# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Sultai Show and Tell is a Timeless combo-control deck with a 60-card main deck and a 15-card sideboard under the supplied validation contract. The registered main deck is legal to reference for `Cut:` decisions only by exact names from this list, and the registered sideboard is legal to reference for `Side in:` decisions only by exact sideboard names. The active validation result is pass: 60 main-deck cards, 15 sideboard cards, active format Timeless, and archetype tags combo and control.

- Identity: Treat the deck as a hybrid stock/rogue Show and Tell strategy, not as a generic combo list. The recognizable core is `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Force of Will`, `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, and `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`; the deck-specific texture comes from `Stock Up`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, `Veil of Summer`, `Dig Through Time`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Saiba Syphoner`, and the sideboard spread.

- Primary role: Pilot as a protected fast combo deck when `Show and Tell` plus a payoff or tutor chain is available, especially with `Ancient Tomb` acceleration or protection from `Force of Will` and `Veil of Summer`. Do not spend early turns like a pure control deck unless the visible game state, legal actions, and hand texture make immediate combo commitment unsafe or impossible.

- Secondary role: Pilot as a compact control-combo deck when facing visible pressure or disruption. The deck can use `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Saiba Syphoner`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Krosan Grip`, `Surgical Extraction`, `Culling Ritual`, `Leyline of Sanctity`, and `Carpet of Flowers` after sideboarding, but these cards support the combo plan rather than replacing it.

- Mana identity: The deck is Sultai but heavily blue-centered. `Ancient Tomb` enables explosive `Show and Tell` turns, while `Breeding Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Undercity Sewers`, `Hedge Maze`, `Mistrise Village`, `Island`, `Flooded Strand`, `Polluted Delta`, `Misty Rainforest`, and `Scalding Tarn` must support blue setup, black tutors, and green protection without assuming unavailable colors.

- Mana concern: `Ancient Tomb` pressure, shockland life loss, tapped land timing, and fetch sequencing can change whether the deck is racing or stabilizing. Runtime decisions must use visible life totals, legal mana actions, known land states, and available protection rather than assuming every hand can safely pay life for speed.

- Legality concern: The pilot must choose only actions exposed by the rules engine. This guide gives priorities, not permission to cast, target, search, pitch, pay, attack, block, sideboard, or respond outside legal engine output.

- Card-text concern: Card text should be checked by the engine or trusted runtime card database for `Stock Up`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, `Saiba Syphoner`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Mistrise Village`, `Hedge Maze`, and `Undercity Sewers` when a decision depends on exact modes, timing, costs, land types, triggered abilities, or targeting rules. Card text check required for any exact line not surfaced in legal action text.

- Opponent information status: No opponent decklist, matchup, game state, hand contents, or revealed cards are supplied in this batch. Strategy choices must therefore be matchup-agnostic until public information, sideboard context, revealed information, or runtime opponent archetype notes become available.

## Thesis
Sultai Show and Tell assembles a protected `Show and Tell` turn that places `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` onto the battlefield before the opponent can stabilize. The cleanest win is `Show and Tell` into `Omniscience`, then chaining draw, tutor, and payoff actions until a game-ending threat or overwhelming resource position is legal. `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is both a battlefield payoff and a refuel engine; `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` is the highest-impact terminal threat when the engine exposes a legal cast or put-onto-battlefield action.

Prioritize a protected combo commitment over incremental control when the hand has `Show and Tell`, a payoff, enough mana, and at least one protection or backup resource. Use `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, and `Dig Through Time` to find the missing piece, but do not spend velocity merely to see more cards when a legal protected win line is already assembled. The deck is not trying to win through creature combat, long attrition exchanges, or fair removal trading; those lines are fallback states while rebuilding toward the next decisive `Show and Tell` or `Omniscience` turn.

Respect the runtime engine above this guide. Choose only legal actions, evaluate visible mana and stack information before committing, and treat exact text for `Stock Up`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, `Saiba Syphoner`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Mistrise Village`, `Hedge Maze`, and `Undercity Sewers` as conditional on engine output when modes, timing, targets, or mana abilities matter. Card text check required for any precise tactical line not represented by legal action text.

## Role Package
- Threats: `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` and `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` are the actual pressure cards, with `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` preferred when the deck needs cards, stabilization, or a lower-risk payoff and `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` preferred when the legal line ends the game or makes recovery extremely unlikely. `Saiba Syphoner` is a deck-specific utility threat or value body only when its exact legal action text supports the role; Card text check required.

- Payoffs: `Omniscience` is the defining payoff because it converts the hand, tutors, and draw spells into a post-`Show and Tell` engine. `Show and Tell` is the gateway card, not the payoff by itself; cast it only when the visible risk of the opponent receiving a free permanent is outweighed by your payoff, protection, clock pressure, or need to act now. `Sublime Epiphany` can be a high-impact swing card if the engine offers relevant modes, but exact mode/target use is conditional on legal action text.

- Engines: `Omniscience` plus card flow is the main engine, with `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` refilling the hand after entry and tutors finding the next chain piece. `Dig Through Time` is a late-game selection burst when graveyard count and mana make it legal, while `Stock Up` and `Waterlogged Teachings` are registered velocity or selection pieces whose exact tactical roles depend on visible legal actions. Card text check required for `Stock Up` and `Waterlogged Teachings` if choosing between modes, timing windows, or card classes.

- Velocity: `Brainstorm` protects and sculpts hands with fetchlands, `Ponder` sets up early land drops or combo pieces, and `Stock Up` adds deck-specific redundancy. Use `Flooded Strand`, `Polluted Delta`, `Misty Rainforest`, and `Scalding Tarn` to convert weak `Brainstorm` cards into fresh looks when life, colors, and timing permit.

- Interaction: `Force of Will` is the main zero-mana stack answer and should be preserved for disruption that stops the combo, lethal opposing pressure, or an opposing payoff that makes waiting worse. `Sublime Epiphany` is a flexible interaction slot only when legal modes are visible. Sideboard interaction modules are `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, `Culling Ritual`, and `Surgical Extraction`.

- Protection: `Veil of Summer` protects combo turns against eligible blue or black interaction when the engine exposes a legal cast window. `Force of Will` protects through tapped-out or low-mana turns. `Leyline of Sanctity` is a sideboard protection module against targeted discard, burn, or other player-targeting pressure when matchup context supports it.

- Recursion: The main deck has no broad graveyard recursion plan. Treat `Dig Through Time` as graveyard-fueled selection, not recovery, and do not assume spent `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` can be rebought unless the engine shows a legal action.

- Mana: `Ancient Tomb` creates fast `Show and Tell` turns and should be valued highly, but its life cost changes race math. `Island`, `Breeding Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Hedge Maze`, `Undercity Sewers`, `Mistrise Village`, and fetchlands must support early blue setup, black tutors, and green `Veil of Summer` without assuming colors not currently available. Sideboard `Carpet of Flowers` and the extra `Mistrise Village` are mana or resilience modules for matchups where their legal function matters.

- Sideboard modules: `Carpet of Flowers` improves mana in blue matchups, `Leyline of Sanctity` protects the pilot from targeted pressure, `Surgical Extraction` attacks graveyard or combo dependencies, `Abrupt Decay` and `Krosan Grip` answer permanents, `Culling Ritual` punishes low-cost battlefield clutter, `Flusterstorm` reinforces stack fights, and `Thoughtseize` adds proactive disruption.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Protected `Show and Tell` into `Omniscience` is the highest-ceiling plan because it turns every visible spell in hand into a zero-mana follow-up once the permanent resolves. Set up with `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, and `Dig Through Time` to assemble `Show and Tell` plus `Omniscience`, then protect the stack with `Force of Will` and `Veil of Summer` when legal. Execute only through the rules engine: put `Omniscience` in from `Show and Tell`, then cast legal tutors, draw spells, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, or interaction from hand as the engine exposes them. Prioritize this line when the opponent is not presenting immediate lethal pressure, when protection is available, or when waiting risks discard, countermagic density, or mana denial.

- `Show and Tell` into `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is the stabilizing win path when the hand needs cards or the battlefield needs a body. This line is strongest when `Omniscience` is missing, when life total is under pressure, or when `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` can refill into another `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, tutor, or payoff. Treat `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` as both pressure and selection; choose trigger results only from legal engine choices, and prefer resources that rebuild a protected combo turn over redundant slow pieces. Disruption risk is lower than all-in `Omniscience` only if a large creature is enough to stabilize against visible attackers or removal.

- `Show and Tell` into `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` is the terminal pressure line when the opponent is unlikely to beat a huge immediate battlefield threat. Putting `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` onto the battlefield does not rely on inventing a cast trigger; use only the actual engine result. Prioritize this line when the game needs a fast clock, when `Omniscience` is unavailable, when `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` refuel is too slow, or when the opponent is low on visible answers. Avoid choosing this line over `Omniscience` when the hand can chain into a protected cast of `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` or another decisive sequence.

- `Omniscience` already on the battlefield should convert the turn into a decisive resource avalanche. Cast legal card-flow and tutor spells before low-impact plays, hold `Force of Will` or `Veil of Summer` if the stack fight is not over, and seek `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or another engine-sustaining spell. Do not pass with unused free high-impact legal actions unless preserving interaction is clearly required by visible stack or board state.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Hard-cast or fair-cast pressure is a fallback, not the plan. `Ancient Tomb` can accelerate expensive plays, but life loss matters, and hard-casting `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Omniscience`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` should be considered only when the engine shows legal mana and the alternative is losing tempo or cards. Use `Breeding Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Island`, `Hedge Maze`, `Undercity Sewers`, `Mistrise Village`, and fetchlands to support blue setup and black tutors first.

- `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` combat can win games after a failed or partial combo. When `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is on the battlefield, protect it if it is stabilizing life total, drawing removal away from combo, or presenting a short visible clock. Attack only when legal combat math supports pressure without exposing the pilot to lethal backswing.

- `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` combat is the cleanest non-engine battlefield finish. Once present, prioritize attacks that advance lethal or resource collapse, but still respect visible blockers, sacrifice effects, exile effects, bounce, race pressure, and any legal opponent action surfaced by the engine.

- `Sublime Epiphany` may create a swing turn through countering, bouncing, drawing, or copying if the engine exposes relevant modes and targets. Card text check required for any exact multi-mode or target sequence not shown in legal action text. Use it as a bridge to survive, defend a payoff, or convert a resolved creature into extra value rather than as a standalone win condition.

- `Saiba Syphoner`, `Mistrise Village`, `Stock Up`, and `Waterlogged Teachings` are conditional fallback or utility pieces whose exact pressure, recursion, selection, or mana roles depend on legal action text. Card text check required before treating any of them as a deterministic win path.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, prioritize survival into `Show and Tell` over perfect setup. `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is usually the emergency payoff because it can stabilize the battlefield and find more resources, while `Ancient Tomb` life payments should be avoided unless they create a decisive protected line or prevent an immediate loss.

- When behind on board, use `Show and Tell` defensively only if the payoff beats the visible battlefield or the alternative is worse. `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is preferred against creature pressure; `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` is preferred when a single attack will reset the race; `Omniscience` is preferred when the hand can immediately continue into interaction or a payoff.

- When behind on cards, spend tutors for the missing engine piece instead of narrow protection unless the opponent’s visible or known plan requires interaction now. `Dig Through Time`, `Stock Up`, `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, and `Waterlogged Teachings` should rebuild toward `Show and Tell` plus payoff, not chase marginal card quality.

- When behind on mana, fetch stable colors and value `Ancient Tomb` only when its acceleration changes the turn of a legal combo. Do not shock, fetch, or pay life casually if the opponent’s visible clock makes every point relevant.

- When the graveyard is pressured, do not rely on `Dig Through Time` as the recovery plan. Shift to hand-based tutors, cantrips, and direct `Show and Tell` assembly.

- When `Show and Tell` is answered or discarded, rebuild through tutors and selection rather than fighting over low-impact spells. When `Omniscience` is removed or unavailable, pivot to `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` as direct `Show and Tell` payoffs. When all visible win conditions are gone, preserve life, protect draw steps, and choose legal actions that maximize access to remaining library resources without inventing recursion.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable setup resource only when it changes the combo turn or protects a decisive stack. Pay life from `Ancient Tomb`, shocklands, fetchlands, and any legal alternate-cost interaction only when the action advances `Show and Tell`, finds protection, or prevents losing; against visible pressure, preserve life so `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` has time to stabilize.

- Hand size is the deck's primary combo inventory. Keep hands that contain blue setup plus either `Show and Tell`, a payoff, or a tutor path; protect combinations of `Show and Tell` plus `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` over marginal cantrip value. `Force of Will` consumes a blue card, so do not pitch the only payoff, only `Show and Tell`, or only card-selection spell unless the opposing spell threatens the line or survival.

- Mana converts time into inevitability. `Ancient Tomb` is the premium tempo resource because it enables early `Show and Tell`, but it is colorless and painful; colored lands must supply blue first, black second, and green when `Veil of Summer` or sideboard cards matter. A hand with acceleration but no blue source is fragile unless it already has a legal fast combo and protection.

- Board presence is mostly a payoff state, not a setup state. Before combo, the deck rarely wants to trade board resources; after `Show and Tell`, evaluate whether `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, or `Omniscience` actually stabilizes against the visible battlefield before committing.

- Graveyard value matters mainly for `Dig Through Time` and information from spent spells. Fetchlands, cantrips, counters, tutors, and discarded cards can fuel delve, but do not overvalue graveyard quantity when the hand already has a protected `Show and Tell`. If `Surgical Extraction` is sideboarded, graveyards become tactical targets only when legal action text and public information identify a meaningful card.

- Exile is usually a cost or resolved-zone record, not a recurring resource. Track cards exiled to `Force of Will`, `Dig Through Time`, or opposing effects because losing a payoff, tutor, or protection piece changes future lines.

- Lands are both mana and information management. Fetchlands improve `Brainstorm` and `Ponder` decisions, but cracking them too early can remove shuffle flexibility; hold a fetch when a near-term cantrip can hide or refresh cards, and fetch immediately when color access, life total, or a legal tutor line requires it.

- Sacrifice fodder is not a planned resource in the registered main deck. If the opponent forces a sacrifice choice, preserve the permanent that maintains the current win path: usually `Omniscience` over a creature if a hand can continue, or the stabilizing creature over a redundant permanent if survival is at stake.

- Tempo is won by compressing setup into one protected turn. Spend `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, and `Dig Through Time` to assemble missing engine pieces, not to polish already functional hands while the opponent develops pressure.

- Information is a protection resource. Visible opponent mana, revealed cards, known graveyards, prior actions, and sideboard context should decide whether to wait for `Veil of Summer`, `Force of Will`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Leyline of Sanctity`, `Carpet of Flowers`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, `Culling Ritual`, or `Surgical Extraction`.

## Mana Guide
- Prioritize blue access in almost every opener. `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Show and Tell`, `Force of Will`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Dig Through Time`, `Stock Up`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Saiba Syphoner`, and `Waterlogged Teachings` all push the deck toward reliable blue before black or green.

- Add black when tutors are part of the hand. `Demonic Tutor` and `Vampiric Tutor` make `Watery Grave`, `Polluted Delta`, `Undercity Sewers`, and black-capable fetch sequencing important; a hand with black tutor plus no black source must already have another functional route to `Show and Tell`.

- Add green when protection or sideboard cards demand it. `Veil of Summer`, `Carpet of Flowers`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, and `Culling Ritual` require green or green-adjacent planning, so fetch `Breeding Pool`, `Hedge Maze`, or another legal green source when those cards are the reason the hand functions.

- Use `Ancient Tomb` as the accelerator, not the color base. It enables fast `Show and Tell` and expensive follow-up turns, but hands relying on only `Ancient Tomb` plus tapped lands can stumble if the first colored spell is delayed.

- Sequence tapped or utility lands around the combo clock. `Hedge Maze`, `Undercity Sewers`, `Mistrise Village`, and sideboard `Mistrise Village` may be correct early when they do not delay a turn-two or turn-three `Show and Tell`; Card text check required for exact utility-land activation choices beyond visible legal action text.

- Keep mana hands that can cast setup and reach the engine. A strong keep usually has at least one blue source, a route to three mana or `Ancient Tomb` acceleration, and either `Show and Tell`, a payoff, or a tutor/cantrip path. Mulligan hands with no colored source, no setup, and no legal fast combo, even if they contain powerful payoffs.

- Play lands before draw spells when mana or shuffle is already decided. If casting `Ponder`, `Brainstorm`, `Stock Up`, or a tutor this turn requires a specific land, play or fetch first. Hold the land when `Brainstorm` may want to put back excess lands, when a fetchland can shuffle after seeing cards, or when revealing less information has no cost.

- Fetch before `Brainstorm` only when color or life constraints require it. Otherwise, prefer `Brainstorm` with an uncracked fetchland available so unwanted cards can be shuffled away.

- Use `Flooded Strand` as a sequencing resource, not just a generic blue source. If the hand already has castable blue spells, hold `Flooded Strand` through `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, or tutor decisions so the shuffle can clear unwanted payoffs or redundant lands. If the hand needs immediate blue for `Ponder`, `Brainstorm`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Show and Tell`, or protection, crack `Flooded Strand` before the spell rather than losing a turn to perfect information. When life total is under pressure, prefer a fetch target that preserves the combo clock without making `Ancient Tomb` damage lethal.

- Shock or fetch untapped only when the mana changes the current decision. Against fast visible pressure, tapped shocklands are acceptable if they preserve life without delaying `Show and Tell`, `Veil of Summer`, or `Force of Will` backup.

- Post-sideboard mana must follow the brought-in bullets. `Carpet of Flowers` rewards green access, `Thoughtseize` rewards early black, `Flusterstorm` rewards blue, and `Leyline of Sanctity` changes mulligan texture without changing land sequencing unless it is already on the battlefield from pregame legality.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keeps have blue mana, a credible `Show and Tell` route, and protection or card selection. Keep hands like `Island`, `Ancient Tomb`, `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Force of Will`, blue pitch card, and `Brainstorm` because they threaten a fast engine while defending the key turn.

- Strong tutor keeps need mana that casts the tutor on time. Keep `Watery Grave`, fetchland, `Ancient Tomb`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Show and Tell`, `Veil of Summer`, and `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` when life total and matchup pressure allow a protected turn-two or turn-three setup.

- Medium keeps are cantrip-heavy hands with mana but no complete combo. Keep `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, two blue lands, and either `Force of Will` or `Veil of Summer` when the opponent is not presenting immediate lethal pressure; ship more often on the draw against fast starts.

- Risky keeps are payoff-heavy hands with weak casting texture. A hand with `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, `Ancient Tomb`, and no blue source should usually mulligan unless legal pregame context shows a very specific slow opponent and a cantrip/tutor path is already castable.

- Automatic ships have no colored mana, no `Show and Tell`, no tutor, and no early cantrip. Also ship hands that contain only expensive payoffs plus protection that cannot be pitched or cast, because `Force of Will` and `Veil of Summer` do not assemble the engine by themselves.

- Matchup-dependent keeps change with disruption. Against blue or black interaction, favor `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, `Brainstorm`, `Vampiric Tutor`, and redundant combo pieces; against creature pressure, favor faster `Ancient Tomb` plus `Show and Tell` hands and do not keep slow `Stock Up` hands unless they stabilize quickly.

- Play/draw changes tolerance for setup. On the play, a protected turn-two `Show and Tell` hand with `Ancient Tomb` is premium; on the draw, require either interaction, a faster clock, or enough cantrip density to recover from discard and pressure.

- Trap hands look powerful but fail to act. Do not keep double `Omniscience`, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Force of Will`, `Ancient Tomb`, and a tapped land if there is no blue spell to pitch, no blue mana, and no way to find `Show and Tell`.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 prioritizes blue setup or protected tutor setup. Prefer fetchland into blue source for `Ponder` or `Brainstorm` when a shuffle is useful; cast `Vampiric Tutor` only when the missing card is clear and the life/payment risk is acceptable. Hold `Brainstorm` with an uncracked fetchland when possible, and lead `Ancient Tomb` only if it enables a concrete fast `Show and Tell` line or a legal selection spell.

- Turn 1 deviations protect the combo from known disruption. If the opponent represents discard or permission and `Veil of Summer` is castable, leave green available when the legal action context supports it; if `Force of Will` is the only protection, preserve a blue pitch card unless the visible opposing spell threatens the combo or survival.

- Turn 2 aims to assemble `Show and Tell` plus a payoff or protection. Use `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Ponder`, `Brainstorm`, or `Stock Up` to find the missing engine piece; Card text check required for exact `Stock Up` selection details, so follow legal action text and prioritize `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, or protection according to the visible hand.

- Turn 2 deviations commit only when waiting is worse. Cast `Show and Tell` into `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when legal actions show the line and available protection covers visible interaction; wait when the opponent can punish the permanent, the payoff does not stabilize, or a one-turn tutor/cantrip improves protection materially.

- Turn 3 is the default protected combo turn. Prefer `Show and Tell` with `Veil of Summer` or `Force of Will` backup over additional selection, unless the hand lacks a payoff or the visible opponent board forces a different survival line.

- Turn 3 deviations use value cards to avoid losing the key exchange. `Dig Through Time`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, `Sublime Epiphany`, and `Saiba Syphoner` require card text checks for exact play patterns; use them only when legal action text and mana make them a better route than exposing an underprotected `Show and Tell`.

- Turns 4-5 shift from speed to inevitability. If the first combo attempt was stopped, use tutors and selection to rebuild with redundancy; protect the second `Show and Tell` more carefully because exiled `Force of Will` cards, spent tutors, and graveyard state change the remaining routes.

- Late game favors patience unless the board clock is lethal or near-lethal. Convert `Dig Through Time`, `Stock Up`, `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, and `Waterlogged Teachings` into the cleanest protected engine line, but fire `Show and Tell` immediately when visible pressure or discard windows make another turn materially worse.

## Card Roles
- `Show and Tell` is the central commitment card, not a generic value spell. Cast it when the legal hand and visible stack support putting `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` onto the battlefield and when waiting does not materially improve protection, mana, or payoff quality. Avoid firing it merely because it is available if the opponent can put a threatening permanent into play and your payoff does not immediately stabilize or win.

- `Omniscience` is the highest-ceiling `Show and Tell` payoff and the cleanest route to chaining selection, tutors, and finishers. Prioritize it when the hand contains follow-up spells, tutors, or a second payoff; do not assume it wins by itself if the hand is empty or the opponent has visible interaction still pending. After `Omniscience` resolves, convert free `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Dig Through Time`, or `Waterlogged Teachings` into the fastest legal finish while respecting all engine prompts.

- `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is both a `Show and Tell` payoff and a recovery engine after disruption. Use it when immediate card influx, lifelink body, and battlefield presence matter more than the higher ceiling of `Omniscience`; it is often the safer payoff against pressure when a single massive blocker and life swing can buy turns. Do not overvalue it against visible exile, bounce, or stack interaction if `Omniscience` plus protection produces a deterministic follow-up.

- `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` is the most decisive creature payoff but asks the pilot to respect timing and opponent permanents. Put it in with `Show and Tell` when the opponent’s visible board cannot race or answer the annihilator plan through public information; after `Omniscience`, cast it when legal actions show that the extra-turn or attack sequence is available according to the rules engine. Do not tutor for `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` over `Omniscience` or `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` unless the current board rewards a single overwhelming creature more than card flow.

- `Force of Will` protects the commitment turn and buys time against must-answer opposing spells. Preserve a blue pitch card when the hand already has a combo route, and spend `Force of Will` only on interaction that stops `Show and Tell`, removes the payoff at a critical point, creates immediate lethal pressure, or strips the last essential combo piece. Do not counter low-impact setup if the cost leaves the combo undefended.

- `Veil of Summer` is the preferred low-cost shield against blue or black interaction when green mana is available. Hold green mana open on the turn you intend to resolve `Show and Tell`, a tutor, or a decisive selection spell; cast `Veil of Summer` only when the legal stack text and visible opposing action make it applicable. Do not treat it as protection against colors or effects it does not cover; if legal actions do not offer it, choose a different line.

- `Brainstorm` is a hand-sculpting and protection card, not an automatic turn-one cantrip. Use it with a fetchland to hide essential cards from discard, repair payoff-heavy hands, or set up tutor-drawn cards; avoid casting it into a locked hand without a shuffle unless the current decision needs a specific card immediately. With `Omniscience`, `Brainstorm` becomes free velocity and should usually be converted into the missing tutor, payoff, protection, or finish.

- `Ponder` is the best early proactive setup spell when the hand needs a missing piece and the mana is not under pressure. Cast it before committing tutors if the missing card category is broad, such as any payoff or any protection; shuffle only when the visible top-card decision offers no acceptable path. Do not spend `Ponder` after a tutor has placed a known card on top unless the legal action text confirms that drawing or preserving that card still works.

- `Vampiric Tutor` is a fast precision tutor with real life and card-flow costs. Use it when the missing card is exactly `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, or a legal finishing piece, and prefer casting it at a time that minimizes discard exposure and maximizes immediate draw access. Do not tutor for a card that cannot be drawn or used before the opponent’s visible clock or disruption matters.

- `Mystical Tutor` primarily finds `Show and Tell`, protection, or a follow-up spell depending on legal card types available to it. Card text check required for the exact Timeless implementation and searchable set at runtime; when legal choices are shown, prioritize the missing engine half first, then protection for a ready engine, then card advantage only when the combo is already covered. Do not select a card solely because it is powerful if the next draw step cannot convert it.

- `Demonic Tutor` is the cleanest flexible tutor because it can assemble whichever component is missing. Use it before narrower tutors when mana allows and the opponent is not threatening immediate disruption; find `Show and Tell` when payoff is present, find `Omniscience` or `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` when `Show and Tell` is present, and find protection when the combo is complete but exposed. Avoid spending it on marginal value unless the combo route has been exhausted.

- `Stock Up` is a card-selection engine whose exact text must be checked at runtime. Card text check required. Use it when legal action text shows it can dig toward `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, protection, or enough blue material for `Force of Will`; deprioritize it when the board demands an immediate combo attempt or when tapping mana removes `Veil of Summer` or other protection from the turn.

- `Waterlogged Teachings` is a flexible setup card, but its exact text and mode structure require runtime confirmation. Card text check required. Treat it as a tactical bridge only when the legal actions show a specific card access, selection, or mana role that advances the protected combo; do not assume it replaces `Demonic Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, or `Vampiric Tutor` unless the rules engine exposes that line.

- `Dig Through Time` is late-game rebuilding power and a strong post-disruption refuel card. Cast it when the graveyard and mana make it legal without consuming resources needed for protection, and select cards that rebuild a protected `Show and Tell` attempt over generic card volume. With `Omniscience`, use it as free deep selection toward a finish, but still follow legal selection prompts exactly.

- `Sublime Epiphany` is a singleton interaction and swing card with exact mode choices that must follow legal prompts. Card text check required for available modes in the current client. Use it when the rules engine presents a mode combination that stops a decisive opposing play, protects a payoff, or creates a strong tempo reversal; avoid holding up excessive mana for it when a protected `Show and Tell` wins sooner.

- `Saiba Syphoner` is a singleton utility creature whose exact tactical role depends on current Oracle/client text. Card text check required. Use it only when legal actions show a clear contribution to selection, recursion, interaction, or pressure; do not let it distract from assembling `Show and Tell` unless the current hand lacks a credible engine route.

- `Ancient Tomb` is the speed land that makes turn-two `Show and Tell` realistic. Use it aggressively when it enables a protected combo turn or an important setup spell, but account for the life loss against visible pressure. Do not lead it unnecessarily if colored mana is needed for `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Vampiric Tutor`, or `Veil of Summer`.

- `Breeding Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Island`, `Hedge Maze`, `Undercity Sewers`, fetchlands, and `Mistrise Village` define whether the deck can protect and sculpt before committing. Fetch for blue first unless the hand specifically needs black for tutors or green for `Veil of Summer`; shock untapped only when the current turn uses that mana. Card text check required for `Mistrise Village`, `Hedge Maze`, and `Undercity Sewers` utility details beyond their visible mana and land types.

## Interaction Priorities

- Counter the card that stops the combo, not the card that merely spends mana. Use `Force of Will` first on opposing counters, discard backed by pressure, hate permanents that prevent `Show and Tell` or `Omniscience`, and lethal or near-lethal threats when waiting is no longer safe. Let low-impact cantrips, setup creatures, and nonlethal value spells resolve when the hand still needs blue cards or protection for the combo turn.

- Protect `Show and Tell` as the decisive stack fight. Before casting it, identify whether the hand can beat one visible answer with `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, `Flusterstorm`, or `Thoughtseize` after sideboard. If protection is thin, bait with `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, or `Waterlogged Teachings` only when losing that spell does not strand the combo.

- Remove permanent hate before forcing the engine. Post-board `Abrupt Decay` should prioritize cheap permanents that stop casting, targeting, tutoring, or resolving the combo; `Krosan Grip` should be reserved for artifacts or enchantments where split-second timing matters; `Culling Ritual` is for boards with multiple cheap lock pieces or a swarm that threatens the life total. Do not spend these on creatures that are not changing the combo clock unless life is under immediate pressure.

- Discard should clear the specific interaction that beats the current hand. When `Thoughtseize` is available, take the visible card that stops the next protected `Show and Tell` attempt, removes `Omniscience` or `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or creates a lethal race before the combo turn. Do not take generic value if a counter, discard spell, hate permanent, or fast clock is visible.

- Exile effects are matchup-specific, not default disruption. Use `Surgical Extraction` after a key graveyard card, combo piece, or redundant interaction has already entered a public graveyard and the extraction meaningfully changes the opponent’s next turn. Avoid firing it just for information when the cost is losing tempo, life, or a protection window.

- Bounce and mode-based interaction must answer the current decisive object. With `Sublime Epiphany`, choose legal modes that counter a critical spell, bounce a permanent blocking the combo, protect a payoff, or create enough tempo to untap and win. Card text check required for exact mode availability; do not hold six mana open when a protected `Show and Tell` line is already legal.

- Change priorities by archetype. Against fast creature decks, life total and turn clock raise the value of countering threats and using `Ancient Tomb` sparingly. Against control, preserve `Veil of Summer` and blue pitch cards, bait permission, and fight over the final engine spell. Against graveyard or spell-chain combo, `Force of Will`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, and `Surgical Extraction` should target the card that makes their current public line function, not the first spell cast.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Treat combat as clock management until a payoff is on board. This deck is not trying to win normal combat with small creatures; attacks and blocks should preserve the time needed to assemble `Show and Tell` plus `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`.

- Protect life total when `Ancient Tomb` is active. Each use of `Ancient Tomb` changes whether the opponent’s visible attackers create a two-turn or one-turn clock, so block earlier against wide boards and shock lands only when the mana is used this turn. At 10 or less life, assume repeated `Ancient Tomb` activations require a combo payoff or a stabilizing interaction immediately.

- Attack with `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` when it stabilizes without exposing a loss. After `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` enters, attack if vigilance, lifelink, or board state makes racing favorable and legal blockers do not create a visible disaster. Hold it back when blocking preserves life against a lethal swing or when the opponent’s visible board can punish tapping attackers.

- Preserve `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` as the deterministic finisher when it resolves. If the rules engine presents combat choices after `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` is on board, prioritize attacks that force lethal or devastating blocks, but still respect legal blockers, protection, prevention, and public effects. Do not assume annihilator, extra turns, or protection outcomes unless the engine has produced them.

- Avoid trading `Saiba Syphoner` for low-value damage unless its text is irrelevant in the current game. Card text check required. If it is providing recursion, selection, interaction, or material pressure through visible legal actions, preserve it; if it is merely a small blocker against lethal pressure, trade to buy the combo turn.

- Use `Mistrise Village` combat only when its visible text and activation are legal. Card text check required. If it becomes a creature or grants a relevant combat role, treat it as a resource that can buy time or finish a game, but do not risk a land when colored mana is required for `Veil of Summer`, tutors, or post-combat protection.

- Block fast archetypes more conservatively than control. Against aggro, trade expendable creatures or utility bodies to preserve life for `Ancient Tomb` and shock lands. Against control, avoid unnecessary attacks into open mana if the creature’s utility matters more than chip damage. Against combo, combat matters only when it changes the opponent’s goldfish turn or protects against a visible lethal attack.

- Do not let combat distract from the engine. Passing attacks, declining blocks, or accepting damage is correct when the legal combo attempt wins before the visible clock; trading is correct when one extra turn is needed to draw, tutor, or protect `Show and Tell`.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Use selection to assemble a three-part hand: `Show and Tell`, a payoff or engine, and protection. Prioritize finding `Omniscience` when a follow-up hand is rich in tutors, card draw, or payoff cards; prioritize `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when `Show and Tell` must immediately stabilize or end the game.

- Sequence `Brainstorm` around shuffle effects whenever the hand contains `Flooded Strand`, `Polluted Delta`, `Scalding Tarn`, or `Misty Rainforest`. Put back redundant legends, extra `Omniscience`, dead sideboard cards, or payoffs that are not castable soon, then shuffle only if the returned cards are worse than the current plan.

- Cast `Ponder` before `Brainstorm` when no shuffle land is available and the hand needs raw direction. Keep a top stack that provides missing combo piece, land, or protection in the next draw steps; shuffle when the visible three cards do not improve the next two turns.

- Treat `Demonic Tutor` as the cleanest missing-piece tutor. Find `Show and Tell` when a payoff is already present, find `Omniscience` when `Show and Tell` plus protection is ready, find `Force of Will` or `Veil of Summer` when the combo loses to visible interaction, and find `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when the hand needs a battlefield payoff.

- Use `Mystical Tutor` and `Vampiric Tutor` with draw timing in mind. If the tutored card goes on top, pair it with an immediate draw from `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Dig Through Time`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or the natural draw step; avoid spending a tutor when the opponent gets a full turn to discard, mill, or pressure the exposed plan.

- Prefer instant tutors at the opponent’s end step unless a same-turn combo line is available. `Mystical Tutor` should usually search for `Show and Tell`, `Demonic Tutor`, `Dig Through Time`, or a protective instant if those are legal choices; `Vampiric Tutor` can find any missing card but costs life, so avoid it when `Ancient Tomb` or shock lands already make the visible clock dangerous.

- Use `Dig Through Time` as a recovery and protection tool after trades fill the graveyard. Select the pair that creates the fastest protected combo, usually one engine piece plus one protection spell, or two missing pieces if the opponent is tapped low and the clock demands action.

- Resolve `Stock Up` and `Waterlogged Teachings` according to visible legal text and current missing role. Card text check required for exact selection, timing, and card-count details; when the engine shows choices, favor missing combo pieces first, protection second, mana third, and redundant payoff only when `Omniscience` is already likely.

- Treat `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` selection as a reload, not a guarantee. Pick legal revealed cards that rebuild toward another `Show and Tell`, protect the existing board, or provide mana for the next turn; do not assume hidden categories, card types, or choices beyond what the rules engine presents.

- Make land-drop timing serve selection. Fetch before `Brainstorm` only when mana is needed immediately; otherwise hold fetch lands to clear bad cards. Play `Ancient Tomb` when it accelerates a real spell this turn, and delay shock lands when life total is the limiting resource.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Fight on the stack only over decisive objects. Use `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, sideboard `Flusterstorm`, or `Thoughtseize` support to force through `Show and Tell`, protect `Omniscience`, defend a payoff, or stop the opponent’s winning spell; let low-impact setup resolve when resources are tight.

- Cast `Show and Tell` only when the expected battlefield result is favorable from visible information. If the opponent has open mana, known interaction, or a public hate permanent, wait for protection or removal unless the visible clock makes passing worse.

- After `Show and Tell` resolves, choose the permanent that wins or stabilizes fastest. Put in `Omniscience` when the hand can immediately chain spells or deploy a payoff; put in `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` when life, cards, or board presence are needed; put in `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when a single huge threat is the clearest legal finish.

- With `Omniscience` on the battlefield, spend priority to convert free spells into protection and payoff before passing. Cast draw and tutor effects first when they find `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Force of Will`, or `Veil of Summer`; avoid passing with a fragile engine if legal actions can secure the game.

- Use `Veil of Summer` in response to opposing blue or black interaction when the engine exposes a legal response window. Do not cast it as a blind pre-combo spell unless the action text and matchup context show it protects the current turn.

- Preserve blue cards for `Force of Will` during combo turns. Pitch redundant `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, extra tutors, or spare payoffs only when the countered spell matters more than the pitched card; avoid pitching the only card that completes the combo.

- Time graveyard and permanent answers after the opponent commits. Use `Surgical Extraction` only when the target card is already in a public graveyard and extraction changes a visible line; use `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, or `Culling Ritual` before the combo turn when a hate permanent or board state would otherwise stop or kill the deck.

- Treat `Sublime Epiphany` as a high-cost emergency stack tool. Card text check required for exact mode choices; choose legal modes that counter the decisive spell, bounce a blocking permanent, copy or protect a meaningful creature, or buy the one turn needed to untap and win.

- Pass priority deliberately when holding instant-speed selection. If no decisive stack object exists, use opponent end step for `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, or `Dig Through Time` only when the mana and life costs do not prevent the next-turn combo.

- Respect rules-engine prompts for optional payments, targets, and timing. Do not assume `Omniscience`, alternate costs, trigger ordering, or graveyard permissions work a particular way unless Veles presents the legal action; choose only listed actions that advance the protected combo or survival plan.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard with the combo turn first. Add cards that either force `Show and Tell` through interaction, protect the hand from discard, remove a permanent that stops `Omniscience`, or slow a graveyard/permanent engine long enough to assemble a protected turn.

- Keep the main deck’s density intact. Reduce slower selection, redundant payoff copies, and life-cost pressure before reducing `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, `Force of Will`, or the tutor core; only lower payoff density when the matchup is about surviving to a protected `Omniscience` turn rather than needing multiple battlefield threats.

Blue Control / Counter-Heavy Combo
Side in: 1 Flusterstorm; 1 Thoughtseize; 3 Carpet of Flowers; 1 Mistrise Village
Cut: 1 Saiba Syphoner; 1 Sublime Epiphany; 1 Dig Through Time; 1 Stock Up; 1 Ponder; 1 Watery Grave

- Add role cards: `Flusterstorm` and `Thoughtseize` raise stack and hand-interaction density for the decisive combo turn; `Carpet of Flowers` turns opposing Islands into a mana advantage that lets this deck cast selection and still hold protection; sideboard `Mistrise Village` improves mana development when games slow down.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower expensive or slower value cards when the game is decided by protected commitment. `Sublime Epiphany` is powerful but clunky into cheap permission; `Saiba Syphoner` is lower priority when the opponent is not pressuring with creatures; excess sorcery-speed selection can be shaved after adding mana and stack tools.

- `Flusterstorm` is best when the opponent fights with instants or compact spell chains. Use it to defend `Show and Tell`, stop a decisive opposing spell, or force through `Omniscience`; it is bad against creature-heavy boards, permanent hate already on the battlefield, or games where the opponent’s key actions are mostly abilities and permanents.

- `Thoughtseize` is best before committing to `Show and Tell`. Use it to confirm whether the opponent has counterplay, remove the single card that beats the current line, or clear a window for `Omniscience`; it is bad when life total is under immediate pressure from creatures, `Ancient Tomb`, and shock lands.

Blue Tempo / Cheap Threats With Permission
Side in: 1 Flusterstorm; 2 Abrupt Decay; 1 Thoughtseize; 1 Mistrise Village
Cut: 1 Sublime Epiphany; 1 Dig Through Time; 1 Stock Up; 1 Vampiric Tutor; 1 Watery Grave

- Add role cards: `Abrupt Decay` handles cheap hate permanents and pressure pieces while staying useful through some stack fights. `Flusterstorm` and `Thoughtseize` protect the key turn, while sideboard `Mistrise Village` helps meet mana needs in games where life loss matters.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower high life-cost and slow draw elements when the opponent combines a clock with disruption. `Vampiric Tutor` becomes more dangerous when every life point changes the race; `Dig Through Time` may be slow before the graveyard is stocked.

- `Abrupt Decay` is best against cheap permanent disruption, small threats that create a fast clock, and hate pieces that must be answered before `Show and Tell`. It is bad when the opponent’s relevant cards cost too much, are mostly stack interaction, or cannot be legally targeted.

Black Discard / Hand Attack
Side in: 3 Leyline of Sanctity; 1 Thoughtseize; 1 Mistrise Village
Cut: 1 Sublime Epiphany; 1 Saiba Syphoner; 1 Dig Through Time; 1 Waterlogged Teachings; 1 Watery Grave

- Add role cards: `Leyline of Sanctity` protects the opening plan from targeted discard and direct player-targeting effects when it starts on the battlefield. `Thoughtseize` can remove a follow-up hate card or confirm whether a combo turn is safe.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower slow reactive cards and life-cost strain because the matchup is about keeping a functional hand. Do not overvalue late card advantage if the opponent’s early discard can break the two-card setup before it matters.

- `Leyline of Sanctity` is best in opening hands against targeted discard and player-targeting pressure. It is bad when drawn after the opponent has already spent discard, when the opponent wins through battlefield pressure, or when the matchup has little targeted interaction; do not mulligan a strong combo hand solely to find it unless the matchup demands protection from turn-one discard.

Graveyard Combo / Graveyard Recursion
Side in: 2 Surgical Extraction; 1 Flusterstorm; 1 Thoughtseize
Cut: 1 Sublime Epiphany; 1 Saiba Syphoner; 1 Stock Up; 1 Waterlogged Teachings

- Add role cards: `Surgical Extraction` attacks public graveyard dependencies only after a relevant card is visible in a graveyard. `Flusterstorm` and `Thoughtseize` help stop the setup spell or protect a fast counter-combo.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower slower value cards because the goal is to either win first or interrupt one graveyard hinge point. Keep enough tutors to find `Show and Tell`, protection, or `Surgical Extraction` when the graveyard target is already public.

- `Surgical Extraction` is best when a graveyard card is publicly visible and removing all copies changes the opponent’s immediate line. It is bad with no meaningful graveyard target, against diversified threats, or when using it would spend a card without slowing the visible clock; never assume hidden copies matter unless the rules engine reveals or public history supports the target.

Artifact / Enchantment Hate Permanents
Side in: 1 Krosan Grip; 2 Abrupt Decay; 1 Culling Ritual
Cut: 1 Sublime Epiphany; 1 Saiba Syphoner; 1 Dig Through Time; 1 Stock Up

- Add role cards: `Krosan Grip` is the clean answer for a decisive artifact or enchantment that blocks the combo if its legal target is visible. `Abrupt Decay` covers cheaper hate and pressure. `Culling Ritual` can reset clusters of low-cost permanents and may generate tempo if its actual engine text and legal resolution support that plan.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower slower top-end interaction when the problem is a resolved permanent. Keep `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, and enough tutors because removal is only a bridge to the same finish.

- `Krosan Grip` is best against a single visible artifact or enchantment that prevents `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, tutors, or free-spell conversion from winning. It is bad against creature pressure, stack-only matchups, or when the opponent has no legal target that matters.

- `Culling Ritual` is best against many low-cost permanents, especially when clearing the board enables a combo turn or buys a full turn. Card text check required for exact mana and destruction details; it is bad against high-cost threats, sparse boards, and matchups where spending a turn on battlefield cleanup still leaves stack interaction unanswered.

Creature Swarm / Low-Cost Permanent Aggro
Side in: 2 Abrupt Decay; 1 Culling Ritual; 3 Leyline of Sanctity
Cut: 1 Sublime Epiphany; 1 Dig Through Time; 1 Waterlogged Teachings; 1 Vampiric Tutor; 1 Stock Up; 1 Watery Grave

- Add role cards: `Abrupt Decay` buys time against early pressure or hate creatures, `Culling Ritual` punishes wide low-cost boards, and `Leyline of Sanctity` is useful only if the opponent targets the player with burn or discard-like effects.

- Reduce main-deck emphasis: lower life-cost and slow selection when racing matters. Keep hands that can present `Show and Tell` quickly; do not spend too many turns sculpting while the battlefield clock grows.

- `Carpet of Flowers` is best against blue decks with Islands and longer stack fights. It is bad against nonblue aggro, fast combo that ignores mana advantage, or any game where the opponent has no Island-producing lands visible or expected from public matchup context.

- Sideboard `Mistrise Village` is best when extra mana stability matters more than raw speed or when reducing painful black sources lowers risk. Card text check required for exact activated ability and land subtype details; it is bad when entering tapped or color constraints, if shown by the engine, would delay a needed turn-two or turn-three `Show and Tell`.

- Re-sideboard after seeing the opponent’s actual hate. Add role cards that answer revealed permanents or interaction families, and reduce main-deck emphasis on cards that were visibly too slow, too painful, or mismatched. Keep exact sideboard execution legal: only submit plans using registered sideboard copies and registered main-deck cards.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Race by assembling `Show and Tell` plus `Omniscience` or a decisive creature before life loss from attacks and `Ancient Tomb` closes the window. Keep fast hands with `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, or `Demonic Tutor` when they find the missing combo half; avoid slow hands that only cast `Stock Up` or `Waterlogged Teachings` while the battlefield grows. Add role cards: `Abrupt Decay`, `Culling Ritual`, `Leyline of Sanctity`, and sideboard `Mistrise Village` when the opponent’s pressure, burn, or discard makes time and life total matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow top-end interaction such as `Sublime Epiphany`, graveyard-dependent `Dig Through Time`, and painful tutor sequences when a lower-life line is available.

- Burn: Treat life total as the primary resource and count `Ancient Tomb`, shock lands, `Vampiric Tutor`, and fetch decisions as real costs. `Leyline of Sanctity` is strongest in opening hands against player-targeting burn or discard, but do not assume it stops battlefield damage or non-targeting effects unless the rules engine shows that outcome. `Veil of Summer` protects combo turns from black or blue interaction, not from most red damage; use it only when the legal stack action and visible spell text support it. Prefer `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` over slower value lines when gaining immediate battlefield presence matters, and use `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` as the highest-impact `Show and Tell` creature when the legal line is available and opposing instant-speed answers are not the main risk.

- Go-wide: Stabilize by winning quickly or clearing low-cost permanents before damage scales beyond one turn. `Culling Ritual` is the role card for many cheap permanents, but card text check required for exact destruction, mana, and permanent-type scope; choose it only when legal targets and visible board shape make the resolution relevant. `Abrupt Decay` should answer the permanent that changes the next combat or blocks the combo, not the smallest creature by default. `Show and Tell` into `Omniscience` is preferred over fair interaction if it converts immediately into `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, chained tutors, or `Sublime Epiphany` protection.

- Single-threat decks: Spend interaction on the threat only when it shortens the clock enough to beat the combo turn or carries disruption that invalidates the combo. `Abrupt Decay` handles cheap visible permanents, while `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, `Flusterstorm`, and `Thoughtseize` should be saved for stack fights or known blockers to `Show and Tell` when possible. Do not overreact to one creature if the current hand can present `Show and Tell` with protection first.

- Tempo: Prioritize protected speed over perfect sculpting because tempo decks punish tapped lands, life payments, and spending turns on selection. `Force of Will` should defend the combo or stop a decisive pressure-plus-disruption play; do not pitch the only blue card if it leaves no route to cast or protect `Show and Tell`. `Veil of Summer` is a premium commitment shield against blue or black stack interaction when the opponent has open mana. Add role cards: `Carpet of Flowers`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Abrupt Decay`, and sometimes sideboard `Mistrise Village`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card draw and life-cost lines that expose the hand to a short clock.

- Control: Sculpt patiently until the combo turn has redundancy, protection, or information. `Brainstorm` should hide key cards from discard or pair with fetch lands to clear dead pieces; `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Waterlogged Teachings`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, and `Demonic Tutor` should build toward `Show and Tell` plus payoff plus protection, not simply maximize card quantity. `Carpet of Flowers` is excellent when the opponent has Islands and the game is about repeated stack fights. `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Veil of Summer`, and `Force of Will` should be sequenced so the decisive turn answers the opponent’s relevant interaction. Avoid casting `Show and Tell` into open mana without a reason that waiting is worse.

- Removal-heavy midrange: Make their creature removal bad by centering the win on `Omniscience` and card advantage, but respect discard and permanent hate. `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` is still powerful because it refills after resolving, yet do not assume it survives if the opponent has visible removal mana and public history supports removal density. `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` is the more punishing creature payoff when a single resolved threat is enough. Add role cards: `Leyline of Sanctity` against targeted discard, `Thoughtseize` for proactive information, `Abrupt Decay` for cheap hate, and `Krosan Grip` for a decisive artifact or enchantment. Reduce main-deck emphasis: reactive cards that do not answer discard, hate permanents, or the immediate clock.

- Big mana: Combo before their expensive threats dominate, and counter only the ramp payoff or lock piece that beats the current hand. `Force of Will` should not be spent on low-impact setup unless public board state shows it enables a decisive next turn. `Thoughtseize` is useful when it clears one payoff or confirms the path for `Show and Tell`; `Flusterstorm` is weaker if the opponent relies on permanents instead of spells. Keep tutor-heavy hands that can produce a fast `Omniscience`, and avoid slow value hands that let the opponent deploy a larger battlefield first.

- Combo mirrors: Identify whether the opponent is faster, more protected, or graveyard-dependent, then choose between racing and disruption. `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, `Flusterstorm`, and `Thoughtseize` are for the turn that decides the game, not for cosmetic exchanges. `Surgical Extraction` matters only when a relevant card is public in a graveyard and removing all copies changes an immediate or near-term line; never fire it at a speculative target just because hidden copies may exist. `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, and `Demonic Tutor` should find the missing piece or the exact protection spell for the known fight.

- Graveyard decks: Race unless a visible graveyard card creates a clear interruption point. `Surgical Extraction` should target public cards after the opponent commits them to a graveyard or after a counter/removal exchange puts the hinge card there. `Flusterstorm` and `Thoughtseize` help stop enablers, while `Force of Will` covers the most dangerous spell when mana is constrained. Do not weaken the core combo too much; this deck often wins by ignoring the graveyard and resolving `Show and Tell` first.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: Answer only the permanent that blocks the combo, creates a lethal clock, or invalidates the next planned action. `Krosan Grip` is for a visible decisive artifact or enchantment; `Abrupt Decay` covers cheaper permanents and pressure; `Culling Ritual` is for clusters of low-cost permanents when the board state justifies spending a turn. Keep `Show and Tell` plus `Omniscience` central, because removal is a bridge to the combo rather than a separate control plan.

- Blue stack-interaction decks: Build a protected commitment turn with mana, information, and layered permission. `Carpet of Flowers` can let `Show and Tell` resolve while leaving mana for `Veil of Summer`, `Flusterstorm`, tutors, or follow-up actions. `Waterlogged Teachings` and `Stock Up` are better here than against aggro because the game allows time to sculpt. If the opponent taps low, prefer a decisive combo attempt over another marginal selection spell.

- Unknown opponent: Mulligan and sequence as a protected combo deck first, then adapt once public information identifies the pressure axis. Keep hands with lands, selection, and a realistic route to `Show and Tell`; avoid hands that need multiple draw steps before doing anything. Use early `Brainstorm` and `Ponder` to clarify whether the hand is racing, protecting, or digging. Respect legal actions and visible information over archetype assumptions at every decision point.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only scope: These notes assume no exact opponent decklist is supplied, so revealed cards, legal action text, public zones, and rules-engine prompts override every archetype assumption. Use early `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Vampiric Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, and `Demonic Tutor` to identify whether the game is about speed, protection, or disruption before committing `Show and Tell`.

- Against fast pressure: Race with protected `Show and Tell` when the hand can present `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` before life total pressure becomes decisive. Add role cards: `Leyline of Sanctity` when targeted burn or discard is visible, `Abrupt Decay` for cheap hate or pressure permanents, `Culling Ritual` for dense cheap boards, and sideboard `Mistrise Village` when games slow enough to value extra mana. Priority targets are permanents that stop the combo, shorten the clock below the current combo turn, or tax interaction.

- Against blue control or tempo: Treat `Veil of Summer`, `Force of Will`, `Flusterstorm`, and `Thoughtseize` as commitment-turn tools rather than generic exchanges. Add role cards: `Carpet of Flowers`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, and sometimes `Abrupt Decay` for cheap lock pieces. Priority targets are stack interaction aimed at `Show and Tell`, discard that strips the only payoff, and permanents that prevent `Omniscience` from converting into a win.

- Against discard and midrange: Protect the hand before sculpting greedily, and use `Brainstorm` with fetch lands to hide `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, or a single payoff when legal timing allows. Add role cards: `Leyline of Sanctity`, `Thoughtseize`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, and sometimes `Surgical Extraction` only after a public graveyard target matters. Priority targets are discard before the combo turn, hate permanents, and threats that make waiting worse.

- Against graveyard or spell-combo decks: Race first unless a public graveyard card or visible stack spell is the clear hinge point. Add role cards: `Surgical Extraction`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, and `Leyline of Sanctity` when targeted effects matter. Priority targets are the visible enabler, payoff, or graveyard card whose removal changes the next legal turn cycle; do not spend `Surgical Extraction` on speculation.

- Against artifact/enchantment or permanent-prison decks: Keep the combo core intact and answer only the permanent that blocks the next selected line. Add role cards: `Krosan Grip`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Culling Ritual`, and sometimes `Thoughtseize` for information before committing. Priority targets are visible artifacts or enchantments that stop `Show and Tell`, restrict `Omniscience`, disable tutoring, or create an immediate lethal clock.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: `Ancient Tomb`, shock lands, fetch lands, `Vampiric Tutor`, and slow tapped lands can create a self-inflicted race loss if the pilot pays life or enters tapped without a concrete combo or protection gain. Prioritize color access for `Show and Tell`, blue cards for `Force of Will`, green for `Veil of Summer`, and black for tutors only when the legal line needs them.

- Matchup risk: The deck can mis-role itself by playing slow control against faster combo or jamming into open control mana without protection. Decide whether the visible game asks for speed, information, or a protected stack fight before using `Demonic Tutor`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, or `Waterlogged Teachings`.

- Draw risk: Cantrips and tutors can hide a missing land, missing payoff, or missing protection problem if every selection spell chases the same axis. Use `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, and `Dig Through Time` to assemble a complete line: mana, `Show and Tell`, payoff, and either protection or a reason waiting is worse.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Removing too many main-deck combo pieces makes `Carpet of Flowers`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, `Culling Ritual`, `Surgical Extraction`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, or `Leyline of Sanctity` look useful while the deck stops winning. Sideboard as role compression, not transformation.

- Graveyard risk: `Dig Through Time` and `Surgical Extraction` both care about public graveyard texture, so careless graveyard use can weaken later options. Treat graveyard decisions as contextual, and never assume hidden copies or exact opponent dependency without public proof.

- Sweeper/removal risk: `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Saiba Syphoner`, and sideboard creature-adjacent plans can lose value into visible removal, while `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` and `Omniscience` ask different answers. Do not expose a creature payoff when `Omniscience` plus follow-up spells is the safer visible line.

- Closer risk: Resolving `Show and Tell` is not automatically winning if the payoff is wrong for the board or if `Omniscience` cannot convert. Prefer `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` for reload, `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` for immediate overwhelming pressure, and `Sublime Epiphany` only when its legal modes visibly matter.

- Interaction and sequencing risk: `Force of Will` card disadvantage, mistimed `Veil of Summer`, and premature tutors can leave the commitment turn exposed. Sequence information first when possible, protection second, and `Show and Tell` only when the selected payoff and backup plan are visible or waiting is demonstrably worse.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Record whether each game was won or lost by speed, protection, mana, selection quality, opponent pressure, a hate permanent, or a failed `Show and Tell` commitment. Note the exact turn and public board state when the decisive choice happened.

- Mulligans: Track whether opening hands had a realistic mix of mana, `Show and Tell`, payoff, selection, and protection. Flag keeps that relied on multiple blind draw steps, lacked blue cards for `Force of Will`, or had tutors without enough life, mana, or time to use them.

- Mana: Log whether `Ancient Tomb`, shock lands, fetch lands, `Hedge Maze`, `Undercity Sewers`, `Mistrise Village`, and `Waterlogged Teachings` supported the selected line or cost too much tempo/life. Check whether green for `Veil of Summer`, black for `Vampiric Tutor` or `Demonic Tutor`, and blue for `Show and Tell` were available at the right windows.

- Velocity: Ask whether `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, `Dig Through Time`, `Mystical Tutor`, `Vampiric Tutor`, and `Demonic Tutor` found the missing axis or merely cycled into the same incomplete plan. Mark any game where selection should have prioritized land, protection, payoff, or `Show and Tell` differently.

- Engine conversion: Record every resolved `Show and Tell` and whether the chosen permanent was `Omniscience`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`. Note whether `Omniscience` had enough follow-up cards, whether `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` stabilized or reloaded, and whether `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` actually closed before the opponent’s board mattered.

- Interaction: Review each `Force of Will`, `Veil of Summer`, `Sublime Epiphany`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Krosan Grip`, `Culling Ritual`, and `Surgical Extraction` decision. Ask whether the card protected the combo, answered the blocker to winning, or was spent on a low-impact exchange.

- Sideboard: Compare post-board games against the exact plan used and verify that added role cards addressed public problems without diluting `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, and payoff density. Flag any sideboard card that sat stranded, arrived too late, or answered a threat that did not matter.

- Closing: Identify whether losses after a strong start came from waiting too long, committing without protection, choosing the wrong payoff, failing to use `Veil of Summer`, or lacking a second threat after disruption. Track whether `Saiba Syphoner` or `Sublime Epiphany` created meaningful recovery lines.

- Role accuracy: Decide whether the pilot correctly played as fast combo, protected combo-control, or reactive control in each matchup. Mark visible moments where racing, sculpting, or interacting was the wrong role for the current clock.

- Mistakes and stranded cards: List every card stranded in hand at game end and why: missing color, missing mana, no legal target, poor timing, or overprotection. Pay special attention to duplicate `Omniscience`, excess tutors, uncastable `Force of Will`, dead `Veil of Summer`, and sideboard cards without public targets.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Rank the cards that most often converted games and the cards that most often failed to affect the deciding turn. Separate strategic failure from variance; a card underperformed only if its role was available and still weak.

## First Tuning Questions

- Combo density: Is four `Omniscience`, four `Show and Tell`, three `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, and one `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` the right payoff mix, or did the deck draw too many expensive permanents without enough conversion? If `Show and Tell` resolved but did not win often enough, test whether payoff selection or card quantities are the failure.

- Protection density: Did four `Force of Will` plus four `Veil of Summer` reliably force through the commitment turn, or were there too many games where protection lacked a blue card, green mana, or a meaningful opposing spell? If control matchups remained difficult, evaluate whether `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, and `Carpet of Flowers` need more post-board emphasis.

- Tutor balance: Did three `Vampiric Tutor`, two `Mystical Tutor`, one `Demonic Tutor`, and two `Waterlogged Teachings` create enough precision, or did life loss and tempo make tutoring worse than drawing? If aggro losses involved self-inflicted life pressure, question the number and timing of `Vampiric Tutor` lines.

- Selection package: Did `Brainstorm`, `Ponder`, `Stock Up`, and `Dig Through Time` find complete hands, or did the deck need either more early smoothing or fewer slower draw effects? If `Stock Up` was repeatedly cast after the decisive turn, consider whether that slot should support earlier setup or interaction.

- Mana base: Did `Ancient Tomb` accelerate wins enough to justify damage, and did the tapped lands create avoidable delay? If games were lost with spells stranded, ask whether the balance among `Breeding Pool`, `Watery Grave`, `Hedge Maze`, `Undercity Sewers`, `Mistrise Village`, fetch lands, and `Island` supports the actual color demands.

- Aggro plan: Did `Leyline of Sanctity`, `Abrupt Decay`, `Culling Ritual`, and faster combo commitments solve pressure matchups, or did the deck still die before `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` or `Omniscience` mattered? If so, identify whether the failure was life total, board interaction, or slow hands.

- Control plan: Did `Carpet of Flowers`, `Flusterstorm`, `Thoughtseize`, `Veil of Summer`, and `Force of Will` create enough protected windows against blue decks? If not, determine whether the deck needs more information, more stack protection, or cleaner threat sequencing.

- Graveyard and prison answers: Did `Surgical Extraction`, `Krosan Grip`, `Abrupt Decay`, and `Culling Ritual` answer the public permanents or graveyard cards that actually mattered? If these cards were reactive but not decisive, reassess their slot pressure against the combo core.

- Role conflict: Did the deck lose because it tried to be both control and combo in the same game without enough time? If the pilot held `Show and Tell` too long or spent interaction before the commitment turn, tune the guide and card mix toward clearer role assignment.

- Closing package: Did `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn`, `Atraxa, Grand Unifier`, `Omniscience`, `Saiba Syphoner`, and `Sublime Epiphany` provide enough ways to finish through disruption? If resolved engines failed to close, decide whether the issue is payoff identity, follow-up density, or decision policy around committing.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Combo Hand Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Show and Tell; Omniscience; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn; Ancient Tomb; Brainstorm; Ponder; Stock Up; Force of Will; Veil of Summer
Phase windows: opening hand, mulligan, London bottom
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan
Use when: deciding whether the opening hand can present or assemble `Show and Tell` plus a payoff before the opponent’s visible clock or disruption matters.
Avoid when: the hand has no blue access, no selection, no tutor, and only expensive permanents.
Instructions: Keep hands with fast mana, `Show and Tell`, a payoff, and at least one protection or selection piece. Keep slower hands only when they contain stable mana plus multiple selection/tutor effects. Bottom redundant payoffs before cutting mana, `Show and Tell`, or protection.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Setup Before Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, selection
Cards: Brainstorm; Ponder; Stock Up; Mystical Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Demonic Tutor; Waterlogged Teachings; Ancient Tomb
Phase windows: turns 1-3 main phases, opponent end step
Runtime cues: legal actions include cantrip, tutor, or land play
Use when: the hand is missing exactly one axis among mana, `Show and Tell`, payoff, or protection.
Avoid when: a protected combo action is already legal and waiting exposes the pilot to a faster visible clock.
Instructions: Use cheap selection to complete the combo before spending tutors on redundant pieces. Prioritize untapped blue and green access when `Force of Will` or `Veil of Summer` will matter. Preserve fetch lands with `Brainstorm` when possible.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Fetch Land Activation
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: Flooded Strand; Polluted Delta; Scalding Tarn; Misty Rainforest; Island; Breeding Pool; Watery Grave; Hedge Maze; Undercity Sewers
Phase windows: main phase, end step, response to selection
Runtime cues: action:activate Flooded Strand; action:activate Polluted Delta; action:activate Scalding Tarn; action:activate Misty Rainforest
Use when: a fetch activation is legal and the selected line already requires a specific visible color source.
Avoid when: the choice depends on unknown next draw, life-total pressure, or future sideboard colors.
Instructions: Fetch the land that casts the next required spell and preserves protection colors. Prefer untapped access only when the life payment supports a current-turn combo, interaction, or protection window.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Show And Tell Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, interaction, mana
Cards: Show and Tell; Omniscience; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn; Force of Will; Veil of Summer; Ancient Tomb
Phase windows: own main phase, protected tap-out windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Show and Tell
Use when: `Show and Tell` is legal and the pilot must decide whether to start the combo.
Avoid when: visible public information shows a stronger reason to wait, such as missing payoff, insufficient protection into open interaction, or a lethal opposing permanent entering from `Show and Tell`.
Instructions: Commit when the line has a payoff, mana, and enough protection for the visible stack context. Prefer `Omniscience` when follow-up cards or tutors can immediately convert. Prefer `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` when life, board stabilization, or reload matters. Prefer `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when the attack clock is decisive and the opponent’s visible battlefield cannot race.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Put Omniscience From Show And Tell
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Show and Tell; Omniscience
Phase windows: Show and Tell resolution
Runtime cues: action:put Omniscience
Use when: `Show and Tell` is resolving and the legal action text explicitly offers `Omniscience` from hand.
Avoid when: another payoff was selected by a prior commitment policy for a visible tactical reason.
Instructions: Choose `Omniscience` when the prior commitment selected the engine line. After it enters, cast free selection, tutors, and payoffs before passing unless the rules engine exposes a forced stop.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Put Atraxa From Show And Tell
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Show and Tell; Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Phase windows: Show and Tell resolution
Runtime cues: action:put Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Use when: `Show and Tell` is resolving and the legal action text explicitly offers `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` from hand.
Avoid when: the selected line requires `Omniscience` or `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` instead.
Instructions: Choose `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` when the commitment plan needs immediate body plus card selection from its trigger. Use the follow-up selection to rebuild protection, find another combo attempt, or stabilize.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Put Emrakul From Show And Tell
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Show and Tell; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Phase windows: Show and Tell resolution
Runtime cues: action:put Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Use when: `Show and Tell` is resolving and the legal action text explicitly offers `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` from hand.
Avoid when: the opponent’s visible battlefield can survive or punish a single large permanent before combat.
Instructions: Choose `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when the commitment plan is an immediate overwhelming threat rather than an engine. Do not assume a cast trigger from putting it onto the battlefield.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Free-Spell Conversion After Omniscience
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, selection
Cards: Omniscience; Brainstorm; Ponder; Stock Up; Dig Through Time; Demonic Tutor; Mystical Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn; Sublime Epiphany; Saiba Syphoner
Phase windows: main phase after Omniscience resolves
Runtime cues: battlefield contains Omniscience; legal actions include cast from hand
Use when: `Omniscience` is on the battlefield and spells in hand can be cast without normal mana payment.
Avoid when: the stack contains unresolved opposing interaction that must be answered first.
Instructions: Convert immediately by casting card selection and tutors into payoff density. Use free protection only for meaningful opposing stack actions. Card text check required for `Saiba Syphoner`; use it conditionally only when its visible legal text advances recursion or pressure.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Force Of Will Permission Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Force of Will
Phase windows: any stack window
Runtime cues: action:cast Force of Will
Use when: an opposing spell on the stack threatens the combo, wins the game, removes the resolved engine, or prevents the next protected commitment.
Avoid when: the spell is low-impact and pitching a blue card breaks the only combo or protection line.
Instructions: Spend `Force of Will` on decisive stack fights, not routine resource trades. Protect `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, and payoff resolution before protecting marginal card selection.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Veil Of Summer Protection Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Veil of Summer
Phase windows: response windows, combo turn, opponent interaction windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Veil of Summer
Use when: a visible blue or black opposing spell or ability is on the stack and `Veil of Summer` can protect the combo, stop discard, or win a counter exchange.
Avoid when: no visible blue or black object is relevant or green mana is needed for a more decisive current-turn action.
Instructions: Use `Veil of Summer` to force through `Show and Tell` or protect key cards from discard and permission. Do not fire it into an empty stack just because mana is available.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tutor Commitment Choice
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Demonic Tutor; Mystical Tutor; Vampiric Tutor; Waterlogged Teachings
Phase windows: own main phase, opponent end step, upkeep where legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Demonic Tutor; action:cast Mystical Tutor; action:cast Vampiric Tutor; action:cast Waterlogged Teachings
Use when: a tutor is legal and the hand or battlefield is missing a named combo, protection, or answer axis.
Avoid when: life loss, timing, or topdeck placement would make the tutored card too late for the visible clock.
Instructions: Search for the missing axis rather than the flashiest card. Get `Show and Tell` when payoff is ready, get `Omniscience` or a creature payoff when enabler is ready, and get protection when the combo is assembled but contested.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Cantrip And Draw Selection
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Brainstorm; Ponder; Stock Up; Dig Through Time
Phase windows: early turns, pre-combo main phase, post-engine conversion
Runtime cues: action:cast Brainstorm; action:cast Ponder; action:cast Stock Up; action:cast Dig Through Time
Use when: legal selection can improve an incomplete hand or convert a resolved engine.
Avoid when: casting selection consumes mana needed for a protected `Show and Tell` this turn.
Instructions: Select toward the missing axis in this order: required mana, `Show and Tell`, payoff, protection, then backup. With `Brainstorm`, hide expensive redundant cards when a shuffle effect is available. With `Dig Through Time`, prioritize complete lines over raw card count.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Flusterstorm; Thoughtseize; Leyline of Sanctity; Krosan Grip; Surgical Extraction; Carpet of Flowers; Abrupt Decay; Culling Ritual; Mistrise Village
Phase windows: sideboarding before post-board games
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard
Use when: choosing a post-board configuration from legal registered cards.
Avoid when: a proposed plan removes too many combo enablers, payoffs, or protection cards for the matchup role.
Instructions: Add stack and information tools against blue disruption, add permanent answers against hate permanents, add `Leyline of Sanctity` against targeted discard or burn pressure, add `Surgical Extraction` only when graveyard targets matter, and add `Carpet of Flowers` against Island-heavy opponents. Keep enough `Show and Tell`, `Omniscience`, and payoff density to end the game.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permanent Hate Answer Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Abrupt Decay; Krosan Grip; Culling Ritual
Phase windows: main phase, opponent end step, response windows where legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Abrupt Decay; action:cast Krosan Grip; action:cast Culling Ritual
Use when: a visible permanent prevents the combo, threatens lethal, or invalidates the chosen engine line.
Avoid when: the permanent is not stopping the current plan and mana should be held for protection or combo.
Instructions: Use sideboard answers on hate permanents and pressure that change the next decisive turn. `Culling Ritual` requires a visible board where the sweep and mana swing matter; do not cast it as a cosmetic cleanup spell.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat After Payoff
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat
Cards: Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Emrakul, the Aeons Torn; Saiba Syphoner; Mistrise Village
Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage
Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers; prompt:declare blockers
Use when: the deck has resolved a creature payoff or activated creature land and combat choices matter.
Avoid when: attacking exposes the only stabilizing blocker to a visible lethal crack-back.
Instructions: Attack with `Emrakul, the Aeons Torn` when legal unless visible combat restrictions or survival math say otherwise. Use `Atraxa, Grand Unifier` defensively when life total is under pressure, and offensively when the opponent cannot race. Activate `Mistrise Village` only when its visible action advances damage, blocking, or mana use without breaking the combo turn.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Routine Pass With Protection Discipline
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: Force of Will; Veil of Summer; Flusterstorm; Sublime Epiphany
Phase windows: opponent turn, empty-stack priority, post-combat
Runtime cues: action:pass
Use when: the stack is empty, no legal proactive combo or selection line is selected, and passing preserves interaction.
Avoid when: a legal combo commitment is protected and the visible clock makes waiting worse.
Instructions: Pass to hold stack interaction when the hand is already sculpted or the opponent must act first. Do not spend protection on low-impact prompts merely to use mana.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
