# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Mono-White Initiative is a Vintage 60-card main deck with a 15-card sideboard, registered as a white stompy, prison, initiative deck. The active validation contract says the deck passes Vintage construction rules with 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards, and the runtime pilot should still defer all legality, timing, target, and replacement-effect certainty to Veles and the wrapped rules engine before choosing an action.

- Format: Vintage.
- Strategy name: Mono-White Initiative.
- Archetype tags: stompy; prison; initiative.
- Main deck count: 60.
- Sideboard count: 15.
- Stock status: hybrid. The shell uses familiar Vintage mono-white prison pressure patterns, but the exact configuration is deck-specific because it maxes on Chancellor of the Annex, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Witch Enchanter, Void Mirror, White Plume Adventurer, Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls, Chrome Mox, and Wasteland while using singletons Vexing Bauble, Strip Mine, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Karakas, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, and Mox Emerald.
- Opponent information status: unknown unless a matchup label, revealed card, public zone, sideboard stage, or prior logged decision says otherwise. Do not infer exact hidden cards from archetype alone, and do not name opponent cards in policy card lists unless they are registered in this deck.

The deck’s strategic identity is fast permanent-based pressure plus taxing effects, not long-game card advantage. It aims to spend explosive mana from Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, and Cavern of Souls to land a disruptive creature or prison artifact before the opponent can convert cheap spells into a stable game. The pilot should prefer plays that create an immediate constraint and a clock over plays that only preserve resources without changing the opponent’s next turn.

The mana base is powerful but structurally tense. Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt can accelerate the deck into initiative threats and prison creatures, but life loss matters in races and after the opponent has already deployed pressure. Chrome Mox creates the fastest openings but converts a white card into mana, so imprint decisions must respect hand texture, duplicate effects, and whether the remaining hand still produces a meaningful threat or lock piece. Cavern of Souls is both color fixing and permission insulation for creature-heavy hands; name choices must follow the visible creature plan and legal action text rather than assuming a default creature type without checking current hand and available actions. Plains, Karakas, Wasteland, and Strip Mine support games where mana denial matters more than immediate speed.

The main role concern is that the deck can draw the wrong half. Hands with only lock pieces and no fast pressure may let the opponent rebuild through one constraint, while hands with only creatures and no disruption may lose to faster Vintage engines. Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Chancellor of the Annex, Wasteland, and Strip Mine are disruption; Seasoned Dungeoneer and White Plume Adventurer are initiative pressure; Witch Enchanter is a flexible registered main-deck card whose exact tactical use should follow rules-engine output and visible legal choices. Card text check required for any uncertain mode, alternate face, or triggered/static interaction before relying on it as removal, mana, or pressure.

The sideboard confirms a prison deck that adjusts by axis rather than transforming. Swords to Plowshares supplies creature interaction, Containment Priest addresses creature-entry and graveyard-cheat patterns when legal text supports it, Leyline of the Void fights graveyard dependence, Archon of Absolution changes creature-combat pressure, Light of Day is matchup-specific hate that requires card text verification in context, and Null Rod attacks artifact-resource reliance while potentially constraining this deck’s own artifacts. Sideboarding must preserve the registered 75 and must never side in more than 3 Swords to Plowshares, 4 Containment Priest, 4 Leyline of the Void, 1 Archon of Absolution, 2 Light of Day, or 1 Null Rod.

## Thesis
Mono-White Initiative assembles an early mana burst, a permanent-based tax effect, and an initiative creature before the opponent can turn cheap Vintage resources into a stable engine. The ideal opening does not merely deploy a creature; it makes the opponent's next legal spell sequence awkward with Chancellor of the Annex, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Wasteland, or Strip Mine, then converts that delay into repeated dungeon progress from White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer.

Prioritize board states where the opponent is constrained on both time and mana. A hand that produces Ancient Tomb or fast artifact mana into Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, or Clarion Conqueror is usually closer to the deck's plan than a hand that preserves cards but spends the first turn passing. Cavern of Souls should protect the creature plan when the legal name choice and hand texture support it, while Wasteland and Strip Mine should punish visible mana bottlenecks rather than be fired automatically.

Win by keeping the initiative and attacking through the opponent's forced inefficiency. White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer are the main snowball pieces, and the surrounding prison cards exist to buy the turns needed for the initiative advantage and creature combat to matter. Anointed Peacekeeper and Archon of Emeria can also become part of the clock, but their highest value is often naming, taxing, or throttling the opponent's visible route back into the game.

Do not play as a pure control deck, a draw-go permission deck, or a resource-hoarding midrange deck. The list has no broad card-draw engine, no recursion package, and no inevitability plan that replaces battlefield pressure. When a line must choose between a speculative future resource and a current disruptive clock, favor the current disruptive clock unless visible board state, life totals, or legal interaction show that immediate survival is at risk.

Respect runtime legality and visible information over archetype habit. Do not assume Chancellor of the Annex, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Clarion Conqueror, Witch Enchanter, or sideboard hate will function in a specific way unless Veles exposes the relevant legal action, trigger, replacement, target, or static-effect context. Card text check required for any uncertain Witch Enchanter mode or Clarion Conqueror restriction before treating it as removal, protection, or a lock.

## Role Package
- Threats: White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer are the primary initiative threats and should be prioritized when the hand can also create resistance to the opponent's immediate answer. Anointed Peacekeeper, Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, Chancellor of the Annex, and Witch Enchanter can all contribute combat damage, but they are strongest when their disruptive text also changes the opponent's legal sequencing.

- Payoffs: The initiative is the main payoff, so preserve or reclaim it when attacks, blocks, and removal choices are legal and tactically plausible. Seasoned Dungeoneer and White Plume Adventurer turn one protected turn cycle into a snowball; do not trade them away casually unless the visible alternative is losing the initiative, dying to combat, or allowing a higher-value opponent engine to continue unchecked.

- Engines: The deck's engine is constraint plus initiative, not repeated card selection. Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Chancellor of the Annex, Wasteland, and Strip Mine are the pieces that make the opponent spend turns inefficiently while initiative creatures and attackers close the game.

- Velocity: Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, and Cavern of Souls provide speed instead of card velocity. Use Chrome Mox imprint only when the remaining hand still has a coherent first disruptive permanent or initiative threat; do not imprint the only white threat or only relevant hate piece without a visible high-impact payoff.

- Interaction: Main-deck interaction is mostly preventative and permanent-based. Wasteland and Strip Mine attack visible lands, Anointed Peacekeeper pressures named cards or costs when legally prompted, Witch Enchanter may answer a permanent only when the engine exposes that mode and target, and Vexing Bauble or Void Mirror should be sequenced before the opponent can exploit the spell patterns they constrain.

- Protection: Cavern of Souls is the main proactive protection for creature-heavy hands, and Chancellor of the Annex can protect the first turn only if the rules engine presents the relevant pregame or triggered context. Karakas is protection or interaction only when Veles shows a legal activation or relevant board object; do not assume it solves an unseen threat.

- Recursion: Treat recursion as absent. The deck does not plan to rebuy destroyed lock pieces, recover discarded threats, or grind from the graveyard, so protect the first high-impact permanent when the visible game state says it is carrying the plan.

- Mana: Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt accelerate at a life cost, so race math matters after the opponent has creatures or burn-like pressure visible. Plains and Mox Pearl stabilize white mana, Cavern of Souls fixes creature deployment, Chrome Mox converts surplus white cards into speed, and Wasteland plus Strip Mine should be used as strategic disruption when the opponent's visible mana is constrained.

- Sideboard modules: Swords to Plowshares adds direct creature interaction, Containment Priest adds creature-entry disruption where its text applies, Leyline of the Void attacks graveyard dependence from the opening zone or battlefield when legal, Archon of Absolution supports creature-combat defense, Light of Day is matchup-specific hate with card text check required, and Null Rod pressures artifact-resource plans while also affecting this deck's own artifacts if rules text says so.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Initiative snowball is the main win path: deploy White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer ahead of schedule, keep the initiative through the next combat, and let repeated dungeon progress plus creature attacks force the opponent to answer under pressure. Prioritize this line when the opening hand has Ancient Tomb, Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mox Pearl, Cavern of Souls, or multiple Moxen plus a prison piece that can slow the opponent's first recovery turn.

- Prison-backed initiative is the preferred execution pattern: pair White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer with Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Chancellor of the Annex, Wasteland, or Strip Mine so the opponent cannot efficiently remove the creature and retake the initiative in the same window. Use Cavern of Souls to protect the creature plan when the chosen type and visible legal choices support the hand's threat sequence.

- Disruptive creature pressure closes games when initiative is already secured or unavailable: Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Chancellor of the Annex, and Witch Enchanter should attack when doing so does not expose the initiative, lose a critical blocker, or let the opponent reclaim tempo through a visible counterattack. Card text check required before treating Clarion Conqueror or Witch Enchanter as a specific lock, answer, or combat modifier beyond what Veles exposes.

- Mana denial becomes a win condition when the opponent is visibly constrained: Wasteland and Strip Mine should target lands that unlock the opponent's current colors, mana quantity, or engine turn, especially after Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Chancellor of the Annex, or Anointed Peacekeeper has already narrowed their legal spell sequence. Do not spend Wasteland or Strip Mine just because they are legal if the opponent has redundant mana and the deck still needs white or colorless sources for pressure.

- Fast artifact mana enables the decisive first permanent, not long-game inevitability: Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, and Mox Emerald should be converted into immediate pressure or lock texture before the opponent's cheaper spells and engines can stabilize. Prioritize this path when the hand can land one high-impact permanent and still preserve enough follow-up to punish removal or a stalled battlefield.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Backup combat wins games when the first initiative creature is removed: keep attacking with Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Chancellor of the Annex, Witch Enchanter, and surviving initiative creatures while using Wasteland, Strip Mine, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, and Anointed Peacekeeper to prevent the opponent from spending a clean turn rebuilding. Treat every attack as a race decision, because Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt can make the deck's own life total collapse under pressure.

- Creature stack density can overpower single-answer hands: multiple copies of White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, and Clarion Conqueror should be sequenced so the opponent must answer the permanent that matters now and still face another threat next turn. Avoid committing every creature into a visible sweeper, bounce pattern, or combat setup unless waiting gives the opponent a clearer engine turn.

- Lock-piece accumulation can buy enough time for modest damage: Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Archon of Emeria, Chancellor of the Annex, Anointed Peacekeeper, and Clarion Conqueror can function as overlapping disruption even when no single piece is decisive. Prioritize adding the piece that changes the opponent's current legal actions, visible mana use, or named-card pressure rather than the piece that is generically strongest in abstract matchup theory.

- Witch Enchanter is a flexible pressure or answer slot only when the rules engine shows the relevant legal mode, target, or spell face. Card text check required; use it as a creature clock, removal-like action, or spell interaction only according to Veles-visible legality and public board objects.

- Karakas can support a secondary plan only when Veles exposes a legal activation with a visible target. Do not assume Karakas protects a creature, disrupts the opponent, or creates a loop unless the board state and action list explicitly show that use.

- There is no burn, recursion, creature-land, or draw-engine fallback in the registered main deck. When pressure is exhausted, the correct backup is usually to preserve life, trade for initiative control, deploy the next disruptive permanent, and use mana denial to stretch the opponent's stumble into enough attack steps.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, stop paying life casually and reassess every Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt line against the visible clock. A slower Plains, Cavern of Souls, Mox Pearl, Chrome Mox, or Black Lotus line can be correct if the fast line loses to attacks, triggers, or known damage before initiative pressure matters.

- When behind on board, prioritize reclaiming or preventing the initiative over adding a low-impact lock piece. Block with expendable disruptive creatures when the alternative is losing the initiative or dying, but preserve White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer if their survival is the only route to a dungeon swing and Veles shows a defensible combat line.

- When behind on cards, convert remaining cards into board impact instead of waiting for a non-existent refill engine. Chrome Mox imprint decisions should become stricter: do not exile the only remaining threat, only white card, or only hate piece unless the immediate legal play changes survival or creates a decisive initiative turn.

- When behind on mana, use Wasteland and Strip Mine defensively only if they also reduce the opponent below an important visible threshold. If sacrificing a land prevents casting White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, or Anointed Peacekeeper on schedule, preserve mana unless the opponent's visible land is enabling an immediate higher-threat action.

- When the opponent has an active engine, choose the disruptive permanent or name effect that interferes with the engine's next visible step. Anointed Peacekeeper should follow Veles prompts and public information; do not invent hidden cards, but do name the visible card, revealed card, or engine object when the legal choice clearly points to the current bottleneck.

- When facing graveyard recursion or combo pressure, lean on speed plus relevant hate rather than trying to grind. Main deck tools are limited to pressure, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Chancellor of the Annex, Wasteland, and Strip Mine; if these do not visibly apply, prioritize the fastest initiative clock and avoid speculative passivity.

- When primary initiative threats are removed, win by layering remaining creatures and mana denial. A board of Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Chancellor of the Annex, or Witch Enchanter is still a valid clock if the opponent remains constrained; the emergency mistake is to stop attacking while waiting for another White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer that may not arrive.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable acceleration resource only while the visible clock is low: Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt should buy early White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, or Vexing Bauble turns, but repeated Ancient Tomb payments become a liability once opposing attackers or known damage pressure are present.

- Hand cards are front-loaded tempo, not a refillable reserve: Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, and the Moxen should turn a good opener into a constraining board before the opponent develops, but Chrome Mox should not exile the only white card, only initiative creature, or only matchup-relevant prison piece unless the immediate legal play is decisive.

- Mana converts into board pressure first and mana denial second: use fast mana to deploy a threat or lock permanent before sacrificing Wasteland or Strip Mine, then use Wasteland and Strip Mine to keep the opponent from casting out from under Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Chancellor of the Annex, or Anointed Peacekeeper.

- Board presence is the deck's durable resource: White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer create initiative pressure, while Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Chancellor of the Annex, and Witch Enchanter create the time needed for combat damage to matter. Do not treat non-attacking lock pieces as enough if the opponent is already stabilizing.

- Graveyard and exile are mostly accounting zones in game one: the main deck has no broad graveyard recursion plan and no normal way to profit from exiled cards, so evaluate graveyards for opponent pressure, spent answers, and known information rather than as a resource to build around. After sideboarding, Leyline of the Void and Containment Priest can turn those zones into hate resources against graveyard or creature-cheat plans.

- Lands are both mana and disruption: Cavern of Souls, Plains, Ancient Tomb, Karakas, Witch Enchanter if Veles exposes a legal land face, and artifact mana keep the deck casting; Wasteland and Strip Mine become expendable only when their sacrifice does not strand the next important spell.

- Sacrifice fodder is scarce: the registered main deck has no dedicated sacrifice engine, so do not trade creatures casually unless blocking preserves life, initiative, or a prison board that is already winning. Treat every creature as either pressure, a lock body, or a future blocker.

- Information is a tactical resource from visible board state, revealed cards, named-card prompts, and public legality only: Anointed Peacekeeper choices should follow revealed cards, visible engine pieces, or current legal bottlenecks, never guessed hidden hands. Chancellor of the Annex opening information matters only when Veles confirms it is in the opening hand or its effect is represented by the rules engine.

- Sideboard bullets convert matchup knowledge into narrow leverage: Swords to Plowshares adds clean creature interaction, Containment Priest and Leyline of the Void fight graveyard or creature-entry plans, Light of Day and Archon of Absolution modify creature races when legal text applies, and Null Rod attacks artifact mana or artifact engines while also demanding caution around your own Moxen, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, and Chrome Mox.

## Mana Guide
- Keep openers that produce an early white permanent plus pressure or prison: a strong hand normally casts White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, or Vexing Bauble by turn one or turn two. Mulligan hands with powerful names but no path to white mana, no fast mana, and no disruptive play before the opponent's expected setup turn.

- Prioritize white access before optional colorless disruption: Plains, Cavern of Souls, Mox Pearl, Chrome Mox with an imprinted white card, Black Lotus, and Witch Enchanter when Veles exposes a legal land face are the main ways to cast white creatures. Ancient Tomb accelerates but does not cast most white spells alone, so pair it with a white source before planning a creature-heavy opener.

- Sequence Cavern of Souls for the creature class Veles requires, and do not assume uncounterability beyond rules-engine output. If multiple creature spells are available, use Cavern of Souls to unlock the highest-impact immediate creature, usually the initiative creature or disruptive body that the hand is built to cast.

- Play Ancient Tomb when speed is worth the life cost: use it early for Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, lock creatures with a white source, or double-spell-like mana bursts before Archon of Emeria limits spell volume. Delay Ancient Tomb if the life payment changes a visible race and another source still casts the important spell.

- Use Black Lotus and the Moxen to compress the first meaningful turn: Black Lotus can enable early white creatures or multiple lock pieces before Archon of Emeria is deployed, while Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, and Mox Emerald are colorless for this deck's spell costs unless Veles shows a relevant color requirement. Mox Pearl is premium because it casts white cards.

- Treat Chrome Mox imprint as a commitment decision: imprint redundant copies of Chancellor of the Annex, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Witch Enchanter, White Plume Adventurer, or Seasoned Dungeoneer only when the remaining hand still has a coherent threat-and-disruption plan. Do not imprint the only castable white card unless Chrome Mox is the only line to an immediate decisive permanent.

- Use Wasteland and Strip Mine after checking your next spell: sacrifice them when the opponent's land is a visible bottleneck or when a lock piece has made each mana source more important. Hold them when losing the land prevents casting White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, or sideboard cards on schedule.

- Use Karakas as mana by default unless Veles exposes a legal, relevant activation. Do not hold Karakas untapped for speculative protection or disruption if spending it casts the current best legal spell and no visible Karakas target or timing rule matters.

- Play lands before draw or selection only when the land enables a known legal action this turn, protects against visible tax pressure, or lets Wasteland/Strip Mine constrain the opponent now. Delay land play when the current turn may reveal whether Cavern of Souls, Plains, Ancient Tomb, Karakas, Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Witch Enchanter as a land face best supports the post-draw legal action list.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keeps deploy a first-turn prison or initiative permanent from real mana: hands such as Ancient Tomb plus Mox Pearl plus White Plume Adventurer, Black Lotus plus Seasoned Dungeoneer, or Cavern of Souls plus Chrome Mox plus Archon of Emeria are premium when the remaining cards include another threat, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Anointed Peacekeeper. Keep these unless Veles shows a rules or matchup reason the fast permanent is irrelevant.

- Medium keeps cast a disruptive body on turn two with mana denial backup: Cavern of Souls plus Plains plus Anointed Peacekeeper plus Wasteland is acceptable when the opponent is not expected to win before turn two. Ancient Tomb plus Void Mirror plus White Plume Adventurer without white mana is only medium if the hand has Cavern of Souls, Plains, Mox Pearl, Chrome Mox with imprint, Black Lotus, or Witch Enchanter as a legal land face coming soon.

- Risky keeps need one draw step or one fragile resource to function: Chrome Mox hands that must imprint the only extra white card are risky, Black Lotus-only white hands are risky after the first spell, and Ancient Tomb plus multiple white creatures is risky without a white source. Keep risky hands on the play more often when they contain Chancellor of the Annex, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, or Wasteland pressure.

- Automatic ships lack an early legal play: hands with only Wasteland, Strip Mine, Karakas, Ancient Tomb, and white creatures should mulligan unless a Mox Pearl, Black Lotus, or Chrome Mox line exists. Ship hands that cast only Moxen and no disruptive permanent, hands with no white access and no Void Mirror or Vexing Bauble, and hands that rely on drawing both mana and a threat.

- Matchup-dependent keeps change around sideboard cards: Leyline of the Void in an opener can justify a lower-pressure hand against graveyard decks, while Containment Priest needs castable white mana and should not excuse a hand that does nothing before the opponent’s creature-entry turn. Swords to Plowshares improves creature-matchup keeps, Null Rod improves artifact-engine keeps only when your own Moxen, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, and Chrome Mox are not the hand’s only functional mana.

- Play/draw changes the minimum speed: on the play, keep hands that present Chancellor of the Annex pressure, Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, or initiative before the opponent develops. On the draw, prefer hands with redundant lock pieces or sideboard interaction because a single slow Anointed Peacekeeper or Clarion Conqueror may arrive after the opponent’s first important action.

- Trap hands look powerful but do not execute: multiple Chancellor of the Annex without mana, multiple initiative creatures without white, Mox Sapphire plus Mox Ruby plus Ancient Tomb with only white spells, or Wasteland-heavy hands without a castable permanent are traps. A hand that can only deploy Void Mirror while stranded on white creatures is also a trap against creature decks where Void Mirror is not the visible bottleneck.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 prioritizes a lock or initiative permanent before mana denial: cast White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer when fast white mana supports it, otherwise cast Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, or Vexing Bauble according to the visible matchup bottleneck. Use Wasteland or Strip Mine on turn one only when no strong permanent is legal or the opponent’s land is clearly the choke point under an existing lock.

- Turn 1 deviations preserve resources when the first permanent is fragile or mismatched: do not spend Black Lotus for a low-impact card if the same hand can play Archon of Emeria or initiative next turn with Cavern of Souls or Mox Pearl. Do not imprint a unique initiative creature on Chrome Mox unless the imprint creates a stronger immediate lock plus follow-up.

- Turn 2 should convert the opener into a clock: if turn one was a prison piece, follow with White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, or the largest legal creature pressure. If turn one was initiative, add Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, or Wasteland to prevent recovery rather than overextending redundant mana.

- Turn 2 deviations answer visible escape routes: use Witch Enchanter only when Veles exposes a legal spell or land-face action whose text matters to the board; Card text check required for exact Witch Enchanter tactical targeting. Use Anointed Peacekeeper naming choices only from revealed cards, visible permanents, stack context, or Veles prompt text.

- Turn 3 should defend initiative and compress damage: attack when legal attacks preserve the initiative race or force unfavorable blocks, then add a prison body or mana denial that keeps the opponent from casting multiple recovery spells. Use Karakas activations only when Veles shows a legal relevant target; otherwise spend Karakas as mana for the best legal play.

- Turns 4-5 turn prison into inevitability: maintain the initiative, deny key lands with Wasteland and Strip Mine after checking the next white spell, and add redundant bodies so one removal spell does not break pressure. If behind, prioritize Swords to Plowshares after sideboarding, Containment Priest against creature-entry lines, or Light of Day and Archon of Absolution when their legal text visibly changes combat.

- Late game favors disciplined pressure over speculative locking: attack with creatures that preserve lethal pressure or initiative defense, hold excess Wasteland or Strip Mine if sacrificing them strands a castable topdeck, and deploy redundant Void Mirror or Vexing Bauble only when Veles shows they remain relevant. When both players are low on resources, any legal initiative creature is usually the best draw because it supplies both pressure and a dungeon path, subject to visible board state and legal actions.

## Card Roles
- White Plume Adventurer is the premium initiative opener because it creates pressure, asks the opponent to answer the dungeon immediately, and can make later combat harder for fair creature decks. Cast it as early as legal when the mana is stable, especially from Cavern of Souls, Mox Pearl, Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, or Ancient Tomb plus white support. Do not hold White Plume Adventurer for more value unless Veles shows a better same-turn lock or a visible removal/board state where taking the initiative cannot be defended.

- Seasoned Dungeoneer is the higher-impact initiative follow-up that converts an existing board into difficult attacks. Prioritize it when you already have a creature that can pressure or defend the initiative, or when the game has slowed under Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Wasteland, or Strip Mine. Card text check required for exact combat-protection details, so use its attack-related ability only from legal Veles prompts and visible targets.

- Archon of Emeria is the main spell-velocity prison creature and should be deployed before initiative when the opponent’s visible or expected plan needs multiple spells in one turn. Cast Archon of Emeria early against artifact, storm, blue cantrip, and recovery turns; cast initiative first when the opponent is creature-heavy and Archon of Emeria does not change the immediate board. Avoid sequencing your own turn into the Archon restriction if you still need to cast Moxen, Chrome Mox, Vexing Bauble, Void Mirror, or a threat first.

- Anointed Peacekeeper is the flexible disruption body for named-card pressure, mana-taxing, and visible-answer control. Use it on revealed cards, known combo pieces, visible permanents with activated abilities, or the opponent’s clearest legal recovery card from Veles context; do not invent hidden names. It is strong after Chancellor of the Annex or Archon of Emeria because a taxed card may become functionally locked for a turn cycle. When unsure, name the card Veles exposes as most immediately castable or activatable, not a speculative format staple.

- Clarion Conqueror is a prison body whose exact tactical ceiling depends on card text. Card text check required. Treat it as an early disruptive permanent when Veles shows its legal text blocks the opponent’s visible actions or resources; otherwise value it as a castable white creature that increases pressure under Ancient Tomb and Cavern of Souls. Do not choose Clarion Conqueror over a live initiative creature unless its restriction is visibly relevant or you need a cheaper body to defend the initiative.

- Chancellor of the Annex is a pregame and early-turn tempo shield, not a normal plan to hard-cast quickly. Reveal it when legal from the opener to tax the opponent’s first spell and protect fast prison or initiative starts. In hand, it is often Chrome Mox fuel unless the game is slow, the mana is abundant, or a large flying threat is the best legal way to close. Do not keep a hand only because it has Chancellor of the Annex if the hand cannot deploy a meaningful permanent.

- Witch Enchanter is both a white card for Chrome Mox and a flexible spell/land slot, but its exact removal mode requires a card text check. Use the land face when the hand needs stable white mana more than a spell effect, especially with Ancient Tomb or Wasteland-heavy hands. Cast the spell face only when Veles exposes a legal target whose destruction materially improves the board, such as a visible artifact/enchantment/prison piece by exact legal prompt; do not hold mana open for imagined targets.

- Void Mirror is a high-leverage artifact prison piece against zero-mana and colorless-spell sequences, especially when backed by a fast clock. Cast it early when the opponent’s deck or visible board depends on artifacts, free spells, or colorless mana. It is weaker against fair creature boards where initiative or Swords to Plowshares after sideboarding matters more. Avoid locking yourself into awkward sequencing: deploy essential Moxen, Black Lotus, Mana Crypt, or Chrome Mox first when legal and strategically necessary.

- Vexing Bauble is the one-copy anti-free-spell guard and should be treated as a compact shield for the first initiative or prison permanent. Cast it before passing into a blue or combo opponent when it is legal and does not prevent a stronger turn-one lock. Card text check required for exact draw or sacrifice timing; use any card-draw mode only when Veles shows the artifact is no longer relevant, redundant, or the card is needed to find pressure.

- Chrome Mox converts excess white cards into speed, and speed is the deck’s main resource. Imprint only when the resulting legal play is meaningfully stronger than waiting: turn-one White Plume Adventurer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror plus pressure, or sideboard hate. Prefer imprinting redundant Chancellor of the Annex, extra prison bodies, or excess initiative copies; avoid imprinting the only initiative creature, only white card, or only answer unless the immediate lock is decisive.

- Black Lotus is for explosive commitment turns, not automatic spending. Use it to land an initiative creature, multiple pre-Archon permanents, or a post-sideboard hate piece plus pressure. Preserve Black Lotus when the current legal action is low-impact and the hand can naturally cast a better permanent next turn. Once Archon of Emeria is on board, sequence Black Lotus before the one-spell restriction matters if Veles presents that choice.

- Mana Crypt is a speed piece with life-risk upside and should fund early prison or initiative before the damage race matters. Use Mana Crypt aggressively on turns one and two when it enables a lock body, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, or a fast initiative threat. Reassess in low-life games: if the legal play does not improve survival, additional Mana Crypt risk may be worse than slower white mana.

- Mox Pearl is the best Mox because it casts the deck’s white threats. Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, and Mox Emerald mostly accelerate artifacts, pay generic costs, support Archon timing, and help deploy multiple permanents before a restriction. Play off-color Moxen when they enable a same-turn lock or pressure line; do not overvalue them as keep reasons without white access.

- Cavern of Souls is the preferred threat land when Veles asks for a creature type choice or mana source for key bodies. Use it to make White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, or Chancellor of the Annex resolve through permission when the chosen type supports the visible hand. Card type check required for exact creature-type naming across the hand; choose from legal Veles options based on the creature you must cast first, then future copies.

- Ancient Tomb is the deck’s tempo engine and should be spent before defensive lands when it produces a real prison or initiative advantage. Accept Ancient Tomb damage to cast White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Void Mirror, or Vexing Bauble ahead of schedule. Stop leaning on Ancient Tomb when life total and visible attackers make the damage a lethal liability.

- Wasteland and Strip Mine are lock amplifiers after a permanent is established. Use them to cut the opponent off a visible color, Bazaar-style engine land, Workshop-style mana, or a land needed to pay through Chancellor of the Annex, Anointed Peacekeeper, or Archon of Emeria. Do not sacrifice them before confirming your own next white source unless denying the land is the highest-impact legal action.

- Karakas is a white source first and a tactical utility land only when Veles exposes a legal relevant target. Use it to cast white creatures and preserve initiative pressure. Activate Karakas only from visible legal prompts where bouncing a legendary creature protects your board, disrupts the opponent, or saves a key threat; do not reserve it indefinitely at the cost of missing development.

- Plains is the clean stabilizing mana source that keeps the deck functional through artifact hate, Wasteland pressure, or Ancient Tomb damage. Favor Plains when the hand already has acceleration and needs reliable white for multiple turns. Do not cut yourself off Plains lines with unnecessary Chrome Mox imprint decisions or premature land destruction.

## Interaction Priorities

- Priority: protect the first decisive permanent before spending interaction on marginal board changes. Lead with Chancellor of the Annex reveal, Vexing Bauble, Void Mirror, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, or Clarion Conqueror when they tax the opponent’s visible line; then convert that pause into White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer.

- Priority: use Anointed Peacekeeper on the visible card or known engine action that beats the current lock, not on a generic powerful card from memory. Name a revealed spell, an exposed combo piece, a card already castable from public information, or a permanent with an activated ability that matters this turn cycle. Against combo, bias toward the card that starts or pays off the chain. Against control, bias toward cheap removal or sweepers that answer initiative. Against artifact decks, bias toward the mana or payoff action that ignores Archon of Emeria.

- Priority: deploy Void Mirror before the opponent can exploit free or colorless spell chains, but sequence your own Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, off-color Moxen, Mana Crypt, and Chrome Mox first when those artifacts are required for the same turn. Treat Void Mirror as a counter-tax piece against spell velocity, not as removal; it is lower priority once both players are playing ordinary colored creature magic.

- Priority: use Witch Enchanter only on a legal visible artifact or enchantment target whose removal changes the race, unlocks attacks, or breaks an opposing lock. Card text check required for exact mode and target scope. Do not spend Witch Enchanter on low-impact permanents when its land face or Chrome Mox imprint role keeps initiative mana functional.

- Priority: after sideboarding, use Swords to Plowshares on creatures that steal initiative, create lethal pressure, shut off attacks, or invalidate Seasoned Dungeoneer and White Plume Adventurer. Do not fire it at small creatures that cannot attack through your board unless preserving life total or initiative requires it immediately.

- Priority: use Containment Priest and Leyline of the Void as proactive interaction, not as late cleanup. Keep or deploy them when the opponent’s public plan uses graveyard, library-to-battlefield, exile-to-battlefield, or creature-cheating lines. If the opponent is fair and board-based, these cards lose priority to Swords to Plowshares, Archon of Absolution, Light of Day, and initiative pressure.

- Priority: use Wasteland and Strip Mine after a threat or prison piece is active unless the visible land will immediately enable the opponent through your tax. Destroy the land that supplies the missing color, pays a tax, or powers a public engine. Ignore redundant lands when the opponent is already constrained and your own white mana is fragile.

- Bait rule: offer lower-value artifacts or redundant prison bodies before committing the only initiative creature when the opponent represents interaction through public mana and prior actions. If Cavern of Souls can force through a creature, save it for White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, or Anointed Peacekeeper rather than spending it on a less decisive body.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Priority: attack to take, keep, or accelerate the initiative unless visible crack-back damage makes losing it or dying likely. White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer are pressure engines first; every attack should be checked against initiative retention, dungeon progress, and whether the opponent can safely steal the initiative next combat.

- Priority: preserve the first initiative creature when the initiative is your main advantage. Do not trade White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer for a low-impact blocker if your prison pieces already limit the opponent. Trade them only when the exchange prevents lethal damage, denies an initiative steal, removes the opponent’s only meaningful attacker, or lets a second initiative creature continue the engine.

- Priority: use Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, Witch Enchanter, and Chancellor of the Annex as combat bodies according to role. Archon of Emeria and Anointed Peacekeeper can trade when their tax/name has already bought time or when blocking protects initiative. Clarion Conqueror is more expendable if its restriction is no longer relevant. Chancellor of the Annex is a finisher if hard-cast; do not risk it in combat unless the race requires the exchange.

- Priority: block to protect initiative before protecting life total, except at lethal or near-lethal life thresholds. If the opponent can take initiative with one unblocked attacker, assign blocks that stop the initiative transfer even if the block trades down. If the opponent cannot take initiative or the initiative is not active, preserve creatures that maintain your clock and prison pressure.

- Priority: respect Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt damage in races. At 10 or less life, treat each Ancient Tomb activation as a real combat cost. At 6 or less life, prefer Plains, Mox Pearl, Cavern of Souls, or already deployed mana when the legal play is not decisive. Do not attack with a needed blocker under a short clock just to add damage unless dungeon progress or lethal math justifies it.

- Priority: attack differently by archetype. Against combo and control, shorten the clock and force action under Chancellor of the Annex, Vexing Bauble, Void Mirror, Archon of Emeria, and Anointed Peacekeeper. Against creature decks, defend initiative, trade support creatures aggressively, and let dungeon advantage win longer games. Against graveyard or cheat-creature decks after sideboarding, protect Containment Priest or Leyline of the Void value while using Swords to Plowshares on the creature that breaks the board.

- Protection rule: use Karakas only when Veles exposes a legal bounce that saves a key legendary creature, disrupts an opposing legendary attacker, or changes an initiative combat. Do not hold back attacks or mana for imagined Karakas lines.

- Ignore rule: ignore small non-evasive creatures when Archon of Absolution, Light of Day, a superior board, or initiative progress makes their attacks irrelevant. Spend combat resources on the creature that can steal initiative, force lethal, or make your attacks impossible.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Selection rule: treat this deck as having no conventional tutor package, so most selection decisions are dungeon-room, modal land/spell, imprint, named-card, and draw-sacrifice choices. Do not search for absent utility cards, do not plan around hidden library order, and do not spend time on speculative tutor lines unless Veles exposes a concrete legal search or selection action.

- Land-search rule: if initiative dungeon text legally searches for a basic land, find Plains when white mana is missing, when Ancient Tomb or Mana Crypt damage is constraining future turns, or when Cavern of Souls cannot cast the current noncreature spell. Decline or deprioritize a Plains search only when the legal room choice that advances damage or card flow is clearly more urgent from the visible board.

- Dungeon-selection rule: use White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer initiative triggers to stabilize first, then accelerate the clock. Choose mana or card-flow rooms when the hand is threat-heavy but short on castable white mana; choose pressure or damage rooms when prison pieces already constrain the opponent and initiative retention is likely; choose defensive paths when one opposing attacker can steal initiative.

- Scry/filter rule: bottom cards that do not cast under the current mana and prison configuration. Early, keep Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls, Plains, Chrome Mox plus imprintable white cards, Mox Pearl, Black Lotus, and initiative creatures over redundant lock pieces. Late, bottom extra Chrome Mox, spare legendary mana if unusable, and prison pieces that no longer affect the visible game.

- Imprint rule: use Chrome Mox imprint as a real card-selection cost, not automatic acceleration. Imprint the least tactically important white card only when the resulting mana produces Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, Clarion Conqueror, White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Void Mirror, or a sideboard hate card on time. Avoid imprinting the only initiative creature unless the alternative hand cannot function.

- Modal-use rule: choose Witch Enchanter as mana when the hand needs land count, white source stability, or a Chrome Mox-free curve. Choose Witch Enchanter as a spell only when Veles exposes a legal artifact or enchantment target whose removal changes the current turn cycle; Card text check required for exact target restrictions and land-face details.

- Named-card rule: use Anointed Peacekeeper as targeted selection against the opponent’s visible plan. Name a revealed card, public commander-equivalent engine card in the current game state, known card from prior game logs when allowed by match context, or visible activated-ability source that the opponent can use through your taxes. Do not name a format staple from memory when public information points elsewhere.

- Draw-sacrifice rule: use Vexing Bauble’s card-draw mode only after its counter-text has stopped mattering or when drawing is necessary to find mana, a creature, Swords to Plowshares, Containment Priest, Leyline of the Void, or another immediate answer. Card text check required for exact activation cost and timing; do not sacrifice it before the opponent’s free-spell turn unless the visible state demands a card now.

- Land-destruction selection rule: choose Wasteland or Strip Mine targets by function, not raw power. Destroy the land that pays for removal, enables a second spell through Archon of Emeria, casts a creature that can take initiative, or pays a visible tax. Keep your own land drop when you still need white mana to deploy the next threat.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Priority rule: pass aggressively when the stack is empty, the opponent is constrained by Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Chancellor of the Annex, Vexing Bauble, or Anointed Peacekeeper, and no legal action improves the board before combat. This deck wins by forcing awkward turns; do not spend resources just because priority appears.

- Stack rule: let low-impact spells resolve when your prison board already answers the turn. Save Swords to Plowshares, Witch Enchanter, Karakas activations, and land destruction for the spell or permanent that breaks initiative, removes the only clock, unlocks multiple spells, or creates lethal pressure.

- Free-spell rule: sequence your own Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, Mana Crypt, and Chrome Mox before deploying Void Mirror when those mana pieces are needed for the same turn. After Void Mirror is active, assume no-mana spells may be countered only when the rules engine shows that result; do not rely on memory if Veles exposes different legality.

- Chancellor rule: reveal or use Chancellor of the Annex only through legal Veles prompts. After the Chancellor tax exists, avoid wasting follow-up interaction on the first opposing spell unless paying through the tax still leaves the opponent able to execute a meaningful line.

- Initiative-trigger rule: resolve White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer triggers before making optional low-value actions when Veles orders the stack that way. New dungeon information, treasures, counters, or cards can change whether to attack, play a lock piece, or hold interaction.

- Combat-window rule: take priority before attackers, after attackers, after blockers, and before damage only when a visible legal action changes initiative ownership, creature survival, lethal math, or a hate-piece race. Do not burn Swords to Plowshares in combat if blocking already preserves initiative and the target is not the creature that matters.

- Graveyard-timing rule: deploy Leyline of the Void at the pregame prompt when legal against graveyard plans; cast or prioritize Containment Priest before the opponent’s creature-cheat window when possible. Once the opponent has already committed a graveyard or battlefield-entry spell, respond only if Veles exposes a legal action that still affects that spell or its resulting object.

- Optional-payment rule: decline optional costs or activations that consume mana needed for the next initiative creature, Swords to Plowshares, Containment Priest, Witch Enchanter, Wasteland activation timing, or Anointed Peacekeeper pressure. Pay only when the effect advances the current lock or prevents an immediate loss.

- Karakas rule: activate Karakas only on a visible legal target that saves your own relevant legendary creature, removes an opposing legendary blocker or attacker, or prevents an initiative swing. Do not hold priority for imagined legendary interactions when no legal action is exposed.

- End-step rule: use end-step priority for Vexing Bauble card draw, Karakas, or other exposed activations only when the opponent cannot punish the tap or sacrifice on the following turn. If an action changes prison coverage, prefer waiting until the opponent’s last safe window has passed.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard principle: add hate only when it improves the prison clock you already present. Mono-White Initiative should not dilute Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls, Chrome Mox, initiative creatures, and taxing permanents for narrow cards unless the opposing axis is visible from game one, public matchup context, or a legal pregame sideboarding plan.

- Sideboard pressure rule: keep enough creatures to win through your own taxes. White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer remain the cleanest way to convert a stalled board into a win; avoid reducing the initiative package unless the matchup is so hostile to combat that a specific hate permanent is worth the lower threat count.

- Swords to Plowshares role: bring Swords to Plowshares against creature decks where one creature can steal initiative, invalidate combat, or race Ancient Tomb damage. It is strongest against fast attackers, large single threats, creature-combo payoffs, and opposing initiative creatures; it is weakest against spell-combo, artifact mana engines, graveyard plans that do not require a creature staying on battlefield, and matchups where Archon of Emeria plus Wasteland already answers the visible plan.

- Containment Priest role: bring Containment Priest against graveyard, cheat, flash, or creature-entry plans where a creature may enter without being cast. Card text check required for exact replacement behavior and exceptions; use it tactically as a flash-speed lock piece when Veles exposes a legal timing window, and avoid adding all copies against normal fair creature decks that simply cast threats into Archon of Emeria.

- Leyline of the Void role: bring Leyline of the Void when the opponent uses the graveyard as a primary resource before your first turn matters. Prioritize it against graveyard-combo, recursive creature plans, escape-style engines, and graveyard-fueled value decks; it is bad against decks where the graveyard is incidental and your opening hand cannot also cast a lock piece or clock.

- Archon of Absolution role: bring Archon of Absolution when combat math and initiative ownership decide the match. Card text check required for exact tax and protection details; treat it as a defensive prison creature against go-wide attackers, opposing initiative pressure, and creature races, but avoid it against noncombat combo and decks where four mana competes with Seasoned Dungeoneer without changing the immediate turn.

- Light of Day role: bring Light of Day only when black creatures are central to the opponent’s attack and block plan. Card text check required for exact affected qualities; it is high-impact when it prevents the opponent from taking initiative through combat, but weak against nonblack threats, artifact creatures, planeswalker or spell kills, and hands that already lack a castable white source.

- Null Rod role: bring Null Rod against artifact-mana or activated-artifact engines where shutting artifacts matters more than your own Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Pearl, Mox Jet, Mox Emerald, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Chrome Mox, and Vexing Bauble. It changes the deck into a harder land-based prison plan, so prefer it when Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls, Plains, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Witch Enchanter can still cast threats.

Balanced creature-pressure plan
Side in: 3 Swords to Plowshares; 1 Archon of Absolution
Cut: 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Void Mirror; 1 Chancellor of the Annex; 1 Clarion Conqueror

- Creature-pressure plan rule: use this plan when opposing creatures, not spells, are the main way you lose initiative. Swords to Plowshares handles the creature that matters; Archon of Absolution increases defensive texture; the reduced cards are slower or less reliable when the opponent’s pressure is already on battlefield.

Graveyard-entry plan
Side in: 4 Leyline of the Void; 4 Containment Priest
Cut: 1 Vexing Bauble; 4 Void Mirror; 1 Chancellor of the Annex; 2 Clarion Conqueror

- Graveyard-entry plan rule: use this plan when the opponent’s strongest starts use graveyard recursion or creature entry that does not behave like normal casting. Leyline of the Void is the pregame stop sign, Containment Priest is the follow-up bridge card, and the plan keeps the core initiative clock intact while lowering cards that may not affect graveyard objects already being used.

Artifact-engine plan
Side in: 1 Null Rod; 3 Swords to Plowshares
Cut: 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Mox Sapphire; 1 Mox Ruby; 1 Chancellor of the Annex

- Artifact-engine plan rule: use this plan when opposing artifacts create more mana or board advantage than your own artifact mana provides. Null Rod asks you to value land-heavy hands more; Swords to Plowshares stays only if the same opponent also presents artifact creatures, construct-style bodies, or single creatures that break initiative races.

Black-creature combat plan
Side in: 2 Light of Day; 1 Archon of Absolution; 3 Swords to Plowshares
Cut: 1 Vexing Bauble; 1 Void Mirror; 1 Chancellor of the Annex; 1 Clarion Conqueror; 1 Anointed Peacekeeper; 1 Witch Enchanter

- Black-creature combat plan rule: use this plan when the opponent’s black creatures are the visible route to initiative theft, lethal pressure, or blocking your initiative attackers. Light of Day and Archon of Absolution reduce combat pressure; Swords to Plowshares removes the creature that still matters; keep enough White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer to punish any locked combat step.

- Add role cards: use Leyline of the Void before Containment Priest when the matchup can win from graveyard before you untap. Use Containment Priest before Leyline of the Void when the opponent’s plan depends on creatures entering from zones other than hand but your opening hand needs castable pressure more than a pregame enchantment.

- Add role cards: use Swords to Plowshares before Archon of Absolution when one specific creature decides the turn. Use Archon of Absolution before extra removal when the opponent attacks with multiple bodies and your life total or initiative status forces a defensive posture.

- Add role cards: use Null Rod only when you can tolerate weakening your own artifact mana. A hand with Ancient Tomb plus Cavern of Souls can carry Null Rod; a hand relying on Chrome Mox, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, and Mox Pearl to function may need a different sideboard posture unless the opponent’s artifact engine is faster.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower Void Mirror when the opponent mainly casts paid creature spells, attacks through combat, or operates from graveyard zones where Void Mirror is not the relevant stop. Keep Void Mirror when the opponent depends on free spells or mana patterns that Veles shows are actually constrained by it.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower Chancellor of the Annex when games become long creature boards and the opening tax loses value after turn one. Keep Chancellor of the Annex against fragile spell-combo and hands that need one more early tax to make Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Archon of Emeria decisive.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower Vexing Bauble when the opponent is not trying to cast spells without paying mana or when Null Rod will suppress your own artifact activations. Keep Vexing Bauble when its static pressure is live and sacrificing it later for a card is safer than adding narrow hate.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower Clarion Conqueror only when the matchup demands narrow sideboard cards and other prison permanents already cover the relevant activated or triggered axis. Keep Clarion Conqueror when visible permanents, token engines, or triggered/activated pressure are what let the opponent break through initiative.

- Role-change rule: after sideboarding, Anointed Peacekeeper should name the card or visible source that beats the sideboard plan, not automatically the most famous card in the matchup. With Leyline of the Void active, name the answer, mana source, or castable threat that gets around it; with Light of Day active, name the nonblack or noncombat path if public information reveals one.

- Mulligan-sideboard rule: do not keep a hand solely because it contains a sideboard card. Keep Leyline of the Void hands when the matchup demands pregame graveyard pressure and the rest of the hand can cast at least one lock or threat; keep Swords to Plowshares hands when they also produce white mana or a credible clock; keep Null Rod hands only when lands can carry the curve.

- Runtime legality rule: sideboard choices are strategic preferences, not permission to force illegal actions. At runtime, choose only Veles-listed legal sideboard plans or legal generated changes, preserve the registered 75, and respect public match context over format memory.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro guidance: protect initiative first, then race once the opponent’s board is contained. Prioritize White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer when they can enter before the opponent has profitable attacks, and use Ancient Tomb acceleration only when the life loss does not turn a normal creature curve into lethal pressure. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares and Archon of Absolution when one attacker or a wide attack step is the visible route to losing initiative. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Void Mirror and Vexing Bauble when the opponent is paying mana for creatures and attacking normally.

- Control guidance: deploy one prison piece plus one initiative threat before committing redundant threats into open interaction. Chancellor of the Annex, Cavern of Souls, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, and Wasteland are the important pressure tools; use them to make the opponent answer on awkward timing rather than to empty the hand blindly. Name the visible or likely answer with Anointed Peacekeeper when public information supports it, but do not invent hidden cards. Keep Vexing Bauble and Void Mirror emphasis when the opponent relies on free spells or nonmana casting patterns shown by legal actions or public game history.

- Combo guidance: mulligan toward turn-one disruption plus a fast clock, because initiative pressure without a lock may give the opponent too many draw steps. Chancellor of the Annex, Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Anointed Peacekeeper, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Clarion Conqueror are the main pressure points; choose the piece that intersects the opponent’s visible axis instead of stacking irrelevant hate. Add role cards: Leyline of the Void against graveyard combo, Containment Priest against creature-entry combo, and Null Rod against artifact-mana combo only when land mana can still cast the hand.

- Tempo guidance: make Cavern of Souls and threat density do the hard work, then avoid giving the opponent a clean initiative steal. White Plume Adventurer is strongest when vigilance-like board pressure matters; Seasoned Dungeoneer is stronger when the game will become an attack-through-board texture. Use Witch Enchanter conditionally as interaction only when Veles exposes legal targets and the card text/face being cast is legal for the current zone; Card text check required for exact tactical assumptions beyond visible legal actions. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Chrome Mox imprint greed when the hand already has Cavern of Souls plus Ancient Tomb and needs card volume to beat removal.

- Midrange guidance: force the opponent to answer initiative repeatedly while your prison permanents tax their stabilizing turns. Sequence Archon of Emeria before initiative threats when the opponent’s visible plan depends on multiple spells per turn; sequence White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer first when board presence and clock are more urgent. Anointed Peacekeeper should name the specific removal, blocker, sweeper, or planeswalker-like stabilizer only if public information, revealed cards, or legal action labels justify that choice. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares for single high-impact creatures and Archon of Absolution for sustained combat pressure.

- Big mana guidance: attack mana before attacking life total when the opponent’s payoff is larger than your initiative clock. Wasteland and Strip Mine should constrain the land that enables the next visible jump, while Archon of Emeria and Chancellor of the Annex buy the turn needed for White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer to snowball. Anointed Peacekeeper should tax the payoff, mana engine, or answer that public information makes most urgent. Null Rod is attractive only against artifact-driven big mana; do not weaken Chrome Mox, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, and Mox Emerald unless lands can carry the post-board plan.

- Graveyard guidance: treat pregame and early graveyard pressure as part of the opening hand, not a later luxury. Add role cards: Leyline of the Void when the opponent can win or establish material before you untap, and Containment Priest when creatures entering from non-hand zones are the issue or when castable pressure matters more than opening Leyline. Keep initiative threats in the plan so hate converts into a clock. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Void Mirror and Vexing Bauble when the opponent’s decisive objects are moving through graveyard zones rather than being cast in the way those cards constrain.

- Artifact and enchantment guidance: identify whether the opposing permanent engine beats your prison plan or merely supports it. Null Rod is the dedicated artifact-engine pressure card, but it also affects your artifact mana, so value Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls, Plains, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Witch Enchanter more highly in those games. Witch Enchanter can matter against permanent-based problems only when Veles presents a legal action that targets or uses the relevant face correctly; Card text check required for any exact nonvisible interaction. Against enchantment-heavy opponents, keep the initiative clock high unless legal actions show Witch Enchanter can answer the permanent that blocks the plan.

- Go-wide guidance: keep initiative only if attacks become bad for the opponent, so defensive texture is more important than one more narrow tax. Archon of Absolution and Swords to Plowshares improve the combat math; White Plume Adventurer can stabilize when it attacks and blocks on the right turns, while Seasoned Dungeoneer pressures through boards if attacks remain possible. Clarion Conqueror should be preserved when the opponent’s board depends on activated or triggered pressure; Card text check required for exact suppression assumptions beyond visible legal action and rules output. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Chancellor of the Annex after the opening tax loses relevance in long creature-board games.

- Single-threat guidance: answer or tax the one creature or permanent that determines initiative, then convert with a dungeon threat. Swords to Plowshares is the cleanest sideboard role card for a single creature; Anointed Peacekeeper can tax a known recast, activated line, or answer if public information identifies it. Karakas should be used only when Veles shows a legal action involving a valid object; do not assume a creature is affected without rules-engine confirmation. Wasteland and Strip Mine can still be better than removal when the single threat is enabled by a fragile mana base.

- Burn guidance: treat Ancient Tomb, Mana Crypt, and unnecessary races as liabilities when life total is the resource under attack. Keep hands that cast Archon of Emeria or an initiative creature quickly without excessive self-damage, and prefer Plains, Cavern of Souls, Mox Pearl, and Chrome Mox starts when they preserve life. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares only when opposing creatures are a meaningful damage source, and Archon of Absolution when attack taxes change combat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow prison pieces that do not affect damage, while keeping Chancellor of the Annex when the opening tax buys a full turn.

- Removal-heavy guidance: do not expose all initiative creatures before the opponent proves they can answer the first one. Cavern of Souls is premium for forcing White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, or Clarion Conqueror through permission, while Chrome Mox hands need enough remaining card volume to survive one removal spell. Sequence prison first when it protects the follow-up threat; sequence threat first when the opponent is tapped low or already constrained. Add role cards: Archon of Absolution only if combat matters, not merely because the opponent has removal.

- Black-creature guidance: Light of Day is a role card for matchups where black creatures are the combat axis, but it is not a generic answer to nonblack threats or spell-based wins. Pair Light of Day with Swords to Plowshares when one creature can still matter, and with Archon of Absolution when many attackers are the issue. Keep White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer as the closing plan; the sideboard cards are there to keep initiative from being stolen, not to replace the clock.

- Runtime adaptation rule: choose matchup posture from visible actions, revealed cards, public zones, and logged history rather than format memory. If the opponent’s actual game actions contradict the archetype label, shift the plan toward the axis Veles exposes: graveyard hate for graveyard use, Null Rod for artifact engines, Swords to Plowshares for creature pressure, Light of Day for black-creature combat, and core initiative pressure when no narrow sideboard role is proven.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: revealed cards, public zones, and Veles legal actions override every archetype assumption. Treat the opponent’s first meaningful action as the best label: graveyard use points toward Leyline of the Void or Containment Priest, artifact acceleration points toward Null Rod only when lands can support your own spells, creature pressure points toward Swords to Plowshares and Archon of Absolution, and black-creature combat points toward Light of Day.

- Fast spell-combo note: prioritize opening disruption before clock size. Chancellor of the Annex, Vexing Bauble, Void Mirror, Archon of Emeria, and Anointed Peacekeeper are the main pressure gates; White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer should follow once the opponent is constrained. Priority targets for Anointed Peacekeeper are the revealed payoff, the known answer to the prison piece, or the card Veles shows the opponent is most likely to cast next.

- Graveyard-combo note: treat hate as an opening-hand requirement when the opponent can act before turn two. Add role cards: Leyline of the Void for pregame pressure and Containment Priest when creature entry from non-hand zones matters or when a castable body is needed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Void Mirror or Vexing Bauble only when public actions show they do not constrain the opponent’s route.

- Artifact-engine note: Null Rod is powerful only when it hurts the opponent more than your own artifact mana. Prefer Ancient Tomb, Cavern of Souls, Plains, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Witch Enchanter hands after adding Null Rod; be cautious with hands relying on Chrome Mox, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, or Mox Emerald. Priority targets are the land or permanent that unlocks the opponent’s next large turn, not a harmless support piece.

- Creature-board note: keep initiative only when combat remains favorable or taxed. Add role cards: Swords to Plowshares for single high-impact creatures, Archon of Absolution for wide attacks, Light of Day for black-creature combat, and Containment Priest when the creature plan uses non-hand entry. Priority targets are the creature that steals initiative, enables attacks through your blockers, or makes White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer unable to attack safely.

- Control or removal-heavy note: do not spend all initiative threats into open answers without a reason. Cavern of Souls is a premium land for forcing White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, or Clarion Conqueror through permission; Anointed Peacekeeper should tax the known sweeper, removal, or stabilizer when revealed information supports it. Sequence Archon of Emeria or Void Mirror first when it protects the threat turn.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt create explosive starts but can make racing impossible against direct pressure. Prefer lower-damage lines with Plains, Cavern of Souls, Mox Pearl, Chrome Mox, or Black Lotus when life total is already under pressure, and avoid Null Rod plans that leave the hand unable to cast White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer.

- Matchup risk: prison pieces are matchup-specific, so the wrong lock piece can become a blank while the opponent advances. Void Mirror, Vexing Bauble, Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, and Chancellor of the Annex should be valued by what public actions show they constrain, not by generic reputation.

- Draw risk: Chrome Mox and fast mana hands can run out of material after one answered threat. Keep hands with either a protected initiative creature, multiple disruptive permanents, or enough mana to cast follow-up threats after removal.

- Over-sideboarding risk: narrow sideboard cards must not dilute the initiative clock. Leyline of the Void, Containment Priest, Light of Day, Swords to Plowshares, Archon of Absolution, and Null Rod should enter only when their axis is visible or strongly indicated; keep enough White Plume Adventurer and Seasoned Dungeoneer pressure to close the game.

- Graveyard risk: Leyline of the Void in an opener can be decisive, but late graveyard hate may not matter if the opponent has already converted resources. Mulligan and sequencing choices should distinguish pregame hate from castable hate, with Containment Priest preferred when body plus disruption is relevant.

- Sweeper/removal risk: initiative threats are expensive and central, so losing the first one without follow-up can forfeit the dungeon race. Use Anointed Peacekeeper to tax known answers, Cavern of Souls to beat permission, and Wasteland or Strip Mine to delay mana when the opponent’s answer is land-dependent.

- Closer risk: prison without pressure gives opponents time to draw out. Commit White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, or a relevant creature clock once the opponent is constrained enough that waiting is worse than exposing a threat.

- Interaction and sequencing risk: Witch Enchanter, Karakas, Clarion Conqueror, and sideboard hate require rules-engine confirmation for exact legal impact. Do not assume targets, affected objects, or suppression outcomes unless Veles exposes legal actions or public state supporting the line.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: identify whether the game was won or lost by early prison, initiative pressure, mana denial, sideboard hate, or the opponent ignoring the lock. Name the exact cards that mattered, especially Chancellor of the Annex, Void Mirror, Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Wasteland, and Strip Mine.

- Mulligan quality: record whether the opener had a castable disruptive permanent, a credible initiative creature, and mana that still functioned after its own lock pieces. Flag keeps that relied on Chrome Mox, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, or Mox Emerald without a follow-up plan.

- Mana performance: note whether Ancient Tomb and Mana Crypt damage helped race or made the clock dangerous. Track hands where Plains, Cavern of Souls, Karakas, Wasteland, Strip Mine, or Witch Enchanter were enough to cast spells through Null Rod or opposing artifact pressure.

- Velocity and material: ask whether Chrome Mox imprint decisions produced a strong first turn or stranded too few threats after the first answer. Record whether the deck ran out of action after committing White Plume Adventurer, Seasoned Dungeoneer, Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, or Anointed Peacekeeper.

- Prison fit: judge each lock piece by visible impact, not reputation. Mark whether Vexing Bauble, Void Mirror, Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, Chancellor of the Annex, or Anointed Peacekeeper actually constrained legal opponent actions in the game log.

- Initiative execution: record whether White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer entered early enough to close before the opponent escaped. Note whether combat choices protected initiative, exposed it, or failed to attack when the board and legal actions supported pressure.

- Removal and creature interaction: evaluate whether Swords to Plowshares, Containment Priest, Archon of Absolution, Light of Day, or Karakas changed combat or protected initiative. If a card appeared ineffective, verify whether Veles exposed legal targets before treating the decision as a pilot mistake.

- Sideboard accuracy: ask whether Leyline of the Void, Containment Priest, Null Rod, Light of Day, Archon of Absolution, and Swords to Plowshares matched the opponent’s revealed axis. Flag any match where narrow hate reduced the clock without constraining visible opponent actions.

- Closing discipline: identify turns where the deck had prison but no pressure, or pressure without enough disruption. Record whether waiting improved the position or gave the opponent time to draw out.

- Role assignment: state whether the pilot should have acted as prison aggressor, mana-denial deck, anti-combo lock deck, or creature-race stabilizer. Compare that role to the actual sequence chosen by Veles.

- Mistake review: list decisions where legal actions suggested a stronger line, including wrong Anointed Peacekeeper name choice, unnecessary Ancient Tomb damage, poor Chrome Mox imprint, low-impact Wasteland timing, or initiative creature committed into a visible answer.

- Stranded and standout cards: name every card stranded in hand and why it could not be used. Separately name overperformers and underperformers from the actual game, not from matchup theory.

## First Tuning Questions
- Main-deck quantity question: is one Vexing Bauble enough, or did games repeatedly show a need for more noncreature spell disruption alongside Void Mirror and Archon of Emeria?

- Prison density question: did four Void Mirror and four Clarion Conqueror create too many matchup-dependent draws, or did they consistently constrain visible opponent actions before initiative threats resolved?

- Threat density question: were four White Plume Adventurer and four Seasoned Dungeoneer enough closers, or did games stall after one answered initiative creature?

- Mana-base question: did four Ancient Tomb, one Mana Crypt, four Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, and the five Moxen produce enough explosive starts without causing too many self-damage or Null Rod conflicts?

- White-source question: did Cavern of Souls, Plains, Mox Pearl, Chrome Mox, Black Lotus, and Witch Enchanter reliably cast the white creatures, or were Archon of Emeria, Anointed Peacekeeper, White Plume Adventurer, and Seasoned Dungeoneer stranded too often?

- Mana-denial question: did Wasteland and Strip Mine buy real turns, or would the deck prefer more consistent white mana against opponents that operate through cheap spells or artifacts?

- Aggro plan question: against creature pressure, did the deck need more copies or earlier access to Swords to Plowshares, Archon of Absolution, or Light of Day, or was preserving the initiative clock more important?

- Control plan question: against removal-heavy opponents, did Anointed Peacekeeper, Cavern of Souls, and redundant threats beat answers often enough, or did the deck need a different sideboard role card for resilience?

- Graveyard plan question: did four Leyline of the Void plus four Containment Priest cover graveyard and non-hand-entry decks, or did one axis sit unused too often after sideboarding?

- Artifact plan question: did Null Rod win games where opponent artifact engines mattered, or did it harm Chrome Mox, Mana Crypt, Black Lotus, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, and Mox Emerald too much for a single sideboard slot?

- Role-conflict question: did sideboard hate dilute the primary prison-initiative plan, especially when multiple Leyline of the Void, Containment Priest, Light of Day, or Swords to Plowshares entered together?

- Card-text verification question: do Witch Enchanter, Clarion Conqueror, and Light of Day require additional runtime policy after exact Oracle text and Forge behavior are verified? Card text check required before changing tactical assumptions.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Free Pregame Tax
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: pregame
- Cards: Chancellor of the Annex
- Phase windows: opening hand, before first turn
- Runtime cues: action:reveal Chancellor of the Annex
- Use when: a legal pregame reveal action names Chancellor of the Annex in the opening hand.
- Avoid when: no legal reveal action is exposed.
- Instructions: reveal because the first-spell tax is part of the deck's free disruption and costs no card in hand.
- Pilot skill floor: no-api
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Leyline Pregame
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: pregame, sideboard
- Cards: Leyline of the Void
- Phase windows: opening hand, sideboarded games
- Runtime cues: action:begin game with Leyline of the Void
- Use when: a legal pregame action places Leyline of the Void onto the battlefield from the opening hand.
- Avoid when: Leyline of the Void is not in the opening hand or the matchup plan did not bring it in.
- Instructions: start it on the battlefield when legal; do not spend later mulligan reasoning assuming hidden graveyard cards unless public actions prove them.
- Pilot skill floor: no-api
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Opening Hand Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan
- Cards: Ancient Tomb; Cavern of Souls; Chrome Mox; Black Lotus; Mana Crypt; Mox Pearl; Plains; White Plume Adventurer; Seasoned Dungeoneer; Archon of Emeria; Anointed Peacekeeper; Void Mirror; Clarion Conqueror
- Phase windows: mulligan decisions
- Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan, visible hand, legal keep/take mulligan actions
- Use when: deciding whether the opener can produce an early disruptive permanent or initiative threat with castable mana.
- Avoid when: evaluating hidden matchup information not present in the request.
- Instructions: keep hands with mana plus a turn-one or turn-two lock/threat; reject hands that only accelerate into no payoff, only contain colorless mana for white spells, or fold to their own artifact hate plan.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Permanent Commitment
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority, mana
- Cards: White Plume Adventurer; Seasoned Dungeoneer; Archon of Emeria; Void Mirror; Clarion Conqueror; Anointed Peacekeeper
- Phase windows: first main phase, early priority windows
- Runtime cues: legal cast actions for lock pieces and initiative creatures
- Use when: choosing the first major spell after mana is available.
- Avoid when: the legal action list exposes a higher-priority survival or lethal action.
- Instructions: lead with the card that constrains the opponent's visible axis while creating pressure; initiative creatures are preferred when the opponent lacks visible board pressure, while Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, Clarion Conqueror, or Anointed Peacekeeper lead when the opponent's public plan depends on spells, free mana, abilities, or a named card.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Cavern Creature Naming
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana, selection
- Cards: Cavern of Souls; White Plume Adventurer; Seasoned Dungeoneer; Archon of Emeria; Anointed Peacekeeper; Clarion Conqueror; Chancellor of the Annex; Witch Enchanter
- Phase windows: land entry, mana setup
- Runtime cues: prompt:choose creature type, action:choose
- Use when: Cavern of Souls requires a type choice and visible hand contains multiple castable creatures sharing a type or one critical next creature.
- Avoid when: the needed card type is unclear from visible hand and legal future casts.
- Instructions: name the type that casts the current hand's highest-impact white creature sequence; preserve initiative creature access when pressure is needed and prison creature access when the hand is lock-heavy.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Chrome Mox Imprint Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana, selection
- Cards: Chrome Mox
- Phase windows: early main phase, artifact entry prompts
- Runtime cues: prompt:imprint, action:exile
- Use when: Chrome Mox asks for an imprint decision.
- Avoid when: the hand can cast a strong turn without imprinting or imprinting would remove the only threat/lock piece.
- Instructions: imprint the redundant or slow nonartifact card only when it unlocks an immediate lock piece or initiative threat; do not imprint the only white card needed to make Cavern-independent mana work.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Artifact Mana Spend
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: Black Lotus; Mana Crypt; Mox Pearl; Mox Sapphire; Mox Ruby; Mox Jet; Mox Emerald; Chrome Mox
- Phase windows: spell payment prompts
- Runtime cues: action:pay mana
- Use when: exactly one legal payment action is exposed for the selected spell or ability.
- Avoid when: two or more payment actions are legal or one line preserves a visible source for another legal action.
- Instructions: submit the only legal payment action; defer mixed-source choices to reasoning because Null Rod, Ancient Tomb damage, and colored requirements can change sequencing.
- Pilot skill floor: no-api
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Ancient Tomb Damage Budget
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: Ancient Tomb; Mana Crypt
- Phase windows: main phases, payment prompts, low-life turns
- Runtime cues: legal mana actions, visible life totals, visible opposing attack power
- Use when: choosing whether self-damage mana is acceptable for the current play.
- Avoid when: a non-damaging source can cast the same legal spell and preserves no worse future action.
- Instructions: spend life to deploy a decisive lock or initiative threat before the opponent stabilizes; avoid unnecessary Ancient Tomb activations when visible combat damage or Mana Crypt triggers threaten survival.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Wasteland And Strip Mine Timing
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana, priority, interaction
- Cards: Wasteland; Strip Mine
- Phase windows: main phases, opponent upkeep, priority with land-destruction actions
- Runtime cues: action:activate Wasteland, action:activate Strip Mine, visible opponent lands
- Use when: a legal land-destruction action can remove a visible land that enables the opponent's next spell sequence.
- Avoid when: using the land denies your own castable lock/threat this turn without materially constraining visible opponent mana.
- Instructions: break colored or restricted mana before the opponent can use it, especially under Archon of Emeria, Void Mirror, or Clarion Conqueror; preserve mana when the immediate creature or prison spell is stronger.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Initiative Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority, combat
- Cards: White Plume Adventurer; Seasoned Dungeoneer
- Phase windows: main phase before combat, post-combat main phase
- Runtime cues: legal cast actions for White Plume Adventurer or Seasoned Dungeoneer, visible board
- Use when: deciding whether to take the initiative now.
- Avoid when: a visible opposing attack will immediately reclaim initiative and no blocker, prison piece, or removal line can contest it.
- Instructions: commit initiative when it creates a fast clock or forces the opponent through existing taxes; delay only when a lock piece or removal action first prevents an immediate visible initiative loss.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Attack To Protect Initiative
- Priority: High
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: White Plume Adventurer; Seasoned Dungeoneer; Archon of Absolution
- Phase windows: declare attackers, combat priority
- Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers, initiative status, visible blockers
- Use when: combat can preserve, steal, or defend the initiative.
- Avoid when: the only attack exposes the current initiative holder to a visible crack-back that wins the race or loses the initiative.
- Instructions: attack when damage advances the dungeon clock without sacrificing the only stabilizing blocker; hold back creatures when blocking is needed to keep initiative or survive visible lethal pressure.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Prison Stack Discipline
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority, interaction
- Cards: Vexing Bauble; Void Mirror; Archon of Emeria; Clarion Conqueror; Chancellor of the Annex
- Phase windows: any priority window with opponent spells or abilities
- Runtime cues: visible stack, legal activation or pass actions
- Use when: deciding whether to act while prison effects are constraining the stack.
- Avoid when: passing lets a visible spell or ability resolve that breaks the lock or removes initiative.
- Instructions: let existing tax and denial pieces do their work when legal actions show the opponent already constrained; use Vexing Bauble or other exposed interaction only against visible actions that bypass or remove the lock.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Anointed Peacekeeper Name
- Priority: High
- Decision families: selection, interaction
- Cards: Anointed Peacekeeper
- Phase windows: enter-the-battlefield choice prompts
- Runtime cues: prompt:choose card name, visible hand reveal, public known cards
- Use when: Anointed Peacekeeper asks for a card name.
- Avoid when: no candidate is visible or publicly known; then choose from policy only if the rules engine exposes legal named options.
- Instructions: name the visible or publicly known card that most directly answers initiative, unlocks combo, or pays through prison; never invent hidden hand contents.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Witch Enchanter Targeting
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction, selection
- Cards: Witch Enchanter
- Phase windows: cast choice, enter-the-battlefield target prompts
- Runtime cues: action:target Witch Enchanter, visible artifacts or enchantments
- Use when: Witch Enchanter exposes a legal target prompt. Card text check required.
- Avoid when: no legal target is exposed or destroying the visible permanent is not relevant to the current lock/race.
- Instructions: target a visible artifact or enchantment only through legal engine actions; prioritize permanents that answer initiative, enable opponent mana, or shut off the prison plan.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Swords Removal Target
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction, combat
- Cards: Swords to Plowshares
- Phase windows: combat, opponent combo turns, priority with legal targets
- Runtime cues: action:cast Swords to Plowshares, action:target Swords to Plowshares
- Use when: Swords to Plowshares can target a visible creature that threatens lethal, initiative loss, or a game-winning engine.
- Avoid when: the target is low impact and spending removal would leave a visible larger threat or combo creature unchecked.
- Instructions: remove the creature that determines survival or initiative first; accept the life gain when the removed creature prevents lethal, blocks the initiative clock, or enables a visible opponent line.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Containment Priest Deployment
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Containment Priest
- Phase windows: opponent priority, response windows, main phase when proactive pressure is safe
- Runtime cues: legal cast Containment Priest action, visible stack or public zone movement
- Use when: the opponent is about to put a creature onto the battlefield without casting it, or when sideboard guidance identifies that axis and mana is available.
- Avoid when: casting it taps out of a stronger lock or removal action against the visible threat.
- Instructions: flash it in to catch exposed noncast creature entry when possible; otherwise deploy it only when it adds pressure without weakening the prison curve.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Null Rod Self-Conflict Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard, priority, mana
- Cards: Null Rod; Chrome Mox; Black Lotus; Mana Crypt; Mox Pearl; Mox Sapphire; Mox Ruby; Mox Jet; Mox Emerald
- Phase windows: sideboard decisions, main phase cast decisions
- Runtime cues: legal sideboard plan, action:cast Null Rod, visible artifacts
- Use when: Null Rod is in the post-board plan or legal to cast.
- Avoid when: your visible hand depends on artifact mana to cast the next lock or initiative threat and the opponent's visible artifacts do not matter yet.
- Instructions: bring in or cast Null Rod only when opponent artifact function is more important than your own artifact acceleration; sequence artifact mana before Null Rod when legal.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Swords to Plowshares; Containment Priest; Leyline of the Void; Archon of Absolution; Light of Day; Null Rod; Void Mirror; Clarion Conqueror; Chancellor of the Annex; Vexing Bauble
- Phase windows: between games
- Runtime cues: sideboard prompt, match result, revealed opponent cards, legal swap plans
- Use when: selecting a sideboard plan after a completed game.
- Avoid when: adding narrow hate without public evidence of the opponent's axis.
- Instructions: add Leyline of the Void for graveyard reliance, Containment Priest for noncast creature entry, Swords to Plowshares and Archon of Absolution for creature races, Light of Day when its text is verified and the opponent's colors support it, and Null Rod for artifact engines; reduce the least relevant prison pieces while keeping enough threats and mana.
- Pilot skill floor: light-model
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
