# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Dimir Lurrus Control is a Vintage blue-black control-midrange deck with artifact acceleration, zero- and one-mana interaction, restricted card-draw/tutor effects, and low-cost creature pressure from Psychic Frog and Orcish Bowmasters. The registered main deck is 60 cards and the registered sideboard is 15 cards; the active validation contract says the list passes Vintage deck-count and sideboard-size checks, so the pilot should treat this as a legal submitted configuration unless the rules engine reports a later companion, sideboard, or card-legality issue.

The strategic identity is hybrid rather than pure stock or rogue: the shell uses recognizable Vintage Dimir control materials such as Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Brainstorm, Demonic Tutor, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Wasteland, Strip Mine, Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den, but the exact mix with Momentum Breaker, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Urza's Saga, Mishra's Bauble, Lorien Revealed, and Demonic Consultation should be piloted as a deck-specific configuration rather than as a generic Vintage tempo-control list.

The current tags are control, midrange, and artifact; use those tags as a role signal, not as permission to invent lines outside legal actions. The deck can play draw-go control when holding Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, or free artifact mana, but it can also become a fast midrange deck when Psychic Frog or Orcish Bowmasters is protected by countermagic and backed by Wasteland or Strip Mine. Artifact is a tactical tag because Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mishra's Bauble, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and sideboard Null Rod or Grafdigger's Cage affect sequencing, graveyard access, and opposing engine constraints; do not treat the deck as an artifact combo deck.

The mana base is compact and vulnerable to its own colorless pressure plan. Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Undercity Sewers, Island, Swamp, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, and Black Lotus provide colored mana, while Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Urza's Saga create powerful denial or construct lines at the cost of colored consistency. Runtime decisions must verify visible available mana before choosing double-spell lines, Lurrus of the Dream-Den companion actions, Snapcaster Mage flashback lines, delve spells, or interaction plus threat turns.

The role concern is that this deck wins by converting small windows into compounding advantage, not by assuming inevitability. Psychic Frog and Orcish Bowmasters are the main board-pressure creatures, Snapcaster Mage and Lurrus of the Dream-Den create recursion pressure when legal, and restricted draw/tutor cards can bury an opponent if protected. The pilot should preserve cheap interaction for opponent-defining turns, but should not pass forever when a legal protected threat, card-advantage spell, or mana-denial line can force the opponent to act first.

The legality concern is that Veles must obey the rules engine on all restricted-card, companion, delve, graveyard, target, timing, and sideboard details. If the engine exposes Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion action, evaluate it as a major resource line; if the engine does not expose that action, do not assume companion access. If the engine exposes Demonic Consultation, Demonic Tutor, Urza's Saga search, Snapcaster Mage, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, or Soul-Guide Lantern choices, choose only from visible legal candidates and avoid invented card names or hidden-library certainty.

Opponent information status is currently unspecified beyond active runtime state. The guide should reason from public board state, revealed cards, known archetype cues, sideboarded-game context, and legal action text; it must not assume the opponent has familiar Vintage staples unless those cards are visible, revealed, logged, or represented as `opponent:` context outside policy `Cards:` fields. When opponent archetype is unknown, default to protecting against explosive artifact, graveyard, spell-stack, and creature-pressure openings without naming absent opponent cards as if confirmed.

## Thesis
Dimir Lurrus Control assembles cheap blue-black interaction, restricted card velocity, mana denial, and low-cost threats into a game where the opponent is forced to act into Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, and Psychic Frog. The deck wins by sticking one efficient threat, converting Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, or Demonic Consultation into a material advantage, and using Wasteland, Strip Mine, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and sideboard hate to keep the opponent from executing a cleaner engine.

Prioritize resource conversion over abstract card count. Psychic Frog and Orcish Bowmasters are the default pressure package, but their job is not only damage; they make the opponent spend mana and cards while the pilot protects the stack, attacks mana, or turns draw spells into tempo. Time Walk is strongest when it compounds a threat, Urza's Saga, Wasteland pressure, or a protected restricted draw turn; do not fire it as a blank cantrip-equivalent unless the rules engine and visible state show that passing is worse.

Do not pilot this as a pure prison deck, pure artifact deck, or all-in combo deck. Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mishra's Bauble, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Urza's Saga create artifact texture, but the deck is still trying to trade efficiently and win through constrained choices. Demonic Consultation is a high-risk selection or finish-enabling card only when the legal action text and visible context justify the risk; never assume hidden-library contents, safe odds, or a deterministic outcome not provided by the engine.

Prioritize legal-action discipline at runtime. Use public information, revealed cards, graveyards, stack contents, life totals, clock, available mana, and current legal actions before applying this guide. When a card's exact current text matters and is not exposed by the engine, especially Momentum Breaker, apply “Card text check required” and choose conditionally rather than inventing the effect.

## Role Package
- Threats: Psychic Frog is the primary protected threat and pressure engine, especially when the hand or graveyard can support combat or card-flow decisions exposed by the engine. Orcish Bowmasters is the second main threat, best when it punishes opposing draw actions, stabilizes small creature boards, or adds pressure without tapping much mana. Snapcaster Mage is a flexible body plus spell access when a legal graveyard target appears. Lurrus of the Dream-Den is a sideboard companion/resource threat only if the rules engine exposes legal access or casting lines.

- Payoffs: Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, and Demonic Consultation are the highest-leverage payoff effects because they turn a stable board into a decisive advantage. Urza's Saga is a land-based payoff that can produce pressure or find a legal artifact target; evaluate it against colored-mana needs before committing. Momentum Breaker requires a card text check before assigning payoff value.

- Engines: Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Urza's Saga, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Snapcaster Mage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Mishra's Bauble, and Vexing Bauble are the recurring or compounding pieces. The engine plan is to create repeated small advantages while making the opponent's big turn awkward, not to assemble an infinite loop.

- Velocity: Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, Mishra's Bauble, Lorien Revealed, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, and Demonic Consultation provide selection, information, or raw cards. Use velocity to find interaction when behind, threats when shields are already up, and mana when Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Urza's Saga have strained colored sources.

- Interaction: Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Orcish Bowmasters are the main interactive tools. Protect countermagic for opponent-defining stack actions, use Fatal Push on creatures that affect clock or engine access, and use graveyard interaction only when the visible graveyard or legal action context matters.

- Protection: Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, and free mana from Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, and Mox Pearl protect tap-out turns, threats, and restricted draw turns. Protection should preserve the deck's leverage point, not merely counter the first legal spell.

- Recursion: Snapcaster Mage and Lurrus of the Dream-Den are the named recursion module. Use Snapcaster Mage only with a visible legal graveyard target and enough mana for the follow-up. Use Lurrus of the Dream-Den for legal low-cost permanent recursion or companion pressure only when the engine confirms the action.

- Mana: Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Undercity Sewers, Island, Swamp, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Black Lotus, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Urza's Saga define the mana plan. Prioritize blue and black stability before colorless denial unless the visible opponent position rewards mana attack immediately.

- Sideboard modules: Pithing Needle, Feed the Swarm, Fatal Push, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, Snuff Out, Null Rod, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den are role cards for narrower matchups. They cover activated abilities, problematic permanents, extra creature removal, blue-stack fights, colorless or triggered threats, artifact engines, graveyard engines, and companion or recursion games without changing the deck's core control-midrange identity.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Protected Psychic Frog pressure is the default win path when the hand can defend a two-mana creature or the opponent is constrained on mana. Setup with stable blue-black mana from Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Undercity Sewers, Island, Swamp, or Mox Sapphire and Mox Jet, then deploy Psychic Frog with Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, or Wasteland support. Execute by attacking while converting Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, Mishra's Bauble, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, or Time Walk into tempo. Prioritize this line against slower spell decks, unstable mana, or hands with countermagic but no clear long-game lock.

- Orcish Bowmasters plus stack pressure wins games where the opponent must draw extra cards or expose small creatures. Setup by holding black mana when the opponent is likely to use draw effects, then cast Orcish Bowmasters at the moment the engine exposes a legal high-impact trigger or creature interaction. Execute by growing the Army token, picking off fragile creatures when legal, and turning Time Walk or Wasteland pressure into repeated combat damage. Prioritize this path when the opponent is already pressured to cantrip, when life totals make small increments decisive, or when Psychic Frog would be harder to protect.

- Urza's Saga pressure is the main creature-land win path when colored mana is already adequate or the matchup rewards artifacts. Setup by playing Urza's Saga only when losing that land later will not cut off needed blue or black spells. Execute through Construct tokens and a legal search for a registered artifact such as Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mishra's Bauble, Vexing Bauble, or Soul-Guide Lantern when the rules engine exposes the tutor action. Prioritize this line against control mirrors, mana-light opponents, or boards where Constructs outsize opposing creatures; de-prioritize it when Wasteland, Strip Mine, or colored-spell pressure makes the Saga sacrifice too costly.

- Mana denial plus one threat wins when Wasteland and Strip Mine can keep the opponent from casting decisive spells. Setup by identifying visible nonbasic or utility lands and keeping enough colored mana for Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Fatal Push, Psychic Frog, or Orcish Bowmasters. Execute by pairing Wasteland or Strip Mine with a clock, not by spending every turn on lands while the opponent develops through artifacts or basics. Prioritize this line against mana-light starts, greedy mana, or opponents who need a specific land to cast visible threats.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Restricted-card snowball wins when a stable board lets Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, or Demonic Consultation become more than replacement value. Use these cards to find a threat, protect an existing threat, reload after trades, or force through the last turns of combat. Demonic Consultation is not a generic cantrip; use it only when the named-card risk is justified by visible urgency, known information, or a clearly necessary target.

- Snapcaster Mage creates backup pressure and converts the graveyard into a second copy of a visible legal spell. Prioritize Snapcaster Mage when the engine exposes a legal target that changes the game immediately, such as Fatal Push for a creature, Spell Pierce or Mental Misstep in a stack fight, Brainstorm for selection, or Ancestral Recall if legally available. Do not spend Snapcaster Mage as a low-impact creature if the matchup is about preserving a specific answer.

- Vexing Bauble and Soul-Guide Lantern can create lock-like pressure only when their text and visible legal actions matter in the current game. Use Vexing Bauble to constrain the opponent's spell pattern if the engine confirms relevant actions or replacement/counter behavior. Use Soul-Guide Lantern to pressure graveyard reliance, cycle only when graveyard control is no longer valuable, and avoid cracking it blindly before the opponent commits a visible graveyard resource.

- Lurrus of the Dream-Den is a post-board or companion-resource win path when the rules engine exposes legal access and legal recursion. Prioritize it in grindy games where recurring Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, or a cheap permanent materially improves the board. Do not assume companion access, graveyard legality, or recursion targets unless shown by the engine.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, trade tempo for survival before preserving long-game value. Use Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Snapcaster Mage with legal removal, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, or Snuff Out after sideboarding to stop the source that changes the clock fastest. Time Walk can be a fog plus draw step when a protected counterattack is not available.

- When behind on board, stabilize before attacking with Psychic Frog or Construct tokens. Fatal Push handles immediate creature pressure, Orcish Bowmasters can answer small bodies while building a blocker, and Wasteland or Strip Mine should be used only if cutting mana prevents more damage than holding removal would. Do not attack with a needed blocker under a short clock unless the engine shows lethal or a decisive follow-up.

- When behind on cards, spend restricted draw and graveyard delve to rebuild a protected hand rather than to maximize raw quantity. Ancestral Recall, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Timetwister, Brainstorm, Lorien Revealed, Mishra's Bauble, Demonic Tutor, and Demonic Consultation should find interaction first if the opponent can win next turn. Timetwister is dangerous when it refuels the opponent more than it fixes the pilot's position; prefer it when Bowmasters, countermagic, or mana denial makes the reset asymmetric.

- When behind on mana, fetch basics or stable duals before escalating Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Urza's Saga plans. Black Lotus and Moxen can enable an emergency protected turn, but do not spend them into a low-impact line if the visible stack or board requires holding up interaction. Lorien Revealed may function as a mana stabilizer only when the legal action text confirms the available mode.

- When win conditions are removed, pivot to the remaining pressure source instead of overcommitting selection to the same axis. If Psychic Frog is gone, lean on Orcish Bowmasters, Urza's Saga, Snapcaster Mage, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den when legal. If graveyard recursion is shut off, treat Soul-Guide Lantern, Snapcaster Mage, Treasure Cruise, and Dig Through Time as reduced resources and win through clean one-for-one trades plus combat.

- When facing combo or an engine already in motion, stop the enabling action over protecting future value. Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Wasteland, Strip Mine, Grafdigger's Cage, Null Rod, Pithing Needle, Mystical Dispute, and Consign to Memory after sideboarding should be spent on visible actions that produce an immediate loss, decisive engine, or unrecoverable mana advantage. Momentum Breaker requires Card text check required before treating it as an emergency answer or win condition.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable buffer only while it protects a higher-value exchange or prevents a faster loss. Pay life for Force of Will, Gitaxian Probe, fetch lands, Psychic Frog pressure, or post-board Snuff Out when the visible clock allows it; stop treating life as free once opposing attackers, burn-like pressure, or a short two-turn clock is visible.

- Hand size is both permission density and Psychic Frog fuel, so do not empty the hand for marginal tempo. Force of Will and Force of Negation need blue-card support, Psychic Frog can convert spare cards into combat pressure, and Brainstorm, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, Dig Through Time, and Treasure Cruise should rebuild toward protected threats rather than random volume.

- Mana is strongest when it supports one threat plus one interaction window. Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, and land drops can create explosive starts, but the deck wins more often by pairing Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Urza's Saga, or Snapcaster Mage with Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, or sideboard interaction still available.

- Board presence should stay compact until the opponent proves they cannot punish it. Psychic Frog and Orcish Bowmasters are the primary bodies, Urza's Saga can supply Construct pressure, and Snapcaster Mage is both pressure and a spell rebuy; avoid committing all threats into a visible sweeper, lock piece, or stack fight when one protected threat is already changing the clock.

- Graveyard is a contested resource for delve, Snapcaster Mage, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den when legal. Preserve high-impact targets for Snapcaster Mage, count delve fuel before casting Dig Through Time or Treasure Cruise, and respect opposing graveyard hate; after sideboarding, Grafdigger's Cage and extra Soul-Guide Lantern may make the graveyard plan less central.

- Exile is a real cost zone, not a bookkeeping detail. Force of Will, Force of Negation, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Demonic Consultation, and opposing interaction can remove key resources permanently, so choose exiled cards by current role: preserve threats when ahead, preserve interaction when behind, and never assume a consulted or pitched card remains recoverable.

- Lands are both mana and disruption. Underground Sea, Island, Swamp, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Undercity Sewers, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Urza's Saga must be sequenced by current need: colored stability first, mana denial second, Saga pressure third unless the visible game rewards immediate land pressure.

- Sacrifice fodder is limited and usually incidental. Urza's Saga can find cheap artifacts, Mishra's Bauble and Soul-Guide Lantern can be cashed in, and Black Lotus sacrifices for mana, but do not treat artifacts as disposable if Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Construct size, Vexing Bauble, Null Rod, Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, or Soul-Guide Lantern matter in the current matchup.

- Tempo converts into wins when the opponent is denied one decisive turn. Time Walk, Wasteland, Strip Mine, Spell Pierce, Force of Negation, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters triggers, and a fast Psychic Frog turn are tempo tools; spend them to protect a clock or stop a payoff, not to make the game abstractly slower.

- Information changes card valuation immediately. Gitaxian Probe, Mishra's Bauble, visible stack contents, revealed hands, known graveyards, and sideboard bullets should steer whether to hold countermagic, fire discard-adjacent selection, commit Demonic Tutor, name with Demonic Consultation, or expose a threat.

- Sideboard bullets are narrow resource converters. Null Rod trades off the deck's own Moxen and artifacts for opposing artifact suppression, Grafdigger's Cage and Soul-Guide Lantern trade graveyard flexibility for graveyard control, Pithing Needle trades a card for activated-ability containment, Feed the Swarm and Snuff Out answer permanents or creatures at specific costs, and Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, and Fatal Push increase interaction density.

## Mana Guide
- Keep hands that produce early blue or black mana plus a real plan. A strong opener normally has Underground Sea, Island, Swamp, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, Black Lotus, or Lorien Revealed with a legal fixing mode, plus either Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Demonic Tutor, Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, or Force of Negation.

- Mulligan hands that cannot cast their first meaningful spell before the opponent can act decisively. Wasteland, Strip Mine, Urza's Saga, Mox Pearl, and colorless artifact-heavy hands are risky without blue or black access; keep them only when the visible matchup or hand has Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Black Lotus, or a documented high-impact line.

- Fetch for the color that unlocks the next two turns, not just the current spell. Underground Sea is the default when both colors are needed, Island protects blue interaction through nonbasic pressure when black is less urgent, and Swamp matters when Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Demonic Tutor, Demonic Consultation, or post-board Feed the Swarm and Snuff Out are central.

- Sequence Undercity Sewers as a tapped stabilizer only when the turn can absorb lost mana. Use it to improve future draws if the engine shows that entering tapped or surveil-like behavior is legal and not lethal; avoid it when Spell Pierce, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, or countermagic must be available this turn.

- Play Wasteland and Strip Mine after colored access is secure unless mana denial is the whole hand's plan. Use them early against visible restricted lands, Bazaar-style engines, Workshop-style mana, or a single colored source when cutting that land stops the opponent's next action; hold them when they would strand your own Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, Psychic Frog, or Orcish Bowmasters.

- Deploy Urza's Saga when its sacrifice and colorless timing will not break interaction. It is excellent when Construct pressure or a legal artifact search matters, but it is poor as the only colored source, poor when immediate blue or black interaction is required, and risky into visible land destruction if the hand cannot continue after it leaves.

- Use Mox Sapphire and Mox Jet aggressively when they protect a same-turn spell or interaction window. Use Mox Pearl as generic acceleration, artifact count, or Saga/Lurrus resource, but remember it does not cast blue or black spells by itself.

- Spend Black Lotus for decisive turns, not cosmetic speed. Best uses include protected Psychic Frog plus interaction, Ancestral Recall while holding protection, Demonic Tutor into an immediate answer, Timetwister with payoff or pressure, or emergency interaction; preserve it when the only available line is low impact.

- Play lands before drawing when the spell needs mana immediately or landfall-like legality matters for Fatal Push revolt through fetch use. Delay land drops before Brainstorm, Mishra's Bauble information, Gitaxian Probe information, Ancestral Recall, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, or Demonic Tutor when the drawn or revealed cards may change which land, fetch target, or Wasteland timing is correct.

- Crack fetch lands after Brainstorm when shuffle value matters, before interaction when black or blue mana must be guaranteed, and before Fatal Push when revolt is required and legal. Avoid unnecessary fetches when life is low, Psychic Frog wants cards preserved, or opposing effects punish searching.

- Hold mana open whenever the opponent can present a decisive stack action. A turn that passes with Spell Pierce, Force of Will support, Force of Negation support, Fatal Push, Mental Misstep, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, or Snuff Out available may be stronger than tapping out for a marginal threat.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keeps have early blue or black mana, at least one live interaction piece, and a proactive payoff or card flow. Keep Underground Sea or fetch land plus Psychic Frog or Orcish Bowmasters with Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Fatal Push, Mental Misstep, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Mishra's Bauble, or Gitaxian Probe.

- Strong fast starts use Black Lotus or Mox Sapphire/Mox Jet to compress threat plus protection. Keep hands that can deploy Psychic Frog or Orcish Bowmasters while still representing Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Fatal Push, or Mental Misstep; do not spend acceleration just to empty low-impact cards.

- Medium keeps have colored mana and interaction but no immediate pressure. Keep Island or Underground Sea plus Force of Will or Force of Negation when the hand also has Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Demonic Tutor, Timetwister, or a clear path to find a threat.

- Risky keeps rely on Wasteland, Strip Mine, Urza's Saga, or Mox Pearl without stable colored mana. Keep only on the play against visible mana-greedy or artifact-mana opponents, or when Force of Will, Force of Negation, Mental Misstep, Gitaxian Probe, or Mishra's Bauble gives enough time to draw into blue or black.

- Automatic ships lack a castable first interaction spell and a path to colored mana. Mulligan hands made mostly of Wasteland, Strip Mine, Urza's Saga, Mox Pearl, expensive delve spells, Timetwister, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, or Demonic Consultation without blue/black access or protective context.

- Automatic ships include all-payoff hands that cannot protect themselves. Mulligan hands where Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Demonic Tutor, or Ancestral Recall are stranded behind no blue/black mana, no fetch, no Black Lotus, and no Force of Will pitch structure.

- Matchup-dependent keeps change by visible opposing engine. Against fast spell-combo, prioritize Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Gitaxian Probe, and fast blue mana; against creature pressure, prioritize Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, black mana, and Snapcaster Mage; against graveyard pressure, value Soul-Guide Lantern and post-board Grafdigger's Cage.

- Play/draw keeps should respect tempo. On the play, Wasteland or Strip Mine plus Spell Pierce can be a real plan when colored mana follows; on the draw, the same hand needs Force of Will, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, or Black Lotus because Spell Pierce and land denial may arrive after the opponent's first decisive action.

- Trap hands overrate restricted draw without protection. Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, Demonic Tutor, Dig Through Time, or Treasure Cruise are not enough if the hand folds to the first opposing threat, cannot produce blue or black, or forces Demonic Consultation before the needed card name is tactically justified.

- Trap hands overrate Urza's Saga as a plan by itself. Keep Saga hands when Construct pressure, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, or a post-board artifact bullet matters and colored spells remain castable; ship Saga hands that cannot interact before Saga leaves.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 should establish mana, information, or a protected threat. Prefer fetch for Underground Sea, Island, or Swamp based on the next two turns; cast Gitaxian Probe or Mishra's Bauble before committing a fragile line when the legal action and life total support it; deploy Psychic Frog or Orcish Bowmasters early only if protection, removal, or opposing speed makes the tap-out worthwhile.

- Turn 1 deviations are justified by decisive stack pressure or mana denial. Hold up Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, or Force of Negation against fast openers; use Wasteland or Strip Mine immediately when the opponent visibly depends on one land; cast Ancestral Recall when protected or when waiting risks losing the window.

- Turn 2 should convert the opener into pressure plus permission. Attack with Psychic Frog when legal and safe, add Orcish Bowmasters if draw punishment or board control matters, hold Fatal Push for a real threat, and prefer leaving Spell Pierce or Force support over tapping out for Timetwister without a strong reload reason.

- Turn 2 deviations use Demonic Tutor only for a concrete need. Tutor for interaction, mana, a threat, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, or a sideboard bullet when the chosen card affects the current visible game; avoid tutoring for generic value while the opponent can resolve a payoff.

- Turn 3 should protect the advantage already chosen. Use Time Walk to compound a threat, Wasteland or Strip Mine to freeze development, Snapcaster Mage to reuse a specific cheap spell when legal, or Urza's Saga when its delayed artifact line will not strand blue and black interaction.

- Turn 3 deviations include delve setup and reset judgment. Cast Dig Through Time or Treasure Cruise when graveyard size, mana, and stack safety are legal and the exiled cards are expendable; cast Timetwister only when the opponent's graveyard/hand context is acceptable and your board, mana, or cheap interaction benefits more.

- Turns 4-5 should turn small edges into a locked game. Protect Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Construct tokens, or post-board Lurrus of the Dream-Den with Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, Fatal Push, Snuff Out, or Feed the Swarm according to legal targets.

- Turns 4-5 deviations require respecting sideboard artifacts. Null Rod, Grafdigger's Cage, Pithing Needle, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Vexing Bauble can restrict both players; deploy them when their visible disruption is worth weakening Moxen, Mishra's Bauble, Black Lotus, Urza's Saga artifact value, or graveyard recursion.

- Late game should preserve inevitability through selective interaction. Trade counters for cards that beat the current board, use Demonic Consultation only with a precise named-card need, conserve lands against Wasteland races, and let weak spells resolve when the real fight is over a payoff, removal spell, or draw engine.

- Late-game deviations favor survival over elegance. If low on life, prioritize Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Feed the Swarm, blockers, and mana stability over card-draw greed; if ahead, protect the clock and avoid unnecessary Timetwister, fetch, or Consultation lines that reopen a stable game.

## Card Roles
- Force of Will is the primary fail-safe against game-ending spells before mana is developed. Pitch it for fast combo, restricted draw engines, prison pieces that shut off the hand, or removal that breaks an already-winning Psychic Frog or Orcish Bowmasters position; hard-cast it later when Underground Sea, Island, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, or fetched blue sources make that possible. Do not pitch the only blue card casually if Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Force of Negation, Fatal Push, or Vexing Bauble can answer the visible threat.

- Force of Negation is the second free counter and is strongest when defending against noncreature engines while tapped out. Use it more aggressively on the opponent's turn against draw, combo, artifact acceleration, planeswalker-like value permanents, or graveyard enablers; avoid relying on it for creature-heavy pressure because Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog blocks, and Snapcaster Mage are the cleaner tools there.

- Spell Pierce converts early blue mana into tempo and protects the deck's small threat advantage. Hold it when the opponent has untapped mana and a decisive noncreature spell is likely; spend it on restricted draw, tutors, fast mana payoff spells, or removal pointed at Psychic Frog only when the exchange preserves pressure or prevents a major swing. Its value drops as the opponent accumulates mana, so pair it with Wasteland and Strip Mine whenever legal.

- Mental Misstep is narrow but often decides turn-one exchanges. Prioritize opposing one-mana interaction, fast setup, removal for Psychic Frog or Orcish Bowmasters, and one-mana draw or tutor effects when visible; do not fire it at a low-impact spell if Force of Will or Spell Pierce must still cover the real payoff.

- Fatal Push is the main creature answer and should be conserved for creatures that change combat, clock speed, or engine access. Fetchlands, Wasteland, Strip Mine, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Black Lotus, and Urza's Saga leaving the battlefield can support revolt when the rules engine shows legality, but never assume revolt or target legality without the current action list. Against light creature decks, Fatal Push can protect Psychic Frog from blockers; against creature decks, it is often a survival spell rather than tempo.

- Psychic Frog is the central threat, card-advantage engine, and combat pivot. Cast it early when black-blue mana is stable and at least one protection or tempo plan exists; hold it when tapping out loses to a known stack fight or when Fatal Push must remain open. Discarding to grow Psychic Frog should be tied to combat damage, survival from visible damage, or converting redundant cards; do not discard scarce blue pitch cards, land drops, or specific answers for cosmetic pressure. Use graveyard exile for flying only when the damage, evasion, or survival matters more than Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Snapcaster Mage, or future graveyard leverage.

- Orcish Bowmasters is both flash interaction and a win condition. Cast it in response to opponent draw when the legal timing exists, use the damage to remove one-toughness creatures or pressure life totals, and respect that its token can become the main attacker or blocker. It combines with Timetwister and opponent draw sequences, but do not force Timetwister merely to trigger Orcish Bowmasters if the new hand helps the opponent more than the board pressure helps you.

- Ancestral Recall is a restricted draw spell that should usually be protected, timed around Bowmasters risk, and aimed according to legal target text. Target self when drawing three advances resources and the opponent cannot punish it profitably; target opponent only if a specific visible Orcish Bowmasters line, decking line, or rare tactical need makes that legal target correct. Avoid exposing it into open interaction when the hand can instead develop mana, Psychic Frog, or protection.

- Brainstorm is a tactical fixer, not a casual cantrip. Use it with Polluted Delta or Misty Rainforest to clear weak cards, protect key cards from discard when visible timing permits, or find urgent interaction; avoid casting it into Orcish Bowmasters exposure or without a shuffle when the current hand already has a coherent plan.

- Gitaxian Probe and Mishra's Bauble provide information for commitment decisions. Use them before choosing between Psychic Frog, Demonic Tutor, Demonic Consultation, Timetwister, or holding counters; preserve life when under pressure and do not let free information bait the deck into a low-mana, low-protection line.

- Demonic Tutor is the precise answer or threat selector. Tutor for the card that affects the current visible game: Force of Will, Fatal Push, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, Black Lotus, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Wasteland, Strip Mine, or a post-board bullet when that card is legal and immediately relevant. Avoid generic value tutoring when the opponent's next turn can invalidate the search.

- Demonic Consultation is an emergency precision tool, not normal card selection. Use it only when the named card is clearly required by visible state, legal timing, and matchup pressure, such as finding lethal, a forced answer, or a unique lock-breaking card; do not name a card because it is broadly good. Card text check required for any unusual interaction or replacement effect before relying on a deterministic outcome.

- Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are graveyard conversion spells. Cast them when the graveyard can be spent without weakening Psychic Frog evasion, Snapcaster Mage, or Soul-Guide Lantern timing; prioritize Dig Through Time for answer selection and Treasure Cruise for raw reload. Avoid exiling cards that are needed for a known Snapcaster Mage line unless survival or a decisive stack fight demands it.

- Snapcaster Mage is flexible recursion and a flash body. Use it to rebuy Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, or Time Walk when legal targets and mana are available; do not cast it as a 2/1 unless blocking, clock pressure, or Lurrus of the Dream-Den sideboard context makes the body matter.

- Time Walk is best as a pressure multiplier or stabilization bridge. Cast it with Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Construct tokens, or a mana-denial plan already active; avoid spending it as a blank cantrip when the extra turn will not add mana, damage, a protected draw step, or a decisive attack.

- Timetwister is a reset button with real risk. Use it when your hand is depleted, your board or mana is ahead, Orcish Bowmasters can punish the opponent's draw, or graveyards need resetting; avoid it when the opponent has stronger artifact mana, a better board, or a graveyard you wanted to keep constrained with Soul-Guide Lantern.

- Vexing Bauble is a proactive constraint against free-spell exchanges. Deploy it when the opponent depends on zero-mana or alternate-cost interaction more than you do, but remember it can conflict with Force of Will, Force of Negation, Moxen-adjacent sequencing, and your own emergency stack plans. Treat it as a matchup card already in the main deck, not as automatic turn-one clutter.

- Soul-Guide Lantern is main-deck graveyard coverage and a cantrip artifact when graveyards are irrelevant. Play it early against graveyard engines, hold activation until the opponent commits a meaningful card or target if waiting is legal, and cash it in only when the card draw or Urza's Saga artifact role is worth giving up graveyard control.

- Momentum Breaker has uncertain tactical text for this guide. Card text check required; until verified, treat it as a registered low-copy spell whose use must follow the rules engine's legal actions, visible target text, and current matchup need rather than assumed functionality.

- Lorien Revealed is primarily mana smoothing or late card advantage depending on legal action text. Use it to secure Island access when the opener needs stable blue mana; cast it later only when the stack is safe and spending mana does not expose Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, or interaction windows. Card text check required for any nonstandard mode beyond the visible legal action.

- Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, Mox Jet, and Mox Pearl provide explosive tempo but should be sequenced around Vexing Bauble, Null Rod after sideboard, and opposing artifact hate. Use them to land a protected Psychic Frog, hold up interaction, cast restricted draw, or support a critical tutor line; avoid dumping them into Timetwister or artifact shutdown unless the tempo gained is concrete.

- Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Island, Swamp, and Undercity Sewers are the colored-mana base. Fetch basics when Wasteland pressure or life total makes stability important, fetch Underground Sea when double-function blue-black access matters, and treat Undercity Sewers as a slower stabilizer unless its surveil or typed mana is tactically needed. Card text check required for any Undercity Sewers detail beyond visible legal output.

- Wasteland and Strip Mine are interaction, not just lands. Use them to keep Spell Pierce live, cut off a visible color, answer utility lands, or protect a tempo lead; avoid sacrificing colored development when the hand needs black for Fatal Push or Psychic Frog and blue for counters.

- Urza's Saga is a delayed threat and artifact selector. Start it when the game can afford colorless mana and Construct pressure matters; search only legal artifacts such as Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, or Vexing Bauble according to visible need. Do not lean on Urza's Saga when the matchup demands constant blue-black interaction from turn one.

## Interaction Priorities

- Counter engine-starting spells before value spells. Use Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, or Mystical Dispute after sideboard on the spell that changes the next turn cycle: combo enablers, protected draw engines, lock pieces, must-answer threats, or a spell that invalidates Psychic Frog pressure. Let low-impact cantrips, redundant mana rocks, and nonlethal setup resolve when the hand needs counters for a visible payoff.

- Remove creatures that either race Psychic Frog or turn off the deck's ability to hold priority profitably. Fatal Push, sideboard Fatal Push, Snuff Out, and combat pressure should point first at mana creatures, hate creatures, snowballing card-advantage creatures, and attackers that create a two-turn clock; do not spend removal on a creature that Orcish Bowmasters can punish or that a Construct token can already contain.

- Fight opposing draw at the decision point where Orcish Bowmasters changes the exchange. If Orcish Bowmasters is legal and the opponent is about to draw extra cards, prefer deploying or protecting it over a generic counter unless the draw spell also finds immediate lethal or protected combo. If Orcish Bowmasters is absent, counter high-volume draw more aggressively because this deck cannot assume later punishment.

- Use Wasteland and Strip Mine as stack-adjacent interaction. Destroy a land that unlocks a visible color, pays for Spell Pierce, supports a known utility land line, or lets the opponent cast through Force of Negation pressure; ignore lands that do not change the opponent's legal next-turn action while your own colored mana is still fragile.

- Use Soul-Guide Lantern and Grafdigger's Cage as graveyard interaction only when the graveyard matters. Exile or lock graveyard resources before a visible recursion, delve, escape, dredge, or graveyard-combo action resolves; preserve the artifact when the opponent has only incidental graveyard value and Urza's Saga, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, or card draw makes keeping it useful.

- Use Vexing Bauble and Null Rod as commitment pieces, not automatic clutter. Deploy Vexing Bauble when free spells or zero-mana exchanges are the fight that matters; deploy Null Rod after sideboard when artifact mana or activated artifacts matter more to the opponent than your own Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Urza's Saga artifact plans.

- Bait with replaceable pressure before exposing restricted draw or tutor lines. Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Mishra's Bauble, Vexing Bauble, or Urza's Saga can force the opponent to act; protect Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Demonic Consultation, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Time Walk, and Timetwister for turns where mana and information make the fight favorable.

- Do not invent proactive discard lines. The registered main deck has no hand-attack spell; use Gitaxian Probe and Mishra's Bauble for information, Psychic Frog for legal self-discard choices when the action text supports it, and counters/removal for actual interaction.

- Treat bounce as sideboard or rules-engine-specific interaction only. Consign to Memory is the named sideboard card for relevant stack or permanent classes if legal action text exposes that role; otherwise do not assume this deck has a generic bounce spell. Feed the Swarm is a sideboard answer to problematic permanents only when its legal target text matches the visible threat.

- Change priorities by archetype. Against combo, hold counters for payoff and enabler spells and use pressure only when protected. Against shops or artifact mana decks, value Null Rod, Consign to Memory, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Force of Will over small removal. Against creature decks, prioritize Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Orcish Bowmasters, and life preservation. Against blue control, fight over Ancestral Recall, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Time Walk, Demonic Tutor, and post-board Mystical Dispute windows.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack when the hit converts into cards, pressure, or Time Walk leverage. Psychic Frog should attack when it can safely connect, threaten evasion through legal graveyard-exile text, or force awkward blocks; avoid attacking into visible removal, lethal crack-back, or a board where keeping it back is the only way to survive.

- Preserve Psychic Frog as the primary engine unless combat creates a decisive exchange. Do not trade Psychic Frog for an ordinary creature when Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Orcish Bowmasters, or a counter can solve the board; trade it only when survival, lethal setup, or a visible rules-engine line makes the exchange better than continued card advantage.

- Use Orcish Bowmasters as both pressure and a trap. Attack with Orcish Bowmasters when the opponent cannot punish the 1/1 body and the damage matters; keep it back when blocking one-toughness creatures, protecting life, or threatening extra-draw punishment is more important than one damage.

- Block to protect life thresholds before protecting marginal damage. At 8 or less life, prioritize blocks that prevent a two-turn clock, especially when Force of Will, Gitaxian Probe, Snuff Out, or fetch lands may cost life. At 4 or less life, assume every optional life payment is dangerous unless it prevents immediate loss or creates lethal.

- Trade Construct tokens for board control, not vanity damage. Urza's Saga Constructs can attack when they race, pressure planeswalkers if legal, or make Time Walk lethal; block with them when the opponent's attacker is a real clock or when preserving Psychic Frog and Orcish Bowmasters matters more than growing a token.

- Use Snapcaster Mage as a blocker when the spell is already spent or survival requires it. Prefer flashing back a meaningful instant or sorcery, then trading with an attacker; do not hold Snapcaster Mage for future value if the visible combat step will make that future irrelevant.

- Discard to Psychic Frog only for a concrete combat result. If legal action text offers a discard pump, use it to win combat, force lethal, survive damage-based removal, or make a Time Walk attack decisive; do not discard restricted draw, tutors, or interaction merely to add damage when the opponent's next turn is still dangerous.

- Exile graveyard cards to Psychic Frog only when evasion or survival is worth the cost. Protect Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Snapcaster Mage, and Soul-Guide Lantern considerations unless the unblockable attack, lethal clock, or safe card draw from Psychic Frog is more important right now.

- Do not chump-block early unless the clock demands it. This deck stabilizes through efficient interaction and card advantage, so preserve Orcish Bowmasters tokens, Snapcaster Mage, and Constructs when life is high; chump when the opponent's next attack plus visible burn, pump, or extra combat risk would end the game.

- Change combat posture by matchup. Against combo and control, pressure with Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Constructs, and Time Walk while holding counters. Against creature decks, become a removal-control deck and block earlier. Against artifact prison or mana denial, value creatures already on board because future colored spells may be constrained. Against graveyard decks, do not spend Soul-Guide Lantern or graveyard resources for minor combat gains if that opens a decisive graveyard line.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Priority: spend information before committing restricted selection. Use Gitaxian Probe and Mishra's Bauble to clarify whether the fight is over mana, a draw spell, a creature, or a combo turn, then sequence Brainstorm, Demonic Tutor, Demonic Consultation, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, and Urza's Saga choices around the visible pressure and known interaction.

- Priority: treat Demonic Tutor as the cleanest answer-or-engine selector. Find Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, Wasteland, Strip Mine, or sideboard hate when the opponent's next turn is the danger; find Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, or Urza's Saga only when the stack and battlefield allow a value turn.

- Priority: use Demonic Consultation only with a concrete named-card need. Choose the card that wins, prevents immediate loss, or unlocks a forced line from visible information; do not use it as casual card selection because exile variance can remove Force of Will, Force of Negation, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, or restricted draw needed later.

- Priority: protect Brainstorm with shuffle or urgency. Cast Brainstorm before a Polluted Delta or Misty Rainforest shuffle when possible; cast it without a shuffle only to find an immediate answer, fix a one-land hand, hide key cards from a visible hand-attack effect, or set up a same-turn Force of Will or Force of Negation pitch.

- Priority: time Ancestral Recall around Orcish Bowmasters risk. Cast Ancestral Recall on yourself when the opponent cannot visibly punish extra draws or when the reward outweighs the risk; consider targeting the opponent only when legal action text and board state make the draw-punish line decisive with Orcish Bowmasters.

- Priority: make Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise graveyard decisions before spending graveyard value elsewhere. Preserve graveyard cards for delve when the game is about finding counters, removal, or a finisher; spend graveyard cards for Psychic Frog evasion or Soul-Guide Lantern only when the immediate combat or graveyard-interaction result matters more.

- Priority: use Timetwister as a reset, not automatic draw. Cast Timetwister when your hand is low-impact, the opponent's graveyard or sculpted hand matters, or you can reload with mana and interaction; avoid it when it gives the opponent a fresh combo hand, clears your Snapcaster Mage or delve setup, or undoes a favorable resource lock.

- Priority: use Urza's Saga selection for the artifact that matches the game. Find Soul-Guide Lantern when graveyards matter, Vexing Bauble when free-spell exchanges matter, Mishra's Bauble when information or artifact count matters, Black Lotus or a Mox only when legal and mana acceleration is more important than disruption; respect Null Rod after sideboard because it can turn off your own artifact plan.

- Priority: delay land drops when selection can change the correct land. If Brainstorm, Demonic Tutor, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Lorien Revealed, or Timetwister may reveal or select a land, wait on the land drop unless you need mana immediately for Spell Pierce, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, or a counter fight.

- Priority: treat Lorien Revealed as conditional selection. Card text check required; if legal action text offers landcycling or card draw, use the land-search mode when colors or land count are the bottleneck, and use the draw mode only when mana is stable and the stack window is safe.

- Priority: do not invent scry or surveil choices. This registered deck has no named main-deck scry engine in the decklist; if the rules engine presents top/bottom ordering from a visible legal effect, keep interaction, mana, and active engine pieces above speculative threats.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Priority: pass only when the current stack and phase do not reward action. This deck wins by spending interaction at high-leverage points, so hold Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Snapcaster Mage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and sideboard cards for windows that change the opponent's legal line.

- Priority: fight over cards that create irreversible advantage. Counter or challenge opposing restricted draw, must-answer engines, fast mana that enables a protected combo turn, graveyard payoffs, prison pieces, and threats that outclass Fatal Push; let low-impact cantrips, redundant mana, or small creatures resolve when your removal, mana denial, or clock answers them cleanly.

- Priority: choose free counters with pitch cost in mind. Use Force of Will for any decisive noncreature or protected threat when paying a blue card is acceptable; use Force of Negation especially on the opponent's turn for noncreature spells, but do not assume it covers creature threats or your own-turn fights unless legal action text confirms it.

- Priority: use Spell Pierce before it expires. Fire Spell Pierce when the opponent is constrained on mana or tapping low for a key noncreature spell; do not hold it through turns where Wasteland, Strip Mine, or pressure could have made the tax decisive.

- Priority: use Mental Misstep on one-mana spells that matter to this game. Stop a visible one-mana draw, removal, tutor, hate piece, or combo enabler when it protects Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Ancestral Recall, or your survival; ignore a low-impact one-drop if life, board, or a stronger counter matters more.

- Priority: deploy Orcish Bowmasters at the draw window when punishment matters. Flash it in response to a visible extra draw if legal; otherwise cast it as pressure, removal for one-toughness creatures, or a threat that forces awkward sequencing from the opponent.

- Priority: use Fatal Push and Snuff Out at the last safe window. Kill creatures after the opponent commits attacks, targets, equipment-like effects, or protection resources when waiting is safe; kill immediately if the creature enables mana, combo, lethal combat, or an ability that will escape removal timing.

- Priority: use Snapcaster Mage for stack leverage before body value. Flash back Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Gitaxian Probe, Demonic Tutor, Time Walk, or other legal graveyard targets only when the rules engine presents a legal line; choose the spell that answers the current stack or creates the strongest next turn, not the highest theoretical value.

- Priority: activate Soul-Guide Lantern before the graveyard card changes zones. Exile a key card or sacrifice for broader graveyard disruption when a visible delve, recursion, flashback, graveyard-combo, or Lurrus of the Dream-Den line is on the stack or clearly enabled; keep it in play when the opponent's graveyard is not yet actionable.

- Priority: make Time Walk a protected tempo spell. Cast Time Walk when you have pressure from Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Constructs, or a mana-denial setup, or when the extra turn lets you untap with interaction; avoid tapping out for it if the opponent can use the current stack window to win.

- Priority: treat Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, and Mox Sapphire as stack-fight resources. Spend them to land a protected Psychic Frog, cast restricted draw with counter backup, pay Spell Pierce taxes, or accelerate a decisive tutor line; preserve them when Null Rod is coming only if the immediate mana is not needed.

- Priority: respect optional payments and activations as real costs. Pay life for Gitaxian Probe, Snuff Out, Force of Will, or fetch lands only when the information, tempo, or answer prevents a larger loss; activate Vexing Bauble or sideboard hate only when the visible stack or permanent class matches the effect shown by legal action text.

- Priority: Momentum Breaker requires text confirmation. Card text check required; use any legal action involving Momentum Breaker only according to the rules-engine prompt, visible targets, and the current role, and do not assume it removes, counters, draws, or attacks unless action text proves that function.

## Sideboard Map

- Priority: treat Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion-style strategic resource unless the event configuration or rules engine presents it as a normal sideboard card. Card text check required for current companion handling; when available, its role is to turn long games into repeated Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, and artifact-mana pressure, but do not plan around Lurrus of the Dream-Den if Null Rod will make your own artifact permanents low-impact.

- Priority: add Grafdigger's Cage against graveyard recursion, library-cast engines, dredge-style graveyard pressure, and creature-based combo that relies on cards leaving the library or graveyard through special permissions. Grafdigger's Cage is weaker against fair blue mirrors with little graveyard dependency, artifact prison where permanents matter more than graveyards, and creature decks where Fatal Push or Snuff Out is the clean answer.

- Priority: add Soul-Guide Lantern when the graveyard matters but you still want a cheap artifact that can be found by Urza's Saga. Soul-Guide Lantern is better than Grafdigger's Cage when a single visible graveyard card is the problem, when cycling later matters, or when you want a low-commitment hedge; it is weaker when the opponent's engine ignores one-shot exile or when Null Rod will be part of your own plan.

- Priority: add Null Rod against artifact mana, activated artifact engines, fast combo artifacts, and decks where turning off opposing Moxen, Black Lotus, and artifact permanents is worth muting your own Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, Vexing Bauble, and some Urza's Saga targets. Null Rod is bad when your artifact acceleration is needed to keep pace, when the opponent wins through creatures or spells instead of artifacts, or when your hand already relies on artifact activations for mana or cards.

- Priority: add Pithing Needle against a known activated ability that matters more than generic card quality. Use it for planeswalkers, Bazaar-style engines, land abilities, artifact abilities not already covered by Null Rod, or a single named permanent that the visible game has made central; it is bad when the opponent has many interchangeable threats, when you lack reliable name information, or when a counterspell/removal plan covers the same axis.

- Priority: add Feed the Swarm for permanent types Dimir cannot otherwise answer cleanly. Card text check required; use it as an answer to enchantments or must-kill creatures when legal action text confirms the target, but avoid it when life total is pressured, when Fatal Push or Snuff Out covers the creature axis, or when countering the permanent before resolution is more efficient.

- Priority: add the fourth Fatal Push and Snuff Out against creature decks where tempo and battlefield survival matter. Fatal Push is preferred for cheap threats and games where mana efficiency matters; Snuff Out is preferred when tapping mana would lose a stack fight or combat window, but it is worse under life pressure or against creatures outside its legal target range.

- Priority: add Mystical Dispute in blue mirrors and blue combo where one-mana interaction on the stack matters. Mystical Dispute is weaker against nonblue prison, creature-heavy aggro, graveyard decks that fight from permanents, or games where the opponent can easily pay taxes; it role-shifts from protection for Psychic Frog and Ancestral Recall to a cheap answer for opposing card draw, counters, and blue payoff spells.

- Priority: add Consign to Memory against colorless spells, artifact threats, Eldrazi-style pressure, Saga constructs, and triggered or activated lines if legal action text exposes those modes. Card text check required; treat it as a flexible stack tool only when the rules engine shows a legal counter or target, and avoid it against normal blue mirrors or creature decks without meaningful colorless or triggered targets.

Fair Blue Mirror / Control
Side in: 2 Mystical Dispute; 1 Soul-Guide Lantern; 1 Fatal Push
Cut: 1 Momentum Breaker; 1 Timetwister; 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Lorien Revealed

- Role: become the lower-curve permission deck that protects Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Ancestral Recall, and restricted selection while denying opposing draw turns. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute for stack fights, Soul-Guide Lantern for delve and Snapcaster Mage pressure, and Fatal Push when opposing Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, or similar cheap creatures are expected. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow uncertain text, symmetrical refuel, and narrow hate that does not line up with visible spells.

Artifact Combo / Fast Mana Prison
Side in: 2 Null Rod; 2 Consign to Memory; 1 Pithing Needle
Cut: 3 Fatal Push; 1 Momentum Breaker; 1 Lorien Revealed

- Role: make artifact mana and colorless engines stumble while using Wasteland, Strip Mine, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, and Vexing Bauble to cover the stack. Add role cards: Null Rod for artifact activations, Consign to Memory for colorless or triggered pressure when legal, and Pithing Needle for a known activated ability. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal when the opponent's primary plan is not creature combat, and slower selection that does not answer the first explosive turn.

Graveyard Combo / Recursion
Side in: 3 Grafdigger's Cage; 1 Soul-Guide Lantern; 2 Consign to Memory
Cut: 3 Fatal Push; 1 Momentum Breaker; 1 Lorien Revealed; 1 Timetwister

- Role: layer permanent graveyard hate with free counters and avoid giving the opponent a fresh graveyard or hand reset. Add role cards: Grafdigger's Cage as the durable lock piece, Soul-Guide Lantern as targeted exile and Urza's Saga utility, and Consign to Memory only when the opponent's visible engine includes colorless, triggered, or otherwise legal targets. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal, slow card-flow spells, and Timetwister effects that may reload the opponent.

Creature Tempo / Aggro
Side in: 1 Fatal Push; 1 Snuff Out; 1 Feed the Swarm
Cut: 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Timetwister; 1 Lorien Revealed

- Role: preserve life total and board parity until Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Constructs, or Lurrus of the Dream-Den can dominate. Add role cards: Fatal Push and Snuff Out as efficient removal, Feed the Swarm when the opposing permanent type or creature size demands it, and Pithing Needle only if a specific activated ability is visible or known from prior public information. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow stack hate, symmetrical refuel, and slow land-search or draw modes when the immediate battlefield is dangerous.

Blue Combo / Spell Chain
Side in: 2 Mystical Dispute; 2 Consign to Memory; 1 Soul-Guide Lantern
Cut: 3 Fatal Push; 1 Momentum Breaker; 1 Lorien Revealed

- Role: stay mana-light, stack-dense, and information-driven. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute for blue stack fights, Consign to Memory when the combo uses colorless spells or relevant triggers, and Soul-Guide Lantern when graveyard resources support the chain. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal with no visible targets and slow card advantage that cannot be defended.

- Priority: reassess Null Rod before every post-board keep. A hand with Null Rod plus Wasteland or Strip Mine can be excellent against artifact-heavy decks, but a hand with multiple Moxen, Black Lotus, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Urza's Saga may need to spend artifacts before deploying Null Rod or choose a different line if the legal game state allows.

- Priority: do not over-sideboard away from the core. Keep enough blue cards for Force of Will and Force of Negation, enough cheap threats to win after disruption, and enough mana to cast Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Dig Through Time, and Treasure Cruise; sideboard cards should sharpen the matchup, not turn the deck into a pile of answers without pressure.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: keep the game about mana efficiency, life total, and early board containment rather than long-card advantage. Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Snapcaster Mage, and Snuff Out are the pressure valves; Force of Will and Force of Negation should stop only the threat or pump/protection spell that invalidates your removal or creates an immediate lethal race. Add role cards: Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Feed the Swarm, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den when the matchup slows after the first exchange. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Timetwister, Lorien Revealed, Vexing Bauble, and slow delve setup when the battlefield is already dangerous.

- Control: become the cheaper blue deck with a must-answer creature and better restricted spells. Psychic Frog is the cleanest protected threat, Orcish Bowmasters punishes opposing draw steps, Ancestral Recall is a stack-fight priority, and Wasteland plus Strip Mine can keep the opponent from winning a long exchange with larger spells. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute, Soul-Guide Lantern, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, and Fatal Push if opposing small creatures matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Momentum Breaker if its text is not confirmed relevant, Timetwister when refilling both players favors the opponent, and narrow artifact hate that has no visible target.

- Combo: identify whether the opponent is spell-chain, graveyard, artifact, or single-permanent combo before spending interaction. Force of Will is for the first spell that wins or unlocks the win, Force of Negation is for noncreature combo pressure on your opponent's turn, Spell Pierce is strongest before the opponent develops extra mana, and Mental Misstep is for one-mana enablers when legal. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute for blue combo, Grafdigger's Cage and Soul-Guide Lantern for graveyard combo, Null Rod for artifact-mana combo, Consign to Memory when legal action text exposes a colorless spell, activated ability, triggered ability, or other eligible object. Card text check required for Consign to Memory.

- Tempo: trade on mana, not on raw cards, because falling behind on board makes your expensive card draw worse. Fatal Push and Snuff Out should answer the creature carrying the clock; Spell Pierce and Mystical Dispute should protect your removal, Ancestral Recall, or Psychic Frog rather than fight every cantrip. Wasteland is high value when it cuts the opponent off interaction while you already have a threat. Add role cards: Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Mystical Dispute, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Timetwister, Lorien Revealed, and speculative Demonic Consultation lines.

- Midrange: preserve two-for-one engines and avoid spending free counters on low-impact trades. Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Snapcaster Mage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Mishra's Bauble, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den can build repeatable advantage if you do not lose to the first permanent that sticks. Fatal Push handles cheap creatures, Feed the Swarm covers permanent types Dimir otherwise struggles with when legal target text confirms it, and Pithing Needle is for a known activated ability that is central to the visible game. Card text check required for Feed the Swarm.

- Big mana: attack lands and early acceleration before fighting the payoff on the stack. Wasteland, Strip Mine, Spell Pierce, Force of Will, Force of Negation, and Vexing Bauble are the main tools; Psychic Frog should close before the opponent naturally recovers. Add role cards: Consign to Memory for colorless spells or exposed triggered/activated lines, Null Rod when artifact mana is central, Pithing Needle for a named activated ability, and Mystical Dispute only if the opponent is also blue. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Snuff Out when creatures are not the route to victory.

- Graveyard: deploy hate before spending cantrips or tutors on marginal value, because Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Snapcaster Mage, opposing recursion, and graveyard combo all change the value of the same resource. Soul-Guide Lantern is flexible when timing matters, Grafdigger's Cage is the stronger lock piece against library or graveyard casting lines when applicable, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den can recur cheap artifacts after attrition. Avoid Timetwister when it restocks the opponent's graveyard plan or undoes your graveyard pressure. Add role cards: Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Consign to Memory when the engine gives legal targets.

- Artifact/enchantment: separate artifact mana from must-answer permanents before choosing hate. Null Rod is the highest-impact artifact plan when the opponent depends on activated artifact mana or artifact engines, but it also weakens your own Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and some Urza's Saga lines, so sequence your artifacts first when the visible state permits. Feed the Swarm is the sideboard answer for enchantments or creatures only when the legal action confirms the target. Pithing Needle is for a single activated ability; do not use it as generic artifact hate.

- Go-wide: prioritize sweep-resistant containment, blockers, and life total over one-for-one perfection. Orcish Bowmasters creates bodies and can punish draw effects, Psychic Frog can block or race after stabilizing, Fatal Push and Snuff Out should remove the creature that changes combat math most, and Force of Will should stop the payoff that makes small bodies lethal. Add role cards: Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Feed the Swarm, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow draw-sevens and low-board-impact hate unless the opponent's go-wide plan is artifact-based.

- Single-threat: answer the threat cleanly or deny the mana that casts it, then switch immediately to pressure. Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Feed the Swarm, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, and Pithing Needle each cover different visible threat types; choose the one that matches the legal target or stack object rather than preserving a theoretically better answer. Psychic Frog is excellent after the exchange because it turns the opponent's lack of board width into a short clock.

- Burn: treat life as the primary resource and avoid optional life payments unless the alternative loses on board or stack. Snuff Out is dangerous when life is low, Force of Will pitch costs matter, fetch timing matters, and Feed the Swarm may be too costly if its life-loss text applies. Orcish Bowmasters and Psychic Frog are important because they can shorten the race while trading. Add role cards: Fatal Push for creatures, Mystical Dispute only against blue burn shells, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den when the game becomes permanent-based. Reduce main-deck emphasis: painful or symmetrical refuel lines that give the opponent more burn velocity.

- Removal-heavy decks: do not commit every creature into open mana unless you are forcing through a key draw spell or protecting a specific threat. Lead with Orcish Bowmasters when it punishes their draw or leaves material behind, protect Psychic Frog when it is your only clock, and use Lurrus of the Dream-Den to rebuild after the first wave of trades. Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Vexing Bauble become better when they provide material for Lurrus or Urza's Saga without exposing more creatures. Add role cards: Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Mystical Dispute in blue mirrors, Soul-Guide Lantern for graveyard value, and Fatal Push only if they also present creatures.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: use these labels as assumptions until revealed cards, legal actions, public zones, or the rules engine show a different plan. Revealed cards override archetype guesses, and sideboard choices should follow visible pressure, known engines, and stack objects rather than format memory.

- Blue control mirrors: prioritize Psychic Frog, Ancestral Recall, Demonic Tutor, Time Walk, and protected Lurrus of the Dream-Den turns over fighting every cantrip. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory when legal targets exist, Soul-Guide Lantern for Snapcaster Mage or delve pressure, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den for attrition. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push when creatures are sparse and Timetwister when it gives the opponent a fresh counter war. Priority targets are opposing draw spells, must-answer threats, and graveyard resources that turn on recursion or delve.

- Fast combo: keep mana open and identify the first action that actually commits the opponent. Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Demonic Consultation matter more than incremental combat. Add role cards: Grafdigger's Cage for graveyard/library casting lines, Null Rod for artifact-mana engines, Consign to Memory for eligible colorless or triggered/activated objects, and Mystical Dispute against blue combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push unless a creature is the engine.

- Artifact prison or artifact engine: decide whether Null Rod hurts the opponent more than your own Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Urza's Saga. Add role cards: Null Rod, Pithing Needle for a specific visible activated ability, Consign to Memory for eligible objects, and Feed the Swarm only when the legal target text matches a permanent you cannot otherwise answer. Priority targets are mana engines, lock pieces that stop casting, and activated abilities that dominate visible turns.

- Graveyard combo or graveyard midrange: deploy Soul-Guide Lantern or Grafdigger's Cage before spending Demonic Tutor on generic value if the opponent's public plan uses the graveyard. Add role cards: Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, Consign to Memory when the stack or ability is eligible, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den if games become recursive. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Timetwister, Treasure Cruise, and Dig Through Time when they conflict with your hate timing or refill the opponent.

- Creature tempo: stabilize first, then turn Psychic Frog into the closer. Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Orcish Bowmasters, and Spell Pierce protect the early exchange; Wasteland and Strip Mine are strongest when they keep the opponent from double-spelling or protecting a threat. Add role cards: Fatal Push, Snuff Out, Mystical Dispute if blue, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den for post-removal games. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow draw-sevens and speculative Demonic Consultation.

- Shops, big mana, or colorless-heavy decks: attack mana and stack-based payoffs before spending counters on low-impact setup. Wasteland, Strip Mine, Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Vexing Bauble, and Psychic Frog form the core plan. Add role cards: Null Rod, Consign to Memory, Pithing Needle, and Feed the Swarm only for legal targets that must be removed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push when the opponent's creatures are not the bottleneck.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: one Swamp, one Island, one Undercity Sewers, four Underground Sea, fetchlands, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and artifact mana create powerful but fragile sequencing. Fetch basics when Wasteland pressure is visible; fetch Underground Sea when Force of Will, Spell Pierce, Fatal Push, Psychic Frog, or Orcish Bowmasters timing is more important than insulation.

- Matchup risk: the deck can mis-role itself by playing pure control when Psychic Frog should end the game. After trading on stack or mana, switch to pressure quickly unless a visible engine still demands answers.

- Draw risk: Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Timetwister, Lorien Revealed, and Demonic Tutor are not interchangeable. Avoid Timetwister when the opponent benefits more; avoid delve draw when Soul-Guide Lantern, Snapcaster Mage, or Lurrus of the Dream-Den needs graveyard material.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Null Rod, Grafdigger's Cage, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Pithing Needle can overlap awkwardly with your own artifacts, graveyard cards, and Urza's Saga. Add role cards only when they attack the opponent's visible plan, not just because the archetype label suggests them.

- Graveyard risk: Snapcaster Mage, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Psychic Frog, Soul-Guide Lantern, Grafdigger's Cage, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den all pressure the graveyard from different angles. Do not exile or lock graveyards automatically when your next legal plan depends on your own graveyard.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Orcish Bowmasters and Psychic Frog are few but important closers, so expose threats in layers against removal-heavy opponents. Lurrus of the Dream-Den improves recovery, but only if graveyard access and mana survive.

- Closer risk: the deck can answer many things without winning. Protect Psychic Frog, preserve Time Walk as a tempo closer when a threat is present, and use Orcish Bowmasters pressure to convert draw-punish windows into a clock.

- Interaction risk: Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Mystical Dispute, and Consign to Memory each cover different objects. Match the counter to the visible stack text and mana context; do not spend free counters on low-impact spells when a game-ending action is likely next.

- Sequencing risk: Black Lotus, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mishra's Bauble, Vexing Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Urza's Saga become worse after your own Null Rod. Sequence artifact activations and Saga decisions before committing Null Rod when legal actions and visible timing allow it.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: did the game hinge on resolving Psychic Frog, protecting Orcish Bowmasters, stopping one opposing spell, denying mana with Wasteland or Strip Mine, or converting a draw spell into pressure? Record the visible action that changed the game, not a broad archetype label.

- Mulligans: did opening hands keep at least one functional mana source and either interaction, velocity, or a fast threat? Flag hands that had Force of Will or Force of Negation without blue support, Fatal Push without black mana, or artifact mana vulnerable to Null Rod plans.

- Mana: did Underground Sea, Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, Island, Swamp, Undercity Sewers, Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, and Black Lotus produce the colors needed at the actual decision points? Note whether Wasteland and Strip Mine were used as disruption or stranded colorless lands.

- Velocity: did Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Lorien Revealed, Timetwister, Mishra's Bauble, or Demonic Tutor find action before the opponent stabilized? Record when Timetwister helped the opponent more than this deck.

- Engine pressure: did Psychic Frog create a closing clock, card-flow leverage, or combat pressure, or did it sit back while the opponent rebuilt? Check whether Time Walk was saved for a threat turn or spent as low-impact velocity.

- Removal: did Fatal Push and sideboard Snuff Out answer creatures that actually mattered? Track any games where removal was stranded against combo, artifact, or graveyard engines while counters or hate would have mattered more.

- Stack interaction: did Force of Will, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, and Vexing Bauble answer the decisive object? Record missed windows where a cheaper counter could have preserved a free counter for a later stack fight.

- Graveyard resources: did Snapcaster Mage, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Soul-Guide Lantern, Grafdigger's Cage, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den conflict? Flag moments where exiling, locking, or delving the graveyard disabled the next strongest legal line.

- Sideboard impact: did Grafdigger's Cage, Null Rod, Pithing Needle, Feed the Swarm, Soul-Guide Lantern, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, Fatal Push, Snuff Out, or Lurrus of the Dream-Den affect the opponent's visible plan? Record hate cards that arrived after the relevant engine had already resolved.

- Closing: did the deck win after stabilizing, or did it answer threats without presenting lethal pressure? Identify whether Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Urza's Saga, or Time Walk should have been prioritized earlier.

- Role accuracy: did the pilot shift between control and tempo when the board demanded it? Mark games where holding up interaction was correct and games where passing with no pressure gave the opponent too many draw steps.

- Mistakes and stranded cards: list every card that stayed unusable for three or more turns, especially Demonic Consultation, Momentum Breaker, Timetwister, Force of Negation, Fatal Push, Null Rod, Grafdigger's Cage, or Feed the Swarm. Explain whether the issue was mana, timing, target availability, or role mismatch.

- Overperformers and underperformers: name cards that directly created wins or losses from visible logs. Do not credit hidden cards, assumed opponent holdings, or unverified card text; write "Card text check required" for any uncertain Momentum Breaker or matchup-specific interaction.

## First Tuning Questions

- Card quantity: is the fourth Psychic Frog essential to closing games, or are losses coming from protecting too few threats rather than finding them? Compare games where Psychic Frog was drawn early against games won only through Orcish Bowmasters or Lurrus of the Dream-Den.

- Interaction mix: are three Spell Pierce, one Mental Misstep, four Force of Will, and three Force of Negation aligned with the threats actually faced? If creature decks dominate logs, ask whether the sideboard Fatal Push and Snuff Out were enough; if combo dominates, ask whether removal-heavy draws were liabilities.

- Mana base: are one Island, one Swamp, one Undercity Sewers, four Underground Sea, two Misty Rainforest, four Polluted Delta, four Wasteland, Strip Mine, and artifact mana producing stable opening turns? Track whether colored spells were delayed by Wasteland-heavy hands or whether basics prevented opposing mana denial.

- Artifact tension: is Null Rod strong enough in post-board games to justify weakening Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and Urza's Saga? The tuning question is matchup-specific: count games where Null Rod locked the opponent versus games where it slowed this deck's own recovery.

- Graveyard package: are Snapcaster Mage, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time, Soul-Guide Lantern, Grafdigger's Cage, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den pulling in different directions too often? If logs show self-conflict, decide whether graveyard hate should be narrower or whether delve timing needs stricter policy.

- Aggro plan: does the deck stabilize creature tempo reliably with Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Snuff Out, and sideboard Fatal Push? If life totals fall too quickly, question whether removal density, early blocking discipline, or fetchland/basic sequencing is the failure point.

- Control plan: does the deck maintain enough pressure after trading counters? If blue mirrors go long without progress, evaluate whether Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Urza's Saga, Time Walk, and Psychic Frog are being protected and sequenced as closers rather than incidental value.

- Sideboard slots: are Grafdigger's Cage, Null Rod, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, Pithing Needle, Feed the Swarm, Soul-Guide Lantern, Fatal Push, Snuff Out, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den each winning identifiable exchanges? Any sideboard card with no logged target, no resolved impact, and no deterrent value should be questioned.

- Risk cards: is Demonic Consultation winning specific games or creating avoidable losses? Keep it if it finds a decisive visible answer or closer under pressure; question it if it is repeatedly stranded, desperation-only, or used without a clear named-card plan.

- Role conflict: is Timetwister correct in a deck trying to trade resources, use graveyard value, and deny the opponent? Review every Timetwister cast for whether it advanced this deck more than the opponent, especially against combo, graveyard, and control opponents.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Mulligan For Blue Interaction And Early Pressure
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mulligan; pregame
Cards: Force of Will; Force of Negation; Spell Pierce; Mental Misstep; Psychic Frog; Orcish Bowmasters; Underground Sea; Polluted Delta; Misty Rainforest; Mox Sapphire; Mox Jet; Black Lotus
Phase windows: opening hand; mulligan decisions
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible:opening hand
Use when: keep-or-mulligan choices are available before game start.
Avoid when: runtime has already advanced past mulligan or reveals a mandatory bottoming prompt.
Instructions: Keep hands that combine blue mana or blue pitch support with at least one real interaction piece and a pressure or draw engine. Mulligan hands with only colorless lands, no castable spell, or interaction that cannot be paid for or pitched. Treat Psychic Frog and Orcish Bowmasters as preferred early pressure when paired with protection.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: London Bottoms Preserve Function First
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mulligan; selection
Cards: Force of Will; Force of Negation; Spell Pierce; Fatal Push; Psychic Frog; Orcish Bowmasters; Wasteland; Strip Mine; Treasure Cruise; Dig Through Time; Timetwister
Phase windows: mulligan bottom selection
Runtime cues: prompt:bottom cards; action:bottom
Use when: Veles shows a legal choice to put cards on bottom after a mulligan.
Avoid when: no bottom choice is pending.
Instructions: Bottom excess colorless lands before colored sources unless Wasteland or Strip Mine is the visible plan against a mana-light opponent. Bottom expensive delve or reset cards before live cheap interaction when the hand lacks graveyard material. Preserve one early threat if the rest of the hand can interact.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Setup Threat Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Psychic Frog; Orcish Bowmasters; Underground Sea; Mox Jet; Mox Sapphire; Black Lotus; Spell Pierce; Force of Will
Phase windows: turns 1-2 main phases; opponent end step
Runtime cues: action:cast Psychic Frog; action:cast Orcish Bowmasters
Use when: the pilot can deploy the first meaningful creature or hold up interaction.
Avoid when: the opponent has a visible stack object that must be answered or the threat leaves no blue interaction against a known combo window.
Instructions: Commit Psychic Frog early when it can start clocking and hand resources can protect it. Cast Orcish Bowmasters at instant speed when legal if the opponent has a draw trigger or vulnerable creature, but do not delay all pressure indefinitely waiting for a perfect trigger.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mana Source Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Underground Sea; Island; Swamp; Undercity Sewers; Polluted Delta; Misty Rainforest; Mox Sapphire; Mox Jet; Mox Pearl; Black Lotus; Wasteland; Strip Mine
Phase windows: all main phases; priority windows with costs
Runtime cues: prompt:pay mana; action:tap; action:activate mana ability
Use when: multiple payment or land-fetch choices are available.
Avoid when: the engine presents one mandatory payment action.
Instructions: Preserve blue mana for Force of Will alternatives, Force of Negation, Spell Pierce, Brainstorm, Ancestral Recall, Dig Through Time, and Time Walk. Preserve black mana for Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Demonic Tutor, Demonic Consultation, and sideboard removal. Use Wasteland and Strip Mine as spells, not default mana, unless colored development is already secure.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mandatory Exact Mana Execution
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: none
Phase windows: any cost-payment prompt
Runtime cues: action:pay exact mana
Use when: the legal action text contains one visible payment line and no alternative payment, source, or color choice is listed.
Avoid when: two or more legal payment actions are visible.
Instructions: Submit the single legal exact-payment action shown by Veles.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Force of Will; Force of Negation; Spell Pierce; Mental Misstep; Mystical Dispute; Consign to Memory; Vexing Bauble
Phase windows: opponent spell casts; stack interaction windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Force of Will; action:cast Force of Negation; action:cast Spell Pierce; action:cast Mental Misstep; action:cast Mystical Dispute; action:cast Consign to Memory
Use when: a counterspell or stack-hate action is legal.
Avoid when: the stack object is low-impact by visible text and passing preserves interaction for a known higher-impact window.
Instructions: Spend permission on spells that generate decisive mana, cards, battlefield engines, graveyard engines, or lethal pressure. Prefer cheaper permission before free permission when both answer the same visible object and mana remains for the turn. Do not counter spells only because mana is available.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Free Counter Pitch Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; interaction
Cards: Force of Will; Force of Negation; Ancestral Recall; Brainstorm; Time Walk; Dig Through Time; Treasure Cruise; Lorien Revealed; Gitaxian Probe; Spell Pierce; Mental Misstep
Phase windows: pitch-cost prompts for free counters
Runtime cues: prompt:exile a blue card; action:exile
Use when: Veles asks for a card to exile to pay Force of Will or Force of Negation.
Avoid when: the counterspell can be paid without exiling and conserving hand density is more important.
Instructions: Protect unique power cards when the game is not immediately decided by the stack fight. Exile redundant interaction, stranded blue cards, or slow delve payoffs before Ancestral Recall or Time Walk. Respect visible hand size because Psychic Frog and Force of Will both tax cards.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal Commitment Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Fatal Push; Snuff Out; Feed the Swarm; Orcish Bowmasters; Momentum Breaker
Phase windows: main phases; combat; end step
Runtime cues: action:cast Fatal Push; action:cast Snuff Out; action:cast Feed the Swarm; action:target
Use when: removal is legal against a visible permanent or creature.
Avoid when: the target does not change clock, engine access, or survival according to visible board state.
Instructions: Remove creatures that threaten lethal, disable Psychic Frog attacks, overpower Orcish Bowmasters, or enable an opponent engine. Use free Snuff Out for tempo only when life loss does not create a visible lethal crack-back. Momentum Breaker requires card text check required before relying on specific tactical text.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Wasteland And Strip Mine Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; interaction
Cards: Wasteland; Strip Mine
Phase windows: own main phase; opponent upkeep if legal through effects
Runtime cues: action:activate Wasteland; action:activate Strip Mine; action:target land
Use when: a land-destruction activation is legal.
Avoid when: sacrificing the land cuts off required blue or black mana for current hand unless the opponent land is visibly decisive.
Instructions: Prioritize lands producing missing colors for the opponent, lands with visible utility text, and lands that enable a current stack or battlefield engine. Delay land destruction when holding Spell Pierce if the opponent is already constrained and mana denial would reduce your own pressure.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Draw-Seven And Graveyard Spend Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Timetwister; Treasure Cruise; Dig Through Time; Snapcaster Mage; Soul-Guide Lantern; Grafdigger's Cage; Lurrus of the Dream-Den
Phase windows: main phase; end step for instants where legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Timetwister; action:cast Treasure Cruise; action:cast Dig Through Time; action:activate Soul-Guide Lantern
Use when: a graveyard-spending, graveyard-locking, or draw-seven action is legal.
Avoid when: the action visibly turns off a stronger graveyard line or refills an opponent who is behind on cards.
Instructions: Cast Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time when graveyard material is expendable and the cards help answer the current battlefield or stack. Treat Timetwister as a commitment, not a cantrip. Do not exile your graveyard with Soul-Guide Lantern before checking Snapcaster Mage, delve, and Lurrus of the Dream-Den implications.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tutor And Consultation Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: selection; priority
Cards: Demonic Tutor; Demonic Consultation
Phase windows: main phase; instant-speed emergency windows for Demonic Consultation
Runtime cues: action:cast Demonic Tutor; action:cast Demonic Consultation; prompt:choose card name
Use when: a tutor or card-name choice is legal.
Avoid when: there is no explicit named-card objective tied to survival, lethal, lock piece, or protected pressure.
Instructions: Use Demonic Tutor for the visible missing piece: answer, threat, mana, or restricted draw spell. Use Demonic Consultation only with a named card that immediately matters and with acceptance that the library outcome is rules-engine controlled. Never name hidden assumptions as certainty.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Snapcaster Mage Target Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; priority
Cards: Snapcaster Mage; Ancestral Recall; Brainstorm; Fatal Push; Spell Pierce; Mental Misstep; Time Walk; Demonic Consultation
Phase windows: Snapcaster Mage trigger resolution
Runtime cues: action:target Snapcaster Mage; prompt:choose instant or sorcery card
Use when: Veles asks for a graveyard target for Snapcaster Mage.
Avoid when: Grafdigger's Cage or another visible effect prevents the intended flashback line.
Instructions: Choose a target that can be cast with available mana and changes the current exchange. Prefer Ancestral Recall or Time Walk when the game is stable, Fatal Push when survival or combat requires it, and cheap permission when the stack or next turn cycle demands protection.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Psychic Frog Combat And Resource Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat; selection
Cards: Psychic Frog
Phase windows: declare attackers; declare blockers; combat damage; ability prompts
Runtime cues: action:attack with Psychic Frog; action:block with Psychic Frog; action:discard; action:exile
Use when: Psychic Frog can attack, block, or use a visible ability.
Avoid when: spending cards or graveyard resources exposes the pilot to a worse visible board or removes needed delve/Snapcaster resources.
Instructions: Attack with Psychic Frog when it pressures life total without losing the only stabilizer. Block when it preserves life against a short clock and can survive or trade acceptably from visible information. Spend cards or graveyard material only for lethal, survival, or a decisive protected clock.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Orcish Bowmasters Trigger Targeting
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Orcish Bowmasters
Phase windows: triggered ability resolution; opponent draw effects
Runtime cues: action:target Orcish Bowmasters; prompt:deal damage
Use when: Orcish Bowmasters trigger target choices are legal.
Avoid when: targeting a creature leaves a planeswalker, player, or combat math issue more urgent by visible state.
Instructions: Point damage at one-toughness creatures, key utility creatures, or the opponent when life pressure matters. Preserve Bowmasters as a flash threat when the opponent is about to draw extra cards and the current board does not demand immediate deployment.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Urza's Saga And Artifact Tension
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; selection; priority
Cards: Urza's Saga; Mishra's Bauble; Soul-Guide Lantern; Vexing Bauble; Pithing Needle; Grafdigger's Cage; Null Rod
Phase windows: chapter triggers; main phase artifact casts
Runtime cues: prompt:search your library; action:cast Null Rod; action:activate Urza's Saga
Use when: Urza's Saga chapter or artifact-lock decisions are legal.
Avoid when: Null Rod would shut off your own immediate mana or artifact utility more than the opponent's visible plan.
Instructions: Use Urza's Saga to convert land into pressure and a precise artifact when legal. Choose graveyard hate, stack-tax, activated-ability hate, or card-information tools based on visible opponent engine. Treat Null Rod as a sideboard commitment that can disable Mox Jet, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Black Lotus, Mishra's Bauble, Soul-Guide Lantern, and some Saga lines.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Lurrus Companion And Recursion Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: pregame; priority; selection
Cards: Lurrus of the Dream-Den; Mishra's Bauble; Soul-Guide Lantern; Vexing Bauble; Psychic Frog; Orcish Bowmasters
Phase windows: pregame companion reveal; main phases with Lurrus available
Runtime cues: action:reveal Lurrus of the Dream-Den; action:put Lurrus of the Dream-Den into hand; action:cast from graveyard
Use when: Lurrus of the Dream-Den companion or recursion actions are legal after sideboarding.
Avoid when: the sideboard plan did not include Lurrus of the Dream-Den or a visible hate piece prevents graveyard casting.
Instructions: Reveal Lurrus of the Dream-Den when it is legally registered as companion by the engine. Bring it into hand when the game is stable enough to spend mana and the graveyard contains or is likely to contain a useful permanent. Recur low-cost permanents that rebuild pressure or lock the opponent.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Fatal Push; Snuff Out; Feed the Swarm; Mystical Dispute; Consign to Memory; Null Rod; Grafdigger's Cage; Soul-Guide Lantern; Pithing Needle; Lurrus of the Dream-Den; Force of Negation; Spell Pierce; Fatal Push; Timetwister; Momentum Breaker
Phase windows: sideboarding after game 1; sideboarding after game 2
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; action:submit sideboard plan
Use when: a legal sideboard plan must be selected or generated.
Avoid when: the proposed plan violates registered 60/15 preservation or sides in cards absent from the sideboard.
Instructions: Add Grafdigger's Cage and Soul-Guide Lantern against graveyard engines; add Null Rod and Pithing Needle against artifact or activated-ability engines; add Mystical Dispute and Consign to Memory for blue or stack-centric fights; add Fatal Push and Snuff Out against creature pressure; add Feed the Swarm for visible enchantment problems. Reduce narrow removal against combo and reduce soft permission against creature-heavy boards when it loses timing.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Single Legal Pass Execution
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: none
Phase windows: any priority window
Runtime cues: action:pass
Use when: the only legal action shown by Veles is a pass action and no alternative legal action is listed.
Avoid when: any non-pass legal action is visible.
Instructions: Submit the visible pass action.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes
