.
Avoid when: a legal action reveals exact lethal damage from the opponent next turn and life payment changes survival.
Instructions: Secure red first for threats, Lightning Bolt, Lava Dart, and Slickshot Show-Off. Secure blue when Preordain or Expressive Iteration is needed this turn or next turn. Pay life for Steam Vents only when that mana changes current pressure, interaction, or a necessary cantrip line.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Zero-Mana Velocity With Threats
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Mishra's Bauble; Mutagenic Growth; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Monastery Swiftspear; Slickshot Show-Off; Cori-Steel Cutter
Phase windows: main phases; combat before damage; opponent end step
Runtime cues: action:cast Mishra's Bauble; action:cast Mutagenic Growth
Use when: a zero-mana spell can trigger visible threat text or improve a known draw step.
Avoid when: spending the card exposes a creature to removal without changing damage, selection, or survival.
Instructions: Use Mishra's Bauble to add spell count and enable Dragon's Rage Channeler selection when the draw timing is acceptable. Use Mutagenic Growth when visible damage, creature survival, or lethal math justifies life payment and card exposure.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Mutagenic Growth Target
Priority: Low
Decision families: interaction; combat
Cards: Mutagenic Growth
Phase windows: combat before damage; any priority window with exactly one friendly creature legal target
Runtime cues: action:target self Mutagenic Growth
Use when: the only legal Mutagenic Growth target controlled by self is the single attacking or blocking creature shown in the legal action text.
Avoid when: two or more friendly creatures are legal targets, opponent removal is on stack, or target selection changes lethal math.
Instructions: Choose the exact self-controlled creature named by the only legal target action.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Lethal Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: combat; interaction; priority
Cards: Monastery Swiftspear; Slickshot Show-Off; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Cori-Steel Cutter; Lightning Bolt; Lava Dart; Mutagenic Growth; Assault Strobe
Phase windows: beginning of combat through combat damage
Runtime cues: prompt:attackers; prompt:priority before combat damage; action:cast Lightning Bolt; action:cast Lava Dart; action:cast Mutagenic Growth; action:cast Assault Strobe
Use when: visible attackers, pump, burn, and opponent life total create a possible lethal or near-lethal attack.
Avoid when: legal actions show no attackers or the opponent has visible blockers that absorb the line without advancing damage.
Instructions: Count visible damage before choosing attackers or spells. Commit pump and burn when the line kills, forces decisive blocks, or prevents the opponent from untapping into stabilization. Preserve burn for face when blockers do not need to die.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Lightning Bolt Face Target
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Lightning Bolt
Phase windows: any priority window
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Lightning Bolt
Use when: opponent life total is 3 or less, Lightning Bolt is legal, and no prevention, redirection, counter, or tax object is visible in the current stack or battlefield summary.
Avoid when: a creature, planeswalker, prevention effect, tax trigger, or stack interaction is visible and could change the result.
Instructions: Select the legal Lightning Bolt action that targets opponent.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Lava Dart Resource Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; mana; priority
Cards: Lava Dart; Mountain
Phase windows: any priority window; combat before damage
Runtime cues: action:cast Lava Dart; action:flashback Lava Dart; action:sacrifice Mountain
Use when: Lava Dart can remove a one-toughness blocker, finish the opponent, trigger pressure, or convert a Mountain into immediate decisive damage.
Avoid when: sacrificing Mountain strands Expressive Iteration, Slickshot Show-Off, Lightning Bolt, or later Lava Dart lines without current payoff.
Instructions: Treat Lava Dart flashback as a resource commitment, not free damage. Use the graveyard cast when the damage changes combat, lethal, or a key visible permanent; otherwise preserve land and spell density.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Cantrip And Iteration Sequencing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; mana; priority
Cards: Preordain; Expressive Iteration; Mishra's Bauble; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Scalding Tarn; Bloodstained Mire; Arid Mesa
Phase windows: main phases; opponent end step for zero-mana setup when legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Preordain; action:cast Expressive Iteration; action:activate Mishra's Bauble
Use when: choosing between draw smoothing, threat deployment, or holding mana.
Avoid when: immediate lethal, required removal, or a necessary sideboard answer should be cast first.
Instructions: Use cheap selection to find threats, land, or lethal spells before committing lower-impact actions. Sequence fetches and Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil with known-card information from Mishra's Bauble and Preordain when the visible order matters.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Expressive Iteration Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; mana; priority
Cards: Expressive Iteration
Phase windows: own main phase with blue and red mana planning available
Runtime cues: action:cast Expressive Iteration
Use when: the pilot can use the current turn's land play or cheap spell window to convert the exiled card.
Avoid when: casting Expressive Iteration consumes mana needed for lethal, interaction, or deploying the first threat.
Instructions: Cast Expressive Iteration when the current mana and land-drop state can use the extra card. Do not treat it as generic draw if the exile mode will waste a spell or force a bad land sequence.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Cori-Steel Cutter Engine Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; mana; combat
Cards: Cori-Steel Cutter
Phase windows: own main phase before attacks when legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Cori-Steel Cutter
Use when: deciding whether to commit Cori-Steel Cutter instead of more immediate threat, burn, or cantrip pressure.
Avoid when: the opponent can visibly punish a tapped-out permanent commitment and the hand already has a faster damage line.
Instructions: Commit Cori-Steel Cutter when it creates a durable pressure engine or converts cheap spells into better attacks. Delay it when the game is about exact damage this turn or holding interaction post-board.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Singleton Text-Check Gate
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Stormchaser's Talent; Boomerang Basics; Flashback
Phase windows: any legal cast or selection window
Runtime cues: action:cast Stormchaser's Talent; action:cast Boomerang Basics; action:cast Flashback
Use when: one of these singleton cards appears as a legal action.
Avoid when: the legal text does not expose enough card function to compare it against known pressure lines.
Instructions: Card text check required. Choose these cards only when rules-engine legal text and visible board state show their immediate tactical function; otherwise prefer known threat, burn, or selection actions.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Countermagic And Stack Interaction Post-Board
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Consign to Memory; Spell Pierce
Phase windows: opponent cast windows; own protected-combo or lethal windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Consign to Memory; action:cast Spell Pierce; prompt:stack response
Use when: a visible stack object would stop lethal, remove the only threat, resolve a decisive opposing engine, or invalidate the current tempo plan.
Avoid when: the stack object is low impact and spending permission prevents deploying pressure or holding a better answer.
Instructions: Spend permission to protect lethal, stop stabilizing plays, or preserve the only threat. Do not counter spells merely because legal; compare the opponent's visible mana, the current clock, and whether waiting loses the race.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal Allocation
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; combat; priority
Cards: Lightning Bolt; Lava Dart; Unholy Heat; Meltdown
Phase windows: main phases; combat; opponent priority windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Lightning Bolt; action:cast Lava Dart; action:cast Unholy Heat; action:cast Meltdown
Use when: removal can target a visible creature, artifact, or opponent.
Avoid when: the only target is low impact and burn to opponent or threat deployment advances the clock faster.
Instructions: Remove blockers that stop attacks, engines that race the deck, or artifacts that invalidate pressure. Send burn upstairs when visible combat already pushes damage and no must-kill permanent is present.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Interaction Timing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Tormod's Crypt
Phase windows: any legal activation window after sideboarding
Runtime cues: action:activate Tormod's Crypt
Use when: the opponent's graveyard contains public cards that enable an immediate or next-action graveyard payoff.
Avoid when: activating only reduces card count without stopping a visible payoff, threshold, recursion, or pending stack object.
Instructions: Hold Tormod's Crypt until the opponent commits to graveyard use or the public graveyard is about to become decisive. Do not spend it for cosmetic denial while pressure is the main plan.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Assault Strobe All-In Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: combat; interaction; priority
Cards: Assault Strobe; Slickshot Show-Off; Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Mutagenic Growth; Lightning Bolt; Lava Dart
Phase windows: own main phase before combat; combat before damage if legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Assault Strobe
Use when: Assault Strobe is legal and a self-controlled attacker can convert it into lethal or a decisive forced-block attack.
Avoid when: visible removal, untapped blockers, or missing pump makes the enchanted or targeted attack fail without meaningful damage.
Instructions: Treat Assault Strobe as a commitment spell. Cast it when damage math and visible defenses justify exposure; otherwise keep developing pressure or hold interaction.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Eddymurk Crab Text-Check Gate
Priority: Low
Decision families: sideboard; priority; interaction
Cards: Eddymurk Crab
Phase windows: post-board games; any legal cast or ability window
Runtime cues: action:cast Eddymurk Crab
Use when: Eddymurk Crab appears in hand or as a legal action after sideboarding.
Avoid when: its legal text is unavailable or its role does not improve the visible matchup.
Instructions: Card text check required. Use only when rules-engine text and matchup context show whether it is a threat, blocker, disruption piece, or engine card.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Consign to Memory; Assault Strobe; Unholy Heat; Spell Pierce; Tormod's Crypt; Meltdown; Eddymurk Crab; Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Slickshot Show-Off; Cori-Steel Cutter; Mishra's Bauble; Lava Dart; Mutagenic Growth; Preordain; Expressive Iteration
Phase windows: between games
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard
Use when: choosing post-board configuration from legal registered swaps.
Avoid when: a proposed plan violates registered 60 plus 15 preservation or cuts all early pressure.
Instructions: Add role cards that answer the opponent's public plan while preserving threat density and cheap spell count. Reduce main-deck emphasis from the least relevant flex spells, not from the core pressure shell unless the matchup demands a slower tempo posture.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
