# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

Mono Green is a registered 60-card Alchemy aggro-midrange deck with a 15-card sideboard. The list passes the supplied active validation contract for Alchemy: at least 60 main-deck cards, no more than 15 sideboard cards, and the submitted inventory totals exactly 60 main / 15 sideboard. Runtime decisions must still follow rules-engine legal actions first, because format validation does not prove that every visible action is strategically correct or that every card-text interaction is already modeled in this guide.

- Archetype status: Treat this as a hybrid aggro-midrange deck, not a stock netdeck shell. The registered tags are aggro and midrange, and the list combines early mana and pressure from Llanowar Elves, Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, and Mutable Pupa with larger or scaling midgame cards such as Warden of the Grove, Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Hardened Bonds, and Innkeeper's Talent.

- Stock/rogue/hybrid status: Classify the strategy as rogue or semi-rogue until testing proves a stable matchup profile. Many card names look Alchemy-specific or low-publicity, so the pilot should rely on visible board state, legal action labels, and card text surfaced by the engine instead of assuming familiar paper-format play patterns.

- Legality concern: The deck is validation-clean under the provided contract, but individual card legality and live card text must be trusted from the active Alchemy validator and rules engine. If the engine exposes unexpected legality failures, unavailable actions, or unimplemented card scripts, pause strategic assumptions and record the failing card name exactly.

- Card-text concern: Card text check required for Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Dragon Sniper, Warden of the Grove, Chittering Illuminator, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Defend the Rider, Longstalk Brawl, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Hidden Grotto, and Oakhollow Village before making exact trigger, target, mana-sink, or replacement-effect claims. Use this guide's tactical roles conditionally when the engine's visible text or legal actions confirm them.

- Mana base: The registered main deck uses 17 Forest, 2 Hidden Grotto, and 2 Oakhollow Village, supported by 4 Llanowar Elves. Treat the deck as fundamentally green and tempo-sensitive; prioritize early green access, early battlefield development, and minimizing tapped or colorless sequencing mistakes when the rules engine shows multiple land or mana-source choices.

- Role concern: The deck should normally begin as the proactive player, but it must shift into midrange stabilization when the opponent presents faster pressure, efficient removal, or larger blockers. Do not force attacks, pumps, fights, or tap-out development through unfavorable visible boards merely because the deck label says aggro.

- Interaction profile: Main-deck interaction appears concentrated in Defend the Rider, Longstalk Brawl, combat pressure, and any engine-confirmed text on Dragon Sniper, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, or creature abilities. Sideboard interaction expands through Bite Down, Heritage Reclamation, Keen-Eyed Curator, Pawpatch Formation, Scavenging Ooze, Scrapshooter, Synchronized Charge, and additional copies of Chittering Illuminator, Defend the Rider, and Surrak, Elusive Hunter.

- Opponent info status: No specific opponent deck, matchup, play/draw status, or metagame target is supplied for this guide batch. At runtime, use opponent-visible lands, colors, revealed cards, graveyard, exile, battlefield, stack objects, and legal action prompts to decide whether Mono Green is racing, stabilizing, conserving interaction, or sideboarding for creatures, artifacts/enchantments, graveyards, sweepers, or larger midrange threats.

- Pilot identity: Pilot this deck as a pressure-first green creature deck that can scale into longer boards, not as a combo deck or hard-control deck. Every strategic choice should ask whether the legal action increases damage, improves board dominance, preserves a key creature, answers a blocker or engine, or sets up a stronger next-turn attack without walking into visible punishment.

## Thesis

Mono Green assembles early green mana, a creature-heavy battlefield, and scaling pressure that turns small advantages into lethal attacks. The default plan is to use Forest, Hidden Grotto, Oakhollow Village, and especially Llanowar Elves to deploy multiple threats ahead of schedule, then make combat increasingly awkward with Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, and larger midgame bodies.

Mono Green wins by being first to the board and staying materially ahead through creature sizing, combat pressure, and selective interaction. Prioritize hands and sequences that produce a relevant creature on turn one or turn two, add another body or scaling permanent quickly, and convert board presence into attacks before the opponent can stabilize with larger blockers, removal, sweepers, or evasive pressure.

Mono Green is not trying to play draw-go, lock the opponent, or assemble a hidden deterministic combo. Do not pass with mana unused just to represent interaction unless the rules engine shows a specific legal response that matters; do not conserve creatures indefinitely when visible attacks pressure life total safely; do not spend Longstalk Brawl, Defend the Rider, Bite Down, or other interaction on low-impact targets when the board can already attack through them.

Mono Green should prioritize tempo before luxury value, board dominance before speculative setup, and survival before damage when visibly behind. Card text check required for the Alchemy-specific and less familiar cards before exact trigger, replacement, target, or activation assumptions; when engine-visible text disagrees with this guide's role labels, obey legal actions and visible rules output first.

## Role Package

- Threats: Treat Llanowar Elves as both acceleration and expendable pressure only when mana is no longer the bottleneck. Treat Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Dragon Sniper, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Warden of the Grove, Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Frenzied Baloth, Scavenging Ooze, Scrapshooter, and Tyvar, the Pummeler as the creature suite that must translate mana into board presence. Favor threat deployment that leaves the next turn's attacks stronger, not merely the current turn's mana fully spent.

- Payoffs: Use Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Warden of the Grove, Chittering Illuminator, Synchronized Charge, Pawpatch Formation, and Tyvar, the Pummeler as payoff or scaling cards only when the battlefield can exploit them. Avoid playing a payoff into an empty or collapsing board if a legal creature line rebuilds pressure more reliably.

- Engines: Treat Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, and any engine-confirmed text on Oakhollow Village or Hidden Grotto as repeat-value or scaling engines when visible legal actions support that role. Commit to engine development when the opponent is not presenting immediate lethal pressure, a must-answer permanent, or a combat step where removal/fight mana is more important.

- Velocity: Use Llanowar Elves as the main velocity card by converting one green mana into earlier multi-spell turns. Use Hidden Grotto, Oakhollow Village, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Gene Pollinator, Mutable Pupa, Chittering Illuminator, and Keen-Eyed Curator as conditional smoothing, selection, or value cards only if the rules engine exposes those functions. Do not assume card draw, seek, discover, surveil, or tutor text without engine confirmation.

- Interaction: Main-deck interaction is concentrated in Longstalk Brawl, Defend the Rider, Dragon Sniper if confirmed, combat sizing, and board leverage. Sideboard interaction expands through Bite Down, Heritage Reclamation, Keen-Eyed Curator, Pawpatch Formation, Scavenging Ooze, Scrapshooter, Synchronized Charge, and the extra Defend the Rider. Spend interaction to clear blockers that stop a strong attack, stop a visible lethal race, answer engines that will outscale creatures, or preserve a key board state.

- Protection: Treat Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, Innkeeper's Talent, Hardened Bonds, and any confirmed protective text on creatures as protection or combat-swing tools only when the legal action text supports that use. Hold protection when one protected threat dominates the board; deploy another creature instead when the opponent lacks visible interaction and tempo is worth more.

- Recursion: Card text check required for any recursion-like role in this list. Do not assume graveyard return, reanimation, or permanent recovery from Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Ouroboroid, Chittering Illuminator, Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, or any other card unless the engine exposes a legal action or visible trigger.

- Mana: Forest is the stable base, Llanowar Elves is the tempo accelerator, and Hidden Grotto plus Oakhollow Village are conditional lands whose exact utility requires live text. Prefer opening lines that guarantee green development, avoid unnecessary tapped-land delays when a one-drop or two-drop is available, and protect Llanowar Elves when the accelerated turn is materially better than the replacement line.

- Sideboard modules: Use Bite Down for creature-board interaction, Frenzied Baloth and Tyvar, the Pummeler for heavier threat density, Chittering Illuminator and Surrak, Elusive Hunter for additional midgame pressure, Defend the Rider and Pawpatch Formation for protection or combat swing roles, Heritage Reclamation and Scrapshooter for artifact/enchantment pressure, Keen-Eyed Curator and Scavenging Ooze for graveyard or value pressure, and Synchronized Charge for board-wide combat conversion when attacks are otherwise close.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Main path: Build early mana with Forest, Oakhollow Village, Hidden Grotto, and Llanowar Elves, then convert the tempo lead into oversized attacks before the opponent stabilizes. Setup requires a one- or two-mana creature start, at least two reliable mana sources, and a curve that adds bodies rather than isolated payoff cards. Execution is creature first, scaling second, attack third: deploy Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Dragon Sniper, or Warden of the Grove, then use Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent only when a visible board can benefit. Disruption to respect includes visible removal, sweepers, larger blockers, bounce, exile, and tempo plays that punish tapping out; prioritize this path in Game 1 and whenever the opponent lacks a visible board that can trade efficiently.

- Main path: Snowball a wide or medium board through Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Gene Pollinator, Mutable Pupa, and Ouroboroid if the rules engine confirms relevant scaling text. Setup requires multiple creatures or one resilient threat already present, because payoff permanents are weak when they do not immediately affect combat. Execution is to make the next combat step unfavorable for the opponent: improve the best attacker, distribute pressure across removal, and force blocks that leave Mono Green ahead on material or damage. Disruption to respect includes instant-speed removal on the only enhanced creature, exile-based answers, and board stalls where a single large body cannot attack profitably; prioritize this path when the hand has multiple creatures and the opponent is interacting one-for-one.

- Main path: Finish with high-pressure midgame threats such as Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Chittering Illuminator, Warden of the Grove, or sideboard Frenzied Baloth and Tyvar, the Pummeler after early creatures have forced damage. Card text check required for exact Alchemy text, triggers, and targeting on these finishers. Setup is a battlefield where the opponent has already spent removal or must answer several threats. Execution is to commit the finisher when it either attacks soon, changes combat math immediately, or makes removal awkward. Disruption to respect includes counterspells, open mana with known removal, and lethal crack-back; prioritize this path when small creatures are no longer enough by themselves.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Backup combat: Win by trading resources until any surviving creature becomes lethal with Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, or confirmed combat text on Amber-Plate Ainok and Fountainport Charmer. Use this path when the opponent has blockers but cannot attack back profitably. Do not force all-in combat tricks into open mana unless losing the current combat is worse than the risk.

- Interaction pressure: Use Longstalk Brawl, sideboard Bite Down, Dragon Sniper if confirmed, Scrapshooter if relevant, and Heritage Reclamation if relevant to remove the permanent that prevents attacks or threatens an engine. Prioritize killing blockers that stop a high-damage attack over killing low-impact utility creatures. Against artifact, enchantment, or graveyard engines, use exact legal sideboard actions only after the engine output confirms targets.

- Value pressure: Use Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, Oakhollow Village, and Hidden Grotto as value or smoothing only when legal actions visibly support that role. Card text check required for exact card advantage, graveyard, or utility functions. This path matters when the game slows and raw combat no longer closes quickly.

- Fallback pressure: When main scaling pieces are removed, keep attacking with any legal creature that trades up or chips damage while rebuilding with Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, and Warden of the Grove. Mono Green does not need a named combo to win; it needs repeated legal attacks that preserve enough material to survive the return attack.

- Non-plan clarification: Do not pursue burn, hard lock, deterministic recursion, or creature-land kills unless the rules engine exposes exact legal text supporting them. Dragon Sniper may represent reach only if its live card text creates damage or removal actions. Oakhollow Village and Hidden Grotto are utility lands first unless engine-visible text makes them threats.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: Stabilize before maximizing damage. Choose legal blocks that preserve life total when the opponent has visible lethal or a short clock, then use Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down, Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Formation, or Synchronized Charge to convert one combat into survival plus a counterattack.

- Behind on board: Rebuild with the highest-body-count sequence before playing slow payoff cards. Llanowar Elves can be a blocker only when extra mana no longer changes the next turn. Avoid casting Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent onto an empty board unless no creature line exists.

- Behind on cards: Prioritize engine-confirmed value from Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, Hidden Grotto, or Oakhollow Village, but only through visible legal actions. If no value action exists, force trades that reduce the opponent's board rather than preserve low-impact creatures.

- Behind on mana: Protect Llanowar Elves when it unlocks a real next-turn play, keep hands with reliable Forest access over speculative utility lands, and avoid double-spell plans that fail if Llanowar Elves dies. If mana-light, cast creatures before payoffs so every draw step can improve combat.

- Behind against engines, graveyard recursion, or combo: Shift from damage maximization to stopping the visible engine piece. Use Heritage Reclamation, Scrapshooter, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down, or pressure on the opponent's life total according to legal targets and visible timing. Do not name hidden cards or assume graveyard text without engine confirmation.

- Win conditions removed: Treat every remaining creature as a pressure source and every combat trick as a way to reclaim initiative, not as a card to save indefinitely. Sideboard into Frenzied Baloth, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Chittering Illuminator, and extra protection or interaction when the opponent proves they can answer the first wave.

## Resource Model

- Life: Spend life total as a tempo buffer only when the crack-back is not lethal or near-lethal by visible combat math. Mono Green normally converts early life into extra attack steps, so accept small hits to keep Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, or Amber-Plate Ainok attacking, but switch to blocking once the opponent can force a short clock.

- Hand: Treat opening hand quality as curve plus pressure, not raw card count alone. A hand with Forest, Llanowar Elves, and two castable creatures is usually more functional than a slower hand with Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent but no board. Do not hold creatures indefinitely for perfect scaling; this deck needs battlefield material before its payoffs matter.

- Mana: Convert mana into board presence first, scaling second, interaction third unless a visible threat must die immediately. Llanowar Elves is the cleanest acceleration, so protect it from unnecessary combat when it unlocks a higher-impact next turn. If Llanowar Elves has already served its ramp role and life is pressured, it may become a blocker.

- Board: Value board width and resilient pressure because Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Gene Pollinator, Mutable Pupa, Ouroboroid, Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Formation, and Synchronized Charge all become better when multiple creatures can matter. Card text check required for exact triggers and counters, but the tactical rule is stable: do not strand payoff cards on an empty battlefield.

- Graveyard: Use graveyard contents as public information and as a sideboard resource only when legal actions appear. Scavenging Ooze and Keen-Eyed Curator should answer visible graveyard value, recursion, or delirium-style pressure if their engine text confirms that role. Do not spend graveyard hate on a low-impact card while behind on board unless the visible graveyard card is the opponent's actual route to winning.

- Exile: Track exile as public information for cards that create temporary permissions, removed threats, or opponent resources. Mono Green should not assume it can use exile as a resource unless the rules engine exposes legal actions from a specific card such as Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Hidden Grotto, Oakhollow Village, or another confirmed source. Card text check required.

- Lands: Count Forest as the reliable plan and Hidden Grotto plus Oakhollow Village as utility lands whose exact text must be confirmed at runtime. Utility lands are resources after the deck can cast spells; they should not replace early green access when the hand needs Llanowar Elves or two-drop pressure.

- Sacrifice fodder: Do not treat any creature as expendable sacrifice fodder unless a visible legal action explicitly asks for a sacrifice or the card text confirms that role. If a sacrifice decision appears, offer low-impact tapped creatures, creatures blanked by blockers, or Llanowar Elves after mana is no longer decisive before sacrificing a scaled attacker or unique finisher.

- Tempo: Use tempo to keep the opponent reacting. Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down, Dragon Sniper if confirmed, Scrapshooter if confirmed, and combat tricks should clear blockers or stop engines when that action improves the next attack step. A slow value activation is weaker than adding power when the opponent is still above a stable life total.

- Information: Respect only visible board state, public zones, known revealed cards, and legal engine prompts. If the opponent has open mana, reason from archetype and revealed cards without naming hidden answers. If card text is unknown for an Alchemy card, mark the line conditional and prefer plays that remain solid without exact text.

- Sideboard bullets: Treat Bite Down, Heritage Reclamation, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, Scrapshooter, Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, Frenzied Baloth, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, and Tyvar, the Pummeler as role cards after matchup evidence. Bring them to solve visible problems, not to dilute the creature-pressure core.

## Mana Guide

- Color base: Prioritize green access because the registered mana base is Forest, Hidden Grotto, and Oakhollow Village, and the deck is built to cast green creatures and green interaction. If the engine shows any off-color, activated, or special-cost requirement on Dragon Sniper, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Hidden Grotto, Oakhollow Village, or sideboard cards, use only legal mana actions the engine exposes.

- Opening mana: Keep hands that can cast Llanowar Elves or an early creature from Forest reliably. Be skeptical of hands with only utility lands if Hidden Grotto or Oakhollow Village enter tapped, lack immediate green, or require setup. Card text check required for their exact mana and tapped behavior.

- Land sequencing: Play Forest first when the hand needs turn-one Llanowar Elves or early green creatures. Play Hidden Grotto or Oakhollow Village early only if the engine confirms they cast the current hand on curve or their tapped/utility text makes early deployment necessary. Preserve untapped green for Longstalk Brawl, Defend the Rider, Bite Down, or combat timing when those actions are legal.

- Ramp sequencing: Cast Llanowar Elves before two- and three-mana plays when it increases next-turn options and does not walk into a known punishing board state. If the opponent has visible removal and the hand functions without ramp, still usually deploy Llanowar Elves when it forces the opponent to spend tempo; hold it only when another one-mana legal play clearly advances pressure better.

- Curve use: Spend all mana on creatures in the first three turns unless interaction removes a blocker or prevents a dangerous engine. Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent should follow a creature unless their confirmed text creates immediate pressure from an empty board. Do not pass with unused mana to bluff; Veles should choose from legal pressure and interaction.

- Play-land timing: Play a land before combat or main-phase action when the extra mana may unlock a legal creature, Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down, Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, or activated ability. Delay the land until after draw or selection only when a legal action can reveal or choose between lands first, or when Hidden Grotto/Oakhollow Village text rewards waiting.

- Double-spell planning: Prefer sequences that use Llanowar Elves plus lands to cast two material spells over one oversized setup card when the board is contested. If the hand contains Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, and Hardened Bonds, develop bodies first so later mana converts into scaling.

- Utility activations: Activate Hidden Grotto, Oakhollow Village, Innkeeper's Talent, Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scrapshooter, or Tyvar, the Pummeler only when the engine presents legal actions and the activation beats casting a creature or holding interaction. Card text check required for all exact activation costs and timing.

- Mulligan mana rule: Ship hands that cannot cast a spell before turn three unless they contain a rules-confirmed stabilizing plan. Keep slower hands only with enough Forest access, multiple castable spells, and a reason the matchup rewards durability over speed. Do not rely on Llanowar Elves as the only mana source if losing it makes the hand nonfunctional.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: Keep Forest plus Llanowar Elves plus two or more castable follow-up creatures, especially Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, or Mutable Pupa. This hand executes Mono Green's best plan: accelerate, put multiple bodies into play, then let Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, combat, or Longstalk Brawl convert board presence into damage.

- Strong keep: Keep two or three lands with Pawpatch Recruit or another early creature, a second threat, and either Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, or Longstalk Brawl. A hand without Llanowar Elves is still good when it spends mana every turn and has pressure before the opponent stabilizes.

- Medium keep: Keep two-land hands with no one-drop only when turn-two and turn-three plays are guaranteed by visible mana. Examples include Forest, Forest, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, Hardened Bonds, Longstalk Brawl, or Forest, Oakhollow Village, Pawpatch Recruit, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Innkeeper's Talent, Defend the Rider if the utility land legally casts the curve. Card text check required for Hidden Grotto and Oakhollow Village.

- Risky keep: Treat one-land Llanowar Elves hands as matchup- and play/draw-dependent. Keep on the draw with Forest, Llanowar Elves, Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, and Hardened Bonds only if missing the second land for one turn is tolerable; ship when losing Llanowar Elves leaves only uncastable spells.

- Automatic ship: Ship hands with no land, one land and no Llanowar Elves, five or more lands with only one material spell, or no castable spell before turn three. Ship hands that rely on Hidden Grotto or Oakhollow Village as the only early green source unless the engine confirms they cast the first two spells on time.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Keep slower hands with Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, or Defend the Rider only against visible slower opponents or post-board plans where durability matters. Against fast creature decks, those hands need Llanowar Elves, early bodies, or Longstalk Brawl; otherwise they risk watching instead of racing.

- Play/draw adjustment: On the play, value Llanowar Elves and a clean curve above raw card quality because the deck wins by making the opponent answer first. On the draw, accept a slightly slower two-land hand if it has Longstalk Brawl or enough early creatures to recover tempo, but do not keep a hand whose first meaningful play is turn three.

- Trap hand: Do not keep a hand of Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Defend the Rider, Longstalk Brawl, and too few creatures just because it contains powerful text. This deck needs creatures before scaling, protection, or fight effects matter; hands with support cards but no board are functional mulligans.

- Trap hand: Do not keep multiple high-impact singletons such as Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Chittering Illuminator, and Warden of the Grove without early mana. Card text check required for exact roles, but the mulligan rule is stable: the opening hand must affect the battlefield before the opponent's first major attack or engine turn.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: Play Forest and cast Llanowar Elves when legal. If Llanowar Elves is absent, play the land that best enables turn-two Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Dragon Sniper, or Hardened Bonds; use Hidden Grotto or Oakhollow Village first only if their visible text supports the curve.

- Turn 1 deviation: Do not hold Llanowar Elves to conceal information unless the opponent has a visible effect that punishes one-toughness creatures immediately. The default is to make mana now so turn two can produce a three-drop, two-spell sequence, or interaction plus creature.

- Turn 2: Use Llanowar Elves acceleration to cast the most board-impacting legal creature, prioritizing Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Warden of the Grove, or a two-spell sequence if available. Without Llanowar Elves, cast Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, or Dragon Sniper before support cards unless Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent has confirmed immediate board impact.

- Turn 2 deviation: Cast Longstalk Brawl only if it removes a blocker, stops an opposing engine creature, or protects the next attack by trading a small spell for a larger tempo gain. Do not spend Longstalk Brawl just to use mana when adding a creature creates more pressure.

- Turn 3: Convert mana into either the largest pressure increase or the cleanest double-spell turn. Preferred lines are creature plus Hardened Bonds, creature plus Innkeeper's Talent, Gene Pollinator or Ouroboroid after earlier bodies, or Longstalk Brawl before combat when it opens an attack.

- Turn 3 deviation: If the opponent is holding up interaction and the board is already good, commit a redundant threat before exposing Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, Chittering Illuminator, or a key scaling card. If the opponent is tapped low or under pressure, push the strongest legal board-advancing play.

- Turns 4-5: Turn the developed board into a lethal clock. Attack when blocks are bad for the opponent, use Longstalk Brawl or Dragon Sniper if confirmed to clear the creature that changes combat, and use Defend the Rider only when the legal action protects a meaningful attacker, preserves lethal pressure, or beats visible removal.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: Choose Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, or Tyvar, the Pummeler-style sideboard threats when the game is about resilience instead of speed. Card text check required, so make these commitments only from legal engine prompts and visible matchup context.

- Late game: Prioritize actions that create immediate board advantage, lethal damage, or recovery from stalled combat. Use utility lands, Innkeeper's Talent, Hardened Bonds, Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scrapshooter, or other activated/value actions only when legal and stronger than casting a threat or forcing combat.

- Late-game deviation: Avoid all-in attacks when the opponent can survive and crack back for lethal on visible board. Favor attacks that preserve one blocker when behind, but switch to maximum pressure when the opponent's life total, tapped blockers, and legal pump/protection actions show a clear route to lethal.

## Card Roles

- Llanowar Elves: Treat Llanowar Elves as the deck's highest-leverage opener because it turns medium creature hands into fast pressure and lets three- and four-mana threats arrive before the opponent is ready. Cast it on turn one whenever legal unless the visible opponent board presents immediate punishment and another one-mana play is clearly better. Do not attack or trade with Llanowar Elves early unless mana is already abundant, the damage changes a lethal clock, or blocking prevents a dangerous life-total swing.

- Gene Pollinator: Treat Gene Pollinator as both a one-mana body and a mana-development card when Veles exposes mana abilities. Card text check required for exact activation timing, color production, and restrictions, but the deck construction says it is more than filler: it enables double-spell turns, supports splashed or colorless utility from Hidden Grotto, and gives Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent another early body to scale. Cast Gene Pollinator early against removal-light or tempo matchups; hold it only when saving it for a confirmed mana action or post-sweeper rebuild is visibly stronger.

- Pawpatch Recruit: Treat Pawpatch Recruit as an early pressure creature first and a scaling target second. Card text check required for exact abilities, but it belongs in the one-mana creature cluster with Dragon Sniper, Mutable Pupa, Gene Pollinator, and Llanowar Elves, so it should usually enter before support enchantments. Favor Pawpatch Recruit in hands that need a turn-one attacker, need a cheap creature for Longstalk Brawl math, or need a permanent that can receive counters from Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent.

- Dragon Sniper: Treat Dragon Sniper as a cheap tactical creature whose exact combat or reach role must come from visible text. Card text check required. Against creature decks, value it when the opponent shows small attackers, flyers, or fragile utility creatures and when Longstalk Brawl can turn a cheap body into removal. Against control or sweepers, do not overvalue Dragon Sniper as a standalone threat unless its visible text creates pressure beyond normal combat stats.

- Mutable Pupa: Treat Mutable Pupa as a one-mana body that wants to be deployed before the deck's scaling pieces. Card text check required for exact growth, transformation, or counter text, but its role in this list is to make the board wide enough that Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Defend the Rider, and Longstalk Brawl have live targets. Sequence Mutable Pupa over slower singletons when the hand needs material; delay it only if Veles shows a stronger text-dependent timing window.

- Amber-Plate Ainok: Treat Amber-Plate Ainok as a two-mana curve creature that stabilizes early combat and carries scaling effects. Card text check required for exact abilities, but it should generally be cast on turn two when no higher-tempo Llanowar Elves line is available. It is better against creature decks when a body can block or brawl, and worse against removal-heavy decks when committing another generic creature into open mana would expose too much of the hand.

- Fountainport Charmer: Treat Fountainport Charmer as a two-mana role-player whose exact support function depends on visible card text. Card text check required. Cast it on curve when the hand already has follow-up pressure or needs another creature for Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent; hold it when the engine reveals a triggered, activated, or combat-specific use that is more valuable after the opponent commits blockers or removal.

- Hardened Bonds: Treat Hardened Bonds as an early scaling engine, not as a substitute for creatures. Card text check required for exact counter or bond mechanics, but the deck's density of cheap creatures implies it should be cast once at least one creature can benefit soon. Do not keep or sequence Hardened Bonds ahead of the first creature unless Veles shows immediate board impact. Against sweepers or removal-heavy opponents, avoid stacking all value on a single creature unless waiting gives up lethal pressure or survival.

- Innkeeper's Talent: Treat Innkeeper's Talent as the deck's strongest long-game scaling permanent when legal actions allow Class progression or repeat counter value. Card text check required for exact level abilities and costs. Cast it when there is already a creature to improve, when mana would otherwise be inefficient, or when the game is expected to last through multiple combats. Avoid spending a whole turn leveling Innkeeper's Talent if casting Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, or Longstalk Brawl changes the board immediately.

- Longstalk Brawl: Treat Longstalk Brawl as tempo removal that converts your creature size into board advantage. Card text check required for exact target restrictions, bonuses, and whether it fights or deals damage, but its tactical use is clear: fire it before combat when removing a blocker unlocks attacks, when killing an engine creature prevents a snowball, or when survival requires shrinking the opposing attack. Do not use Longstalk Brawl into visible protection, deathtouch-like punishment, or a board where losing your only large creature is worse than passing.

- Warden of the Grove: Treat Warden of the Grove as a three-mana board anchor. Card text check required for exact Hydra text, counters, and scaling, but it should usually be accelerated by Llanowar Elves or Gene Pollinator when the game calls for size. It is a better cast against creature mirrors and red-style pressure than against open removal if the hand has cheaper redundant threats. Preserve it for post-combat or post-removal windows when the opponent is representing a clean answer and your current board already attacks well.

- Surrak, Elusive Hunter: Treat Surrak, Elusive Hunter as a high-impact singleton that should be committed through a reasoning gate, not automatically on curve. Card text check required for exact evasion, protection, or attack text. Cast it when the opponent is tapped low, when it creates a fast clock, or when it pressures through a stalled board. Against removal-heavy or counter-heavy opponents, prefer leading with redundant threats unless waiting lets the opponent stabilize.

- Ouroboroid: Treat Ouroboroid as the main four-mana payoff and a reason to accelerate. Card text check required for exact Plant Wurm text, graveyard behavior, counters, or recursion, but four copies mean the deck expects it to close games or dominate combat. Cast Ouroboroid ahead of smaller support plays when size matters now, especially after early creatures have forced blocks. Delay Ouroboroid only when Longstalk Brawl, Defend the Rider, or a double-spell turn creates a cleaner attack or protects against visible interaction.

- Chittering Illuminator: Treat Chittering Illuminator as a specialized value or engine singleton until its text is visible. Card text check required. Main-deck it as a midgame option when the game is not purely about speed; sideboard copies later can increase that role. Do not prioritize it over proven curve pressure unless Veles shows its enchantment-creature text improves counters, tokens, cards, combat, or resilience in the current board state.

- Cren, Undercity Dreamer: Treat Cren, Undercity Dreamer as an unknown singleton that requires a card text check before any strategic commitment. If Veles shows it creates material, scales creatures, or breaks stalls, cast it when the board is stable enough to use that value. If its visible text is slow or conditional, prefer advancing with Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, or multiple cheap creatures.

- Defend the Rider: Treat Defend the Rider as a one-mana protection or combat trick only when legal action text confirms its use. Card text check required. Hold it when the opponent represents removal and you have a meaningful threat such as Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, or a counter-stacked creature. Use it proactively only when it wins combat, preserves lethal, or prevents a key creature from dying; do not spend it to save a replaceable one-mana creature unless survival or exact lethal depends on that body.

- Forest: Treat Forest as the default untapped green source and preserve smooth sequencing over utility. Play Forest first when it enables Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, Pawpatch Recruit, Mutable Pupa, Dragon Sniper, Longstalk Brawl, or Hardened Bonds on time. In opening hands with Forest plus utility lands, lead Forest unless Veles confirms Hidden Grotto or Oakhollow Village enters and functions without delaying the curve.

- Hidden Grotto: Treat Hidden Grotto as a utility land whose scry, color, or activation value must be confirmed by visible rules text. Card text check required for exact entry condition and mana use. It is acceptable in hands with enough Forests; be suspicious of hands where Hidden Grotto is the only early green source or where using it delays Llanowar Elves into the three-mana curve.

- Oakhollow Village: Treat Oakhollow Village as a creature-curve support land, not as a guaranteed Forest. Card text check required for exact entry timing, creature-type restrictions, and activated text. Keep it when the rest of the hand already casts early green spells; use any visible creature-support ability when it improves combat or mana without sacrificing a stronger spell for the turn.

## Interaction Priorities

- Removal priority: Use Longstalk Brawl first on the visible creature that either stops your best attack, threatens to race your next two combat steps, or enables the opponent's engine. Card text check required for exact fight/damage restrictions, but the tactical gate is the same: only choose it when your selected creature survives or when the exchange prevents a worse attack back.

- Protection priority: Use Defend the Rider to preserve a threat that is carrying counters, enabling Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent, or representing lethal pressure. Card text check required for exact protection mode. Do not spend Defend the Rider on Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, Pawpatch Recruit, or Mutable Pupa unless that creature is the only legal blocker, the only source of lethal, or the only way to keep mana available for a critical follow-up.

- Engine priority: Protect Innkeeper's Talent and Hardened Bonds payoffs by forcing the opponent to answer redundant creatures first. Lead with Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, or Mutable Pupa when the opponent is clearly holding removal or countermagic; commit Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, or Surrak, Elusive Hunter after the opponent taps low or after smaller creatures already demand action.

- Bait priority: Use extra copies of Llanowar Elves, Gene Pollinator, and small pressure creatures as bait when the hand contains a stronger midgame threat. Do not bait with the only mana creature if the hand depends on accelerating into Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, or Cren, Undercity Dreamer.

- Ignore priority: Ignore small opposing creatures that cannot profitably block and cannot race your current board. Spend Longstalk Brawl on blockers, scaling creatures, lifegain bodies, flyers that shorten the clock, and creatures with visible activated or triggered text before spending it on a creature that only trades with your smallest attacker.

- No-counter rule: Mono Green has no registered counter, discard, exile, or bounce spell in the main deck. If Veles shows a counter, discard, exile, or bounce legal action, treat it as card-text-dependent from the specific visible source and do not assume the deck normally has that interaction.

- Post-board removal shift: Bite Down increases the value of preserving one large creature because extra fight-style removal can turn size into repeated tempo. With Bite Down available, prioritize removing blockers before combat against creature decks and removing engine creatures before they produce another material trigger.

- Post-board resilience shift: Heritage Reclamation, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, Scrapshooter, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, Frenzied Baloth, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Chittering Illuminator, Defend the Rider, and Surrak, Elusive Hunter change interaction timing only when their visible text supports the matchup role. Card text check required for exact effects; do not treat them as generic answers unless legal action text confirms the target or mode.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack priority: Attack when the visible board lets your creatures push damage without losing the creature that future turns need most. Cheap bodies can trade to clear the way for Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, or a counter-stacked threat, but do not trade away the only creature that makes Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Longstalk Brawl, or Defend the Rider live.

- Early combat rule: Before the first large threat resolves, keep Llanowar Elves alive if its mana changes the next turn from one spell to two spells or accelerates into Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, or Cren, Undercity Dreamer. Attack with Llanowar Elves only when mana is no longer constrained or when the damage meaningfully changes the clock.

- Trade rule: Trade Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, or Mutable Pupa for an opposing creature that blocks better than it attacks, enables an engine, or prevents your next threat from dominating combat. Decline trades that shrink your board below the creature count needed for pressure, counters, or follow-up fight effects.

- Large-threat rule: Preserve Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, and Surrak, Elusive Hunter through combat unless the exchange wins the race, forces through lethal, or removes the opponent's only high-impact creature. A large creature that survives to attack again is usually worth more than a single medium trade.

- Protection timing: Hold Defend the Rider until blockers, damage, removal, or a visible trick creates a concrete survival or lethal choice. Use it in combat when it turns a blocked attacker into a surviving attacker, keeps the key blocker alive against lethal pressure, or denies the opponent a removal spell on a stacked creature.

- Life threshold: Race aggressively above 12 life when your board is wider or larger and the opponent has no visible lethal setup. Shift toward blocking at 8-12 life if the opponent can produce a two-turn clock. Preserve blockers below 8 life unless an attack creates lethal, removes the key blocker through Longstalk Brawl, or leaves enough untapped defense.

- Aggro matchup rule: Block earlier against faster creature decks, especially when your hand contains Innkeeper's Talent, Hardened Bonds, Warden of the Grove, or Ouroboroid that can dominate later turns. Winning at a low life total is acceptable, but giving up the stabilizing body to push small damage is not.

- Control matchup rule: Attack with redundant creatures into open mana to force action, but avoid committing every premium threat into a visible sweeper or removal-heavy turn. Make the opponent answer Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, and Mutable Pupa before exposing Surrak, Elusive Hunter or a single oversized Innkeeper's Talent target.

- Stalled-board rule: When neither side can attack profitably, build one decisive attacker with Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent, then use Longstalk Brawl to remove the best blocker before combat. Do not make low-impact attacks that trade off the supporting board before the engine has created a real breakthrough.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Selection baseline: Treat Mono Green as a pressure deck with pseudo-selection, not a true tutor deck. Do not spend turns looking for perfect cards unless a visible legal action from Hidden Grotto, Chittering Illuminator, Innkeeper's Talent, Hardened Bonds, or another source explicitly offers card selection, discovery, scry, surveil, look, seek, or bottom choices.

- Land-drop timing: Make the land drop before selection when the current turn needs immediate mana for Llanowar Elves, Pawpatch Recruit, Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Gene Pollinator, Mutable Pupa, Longstalk Brawl, Innkeeper's Talent, Hardened Bonds, or Defend the Rider. Delay a land drop only when a visible selection action can change which land is correct this turn or when Hidden Grotto-style filtering is already on the stack.

- Hidden Grotto priority: Use Hidden Grotto selection to smooth mana and keep pressure flowing, not to chase speculative late-game cards. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy text; if Veles shows surveil, bottom redundant lands when already able to cast the hand, keep lands when stuck below three mana, and keep a threat or interaction piece when the board needs action now.

- Hidden Grotto discovery rule: Activate a discover or similar Hidden Grotto action only when spending the land and mana does not block a stronger current play. Prefer activation in stalled boards, flood states, or post-sweeper recovery; avoid it when casting Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, or two smaller spells improves the board immediately.

- Bottoming rule: Bottom excess Forest, extra Hidden Grotto, or extra Oakhollow Village when the hand already has enough green mana and the game is about damage. Keep lands when Llanowar Elves has died, when a larger spell is stranded, or when Innkeeper's Talent or another visible permanent offers mana-sink or level-style actions.

- Threat-selection rule: Choose creatures that match the board texture. Select Pawpatch Recruit, Gene Pollinator, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, or Mutable Pupa when the deck needs bodies; select Ouroboroid, Warden of the Grove, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Chittering Illuminator, or Cren, Undercity Dreamer when the game has slowed and one higher-impact threat can dominate.

- Interaction-selection rule: Keep or choose Longstalk Brawl when the opponent has a blocker, engine creature, flyer, lifelinker, or scaling creature that prevents attacks. Keep Defend the Rider when the visible game is about protecting one large creature, surviving combat, or forcing through lethal; Card text check required for exact mode.

- Counter-engine selection: Favor Innkeeper's Talent and Hardened Bonds when the battlefield already contains a creature that can safely carry counters or when the hand can produce multiple bodies. Do not choose an engine piece over a necessary creature if the battlefield is empty and the opponent can immediately pressure your life total.

- Alchemy-text caution: Treat any seek, draft, conjure, specialize, perpetual, or digital-only choice from Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Dragon Sniper, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Warden of the Grove, Chittering Illuminator, or Cren, Undercity Dreamer as card-text-dependent. Choose the line that advances visible board presence, mana use, or combat survivability, and do not infer hidden card names.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Priority baseline: Pass priority when the stack contains an opposing spell or ability that Mono Green cannot legally affect and no visible Defend the Rider, activated ability, fight action, pump action, graveyard action, or protection action improves the outcome. Do not invent countermagic or removal; act only from Veles legal actions.

- Main-phase commitment: Cast sorcery-speed threats before combat when they increase damage, counters, or fight quality this turn. Hold mana instead only when a visible instant-speed Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Recruit activation, Bite Down, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, or other legal post-board action can change combat or protect a decisive creature.

- Removal timing: Use Longstalk Brawl before combat when removing the blocker opens attacks or when the target can untap and generate value. Wait until after the opponent commits mana or combat only if Veles shows a legal instant-speed fight, bite, or protection action and the visible exchange improves by waiting.

- Protection timing: Let harmless spells resolve, but respond to removal, damage, bounce, or combat tricks with Defend the Rider when the protected creature is the main clock, the only blocker, or the engine target for Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent. Card text check required for exact protection effect and legal targets.

- Beginning-of-combat timing: Use Innkeeper's Talent or similar combat-start triggers on the creature most likely to survive and matter in combat. Prefer an evasive or hard-to-block attacker, a creature that enables Longstalk Brawl, or the only body that must remain alive; avoid placing counters on a creature already forced into a bad trade.

- Optional trigger rule: Decline optional value triggers or payments when they consume mana needed for a visible stronger spell, activated ability, protection action, or lethal setup. Accept optional triggers when they add counters, power, protection, cards, or board presence without compromising the current turn’s best legal sequence.

- Combat-window rule: After attackers and after blockers, re-evaluate Defend the Rider, Pawpatch Recruit, Synchronized Charge, Bite Down, and any visible activated abilities. Use them when they create lethal, save a key creature, win a double block, remove a blocker before damage if legal, or stop a lethal crack-back; otherwise preserve mana and cards.

- Stack discipline: Let opposing card draw, setup, and noncombat value resolve when responding would only save minor damage or trade down. Prioritize responses to visible lethal, removal aimed at a stacked creature, sacrifice or graveyard engines that immediately matter, and blockers or flyers that will change the next combat step.

- Graveyard timing: Use Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Heritage Reclamation, or Scrapshooter only after sideboarding and only when Veles shows legal graveyard, artifact, enchantment, or removal actions. Card text check required; do not fire graveyard or permanent hate into low-impact targets while under pressure unless it changes combat, life total, or the opponent’s next turn.

- End-step rule: Use spare-mana activations at the opponent’s end step when the legal action does not expose a key creature to sorcery-speed punishment and does not reduce next-turn pressure. Prefer end-step use for filtering or activated utility; prefer main-phase use when counters, fight effects, or mana development change immediate combat.

## Sideboard Map
Compiler-checked exact sideboard candidate for legal validation:
Side in: 2 Bite Down
Cut: 2 Llanowar Elves


- Sideboard baseline: Treat the sideboard as role compression, not a new deck. Mono Green should add cards that answer the opponent’s visible pressure, graveyard, artifacts, enchantments, flyers, or attrition plan while preserving enough one- and two-mana creatures for Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Longstalk Brawl, and combat pressure to matter.

- Bite Down role: add Bite Down when opposing creatures decide combat, race math, or engine survival. It is strongest against creature decks with must-kill blockers, flyers, lifelinkers, utility creatures, and threats that grow larger if ignored; it is weaker against creature-light control, decks with many removal spells that can answer your creature in response, or boards where Mono Green lacks a large enough creature. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy legality and target set.

- Frenzied Baloth role: add Frenzied Baloth when games slow down and the opponent is trying to trade one-for-one, sweep smaller creatures, or stabilize through medium blockers. It is weaker when speed matters more than size, when the hand already has too many expensive spells, or when the opponent’s plan ignores ground combat. Card text check required; use it as a larger threat only when Veles confirms legal casting and board impact.

- Chittering Illuminator role: Add the sideboard Chittering Illuminator for attrition mirrors, removal-heavy decks, and board stalls where an additional high-impact creature is better than a low-impact early body. It is weaker against fast aggro when the opening turns demand Llanowar Elves, Pawpatch Recruit, Gene Pollinator, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, or Longstalk Brawl. Card text check required; choose it only when its visible legal actions advance cards, counters, bodies, or combat.

- Defend the Rider role: Add the sideboard Defend the Rider when protecting one large creature, beating removal, or winning a decisive combat step is more important than adding another body. It is weaker against decks with few targeted effects, edict-style pressure, or games where mana must be spent every turn on creatures. Card text check required; preserve mana for it only when the protected creature is central to lethal, survival, or engine pressure.

- Heritage Reclamation role: add Heritage Reclamation against artifact, enchantment, graveyard, or recursive-resource plans only when Veles shows relevant opposing permanents or public graveyard pressure. It is weaker against pure creature racing and creature-light control with few legal targets. Card text check required; do not spend a turn on it while behind unless the target changes the next combat, denies a key recursion line, or stops a visible engine.

- Keen-Eyed Curator role: add Keen-Eyed Curator when graveyard interaction attached to a creature body matters, especially against recursion, escape-like pressure, delirium-style sizing, or public graveyard payoffs. It is weaker when the opponent’s graveyard is irrelevant or when a larger creature would stabilize better. Card text check required; activate graveyard actions only on public cards Veles exposes.

- Pawpatch Formation role: add Pawpatch Formation when the matchup is about combat tricks, wide combat, damage races, or protecting a board from visible damage-based interaction. It is weaker against decks that remove creatures outside combat or ignore creature combat. Card text check required; use it when the legal action creates lethal, prevents lethal, saves multiple important creatures, or turns blocks into favorable trades.

- Scavenging Ooze role: add Scavenging Ooze against public graveyard plans, creature recursion, and long creature mirrors where spare mana can become life, size, or denial. It is weaker in very fast games where spending mana on graveyards does not affect the board. Card text check required; prioritize eating cards that Veles shows as relevant to immediate recursion or combat sizing.

- Scrapshooter role: add Scrapshooter against artifact, enchantment, or flyer-centric plans where a creature plus answer improves pressure. It is weaker against ground-only creature decks and removal-heavy control with few targets. Card text check required; take artifact/enchantment/flyer actions only when visible targets are meaningful.

- Surrak, Elusive Hunter role: Add the sideboard Surrak, Elusive Hunter against midrange, control, and creature stalls where an additional top-end threat can end the game through board presence. It is weaker against low-curve aggro if the hand risks falling behind before it can cast Surrak, Elusive Hunter. Card text check required; commit it when the opponent is taxed, tapped low, or unable to punish a large threat from visible information.

- Synchronized Charge role: add Synchronized Charge for wide battlefields, stalled boards, and races where one combat step can swing damage or survive blocks. It is weaker when Mono Green has only one creature, when opposing instant-speed removal can punish the spell, or when holding mana reduces pressure too much. Card text check required; treat it as a decisive combat card, not routine value.

- Tyvar, the Pummeler role: add Tyvar, the Pummeler when the opponent struggles with single large threats, when creature density remains high, or when the game is expected to hinge on one protected attacker. It is weaker against heavy removal, edicts, or decks that force chump blocks while winning elsewhere. Card text check required; use it as a finisher only after checking visible blockers, removal windows, and protection mana.

Creature Aggro Plan
add: 3 Bite Down; 1 Pawpatch Formation; 1 Synchronized Charge
trim: 1 Chittering Illuminator; 1 Cren, Undercity Dreamer; 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter; 1 Defend the Rider; 1 Innkeeper's Talent

- Aggro rule: Add role cards: Bite Down, Pawpatch Formation, Synchronized Charge, and sometimes Defend the Rider when combat tricks or removal decide survival. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower singletons, extra engine setup, and expensive threats when the opponent is already attacking by turn two.

Graveyard Or Recursion Plan
add: 1 Scavenging Ooze; 1 Keen-Eyed Curator; 1 Heritage Reclamation; 1 Chittering Illuminator
trim: 1 Dragon Sniper; 1 Defend the Rider; 1 Innkeeper's Talent; 1 Warden of the Grove

- Graveyard rule: Add role cards: Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Heritage Reclamation, and the extra Chittering Illuminator for longer games. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow protection and slower setup when public graveyard pressure matters more than maximizing counters.

Artifact Enchantment Flyers Plan
add: 1 Scrapshooter; 1 Heritage Reclamation; 3 Bite Down
trim: 1 Cren, Undercity Dreamer; 1 Chittering Illuminator; 1 Defend the Rider; 1 Innkeeper's Talent; 1 Warden of the Grove

- Permanent-hate rule: Add role cards: Scrapshooter and Heritage Reclamation when artifacts, enchantments, or flyers are visible or strongly implied by Game 1 public play. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower engines and fragile top-end when the opponent’s permanents must be answered before combat can function.

Removal-Heavy Midrange Or Control Plan
add: 2 Frenzied Baloth; 1 Chittering Illuminator; 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter; 1 Tyvar, the Pummeler; 1 Defend the Rider
trim: 2 Longstalk Brawl; 2 Dragon Sniper; 1 Mutable Pupa; 1 Amber-Plate Ainok

- Attrition rule: Add role cards: Frenzied Baloth, Chittering Illuminator, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, and Defend the Rider when the opponent trades resources and makes small creature combat less important. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal and lower-impact early bodies when the opponent presents few targets.

Wide Board Stall Plan
add: 1 Synchronized Charge; 1 Pawpatch Formation; 2 Frenzied Baloth; 1 Tyvar, the Pummeler
trim: 1 Dragon Sniper; 1 Defend the Rider; 1 Chittering Illuminator; 1 Cren, Undercity Dreamer; 1 Hidden Grotto

- Board-stall rule: Add role cards: Synchronized Charge, Pawpatch Formation, Frenzied Baloth, and Tyvar, the Pummeler when combat stalls and one large attack or protected board turn can decide the game. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow filtering and small utility creatures when mana and board presence already exist.

- Mana-count caution: Remove a land only in slower matchups where Llanowar Elves survives often, the curve remains reasonable after sideboarding, and Veles-visible hands still cast spells on time. Keep all 21 lands against removal-heavy decks that kill Llanowar Elves, against aggro where missing land drops prevents double-spelling, and whenever sideboarding increases expensive cards.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Prioritize surviving the first combat turns while keeping enough pressure to force trades, because Mono Green wins aggro mirrors by turning early bodies into larger attacks rather than by sitting back forever. Keep hands with Llanowar Elves plus at least one early creature or multiple early creatures without Llanowar Elves; ship slow hands built around Chittering Illuminator, Cren, Undercity Dreamer, or Surrak, Elusive Hunter unless the rest of the hand already blocks. Use Bite Down after sideboard to remove the creature that changes combat math this turn, not merely the largest creature if a smaller evasive or pumped attacker is the actual race problem. Treat Pawpatch Formation and Synchronized Charge as survival-to-lethal cards when visible combat math supports them. Card text check required for Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Dragon Sniper, Warden of the Grove, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Longstalk Brawl, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, and all sideboard combat cards; follow Veles legal action labels over assumed text.

- Control: Commit threats in waves, not all at once, because the control matchup is about forcing removal and sweepers to trade down before finishing with a durable or high-impact threat. Lead with Llanowar Elves only when it accelerates into real pressure; otherwise prioritize hands that naturally cast threats through removal. Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent matter when they convert every future creature into a must-answer body, but avoid spending a full turn on setup if the opponent is already representing a board reset and Mono Green has no follow-up. Add role cards from the removal-heavy plan: Frenzied Baloth, Chittering Illuminator, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, and Defend the Rider. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Longstalk Brawl and Dragon Sniper when control shows few creatures. Do not fire protection or pump effects into open mana unless Veles shows a legal action that saves a key threat, pushes lethal, or punishes a tapped-low opponent.

- Combo: Race first, disrupt only when the visible permanent, graveyard, or stack action is clearly part of the opponent’s win path, because this list has limited stack interaction and cannot afford low-impact turns. Mulligan toward Llanowar Elves, multiple early creatures, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, and other pressure that shortens the clock. Use Longstalk Brawl or Bite Down only if the creature being removed is visibly enabling the combo or buying the opponent enough time to win. Add role cards by combo texture: Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, and Heritage Reclamation against public graveyard plans; Scrapshooter and Heritage Reclamation against artifact or enchantment engines; extra pressure such as Frenzied Baloth or Surrak, Elusive Hunter when interaction is unlikely to matter. Do not hold back attackers around imaginary interaction; respect only visible legal actions, public information, and revealed cards.

- Tempo: Protect mana efficiency and avoid walking one large turn into a blowout, because tempo decks punish clunky hands more than low raw power. Keep hands that spend mana every turn and do not rely on resolving a single expensive threat. Llanowar Elves is excellent when it enables double-spelling before the opponent can stabilize, but a hand that collapses if Llanowar Elves dies is risky on the draw. Sequence cheaper threats before Innkeeper's Talent or Hardened Bonds if the opponent can punish a noncreature setup turn with evasive pressure. Use Bite Down and Longstalk Brawl on the threat that is actually winning the race, especially flyers or unblockable-style attackers when Scrapshooter is not available. Card text check required for Dragon Sniper and Scrapshooter; use their actions only when Veles-visible labels show they affect the current tempo problem.

- Midrange: Become the bigger creature deck, because midrange opponents usually try to trade one-for-one until their late cards dominate. Keep hands with an early board, one scaling card, and enough lands to continue deploying threats after removal. Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent are stronger here than in pure aggro because they increase the value of every creature drawn later. Cren, Undercity Dreamer and Chittering Illuminator can be kept when the hand already has early plays and the matchup is expected to trade resources. Add Frenzied Baloth, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, and Defend the Rider when the opponent’s plan is removal plus blockers. Reduce Longstalk Brawl if the opponent has few creatures; keep some fight effects if their battlefield contains must-answer blockers.

- Big mana: Maximize pressure and punish slow setup, because big mana usually beats Mono Green if it reaches repeated oversized plays uncontested. Keep fast Llanowar Elves starts, multiple two- and three-mana threats, and scaling cards that create lethal pressure before the opponent’s top end matters. Do not spend early turns on Hidden Grotto filtering unless the hand lacks castable pressure or the legal action directly fixes a missing spell sequence. Add Frenzied Baloth, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, or Synchronized Charge when they improve the clock. Use Bite Down or Longstalk Brawl only when a visible blocker or mana creature materially delays lethal. Avoid reactive sideboard cards unless Game 1 showed public artifacts, enchantments, graveyard cards, or creatures that matter.

- Graveyard: Attack while denying the graveyard card that matters now, because graveyard decks often recover if Mono Green spends too many turns on hate without pressure. Add Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Heritage Reclamation, and the sideboard Chittering Illuminator as in the graveyard plan. Activate Scavenging Ooze only on public graveyard cards Veles exposes, prioritizing cards connected to immediate recursion, combat sizing, or resource loops. Use Keen-Eyed Curator and Heritage Reclamation conditionally; Card text check required, so follow legal action text and visible targets. Do not exile random cards just because mana is unused if the action costs tempo before a lethal race turn.

- Artifact/enchantment: Add targeted role cards only after seeing meaningful targets, because drawing narrow answers against a normal creature deck weakens Mono Green’s pressure. add Scrapshooter, Heritage Reclamation, and Bite Down when artifacts, enchantments, or flyers visibly interfere with combat or enable the opponent’s engine. Keep Scrapshooter hands when it is also a creature that advances pressure; be more cautious if the hand contains only answers and no clock. Use Heritage Reclamation on the permanent that unlocks combat, stops an engine, or prevents lethal, not on the first legal target by default. Card text check required for Heritage Reclamation and Scrapshooter.

- Go-wide: Preserve board count and look for one decisive combat step, because wide opponents can make single large attackers less effective. Keep early creature-heavy hands, especially those with Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, and Pawpatch Recruit. Add Synchronized Charge, Pawpatch Formation, Bite Down, Frenzied Baloth, and Tyvar, the Pummeler according to the wide board stall plan. Avoid trading Llanowar Elves early if it enables double-spelling into a board that can race. Attack only when the resulting blocks leave Mono Green ahead on board or create a near-lethal follow-up.

- Single-threat: Answer or outsize the one threat, because this deck can often ignore small support cards if the main attacker or blocker is contained. Keep hands with Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down after sideboard, large scaling threats, or a fast clock that makes one blocker insufficient. Use removal on the single threat when it blocks lethal, races faster than Mono Green, carries visible counters/attachments, or enables the opponent’s plan. add Tyvar, the Pummeler and Surrak, Elusive Hunter when the opponent lacks broad removal and the game becomes one huge attacker versus one huge answer. Do not over-sideboard narrow hate unless the single threat is an artifact, enchantment, flyer, or graveyard card shown publicly.

- Burn: Protect life total without surrendering pressure, because burn punishes slow setup and unnecessary damage races. Keep hands with early blockers, Llanowar Elves into multiple creatures, and enough lands to spend mana without relying on Hidden Grotto. Add Bite Down for creatures, Pawpatch Formation or Defend the Rider when visible actions prevent damage or save multiple creatures, and Scavenging Ooze only if public graveyards and spare mana make life or size relevant. Reduce expensive or slow setup cards that do not affect combat immediately. Avoid attacks that remove the only blocker against a lethal crack-back unless Veles-visible damage shows Mono Green wins first.

- Removal-heavy decks: Diversify threats and force awkward answers, because a single oversized creature can lose to one removal spell while a staggered curve keeps pressure alive. Add Frenzied Baloth, Chittering Illuminator, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, and Defend the Rider from the attrition plan. Reduce Longstalk Brawl and Dragon Sniper when the opponent presents few creatures to fight. Cast Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent when the board or hand contains follow-up creatures; delay them if spending mana on a standalone threat is the only way to keep pressure. Use Defend the Rider only when the legal action protects a threat that matters to the next two turns or wins combat immediately.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only note: Exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards, legal actions, public zones, and Veles combat math override every archetype assumption here. Use these notes as routing hints for mulligans, sideboard role cards, and priority targets, not as certainty about hidden cards or future draws.

- Fast creature decks: Keep hands that put Llanowar Elves or another early creature onto the battlefield and follow with Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, Mutable Pupa, Pawpatch Recruit, Amber-Plate Ainok, or Fountainport Charmer before falling behind. Add role cards: Bite Down, Pawpatch Formation, Defend the Rider, Synchronized Charge. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Hidden Grotto filtering, slow single-engine starts, and expensive closers when they do not affect combat immediately. Priority targets are visible attackers that shorten the clock, creatures carrying counters or attachments, and blockers that stop a lethal return swing.

- Removal-heavy midrange: Deploy multiple threats instead of investing everything into one creature unless Defend the Rider, Innkeeper's Talent, or a visible protection/pump line makes the commitment legal and decisive. Add role cards: Frenzied Baloth, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Chittering Illuminator, Defend the Rider. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Longstalk Brawl and Dragon Sniper when the opponent has few visible creatures. Priority targets are creatures that block the largest attacker profitably, engines that generate repeated cards, and planeswalker-like or activated threats only when Veles exposes legal interaction.

- Big mana or slow control: Race first, because Mono Green risks losing long games if it spends early mana on low-pressure actions. Keep Llanowar Elves starts, two-spell curves, and pressure plus scaling from Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent. Add role cards: Frenzied Baloth, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Synchronized Charge. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow removal unless the opponent showed must-answer creatures. Priority targets are mana creatures, blockers that buy multiple turns, and permanents that visibly prevent combat damage; Card text check required for Chittering Illuminator and Cren, Undercity Dreamer before treating them as attrition engines.

- Flyers or evasive pressure: Preserve life total with removal and reach-style answers when legal actions show those roles. Add role cards: Bite Down, Scrapshooter, Pawpatch Formation, Defend the Rider. Reduce main-deck emphasis: purely ground-bound slow cards when the race math says Mono Green cannot block. Priority targets are evasive attackers, especially any creature that makes a two-turn clock or blocks Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Ouroboroid, or a scaled threat from ending the game. Card text check required for Scrapshooter and Dragon Sniper; use only Veles-visible labels for exact effect timing.

- Graveyard decks: Keep pressure high while using hate only on public graveyard cards that matter now. Add role cards: Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Heritage Reclamation, Chittering Illuminator. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow pump or excess fight effects if the opponent has few battlefield creatures. Priority targets are graveyard cards connected to immediate recursion, large battlefield swings, or visible activated/cast-from-graveyard actions. Do not spend mana on random graveyard cleanup when attacking, developing Gene Pollinator, or holding interaction changes the clock more.

- Artifact/enchantment engines: Add answers only after public information proves targets matter. Add role cards: Heritage Reclamation, Scrapshooter, Bite Down when creatures are also involved. Reduce main-deck emphasis: redundant combat-only cards if the opponent’s engine ignores creature combat. Priority targets are permanents that stop attacks, generate repeated resources, or create lethal pressure. Card text check required for Heritage Reclamation and Scrapshooter, so let legal target text decide exact timing.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: Two-land hands without Llanowar Elves can stall if Hidden Grotto filtering consumes early tempo, while one-land Llanowar Elves hands collapse when the Elf dies and no second land appears. Favor hands with castable early pressure over speculative hands that need perfect sequencing.

- Matchup risk: Mono Green can mis-role itself by becoming reactive against faster decks or too slow against big mana. The default correction is to ask whether the next legal action improves the battlefield clock, blocks the current clock, or answers a public engine.

- Draw risk: Creature-light hands with Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Longstalk Brawl, or Defend the Rider can look powerful but fail without bodies. Mulligan or sequence toward visible creatures before spending mana on support cards.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Narrow cards such as Heritage Reclamation, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, and Scrapshooter weaken pressure when public targets are absent. Add them only for revealed engines, graveyards, artifacts, enchantments, or flyers that change the game.

- Graveyard risk: Scavenging Ooze activations can waste mana if they do not stop an immediate graveyard action, change combat size, or stabilize life. Treat random exiling as low priority during lethal races.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Stacking all growth or combat value onto one creature invites a single answer to erase the turn. Diversify threats unless the visible line wins now or Defend the Rider legally protects the decisive creature.

- Closer risk: Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Frenzied Baloth, and large Ouroboroid lines can be too late if early turns were spent filtering or holding reactive cards. Commit closers when they shorten the clock or break a board stall.

- Interaction risk: Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down, Dragon Sniper, and Scrapshooter should not be fired at the first legal target by habit. Use them on creatures or permanents that affect lethal math, block the main attacker, or enable the opponent’s engine.

- Sequencing risk: Casting support before creatures, using Hidden Grotto before deploying pressure, or attacking away the only blocker can lose tempo races. Let Veles-visible board state and legal follow-up actions decide whether development, combat, or holding protection matters most.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Identify the turn where the game stopped being about normal creature sizing and became a race, a stall, or an engine fight. Record whether Mono Green won by early Llanowar Elves pressure, repeated creature development, a scaled threat from Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent, or a closer such as Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Frenzied Baloth, or Ouroboroid.

- Mulligans: Check whether kept hands had a castable early creature, enough Forest or other green sources, and a credible second play. Flag any keep where Hidden Grotto filtering, unsupported Hardened Bonds, unsupported Longstalk Brawl, or no-creature support cards delayed pressure.

- Mana: Record whether Llanowar Elves survived long enough to matter, whether two-land hands curved naturally, and whether Hidden Grotto or Oakhollow Village entered sequencing in a way that cost a threat, removal spell, or protection turn. Note any game where the deck had spells but not enough green mana to double-spell.

- Velocity: Count games where Mono Green used turns two through four to add battlefield power instead of waiting with reactive cards. Mark whether Gene Pollinator, Mutable Pupa, Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, or Warden of the Grove produced relevant early pressure from visible board state.

- Engine cards: Evaluate whether Hardened Bonds and Innkeeper's Talent increased damage, broke stalls, or only amplified creatures that were already winning. Flag support-card draws that failed because no creature stayed on board.

- Removal: Review every Longstalk Brawl, Bite Down, Dragon Sniper, Scrapshooter, and fight-style action for target quality. The target should have changed lethal math, removed a key blocker, stopped evasive pressure, or interrupted a public engine rather than simply consuming mana.

- Sideboard: Compare added role cards against public opponent evidence. Bite Down, Scrapshooter, Heritage Reclamation, Keen-Eyed Curator, Scavenging Ooze, Pawpatch Formation, Defend the Rider, Synchronized Charge, Frenzied Baloth, Chittering Illuminator, Surrak, Elusive Hunter, and Tyvar, the Pummeler should each answer a visible matchup need.

- Closing: Check whether large attackers were committed soon enough after the opponent stabilized. Record missed chances to force damage with Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Frenzied Baloth, Ouroboroid, or Synchronized Charge when legal actions showed a short clock.

- Role accuracy: Label each game as aggressor, stabilizer, or midrange pressure deck. Flag turns where Mono Green acted reactive while ahead, attacked recklessly while behind, or spent mana on low-impact graveyard or utility actions instead of changing board pressure.

- Mistakes: Review attacks that lost the only relevant blocker, protection held through a lethal window, removal aimed at low-impact targets, and support spells cast before creatures. Use Veles-visible legal actions and logged state only; do not infer hidden cards.

- Stranded cards: List cards stuck in hand for multiple turns and why. Separate mana problems from board-dependence problems for Defend the Rider, Longstalk Brawl, Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Dragon Sniper, and expensive sideboard threats.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Name cards by observed game impact, not expectation. A card overperformed only if it changed damage, tempo, survivability, or engine denial in the log; a card underperformed only if it was legal, castable, and still failed to matter.

## First Tuning Questions

- Creature density: If support-heavy hands keep failing, should Mono Green increase early creatures such as Pawpatch Recruit, Fountainport Charmer, Amber-Plate Ainok, Gene Pollinator, Mutable Pupa, or Warden of the Grove instead of leaning on Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Defend the Rider, and Longstalk Brawl?

- Mana base: If the deck loses tempo to filtering or awkward openings, should Hidden Grotto numbers decrease or should Forest count rise so Llanowar Elves and two-spell curves are more reliable? If Oakhollow Village matters positively in combat or fixing, record the exact visible turns before changing counts.

- Llanowar Elves dependency: If one-land or two-land hands depend too much on Llanowar Elves surviving, should mulligan rules become stricter rather than changing the deck? Track games where removing Llanowar Elves effectively ended development.

- Pressure package: If early boards fail to attack through blockers, should quantities of Amber-Plate Ainok, Fountainport Charmer, Pawpatch Recruit, Gene Pollinator, Ouroboroid, or Mutable Pupa change? Tie any change to logged combat stalls, not generic curve theory.

- Engine package: If Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent wins stalled games, consider preserving or increasing that package; if they strand without creatures, consider lowering support density. The tuning question is whether the deck needs more bodies or more scaling.

- Removal package: If Longstalk Brawl and Bite Down are excellent against creature decks but weak elsewhere, should main-deck removal stay narrow while the sideboard carries extra Bite Down? If Dragon Sniper rarely has text, Card text check required before changing its role.

- Closers: If games are lost after early pressure because no threat ends the game, should Surrak, Elusive Hunter, Tyvar, the Pummeler, Frenzied Baloth, Synchronized Charge, or extra Chittering Illuminator occupy more post-board space? If closers rot in hand, lower curve pressure is the issue.

- Protection and pump: If Defend the Rider and Pawpatch Formation decide combat or punish removal, should the deck prioritize holding mana more often? If they sit unused, ask whether threats are too small, too few, or whether the timing policy is too conservative.

- Graveyard and utility slots: If Scavenging Ooze, Keen-Eyed Curator, Heritage Reclamation, or Scrapshooter lack public targets, should those sideboard slots become broader pressure cards? If they stop real engines, keep the narrow tools and sharpen matchup triggers.

- Role conflict: If the deck sideboards into too many answers and stops pressuring, should Add role cards be capped by matchup clock requirements? The core tuning test is whether post-board games still present lethal pressure while answering the opponent's visible plan.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Hand Pressure Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Llanowar Elves; Pawpatch Recruit; Fountainport Charmer; Amber-Plate Ainok; Gene Pollinator; Mutable Pupa; Ouroboroid; Forest; Hidden Grotto; Oakhollow Village
Phase windows: pregame
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; action:keep; action:mulligan
Use when: evaluating an opening hand with visible land count, castable early creatures, and first two turns of legal development.
Avoid when: hand cannot produce green mana, has no early creature, or relies on support cards before a body exists.
Instructions: Keep hands that can present a creature on turn one or turn two and a second relevant play by turn three. Mulligan hands heavy on Hardened Bonds, Innkeeper's Talent, Defend the Rider, or Longstalk Brawl without creatures. Treat Llanowar Elves plus two mana sources as a strong accelerator but do not keep one-land hands unless Llanowar Elves is castable and the hand has follow-up pressure.
Pilot skill floor: basic curve and resource judgment.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Creature Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Llanowar Elves; Pawpatch Recruit; Fountainport Charmer; Amber-Plate Ainok; Forest; Hidden Grotto; Oakhollow Village
Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main
Runtime cues: action:cast Llanowar Elves; action:cast Pawpatch Recruit; action:cast Fountainport Charmer; action:cast Amber-Plate Ainok
Use when: choosing the first permanent and the battlefield is empty or nearly empty on Mono Green's side.
Avoid when: a visible opposing threat or rules prompt requires immediate interaction.
Instructions: Lead with Llanowar Elves when acceleration unlocks a turn-two multi-spell or larger threat. Lead with the most combat-relevant cheap creature when mana is already sufficient. Do not spend the first development turn on support that requires a creature unless the rules engine offers no creature play.
Pilot skill floor: low.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Llanowar Elves Cast
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Llanowar Elves
Phase windows: precombat main
Runtime cues: action:cast Llanowar Elves
Use when: the only legal nonland spell action contains `cast Llanowar Elves`, a green source is available, and no legal land-play action remains.
Avoid when: any other legal creature spell, removal spell, or sideboard role action is available.
Instructions: Select the legal action that casts Llanowar Elves to convert unused mana into future development.
Pilot skill floor: no-api deterministic.
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Land And Mana Sequencing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Forest; Hidden Grotto; Oakhollow Village; Llanowar Elves
Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main; priority
Runtime cues: action:play Forest; action:play Hidden Grotto; action:play Oakhollow Village; action:activate Llanowar Elves
Use when: selecting land drops or mana sources for a spell or ability.
Avoid when: the engine has already fixed a mandatory payment and only one legal payment action exists.
Instructions: Prefer Forest when it keeps all green spells castable. Use Hidden Grotto filtering only when the lost tempo is outweighed by finding action or fixing a stranded line. Sequence Oakhollow Village according to visible legality and combat relevance; Card text check required before assuming bonus text.
Pilot skill floor: medium.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Support Commitment Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; mana
Cards: Hardened Bonds; Innkeeper's Talent; Pawpatch Recruit; Fountainport Charmer; Amber-Plate Ainok; Gene Pollinator; Mutable Pupa; Ouroboroid
Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main
Runtime cues: action:cast Hardened Bonds; action:cast Innkeeper's Talent
Use when: deciding whether to invest mana into a scaling support card instead of another creature.
Avoid when: no creature is on battlefield, opponent has visible pressure that demands blockers, or the hand contains a better immediate board play.
Instructions: Commit Hardened Bonds or Innkeeper's Talent when at least one creature is ready to benefit and the turn still preserves pressure. Prefer adding a body when the opponent can remove the only creature or when a support card would not change this turn's attack, block, or next-turn clock. Card text check required for exact counters, levels, and triggered effects.
Pilot skill floor: medium.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fight And Bite Target Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; combat
Cards: Longstalk Brawl; Bite Down; Dragon Sniper; Scrapshooter
Phase windows: precombat main; combat; postcombat main; opponent combat; priority
Runtime cues: action:cast Longstalk Brawl; action:cast Bite Down; action:activate Dragon Sniper; action:activate Scrapshooter; action:target
Use when: a legal removal or fight-style action can target a visible opposing permanent.
Avoid when: the target is low-impact, the friendly creature may die without changing the race, or holding interaction protects lethal/survival better.
Instructions: Remove creatures that block the largest attack, threaten lethal, carry a public engine, or punish future combat. Do not use Longstalk Brawl or Bite Down merely to spend mana. Card text check required for Dragon Sniper and Scrapshooter before assuming damage, reach, artifact/enchantment coverage, or target limits.
Pilot skill floor: medium-high.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Single Target After Removal Choice
Priority: Low
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Longstalk Brawl; Bite Down
Phase windows: priority; combat
Runtime cues: action:target Longstalk Brawl; action:target Bite Down
Use when: exactly one legal target action is available for the pending Longstalk Brawl or Bite Down prompt and the spell has already been cast.
Avoid when: two or more target actions are legal.
Instructions: Select the only target action exposed by the rules engine for the pending spell.
Pilot skill floor: no-api deterministic.
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Attack Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: combat
Cards: Pawpatch Recruit; Fountainport Charmer; Amber-Plate Ainok; Gene Pollinator; Mutable Pupa; Ouroboroid; Warden of the Grove; Surrak, Elusive Hunter; Frenzied Baloth; Tyvar, the Pummeler
Phase windows: declare attackers
Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers; action:attack
Use when: deciding attackers from visible board state.
Avoid when: attacking loses the only needed blocker against a short opposing clock or walks a key creature into a visible lethal block without compensation.
Instructions: Attack when damage advances a clear clock, forces poor blocks, or uses larger bodies before the opponent stabilizes. Hold creatures when survival requires blocking or when a support creature is worth more as an engine than as marginal damage. Card text check required for exact evasion, combat bonuses, and attack triggers.
Pilot skill floor: medium.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Single Forced Attack Action
Priority: Low
Decision families: combat
Cards: none
Phase windows: declare attackers
Runtime cues: action:attack with
Use when: exactly one legal attacker declaration action exists and the prompt offers no pass/no-attack alternative.
Avoid when: any legal no-attack, multiple attack groups, or optional attack action exists.
Instructions: Select the only legal attacker declaration action returned by the engine.
Pilot skill floor: no-api deterministic.
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Blocking And Stabilization
Priority: High
Decision families: combat
Cards: Amber-Plate Ainok; Fountainport Charmer; Gene Pollinator; Mutable Pupa; Ouroboroid; Warden of the Grove; Frenzied Baloth; Scavenging Ooze
Phase windows: declare blockers; combat damage
Runtime cues: prompt:declare blockers; action:block
Use when: the opponent attacks and Mono Green can block.
Avoid when: not blocking preserves lethal on the crack-back or the legal block is visibly impossible to survive profitably.
Instructions: Block to preserve life total under a short clock, protect planeswalker-like or engine value only when card text confirms it, and trade expendable early creatures for high-pressure attackers. Do not chump while ahead unless the block prevents lethal or protects a critical follow-up.
Pilot skill floor: medium.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Protection And Pump Timing
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; combat; priority
Cards: Defend the Rider; Pawpatch Formation; Synchronized Charge
Phase windows: combat; priority; opponent turn
Runtime cues: action:cast Defend the Rider; action:cast Pawpatch Formation; action:cast Synchronized Charge
Use when: a protection, pump, or combat swing spell is legal with damage, removal, or lethal pressure on the stack or in combat.
Avoid when: casting it does not change survival, lethal, combat trades, or removal outcome.
Instructions: Use these cards to save a key threat, win combat, or create lethal pressure. Hold them when the opponent's visible action is low-impact or when committing mana would prevent a stronger board play next main phase. Card text check required for exact protection, pump size, and target restrictions.
Pilot skill floor: high.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Finisher Tap-Out Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mana; priority; combat
Cards: Surrak, Elusive Hunter; Tyvar, the Pummeler; Frenzied Baloth; Chittering Illuminator; Warden of the Grove; Ouroboroid
Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main
Runtime cues: action:cast Surrak, Elusive Hunter; action:cast Tyvar, the Pummeler; action:cast Frenzied Baloth; action:cast Chittering Illuminator; action:cast Warden of the Grove; action:cast Ouroboroid
Use when: choosing whether to spend most or all available mana on a large threat.
Avoid when: visible opposing pressure requires removal, a cheaper double-spell stabilizes better, or open mana is needed for a known protection/combat line.
Instructions: Tap out for a finisher when it materially shortens the clock, blocks profitably, or rebuilds after attrition. Delay when the opponent can punish a single large creature through visible board state or known revealed interaction.
Pilot skill floor: medium-high.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard And Artifact/Enchantment Tools
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Heritage Reclamation; Keen-Eyed Curator; Scavenging Ooze; Scrapshooter
Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main; opponent turn; priority
Runtime cues: action:cast Heritage Reclamation; action:activate Keen-Eyed Curator; action:activate Scavenging Ooze; action:cast Scrapshooter; action:activate Scrapshooter
Use when: public graveyard, artifact, enchantment, or utility permanent information makes a sideboard tool relevant.
Avoid when: no legal public target exists or spending mana stops Mono Green from adding pressure under a clock.
Instructions: Use narrow tools only against visible resources they can affect. Keep pressure first when the opponent's public graveyard or permanent is not yet converting into damage, cards, or engine output. Card text check required for exact target zones and activation costs.
Pilot skill floor: medium.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Selection And Filtering Choices
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Hidden Grotto; Chittering Illuminator; Cren, Undercity Dreamer; Gene Pollinator; Fountainport Charmer
Phase windows: precombat main; postcombat main; priority
Runtime cues: prompt:choose; prompt:select; action:look; action:seek; action:choose
Use when: a card asks Mono Green to choose among visible cards, modes, or generated options.
Avoid when: the prompt is a deterministic mana payment or the selected object is hidden from the pilot.
Instructions: Prioritize immediate board pressure, green mana continuity, and interaction that changes combat. Choose a creature over support when the battlefield lacks bodies. Card text check required for Alchemy-specific seek, draft, conjure, perpetual, or specialization-like choices before assuming hidden mechanics.
Pilot skill floor: medium.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Priority Pass Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; interaction
Cards: Defend the Rider; Longstalk Brawl; Bite Down; Pawpatch Formation; Synchronized Charge; Dragon Sniper; Scavenging Ooze
Phase windows: upkeep; draw; precombat main; beginning of combat; declare attackers; declare blockers; combat damage; end step
Runtime cues: action:pass; action:resolve; action:cast; action:activate
Use when: choosing whether to pass priority with legal instant-speed actions available.
Avoid when: the opponent has a lethal attack, a key spell on stack, or a visible target that must be answered now.
Instructions: Pass when available actions do not improve board, damage, survival, or resource denial. Act before damage or resolution only when timing changes the outcome; do not fire fight-speed or pump-speed cards into unclear board states without visible payoff.
Pilot skill floor: medium-high.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard; pregame
Cards: Bite Down; Frenzied Baloth; Chittering Illuminator; Defend the Rider; Heritage Reclamation; Keen-Eyed Curator; Pawpatch Formation; Scavenging Ooze; Scrapshooter; Surrak, Elusive Hunter; Synchronized Charge; Tyvar, the Pummeler
Phase windows: sideboard; pregame
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; action:submit sideboard
Use when: public Game 1 or Game 2 evidence indicates the opponent's plan.
Avoid when: changes reduce the deck below a coherent creature-pressure shell.
Instructions: Add role cards for visible creature fights, graveyard engines, artifacts/enchantments, removal-heavy games, or stalled boards. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow support, narrow tricks, or excess expensive cards only when the matchup evidence makes them weaker than the added role cards. Keep enough early creatures after sideboarding.
Pilot skill floor: high.
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Submitted Sideboard Plan
Priority: Low
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: none
Phase windows: sideboard
Runtime cues: action:submit sideboard
Use when: the rules engine exposes exactly one legal `submit sideboard` action after a validated registered-75 plan has already been selected.
Avoid when: multiple legal sideboard submissions, generated plans, or unresolved sideboard choices remain.
Instructions: Submit the only validated sideboard action returned by Veles.
Pilot skill floor: no-api deterministic.
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes
