# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

- Deck identity: Esper Blink is a Modern midrange-control deck using black disruption, white exile/removal, blue-tempo permission effects from Teferi, Time Raveler, and repeatable blink pressure from Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Flickerwisp, and Solitude. The registered list is not a generic Esper good-stuff shell; it is built to turn creatures with enters/leaves-battlefield value into tempo, cards, removal, and clock while using Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and Solitude to keep opposing development from snowballing.

- Count validation: Main deck count is 60 cards exactly. Sideboard count is 15 cards exactly. The maindeck contains 26 lands or land-like modal/utility entries if Boggart Trawler and Witch Enchanter are treated as registered nontraditional spell-land slots at runtime, plus 34 nonland spell or creature entries by deck-construction role. The sideboard contains 1 Archon of Emeria, 2 Clarion Conqueror, 3 Consign to Memory, 2 High Noon, 3 Mystical Dispute, 1 Surgical Extraction, and 3 Wrath of the Skies.

- Format validation: Format is Modern. Card legality should be checked by the external deck validator or rules engine before sanctioned-play claims are made, because this guide is strategic and must not substitute for a current banned/restricted legality check. Runtime action selection must always trust Forge/Veles legal actions over any strategic assumption in this document.

- Tag validation: Current archetype/mechanic tags normalize to midrange, control, blink, and artifact. The duplicated input tags are intentional noise and should be stored as the de-duplicated set for retrieval. The deck is best indexed as Esper Blink, Esper Value Control, and Orzhov-Azorius splash-black blink midrange-control; it should not be indexed as combo, pure prison, pure reanimator, or linear aggro.

- Stock/rogue/hybrid status: Treat the list as hybrid or semi-rogue rather than stock. The core play pattern resembles known Modern blink/value-control shells, but Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Boggart Trawler, Witch Enchanter, and the exact sideboard mix make the strategic profile deck-specific. A decision agent should avoid importing stock Modern heuristics unless the exact registered cards and visible legal actions support them.

- Mana and color concern: The deck is Esper with heavy white requirements, meaningful black on turn one for Thoughtseize and Fatal Push, and blue mostly for Teferi, Time Raveler plus sideboard interaction. Fetchlands Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, and Polluted Delta must be sequenced around shockland access, surveil land utility from Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers, and life-total pressure from Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, and Watery Grave. Early white is especially important because Ephemerate, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, and Witch Enchanter all pull the deck toward white mana.

- Role concern: The default role is interactive value deck, not tap-out threat deck. The pilot should trade resources early, preserve blink targets when a value loop is realistic, and pivot into pressure only when the opponent is constrained by Thoughtseize, Teferi, Time Raveler, removal, or battlefield tempo. Against faster decks, life total and battlefield stabilization override long-term value. Against slower decks, discard, Teferi, Time Raveler, protected recursive pressure, and sideboard stack interaction become more important than one-for-one removal density.

- Card-text confidence: Card text check required for Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Boggart Trawler, Witch Enchanter, Clarion Conqueror, and any newly printed or renamed card whose exact Oracle text affects target timing, zone movement, cost payment, or triggered abilities. Until verified by the rules engine, this guide treats those cards by registered role only and keeps tactical commitments conditional on visible legal actions.

- Opponent information status: No opponent decklist, matchup label, metagame target, or play/draw configuration is supplied for this specification batch. The agent should begin from open-field Modern assumptions, then override them with Veles-visible public information: revealed cards, companion status if any, graveyards, battlefield, stack, mana, life totals, and logged decision history. Hidden-card reads may influence probabilistic role assignment, but they must not create illegal actions or certainty about unseen cards.

## Thesis

Esper Blink assembles disruption, exile removal, and repeatable enter-the-battlefield leverage into a midrange-control board state where every exchange leaves the pilot with time, material, or tempo. The deck wins by slowing the opponent with Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, Teferi, Time Raveler, and sideboard hate, then converting Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Flickerwisp, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, and Solitude into recurring pressure or repeated value when the rules engine presents legal blink, cast, attack, or reanimation actions.

Prioritize survival before value against fast starts, because the deck is strongest when it reaches a stable battlefield with cards still trading profitably. Fetch and shock sequencing should protect life total when possible, but early black for Thoughtseize or Fatal Push and early white for Ephemerate, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, and Witch Enchanter can justify taking damage when the visible opponent plan is fast or fragile.

Prioritize agency before raw card economy against slower decks, because Teferi, Time Raveler plus discard and blink threats can force the opponent to operate on the pilot's timing. Do not spend premium interaction merely because mana is available; hold Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, Fatal Push, or Thoughtseize when the visible battlefield is low pressure and the opponent's next high-impact permanent, stack piece, or protected threat is the real bottleneck.

Do not pilot this list as a linear aggro deck, a hard draw-go deck, or a deterministic combo deck. It can attack early with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Flickerwisp, Solitude, Boggart Trawler, or Witch Enchanter if legal, but attacks are mainly a pressure conversion after interaction has shaped the game. It can pass with interaction, but it lacks a pure permission core before sideboarding. It can generate loops and recursive value, but every blink or recursion commitment must still respect visible removal, stack state, life totals, and legal targets.

Card text check required for Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Boggart Trawler, Witch Enchanter, Clarion Conqueror, and High Noon before the guide treats exact trigger timing, target legality, or restriction text as certain. Until Veles exposes exact legal actions, use those cards by visible role: threat, value permanent, disruption body, modal spell-land entry, or sideboard constraint piece.

## Role Package

- Threats: Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Flickerwisp, Solitude, Boggart Trawler, and Witch Enchanter provide the bodies that eventually end the game. Prefer threats that also affect cards, mana, graveyard, or board texture over vanilla pressure when the opponent is not already under a short clock.

- Payoffs: Ephemerate, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Flickerwisp, and Solitude are the main value payoffs when paired with legal enters-battlefield or leaves-battlefield actions. Use blink effects to reuse Solitude or other visible value bodies when that line answers pressure or breaks parity; avoid spending blink purely for marginal damage if a likely removal, discard, or tempo window matters more.

- Engines: Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd plus legal blink targets is the deck's recurring engine, while Ephemerate creates a compact one-card value chain when a meaningful target is present. Emperor of Bones and Overlord of the Balemurk appear to support graveyard or recursion texture, but card text check required before treating any specific graveyard line as guaranteed.

- Velocity: Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers are the main apparent smoothing or selection sources, with fetchlands Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, and Polluted Delta enabling surveil-land access when tempo allows. Treat surveil lands as setup tools when life and tempo permit, not as automatic tapped lands on turns where Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Ephemerate, or Prismatic Ending must stay available.

- Interaction: Thoughtseize handles hidden-hand threats before they resolve, Fatal Push handles efficient creatures, Prismatic Ending and March of Otherworldly Light answer cheap permanents with color or exile flexibility, Solitude answers creatures at instant speed when legal, Teferi, Time Raveler constrains stack timing, and Witch Enchanter may serve as interaction if its exact text and legal action support that role. Spend the narrowest interaction that cleanly answers the current problem while preserving exile and discard for threats that cannot be handled later.

- Protection: Teferi, Time Raveler protects sorcery-speed development by limiting opposing stack play, Ephemerate protects or reuses a legal target when removal or combat damage is visible, and Thoughtseize protects future turns by removing the card most likely to break the pilot's line. Do not assume protection exists unless Veles shows the action and target as legal.

- Recursion: Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, and possibly other graveyard-facing cards create a recursion module only after exact text and legal actions are confirmed. Use recursion to rebuy Solitude or high-impact bodies when visible resources support a longer game; do not overfill the graveyard or commit fragile graveyard lines into known graveyard hate without a reason.

- Mana: Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Plains, Swamp, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, Undercity Sewers, Boggart Trawler, and Witch Enchanter form a fetch-shock-surveil manabase with heavy white and important early black. Fetch for the colors needed by the current hand first, then preserve blue for Teferi, Time Raveler or sideboard cards when the matchup and visible hand require it.

- Sideboard modules: Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, High Noon, Consign to Memory, Mystical Dispute, Surgical Extraction, and Wrath of the Skies let the deck pivot between rule-setting, stack interaction, graveyard pressure, and sweeper control. Bring these cards to change the opponent's operating constraints, not merely to increase card quality; each sideboard card should answer a visible matchup axis or expected public archetype pattern.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Blink-board dominance: Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd plus Ephemerate, Solitude, Flickerwisp, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Quantum Riddler, or Witch Enchanter is the main way to convert interaction into inevitability. Set up by resolving a body that creates value when blinked or attacked with, then execute by using legal blink actions to remove blockers, reuse enters-battlefield value, reset threatened permanents, or keep pressure while the opponent spends mana inefficiently. Prioritize this line when life total is stable, the opponent is trading one-for-one, and Veles shows meaningful blink targets instead of only low-impact bodies.

- Protected midrange pressure: Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, and Teferi, Time Raveler clear the path for repeat attacks from Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Flickerwisp, Boggart Trawler, or Witch Enchanter. Set up by stripping the card that stops the next two turns, then execute by committing one threat at a time while holding the narrowest answer for the visible blocker, planeswalker, combo piece, or stack interaction. Prioritize this line when the opponent has few cards, when Teferi, Time Raveler can constrain responses, or when the current board already represents a credible clock.

- Recursive attrition: Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, and possibly Quantum Riddler can support graveyard-texture wins, but card text check required before assuming exact recursion, exile, milling, or selection outcomes. Set up by trading Solitude, Witch Enchanter, Flickerwisp, or other bodies only when the later legal recursion or recovery action is visible or strategically acceptable. Execute by rebuying the highest-impact body shown by the rules engine, usually removal, blink value, or the largest clock, and prioritize this line when both players are low on cards or when normal hand-based pressure has been answered.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Solitude tempo pressure: Solitude can become a win condition when its removal mode stabilizes the board and its body remains available to attack or be blinked. Use Ephemerate or Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd on Solitude only when Veles shows legal targets and the result advances survival, card economy, or lethal pressure; do not spend the blink merely to gain marginal value while a larger threat or combo turn is pending.

- Teferi constraint pressure: Teferi, Time Raveler can win indirectly by making the opponent interact on worse timing while the deck resolves threats, blink effects, and sorcery-speed answers. Prioritize Teferi, Time Raveler when protecting Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, or a critical Ephemerate line matters more than adding another attacker. Treat Teferi, Time Raveler as a bridge to pressure, not as a standalone win condition.

- Small-creature fallback clock: Emperor of Bones, Witch Enchanter, Boggart Trawler, Flickerwisp, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Solitude can win through ordinary combat after interaction has exhausted the opponent. Attack when the visible race favors damage, when blockers are answered by Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, or Solitude, and when holding creatures back does not prevent a materially better counterattack. Avoid exposing the only engine creature to a bad trade unless the opponent is under lethal pressure or the engine is no longer needed.

- Selection into inevitability: Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers may improve future draw quality, but card text check required for exact nonland selection text. Use these effects to find interaction or threats when the game is slowing down; do not take a tapped or slow setup line when immediate Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Prismatic Ending, Ephemerate, or Solitude mana is required.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: Stabilize before generating value. Prefer Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, or Solitude on the visible source of damage, preserve untapped white and black mana when possible, and accept losing card economy to Solitude if the alternative is falling into burn, combat, or combo lethal range.

- Behind on board: Trade down to survive, then rebuild with blink or recursion. Use Prismatic Ending and March of Otherworldly Light on noncreature permanents that prevent stabilizing, use Fatal Push or Solitude on the creature that changes the clock most, and blink Solitude or another legal value target only after the immediate attack step is no longer fatal.

- Behind on cards: Shift from trading every threat to forcing repeat value. Prioritize Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Emperor of Bones, and Teferi, Time Raveler when their legal actions produce multiple cards, repeated removal, or protected pressure; avoid Thoughtseize if the life loss and card parity do not answer a specific visible or known problem.

- Behind on mana: Preserve functional colors over perfect value. Fetch basics or shocks according to the current hand, use Boggart Trawler or Witch Enchanter as mana only when the spell side is less important than casting live interaction, and delay expensive or tapped-land setup if it prevents Fatal Push, Thoughtseize, Ephemerate, Prismatic Ending, or Solitude from covering the next turn.

- Engine removed: Become a clean Esper control deck. Use Thoughtseize and Teferi, Time Raveler to reduce opposing agency, answer only the threats that matter, and win with whichever of Solitude, Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Flickerwisp, Boggart Trawler, or Witch Enchanter remains.

- Graveyard plan disrupted: Stop investing in graveyard-only lines until Veles shows a legal high-impact action. Pressure with battlefield creatures, protect Teferi, Time Raveler when useful, and treat Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Boggart Trawler as conditional cards until their exact visible text and targets matter again.

- Opponent threatens combo: Prioritize agency over value. Use Thoughtseize before committing slow engines, hold Teferi, Time Raveler or instant-speed interaction when legal, and spend Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Fatal Push, or Solitude on the permanent that makes the opponent's next deterministic line possible.

## Resource Model

- Life is a spendable resource only when it buys functional colors, a critical Thoughtseize, or a shock-land turn that keeps Fatal Push, Ephemerate, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Teferi, Time Raveler, or Solitude live. Preserve life against visible pressure; do not pay life for perfect mana when Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, or Undercity Sewers can create a slower but safe line.

- Hand size converts into interaction density and blink leverage. Spend Thoughtseize early when it removes the opponent's best next action, but protect hands with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Solitude, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Emperor of Bones, or Teferi, Time Raveler when the game is about repeat value rather than one-for-one trading.

- Mana is the deck's main bottleneck because it must cast black discard/removal, white blink/removal, blue Teferi, Time Raveler and Quantum Riddler, and multicolor Prismatic Ending. Value lines are secondary to keeping at least one answer available in the turn cycle where the opponent can punish a tap-out.

- Board presence is both clock and infrastructure. Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Solitude, Flickerwisp, Witch Enchanter, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, and Quantum Riddler can attack, block, or become blink targets, but trade them only when the visible race, removal follow-up, or recursion action makes the exchange acceptable.

- Graveyard texture matters for Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, and any visible recursion or selection text, but card text check required before assuming exact graveyard access. Treat graveyard investment as conditional; if opponent graveyard hate or exile effects are visible, shift toward battlefield pressure and hand interaction.

- Exile is both cost and consequence. March of Otherworldly Light and Solitude may ask for card disadvantage, and opposing exile can break recursion or blink plans; spend exile-based resources when survival, a protected Teferi, Time Raveler turn, or a decisive threat answer is worth more than the card held.

- Lands are tactical resources, not just mana. Fetch lands fix colors and can enable Fatal Push timing when the rules engine shows revolt-relevant actions; surveil or tapped dual lands can smooth draws, but they cost tempo. Modal spell lands such as Boggart Trawler or Witch Enchanter require card text check for exact land-side behavior; use them as lands when casting spells on curve matters more than preserving the spell side.

- Sacrifice fodder is not a core plan. Do not treat creatures as disposable unless a visible legal action from Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, or another effect makes the death useful, or unless blocking preserves life against a faster clock.

- Information converts into clean sequencing. Thoughtseize should shape the next two turns, Teferi, Time Raveler should constrain response windows, and visible revealed cards should change target priority without assuming unshown hidden cards.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow matchups into role clarity. Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, Consign to Memory, High Noon, Mystical Dispute, Surgical Extraction, and Wrath of the Skies should be valued by the exact visible matchup pressure they answer, not by generic hate-card labels.

## Mana Guide

- Prioritize black on turn one when Thoughtseize or Fatal Push matters, white on turn one or two when Ephemerate, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, or Solitude matters, and blue by turn three when Teferi, Time Raveler, Quantum Riddler, Mystical Dispute, or Consign to Memory is relevant. A keep without early black or white must have a visible reason, such as strong tapped-land setup plus castable interaction.

- Fetch for the current hand before perfecting future colors. Marsh Flats, Flooded Strand, and Polluted Delta should find Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Plains, Swamp, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, or Undercity Sewers according to the next legal spell sequence, current life total, and whether tapped mana is acceptable.

- Use basics when life or opposing land pressure matters. Plains supports Ephemerate, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Flickerwisp, and Witch Enchanter lines; Swamp supports Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Boggart Trawler lines. Do not fetch a basic that strands Teferi, Time Raveler or Quantum Riddler if blue is the missing color.

- Sequence tapped or surveil lands when the turn has no required instant-speed answer. Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers can improve future draws, but avoid them when they stop Thoughtseize before a combo turn, Fatal Push before combat, Ephemerate protection, or a timely Teferi, Time Raveler.

- Keep hands with two lands plus two colors when they cast at least one early interaction spell and have a credible path to the third color. Mulligan hands that need multiple untapped shocks but do not affect the opponent, hands with only tapped mana against fast pressure, or hands that cannot cast any spell before turn three unless the matchup is visibly slow.

- Play land before draw or selection when the current turn requires a fixed color, a fetch shuffle, revolt timing, or an untapped source for interaction. Delay the land drop until after Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, surveil land resolution, or another visible selection effect when no immediate mana is needed and the decision could change which land should be committed.

- Preserve white mana in blink turns. If Ephemerate or Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd can protect Solitude, reuse a visible trigger, or save an engine creature, avoid spending the only white source on a lower-impact March of Otherworldly Light or Prismatic Ending unless the target must die now.

- Preserve flexible mana after sideboard when permission or sweepers matter. Consign to Memory and Mystical Dispute ask for blue availability, High Noon and Archon of Emeria ask for early white, Clarion Conqueror may require exact color checking, Surgical Extraction may be playable at low mana cost, and Wrath of the Skies requires card text check for exact mana and scaling decisions.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: keep two- or three-land hands that cast a turn-one Thoughtseize or Fatal Push, have white for Ephemerate, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, Solitude, or Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, and contain a turn-two or turn-three value piece such as Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, or Teferi, Time Raveler.

- Strong keep on the play: keep fetch-land hands with Thoughtseize plus any castable follow-up threat or answer, because taking the opponent's best first action makes slower blink cards safer. Marsh Flats or Flooded Strand into the correct shock or basic is acceptable when the hand already covers black and white.

- Strong keep on the draw: keep interaction-heavy hands with Fatal Push, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, or Thoughtseize even if the first threat is delayed, because the extra card helps find a blink payoff while the opponent is more likely to present pressure first.

- Medium keep: keep hands with two lands, one early answer, and one of Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, or Quantum Riddler when the colors are imperfect but one fetch land can fix the next two turns. Do not keep this class if the first legal spell cannot be cast before turn two against unknown fast decks.

- Risky keep: keep one-land fetch hands only with Thoughtseize or Fatal Push plus multiple cheap white or black cards, and only when the matchup is not known to punish stumble immediately. Ship one-land hands that need blue for Teferi, Time Raveler or Quantum Riddler before they do anything else.

- Automatic ship: mulligan zero-land, five-plus-land, no-spell, no-black-and-no-white, and all-tapped-mana hands against unknown opposition. Ship hands that cannot legally affect the game before turn three unless the matchup is already known to be slow and the hand has Teferi, Time Raveler plus multiple premium answers.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep Thoughtseize plus Teferi, Time Raveler against visible spell-stack or permission-heavy opponents, but value Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and Wrath of the Skies post-board against creature pressure. Keep Consign to Memory or Mystical Dispute only when the opponent context makes those cards live.

- Trap hand: do not keep Ephemerate plus Solitude with no white mana, no pitchable card certainty, or no early land stability just because the ceiling is high. Do not keep Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd plus multiple expensive cards if the hand cannot answer the first opposing permanent or cast Phelia on time.

- Trap hand: do not keep three-color lands plus all three-color spells if every land enters tapped and the opponent is unknown. Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers are stabilizing lands, not permission to skip the first two turns.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1 priority: cast Thoughtseize when the opponent's next action matters more than holding life total, and cast Fatal Push only when a visible creature threatens immediate damage, snowballing, or a protected engine. If no spell is needed, fetch the land that casts turn-two Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, or interaction.

- Turn 1 deviation: play a tapped surveil or fixing land only when the hand has no required instant-speed answer and no Thoughtseize line. Use Marsh Flats, Flooded Strand, or Polluted Delta to preserve the highest number of turn-two legal actions rather than optimizing a later blue splash too early.

- Turn 2 priority: deploy Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd when it is castable and likely to survive or immediately pressure a low-interaction opponent. Choose Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, or Thoughtseize instead when a visible permanent or known hand card would punish tapping out.

- Turn 2 setup: cast Emperor of Bones or Overlord of the Balemurk when the legal text and board state support a value setup; card text check required for exact graveyard and timing assumptions. Hold Ephemerate when it can protect Solitude, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Flickerwisp, Witch Enchanter, or another visible blink target through the next priority cycle.

- Turn 3 priority: cast Teferi, Time Raveler when constraining responses or creating a safe future blink turn matters more than adding pressure. Cast Quantum Riddler when the hand needs a body or selection and the battlefield is not demanding immediate removal; card text check required before assuming exact selection or artifact synergies.

- Turn 3 deviation: use Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, or Fatal Push over Teferi, Time Raveler when the visible board threatens a large attack, a protected engine, or a planeswalker that will dominate. Do not tap out for value if Ephemerate protection or instant interaction is the only way to survive the next turn.

- Turns 4-5 priority: convert blink cards into a material advantage engine. Pair Ephemerate, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or Flickerwisp with Solitude, Witch Enchanter, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, or Quantum Riddler only when the rules engine shows legal targets and the exchange advances board control, cards, or tempo.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: spend Solitude or March of Otherworldly Light at card disadvantage when the target is a decisive threat, when Teferi, Time Raveler must be protected, or when life total forces emergency removal. Preserve cards instead when Fatal Push or Prismatic Ending can answer the same visible problem cleanly.

- Late game priority: lock the game around repeatable blink, Teferi, Time Raveler tempo, recursive or graveyard-conditioned threats, and clean attacks from Solitude, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Flickerwisp, Witch Enchanter, Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, or Boggart Trawler. Card text check required before committing to any exact recursion or modal-land line.

- Late game deviation: shift from value to closing when the opponent is low on cards, locked under Teferi, Time Raveler, or forced to use turns answering creatures. Shift from attacks to defense when visible crack-back damage, graveyard hate, or stack interaction makes another blink cycle more valuable than immediate damage.

## Card Roles

- Thoughtseize is the turn-one information and disruption card, and it should be used to clear the opponent's most dangerous next play before committing a fragile blink engine. Prioritize taking cards that invalidate Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, punish Teferi, Time Raveler, race Solitude too quickly, or stop the deck from reaching its first stable exchange; do not spend life on Thoughtseize when the visible battlefield already demands Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, or Solitude.

- Fatal Push is the cleanest low-cost creature answer, so use it before pitch-casting Solitude or spending broad answers when the target is small enough and the timing is legal. Preserve Fatal Push against creature decks for threats that snowball immediately; against slower decks, it is acceptable to use it early to protect Teferi, Time Raveler or keep Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd attacking, but do not hold it indefinitely while taking avoidable damage.

- Ephemerate is a protection spell, value engine, and removal amplifier, not a card to cast just because a legal target exists. Its highest-value pairings are Solitude for repeated exile pressure, Witch Enchanter when its creature face is relevant and card text confirms an enters-the-battlefield role, Flickerwisp for layered blink tempo, and any visible Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or Quantum Riddler interaction that the rules engine exposes as profitable; card text check required before assuming exact triggers on the newer creatures.

- Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd is the main repeatable blink engine and should be deployed early when it can survive or immediately create combat pressure. Attack with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd when the legal blink trigger meaningfully reuses Solitude, resets a value permanent, removes a blocker temporarily, or protects a key object; hold attacks when losing Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd would collapse the engine and the blink target is only marginal.

- Emperor of Bones is a graveyard-adjacent midrange threat and setup card; card text check required for exact recursion, bestow, or trigger assumptions. Cast Emperor of Bones when the deck needs a body that develops through removal or when visible graveyard context makes its text live, but avoid exposing it into obvious exile removal if Overlord of the Balemurk, Thoughtseize, or Teferi, Time Raveler can first improve the exchange.

- Overlord of the Balemurk is a high-density value threat and graveyard/card-flow piece; card text check required for exact impending, enters-the-battlefield, and graveyard interaction details. Use it to bridge from early interaction into a longer game, especially when the hand needs material for Solitude, more blink targets, or a resilient threat; do not assume it is safe to tap out if the opponent's visible board presents lethal pressure or a must-answer permanent.

- Quantum Riddler is a central blue payoff and stabilizing threat, but card text check required for exact body, artifact, and selection text. Cast Quantum Riddler when the game calls for a durable board presence or card-quality swing after early disruption, and protect it with Teferi, Time Raveler or removal when the opponent's known plan relies on stack interaction or clean removal. Do not prioritize Quantum Riddler over answering a visible threat that will invalidate the next turn.

- Solitude is the premium emergency removal spell and a major blink payoff, so separate pitch-mode survival decisions from hard-cast value decisions. Pitch Solitude when a threat must be exiled immediately, when life total forces action, or when Ephemerate can convert the pitch into a decisive swing; hard-cast Solitude when the game has slowed and preserving cards matters more than tempo. Avoid pitching irreplaceable white cards unless the target is worth the card disadvantage.

- Teferi, Time Raveler is the stack-control and tempo planeswalker that makes later blink and sorcery-speed development safer. Cast Teferi, Time Raveler before committing expensive threats against permission or instant-speed interaction, use the bounce mode when it protects life total or breaks tempo, and protect Teferi, Time Raveler when its static effect prevents the opponent from fighting over Ephemerate, Solitude, or sideboard interaction.

- Witch Enchanter is both a spell-slot creature and a mana-smoothing modal card; card text check required for exact front-face removal or enchantment interaction. Treat Witch Enchanter as a flexible stabilizer when its spell face answers a visible permanent, and as land access when the opening hand otherwise fails to cast Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or Teferi, Time Raveler on time. Do not spend it as a land if the matchup makes its front face a scarce answer.

- Prismatic Ending is the broad permanent answer for low-cost threats, so use it on permanents Fatal Push cannot touch or when exile/broad typing matters. Fetch sequencing should preserve enough colors to scale Prismatic Ending when possible, but do not shock recklessly for an extra color unless the target's mana value and battlefield impact justify the life and tempo cost.

- March of Otherworldly Light is the flexible exile answer and emergency catch-all, best saved for problematic artifacts, enchantments, creatures, or scalable threats that other removal cannot answer cleanly. Use the pitch mode only when the visible permanent is decisive or when leaving mana open is more important than card count; do not spend March of Otherworldly Light on a minor target if Prismatic Ending or Fatal Push handles it.

- Flickerwisp is a singleton blink and tempo tool that can reset friendly permanents, temporarily clear blockers, or disrupt opposing permanents when the rules engine shows legal targets. Use Flickerwisp to multiply Solitude, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Witch Enchanter, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, or Quantum Riddler value only when the target text is confirmed; do not choose a blink target from habit if the delayed return timing would help the opponent.

- Boggart Trawler is a singleton modal or utility role card; card text check required before relying on graveyard hate, creature mode, or land-mode text. Treat it as a flexible resource slot: play it as mana when the hand needs stability, but preserve the spell face when public graveyard context or matchup information makes that text strategically important.

- Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, and Polluted Delta are color-routing tools first and deck-thinning details last. Fetch black early for Thoughtseize and Fatal Push, white early for Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and Witch Enchanter, and blue when Teferi, Time Raveler or Quantum Riddler is the next required play.

- Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Plains, Swamp, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers define whether the deck can curve disruption into blink pressure. Prefer untapped shock lands only when the immediate legal spell matters; use basic Plains or Swamp to reduce damage when the hand already casts its next plays; treat Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers as fixing and card-quality lands whose tapped timing must not block turn-one interaction or turn-two development.

## Interaction Priorities
- Prioritize discard for information before committing engines when the opponent can punish a tapped-out turn. Use Thoughtseize to take the visible card that beats the current hand's next two turns: a fast clock if behind on life, a clean answer to Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd or Quantum Riddler if your hand is threat-light, or stack interaction before Ephemerate, Solitude, Teferi, Time Raveler, or a sideboard counter fight.

- Exile threats before value permanents when life total or combat math is under pressure. Use Solitude and March of Otherworldly Light on creatures or permanents that will end the game, snowball beyond Fatal Push range, or invalidate blocking; use Fatal Push on cheaper creatures where destroy is enough, and save Solitude for threats that must leave exile-style or must be answered at instant speed.

- Spend Prismatic Ending on low-cost noncreature engines, hate pieces, or creatures Fatal Push cannot answer cleanly. Preserve extra colors with Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, or Undercity Sewers when a higher-value Prismatic Ending is likely, but do not shock just to scale it if Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, or Teferi, Time Raveler already covers the threat.

- Use Teferi, Time Raveler bounce for tempo, survival, or clearing a path, not as a default value play. Bounce the permanent that stops lethal, unlocks a profitable attack, removes a blocker before Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd attacks, or resets an opposing commitment after Thoughtseize confirms the follow-up is safe; ignore small permanents if Teferi, Time Raveler's static text is the real protection.

- Counter postboard on axis, not on impulse. Use Mystical Dispute primarily for blue stack fights or blue threats, use Consign to Memory where its exact legal mode matches the opponent's spell or trigger, and use High Noon or Archon of Emeria as prevention when the opponent relies on multiple spells rather than saving all interaction for the final payoff.

- Bait interaction with redundant or slower threats before committing the key engine. Lead with Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, or a nonessential removal spell when the opponent is representing permission and the hand still contains Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Teferi, Time Raveler, Solitude plus Ephemerate, or Quantum Riddler; card text check required before treating newer threats as replaceable engines.

- Ignore low-impact creatures when the deck can race or blank them with blink value. Do not spend Solitude or March of Otherworldly Light on a minor attacker if Fatal Push, a future blocker, or life-total cushion handles it; do spend premium removal once the visible board threatens a two-turn clock, enables combat snowballing, or forces bad trades from Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd.

- Change priorities by archetype. Against fast creature decks, kill the fastest damage source and preserve life over card advantage. Against combo, Thoughtseize and postboard counters should hit the enabler or payoff that the current legal window can actually stop. Against control, protect Teferi, Time Raveler and trade discard for answers to the next threat. Against artifact or permanent engines, hold Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Witch Enchanter, Consign to Memory, or Wrath of the Skies for the permanent class they can legally answer; card text check required for Witch Enchanter exact targets.

## Combat And Trading Rules
- Preserve Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd unless the attack trigger or damage materially changes the game. Attack when the rules engine offers a blink line that reuses Solitude, resets a value permanent, removes a blocker temporarily, protects a key object, or creates a clock that matters; hold back when Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd would trade for a replaceable creature and no high-value blink target is legal.

- Trade early creatures for time against fast decks. Emperor of Bones, Flickerwisp, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Witch Enchanter, and Solitude can block when the trade prevents a short-clock loss, but do not trade a unique blink engine or only stabilizer if a removal spell can answer the attacker before damage.

- Use Solitude as both removal and lifelink pressure when legal combat text supports it. Hard-cast Solitude can stabilize races by blocking or attacking, while pitch Solitude should be reserved for threats that cannot wait; blink Solitude with Ephemerate, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or Flickerwisp only when the visible target and timing produce a real removal swing.

- Protect Teferi, Time Raveler when its static effect controls the next exchange. Block or remove attackers aimed at Teferi, Time Raveler if keeping it alive lets the deck resolve Ephemerate, Solitude, Quantum Riddler, or sideboard interaction safely; let Teferi, Time Raveler take damage only when preserving life or a key creature is more important.

- Respect life thresholds as action gates. Above roughly 12 life, favor card economy and engine setup if the board is stable. At 8-11 life, prioritize blocks and removal that prevent a two-turn clock. At 7 or less, assume every attack step is dangerous and use Solitude, Fatal Push, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, or Wrath of the Skies before taking speculative value lines.

- Attack planeswalkers and life totals according to role. Against combo and control, pressure life total when it shortens the window before they rebuild, but attack opposing planeswalkers first if their visible loyalty ability will undo your board or protect a combo. Against creature decks, attack only when blockers remain sufficient or a blink trigger offsets the crack-back.

- Avoid exposing blink targets to unfavorable delayed timing. Flickerwisp, Ephemerate, and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd should not target a permanent from habit if the return timing removes a blocker during the opponent's attack, reopens an opposing enters-the-battlefield trigger, or loses an attachment/counter interaction the rules engine marks as relevant.

- Postboard, let sweepers reshape combat. With Wrath of the Skies available, trade less aggressively if the board can be reset next turn, but block immediately when life total will not survive to the sweeper. With Clarion Conqueror, High Noon, or Archon of Emeria constraining spell volume, preserve bodies that turn the lock into a clock.

## Selection And Tutor Rules
- Treat this list as pseudo-selection, not a tutor deck. There is no reliable library search package in the registered 75; use fetchlands, surveil lands, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Thoughtseize information, and blink reuse to shape draws instead of assuming access to any single card.

- Sequence Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, and Polluted Delta before draw or reveal effects when the current hand already has enough colored mana. Fetching first slightly improves later selection quality and fixes Prismatic Ending colors; delay fetching only when life total matters, a surveil land is desirable, or the opponent may punish a tapped land.

- Use Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers as setup lands when the turn does not require untapped interaction. Their surveil can bin excess lands, dead removal, or expensive duplicates, but keep Ephemerate, Solitude, Teferi, Time Raveler, and a needed land when the visible matchup makes them immediate resources.

- Keep land drops disciplined before selection choices. Prioritize hitting the third land for Teferi, Time Raveler, Flickerwisp, hard interaction plus Ephemerate, and postboard High Noon or Wrath of the Skies; do not bottom or mill a needed land merely because a spell is more powerful in the abstract.

- Use Overlord of the Balemurk as graveyard-selection and recursion setup only when the expected card text and legal action text support that role. Card text check required for exact trigger, target limits, and return restrictions; if legal prompts expose a graveyard card choice, prefer Solitude, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Teferi, Time Raveler, or a matchup-critical threat over low-impact bodies.

- Use Quantum Riddler selection according to the exact visible prompt, not guessed card text. Card text check required; if the engine asks to keep, bin, reveal, surveil, or choose cards, favor missing mana early, then active interaction, then blink engines, then redundant threats once the board is stable.

- Use Thoughtseize as information selection before committing fragile engines. Cast it before Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Teferi, Time Raveler, or a Solitude plus Ephemerate line when the opponent can visibly represent removal, permission, or a combo payoff; take the card that changes the next legal turn cycle, not the card with the highest generic power.

- Use Emperor of Bones graveyard choices only from visible legal prompts. Card text check required for exact exile and reanimation rules; when a choice is offered, prioritize denying an opponent graveyard payoff if that is urgent, otherwise select a creature or planeswalker that advances the current board after the engine actually commits.

- Avoid speculative graveyard setup when under pressure. If life total is low or attackers are already lethal soon, choose Fatal Push, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, or Wrath of the Skies lines over slow filtering, milling, or recursion preparation.

## Priority And Stack Rules
- Preserve instant-speed interaction until the opponent commits a meaningful object. Fatal Push, March of Otherworldly Light, Solitude, Ephemerate, Consign to Memory, Mystical Dispute, and Surgical Extraction should be used in the window where the rules engine confirms legality and the target matters; do not spend them into open uncertainty just to use mana.

- Use Teferi, Time Raveler as a stack-control gate. When Teferi, Time Raveler is legal and likely to survive, resolving it before Ephemerate, Solitude, Quantum Riddler, or a key threat can remove opposing instant-speed interaction; when behind on board, use its bounce or cast removal instead of treating the static ability as automatic.

- Hold Ephemerate for protection or high-impact reuse. Target Solitude when a second exile effect or saving Solitude creates a swing, target Witch Enchanter, Flickerwisp, Overlord of the Balemurk, or Quantum Riddler only when the visible trigger is worth the card, and avoid blinking into timing that removes a blocker or reopens an opposing enter trigger at a bad moment.

- Respond to removal with Ephemerate only when the target is worth saving and the return timing is acceptable. Protect Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Solitude, Teferi-adjacent pressure, or a needed value creature; let replaceable bodies die if saving them costs the answer needed for a larger threat.

- Use Solitude pitch lines as emergency or tempo-positive interaction. Exile a white card when the target threatens lethal, a combo kill, a planeswalker collapse, or an otherwise unanswerable board; prefer hard-casting Solitude when the game is stable enough to preserve cards.

- Use Fatal Push before premium exile effects when destroy is enough. Save Solitude and March of Otherworldly Light for larger, recursive, indestructible, or noncreature problems if the current legal target can be cleanly handled by Fatal Push.

- Use March of Otherworldly Light only after checking card disadvantage and target class. Exile extra white cards when the permanent must be answered now; otherwise preserve hand density for Thoughtseize exchanges, Solitude pitch costs, Ephemerate protection, and postboard stack fights.

- Let low-impact spells resolve when the answer must cover a decisive payoff. Against combo or control, do not fire Mystical Dispute or Consign to Memory at setup pieces unless the legal mode directly stops the engine from functioning; against creature pressure, spend interaction earlier when waiting creates a short clock.

- Use Surgical Extraction only with public graveyard information and a clear payoff. Postboard, cast it after Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, combat, or natural graveyard movement exposes the card to remove; do not use it blindly on a low-impact card unless the matchup depends on that exact name.

- Respect optional payments and delayed triggers. Pay costs such as Ephemerate rebound decisions, Solitude pitch costs, March of Otherworldly Light exile costs, and any Emperor of Bones or Overlord of the Balemurk options only when the visible board, stack, and next turn justify the resource; card text check required for newer optional triggers before treating them as mandatory value.

## Sideboard Map
- Use sideboarding to change the opponent's legal turn shape, not to dilute the blink engine. Esper Blink should keep enough bodies and blink targets for Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Solitude, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Witch Enchanter, and Emperor of Bones to remain live after sideboarding.

- Add Archon of Emeria against spell-chain combo, cascade-style turns, low-land spell density, and decks where one spell per turn or tapped nonbasic pressure changes the clock. Archon of Emeria is weaker when the opponent wins through a single large permanent already on board, when three mana is too slow on the draw, or when your own hand needs multiple cheap spells per turn to stabilize.

- Add Clarion Conqueror when its exact rules text attacks the opponent's engine or combat math. Card text check required; treat it as a conditional hate creature until the rules engine exposes its static or triggered effect. It is bad when the text does not affect visible opposing actions, when it trades down into cheap removal with no immediate tax, or when drawing another blink target would matter more.

- Add Consign to Memory against colorless, artifact, Eldrazi-style, triggered-ability, or stack-reliant threats when the legal mode actually counters or stops the object shown by the engine. Consign to Memory is weak against creature swarms that present many small attacks, against discard-heavy decks after both hands are low, and against decks whose decisive threats are already resolved.

- Add High Noon against combo, spell-chain prowess, cascade-style sequencing, and decks relying on multiple spells in one turn. High Noon is weaker when Esper Blink needs to double-spell for removal plus threat, when the opponent can win through single large attacks, or when Teferi, Time Raveler already constrains the relevant stack axis.

- Add Mystical Dispute against blue decks, counter fights, tempo-control mirrors, and combo shells where the disputed spell is blue or the tax is still meaningful. Mystical Dispute is bad against nonblue permanent decks, battlefield-heavy aggro, and late games where the opponent has enough mana to ignore the tax.

- Add Surgical Extraction only when public graveyard access matters. Pair it with Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, combat deaths, or natural milling before casting it; it is bad when no graveyard name is public, when removing one card does not change the opponent's next turn cycle, or when a real card in hand is needed for Solitude or March of Otherworldly Light.

- Add Wrath of the Skies against wide creature boards, artifact-heavy boards, token pressure, and cheap permanent clusters where the visible energy or mana payment can clear enough material to reset the game. Wrath of the Skies is weaker against single high-cost threats, planeswalker-centric pressure, combo with few permanents, and board states where it destroys too many of your own engines while leaving the opponent's key card.

Balanced anti-creature and artifact pressure plan
Side in: 3 Wrath of the Skies, 1 Archon of Emeria, 2 Clarion Conqueror
Cut: 3 Thoughtseize, 1 Flickerwisp, 1 March of Otherworldly Light, 1 Quantum Riddler

- Use this plan when the opponent is creature- or artifact-forward and life total matters more than hand disruption. Thoughtseize becomes painful and slower after the opponent commits to board; Flickerwisp and one Quantum Riddler are lower-priority value cards when survival depends on sweepers, while March of Otherworldly Light can be less efficient than Wrath of the Skies against multiple cheap permanents.

Balanced stack-control and combo-pressure plan
Side in: 3 Consign to Memory, 3 Mystical Dispute, 2 High Noon, 1 Surgical Extraction
Cut: 3 Fatal Push, 2 Prismatic Ending, 1 March of Otherworldly Light, 1 Flickerwisp, 1 Witch Enchanter, 1 Solitude

- Use this plan when the opponent's decisive turns happen on the stack, in the graveyard, or through spell volume rather than creature combat. Fatal Push and Prismatic Ending lose emphasis if visible threats are not small permanents; one Solitude and one Witch Enchanter can be reduced only when creature pressure is low and the game is decided by resolving or stopping a key spell.

Balanced blue midrange or control plan
Side in: 3 Mystical Dispute, 2 High Noon, 1 Surgical Extraction
Cut: 3 Fatal Push, 1 March of Otherworldly Light, 1 Flickerwisp, 1 Witch Enchanter

- Use this plan when both players trade resources and the opponent has blue stack interaction. Mystical Dispute protects Teferi, Time Raveler, Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Solitude from permission exchanges; High Noon limits double-spell recovery; Surgical Extraction becomes useful only after public information identifies a repeated threat or answer.

- Against fast creature decks, Add role cards: Wrath of the Skies, Archon of Emeria if the opponent chains cheap spells, Clarion Conqueror if card text check confirms relevant combat or spell restriction. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Thoughtseize when life loss matters, slow blink-only value, and expensive interaction that answers only one small permanent.

- Against artifact boards, Add role cards: Wrath of the Skies and Consign to Memory when the legal text covers colorless spells, artifact spells, or triggered abilities. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push when the visible problems are noncreature artifacts, Flickerwisp when tempo is too slow, and Thoughtseize after the opponent empties hand quickly.

- Against graveyard strategies, Add role cards: Surgical Extraction plus Consign to Memory if triggered abilities or colorless graveyard enablers are central. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Prismatic Ending or March of Otherworldly Light only if the opponent presents few targetable permanents; keep Emperor of Bones and Overlord of the Balemurk decisions conditional because graveyard interaction can be symmetrical or timing-sensitive.

- Against spell-combo, Add role cards: High Noon, Archon of Emeria, Mystical Dispute against blue spells, Consign to Memory against legal colorless or triggered objects, and Surgical Extraction after Thoughtseize or removal puts a key card in the graveyard. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Solitude unless the combo uses creatures that must die immediately.

- Against fair midrange, Add role cards: Mystical Dispute only if blue cards matter, Surgical Extraction only for public recursive threats, and Wrath of the Skies only if the opponent commits multiple cheap permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow taxes that do not affect visible cards; keep Thoughtseize, Teferi, Time Raveler, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, and Ephemerate as the core resource plan.

- Against big-mana or colorless decks, Add role cards: Consign to Memory, Archon of Emeria, and possibly High Noon if the opponent needs multi-spell turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push when there are few small creatures, Prismatic Ending when the threats exceed efficient mana values, and blink value that does not change the clock.

- Preserve enough white cards after every plan for Solitude and March of Otherworldly Light. Do not overload on blue interaction or narrow artifacts answers if the postboard hand cannot pitch Solitude, cast Ephemerate, or maintain early white sources from Plains, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Meticulous Archive, or Shadowy Backstreet.

- Reassess after Game 2 using observed cards rather than archetype labels. If the opponent showed creatures, maintain Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, and Wrath of the Skies density; if the opponent showed few permanents and many stack decisions, shift toward Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, High Noon, and Archon of Emeria.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Prioritize life total and board parity before value loops. Keep hands with early white and black access, Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, Solitude, or March of Otherworldly Light; use Thoughtseize only when the visible risk of a protected payoff or explosive curve is worth the life. Add role cards: Wrath of the Skies, Archon of Emeria when spell volume matters, and Clarion Conqueror only if card text check confirms the visible matchup axis is relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Flickerwisp lines, excess Quantum Riddler copies, and Thoughtseize when the opponent is emptying hand quickly.

- Burn: Protect life total as the primary resource and treat shockland fetching as a decision, not a default. Prefer Plains, Swamp, Godless Shrine only when the colors are required, and Hallowed Fountain or Watery Grave only when the hand demands blue. Fatal Push and Solitude should answer creatures before they convert into repeated damage; Ephemerate on Solitude is strong only when surviving the next turn cycle is realistic. Add role cards: High Noon if the opponent relies on multi-spell turns, Archon of Emeria if card text check confirms it slows their sequencing, and Wrath of the Skies only for multiple cheap permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Thoughtseize and slow graveyard value.

- Go-wide decks: Preserve sweepers and avoid trading one-for-one into a board that is already expanding. Wrath of the Skies is the cleanest reset when its legal payment clears enough cheap permanents without destroying your only stabilizing engine; Solitude handles the largest attacker when the rest of the board is manageable. Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and Ephemerate can compound Solitude or Witch Enchanter value after stabilization, but do not spend early turns blinking for value while taking lethal pressure. Add role cards: Wrath of the Skies and, conditionally, Archon of Emeria or Clarion Conqueror. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Thoughtseize, Flickerwisp, and expensive noninteractive setup.

- Single-threat decks: Trade efficiently, then convert the empty board into repeated blink pressure. Thoughtseize should take the threat, protection, or answer that best explains the opponent's visible line; Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and Witch Enchanter should be held for the actual threat when the opponent is not flooding the board. Teferi, Time Raveler is strongest when it prevents stack interaction during your removal, Ephemerate, or Overlord of the Balemurk turns. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute against blue protection, Consign to Memory against legal colorless or triggered objects, and Surgical Extraction only after the key card is public in the graveyard.

- Tempo: Fight over mana efficiency and do not let the opponent turn one threat into six protected attack steps. Thoughtseize is best early when it clears permission or identifies the threat suite; Fatal Push and Solitude should be sequenced when Teferi, Time Raveler or Mystical Dispute can reduce blowout risk. Ephemerate is powerful but fragile if the first target is countered or removed; use it after the opponent is constrained or tapped low. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute, High Noon when double-spell turns matter, and Wrath of the Skies only if the opponent presents multiple cheap permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis: March of Otherworldly Light if exile costs are punishing and slow Flickerwisp value.

- Control: Shift from pure removal into must-answer engines and stack-aware discard. Thoughtseize should target permission, sweepers, or the card that stops Teferi, Time Raveler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, or repeated Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd triggers. Teferi, Time Raveler is a commitment gate: resolve it when it protects a follow-up or stops the opponent's core timing, not merely because three mana is available. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute, High Noon, Surgical Extraction after a public graveyard target matters, and Consign to Memory only when its legal modes apply. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push, Prismatic Ending, and March of Otherworldly Light when the opponent has few targetable permanents.

- Combo: Identify whether the decisive turn uses stack volume, graveyard access, creatures, artifacts, enchantments, or a single spell. Thoughtseize is the best early tool because it converts hidden risk into public information; Teferi, Time Raveler and High Noon then narrow the opponent's legal timing or spell count. Do not spend Surgical Extraction without a public graveyard card whose removal changes the next turn cycle. Add role cards: High Noon, Archon of Emeria, Mystical Dispute for blue combo, Consign to Memory for legal colorless or triggered objects, and Surgical Extraction after discard or removal. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Solitude unless creatures are the combo engine.

- Midrange: Win by making every exchange leave a body, card, or engine behind. Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, and Teferi, Time Raveler are the cards that turn removal trades into advantage; Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, and Witch Enchanter keep the board from snowballing while those engines work. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute only against blue interaction, Surgical Extraction only for public recursive threats, and Wrath of the Skies only against clustered cheap boards. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow taxes when the opponent is trading one-for-one.

- Removal-heavy decks: Do not expose all blink targets before the opponent spends resources. Lead with threats that either replace themselves, pressure planeswalkers, or demand different answers; use Ephemerate as protection only when the legal stack and visible mana make the exchange favorable. Overlord of the Balemurk and Emperor of Bones should be treated as resource engines, but their graveyard use must respect public graveyard hate and visible exile effects. Add role cards: Mystical Dispute against blue removal or counterspells, High Noon if the opponent chains spells, and Surgical Extraction only for public repeated answers or threats. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess cheap removal when few creatures appear.

- Big mana: Pressure the opponent while disrupting the specific payoff window. Thoughtseize should take acceleration only when it blocks the next decisive cast; otherwise take the payoff or protection that the current mana count supports. Teferi, Time Raveler can force sorcery-speed interaction windows, but it is not a clock by itself; Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Solitude must close before bigger engines dominate. Add role cards: Consign to Memory, Archon of Emeria, High Noon when multi-spell turns matter, and Mystical Dispute only if blue cards are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Prismatic Ending when they lack targets.

- Graveyard decks: Separate graveyard value from graveyard dependency before spending hate. Surgical Extraction is strongest after Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, combat, or natural milling puts the exact card into a public graveyard. Emperor of Bones and Overlord of the Balemurk may be liabilities or engines depending on visible graveyard pressure; do not assume your graveyard plan is safe. Add role cards: Surgical Extraction and Consign to Memory if legal triggered or colorless graveyard objects matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow permanent removal only when the opponent shows few targets.

- Artifact and enchantment decks: Preserve flexible answers and check mana value before committing removal. Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Witch Enchanter, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Wrath of the Skies are the main ways to interact with noncreature permanents; Fatal Push and Solitude are still needed when artifact creatures or enchantment creatures are the pressure. Add role cards: Wrath of the Skies, Consign to Memory for legal colorless spells or triggered abilities, and Clarion Conqueror only if card text check confirms it constrains the visible board. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Thoughtseize after the opponent has deployed most resources and creature-only removal when the board is noncreature-heavy.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only note: Revealed cards override these assumptions, and Veles should follow legal actions, visible board state, public graveyards, and rules-engine prompts before any matchup label. Use Thoughtseize and Teferi, Time Raveler to convert unknown matchups into known timing windows, then choose whether the game is about survival, protecting an engine, or closing quickly.

- Against fast creature decks: Prioritize life total, board containment, and clean trades before slow blink value. Keep Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Witch Enchanter, and early bodies high; treat Ephemerate as stabilizing protection or removal amplification when a legal target and stack window are visible. Likely sideboarding uses Wrath of the Skies when the opposing board clusters at low mana values, while High Noon and Mystical Dispute are lower priority unless revealed cards justify them. Priority targets are haste threats, scaling threats, and permanents that make removal fail.

- Against blue tempo or control: Prioritize resolving Teferi, Time Raveler, forcing through a durable engine, and using Thoughtseize before committing Ephemerate or a key threat. Mystical Dispute is the likely sideboard card when blue spells are visible; High Noon can matter when the opponent relies on multiple spells per turn, and Consign to Memory applies only when legal colorless spells or triggered abilities are visible. Priority targets are counterspells, sweepers, planeswalker answers, and the card that stops Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or Emperor of Bones from generating repeat value.

- Against combo: Prioritize information, clock, and rule-setting permanents over incremental removal. Thoughtseize should identify the decisive card or protection, then Teferi, Time Raveler, High Noon, Archon of Emeria, Mystical Dispute, Consign to Memory, or Surgical Extraction should be used only when the visible card type, graveyard card, stack object, or triggered object makes the action legal and relevant. Priority targets are the enabler that starts the winning turn, the protection spell that beats your interaction, and public graveyard cards whose extraction changes the next turn cycle.

- Against graveyard decks: Prioritize public graveyard dependency checks before firing Surgical Extraction. Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Boggart Trawler can be resources or liabilities depending on visible hate and exile pressure; do not assume your own graveyard plan is safe. Likely sideboarding includes Surgical Extraction and sometimes Consign to Memory if legal triggered or colorless graveyard-related objects are present. Priority targets are the exact public graveyard card that enables recursion, combo payoff, or repeated removal.

- Against artifacts, enchantments, or cheap permanent engines: Prioritize flexible answers and mana-value awareness. Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Witch Enchanter, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Wrath of the Skies are the main tools; Consign to Memory is likely when colorless spells or triggered abilities are visible. Clarion Conqueror: Card text check required, so use only when verified text constrains the visible opposing plan. Priority targets are engine permanents, artifact creatures pressuring life total, and permanents that shut off blink or removal lines.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: Esper Blink needs early black for Thoughtseize and Fatal Push, white for Ephemerate, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and sideboard sweepers, plus blue for Teferi, Time Raveler, Quantum Riddler, Mystical Dispute, and Consign to Memory. Fetch choices from Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, and Polluted Delta should preserve the next two turns, not only the current spell.

- Matchup risk: The deck can mis-role itself by playing as pure control when it needs to close, or as a blink engine when it needs to answer a decisive permanent. Use revealed cards and public pressure to decide whether Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, or Teferi, Time Raveler is the current plan.

- Draw risk: Hands with interaction but no engine may run out of pressure, while hands with engines but no Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, or Thoughtseize may fall behind. Mulligans should value functional mana plus either early disruption or a clear value permanent.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Do not dilute the blink midrange core with too many narrow cards. High Noon, Archon of Emeria, Consign to Memory, Mystical Dispute, Surgical Extraction, Clarion Conqueror, and Wrath of the Skies must answer visible or strongly inferred opposing plans.

- Graveyard risk: Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, and Surgical Extraction all care about graveyards in different ways, so public exile effects and opposing graveyard hate can change card value sharply. Treat graveyard lines as conditional until the relevant cards are public and legal.

- Sweeper and removal risk: Wrath of the Skies can clear your own cheap permanents if used carelessly, and Solitude can cost a card when no blink or follow-up value is available. Use sweepers and exile removal when they reset a losing board or protect a decisive engine, not merely to spend mana.

- Closer risk: The deck can stabilize without ending the game. Convert protected Teferi, Time Raveler turns, repeated Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd triggers, Quantum Riddler pressure, and Overlord of the Balemurk value into attacks before big mana, combo, or control opponents rebuild.

- Interaction risk: Passing with interaction is not always safe if the opponent's best line is already on board. Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, Mystical Dispute, and Consign to Memory should answer the card that changes the next turn cycle.

- Sequencing risk: Ephemerate and blink targets are high value but stack-sensitive. Commit Ephemerate, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Flickerwisp, and Teferi, Time Raveler lines only after checking legal targets, visible mana, stack objects, and whether removal or counterplay can turn the sequence into a lost turn.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: Record whether the game was won or lost by early disruption, board containment, blink value, graveyard value, Teferi, Time Raveler timing, sideboard hate, or failure to close after stabilizing.

- Mulligans: Note whether opening hands had functional mana for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Ephemerate, Prismatic Ending, or Teferi, Time Raveler by the relevant turn, and whether kept hands had either interaction plus velocity or a clear engine plan.

- Mana: Track every game where Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, Undercity Sewers, Plains, or Swamp sequencing stranded a spell or forced avoidable life loss.

- Velocity: Ask whether the deck saw enough cards through Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, Emperor of Bones, and normal draw steps to find removal, pressure, or sideboard pieces before the opponent’s decisive turn.

- Engine quality: Record whether Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Ephemerate, Flickerwisp, Solitude, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, and Witch Enchanter created material advantage, merely traded for mana, or sat unusable because targets or timing windows were poor.

- Removal fit: Check whether Fatal Push, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, Witch Enchanter, and Wrath of the Skies answered the permanents that mattered, or whether removal was too narrow, too slow, too expensive, or spent on the wrong threat.

- Sideboard impact: For each post-board game, record whether Archon of Emeria, Clarion Conqueror, Consign to Memory, High Noon, Mystical Dispute, Surgical Extraction, or Wrath of the Skies had a legal, relevant window and whether drawing it changed the next turn cycle.

- Closing speed: Track games where Esper Blink stabilized with Teferi, Time Raveler, Solitude, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, or Overlord of the Balemurk but allowed the opponent enough turns to rebuild.

- Role assignment: Mark whether the pilot correctly played as control, tap-out midrange, disruption-plus-clock, or emergency removal deck after public information and visible board state made the role clear.

- Mistakes: Flag any Thoughtseize target, blink target, Solitude pitch, Prismatic Ending value, March of Otherworldly Light exile decision, or combat choice that looked legal but failed to advance the chosen role.

- Stranded cards: Count how often Ephemerate lacked a worthwhile target, Teferi, Time Raveler could not be protected, Quantum Riddler could not be cast on time, Wrath of the Skies conflicted with the board, or Mystical Dispute and Consign to Memory lacked legal targets.

- Overperformers: Identify cards that repeatedly changed losing positions into stable or winning positions, especially Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Solitude, Teferi, Time Raveler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Quantum Riddler, and sideboard cards.

- Underperformers: Identify cards that were drawn often but did not affect the decisive turn, with special attention to Emperor of Bones, Boggart Trawler, Flickerwisp, March of Otherworldly Light, Clarion Conqueror, High Noon, and Surgical Extraction.

- Card text checks: Verify exact Oracle text for Quantum Riddler, Overlord of the Balemurk, Emperor of Bones, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Boggart Trawler, Witch Enchanter, Clarion Conqueror, and Wrath of the Skies before assigning blame to pilot choices.

## First Tuning Questions
- Card quantity: If engines were strong but slow, should the list keep four Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd and four Overlord of the Balemurk, or does one engine slot need to become earlier interaction or a cleaner closer?

- Card quantity: If Emperor of Bones was frequently low impact, does the deck need all three copies, or is that slot better as more removal, more permission, or a threat that closes without graveyard setup?

- Card quantity: If Quantum Riddler won long games but stranded opening hands, should four copies remain, or should the blue curve be lowered to reduce pressure on Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Meticulous Archive, and Undercity Sewers?

- Mana: If Thoughtseize or Fatal Push missed turn-one windows, does the fetch-shock mix need more reliable black access than the current Godless Shrine, Watery Grave, Swamp, Shadowy Backstreet, Undercity Sewers, Marsh Flats, and Polluted Delta package provides?

- Mana: If Ephemerate, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, Wrath of the Skies, or Teferi, Time Raveler were delayed by color tension, should the deck change land counts before changing spell counts?

- Aggro plan: If fast creature matchups were losses despite Fatal Push, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and Wrath of the Skies, is the issue removal density, sweeper timing, life loss from lands, or keeping too many slow blink hands?

- Control plan: If blue or control matchups punished tap-out engines, should the sideboard increase emphasis on Mystical Dispute, High Noon, or threat density instead of relying on Teferi, Time Raveler alone?

- Combo plan: If Thoughtseize plus Teferi, Time Raveler was not enough, should Archon of Emeria, High Noon, Consign to Memory, Surgical Extraction, or Mystical Dispute occupy more sideboard space, and which matchups actually gave those cards legal windows?

- Closers: If games stalled after stabilization, does Esper Blink need more closing pressure, or should the pilot attack sooner with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Quantum Riddler, Solitude, Overlord of the Balemurk, and incidental creatures?

- Sideboard slots: If Clarion Conqueror was never clearly relevant, perform a card text check required review and compare it against the specific matchups where High Noon, Consign to Memory, Mystical Dispute, Surgical Extraction, or Wrath of the Skies underperformed.

- Role conflict: If Ephemerate value lines competed with holding interaction, decide whether the deck’s post-board identity should reduce main-deck emphasis on fragile blink turns or lean harder into protecting one decisive engine.

- Graveyard tension: If Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, Boggart Trawler, or Surgical Extraction performed poorly because graveyards were attacked, ask whether the deck needs less graveyard dependency or better timing discipline around public graveyard information.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Hand Role Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Thoughtseize; Fatal Push; Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd; Overlord of the Balemurk; Solitude; Teferi, Time Raveler; Quantum Riddler
Phase windows: pregame, mulligan
Runtime cues: opening hand, mulligan prompt, visible matchup label
Use when: choosing keep or mulligan for any opening hand.
Avoid when: no mulligan action is currently legal.
Instructions: Keep hands with functional mana plus either early disruption, early removal, or a clear engine card that can be cast on curve. Mulligan hands that cannot cast a relevant spell by turn two, hands with only expensive action and no interaction, or hands whose lands cannot support both black early spells and white blink/removal. Treat Quantum Riddler-heavy hands as slow until exact card text and castability are visible.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Setup Permanent
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; mana
Cards: Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd; Overlord of the Balemurk; Emperor of Bones; Teferi, Time Raveler
Phase windows: main phase, early turns
Runtime cues: action:cast, hand contains castable engine permanent
Use when: selecting the first proactive permanent after mana and opponent pressure are visible.
Avoid when: opponent has a threatening board that requires Fatal Push, Solitude, March of Otherworldly Light, Prismatic Ending, or Witch Enchanter first.
Instructions: Prefer the first permanent that produces repeated legal decisions before the opponent’s next decisive turn. Protect Teferi, Time Raveler from obvious attacks only when its static or bounce function matters now. Card text check required for Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Emperor of Bones; follow visible legal action text for target and timing details.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fetch And Shock Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Flooded Strand; Marsh Flats; Polluted Delta; Godless Shrine; Hallowed Fountain; Watery Grave; Meticulous Archive; Shadowy Backstreet; Undercity Sewers; Plains; Swamp
Phase windows: all phases with land or fetch actions
Runtime cues: action:play, action:activate, land in hand or battlefield
Use when: choosing land sequencing or fetch targets.
Avoid when: an exact mana payment prompt has only one legal source set.
Instructions: Prioritize turn-one black for Thoughtseize and Fatal Push, white for Ephemerate, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, March of Otherworldly Light, and Wrath of the Skies, and blue for Teferi, Time Raveler, Quantum Riddler, Mystical Dispute, and Consign to Memory. Preserve life against fast pressure by choosing untapped shock lands only when the current turn needs the color.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Mana Payment
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: none
Phase windows: any payment prompt
Runtime cues: action:pay mana
Use when: exactly one legal action text pays the full displayed cost and no alternative source choice is listed.
Avoid when: multiple source subsets, colors, life payments, or optional costs are visible.
Instructions: Submit the single legal mana-payment action exactly as exposed by Veles.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Thoughtseize Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Thoughtseize
Phase windows: precombat main, postcombat main
Runtime cues: action:cast Thoughtseize, revealed hand prompt
Use when: deciding whether to cast Thoughtseize or choosing a revealed card.
Avoid when: life total is low enough that the life loss plus visible battlefield creates immediate lethal risk unless disruption is required for survival.
Instructions: Cast Thoughtseize when the opponent’s hand can contain a card that beats current removal, stops the engine, or wins before Esper stabilizes. Choose the revealed card that most changes the next turn cycle, prioritizing combo pieces, protection, planeswalker answers, sweepers against committed boards, or threats that current removal cannot answer.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal Spend Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Fatal Push; Solitude; March of Otherworldly Light; Prismatic Ending; Witch Enchanter; Wrath of the Skies
Phase windows: opponent main, combat, end step, own main
Runtime cues: action:cast, action:target, visible opposing permanent
Use when: choosing whether to spend removal or which permanent to answer.
Avoid when: the target is low impact and the opponent has a visible or likely higher-impact threat the current answer uniquely covers.
Instructions: Spend removal on threats that shorten the clock, unlock combo, invalidate Teferi, Time Raveler, or punish waiting. Prefer cheap answers before pitch Solitude unless survival, tempo, or exile matters more than card count. Card text check required for Witch Enchanter and Wrath of the Skies; use only legal engine prompts.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Solitude Pitch Survival
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Solitude; Ephemerate
Phase windows: combat, opponent main, end step
Runtime cues: action:cast Solitude, alternate cost, target creature
Use when: deciding whether to pitch-cast Solitude or hold it.
Avoid when: a cheaper legal removal spell answers the same threat before lethal or before a decisive trigger.
Instructions: Pitch Solitude to prevent lethal, break a decisive attack, remove a must-answer creature through mana constraints, or create a follow-up Ephemerate line. Do not pitch a crucial white card for routine tempo when hard-casting Solitude soon is realistic.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Blink Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; interaction; selection
Cards: Ephemerate; Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd; Flickerwisp; Solitude; Overlord of the Balemurk; Witch Enchanter; Emperor of Bones
Phase windows: main phase, combat, end step, stack response
Runtime cues: action:cast Ephemerate, action:target, blink or exile prompt
Use when: choosing whether to start a blink line or pick its target.
Avoid when: the only target produces no immediate material change and holding interaction is necessary for visible pressure or stack risk.
Instructions: Blink Solitude or Witch Enchanter for removal, Overlord of the Balemurk or Emperor of Bones for engine value only when card text and legal action text confirm the benefit, and Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd lines when attacking or timing does not expose the engine to a worse exchange. Target-pair selection is judgment-heavy.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Ephemerate Rebound Exact Cast
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: Ephemerate
Phase windows: upkeep or rebound prompt
Runtime cues: action:cast Ephemerate without paying its mana cost
Use when: the rebound prompt exposes exactly one Ephemerate cast action and at least one legal target prompt will follow.
Avoid when: Veles exposes a decline action and no legal target would change the current visible game object after resolution.
Instructions: Cast the legal rebound Ephemerate action, then route the target choice through the blink commitment policy.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Teferi Tap-Out Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; interaction
Cards: Teferi, Time Raveler
Phase windows: own main phase
Runtime cues: action:cast Teferi, Time Raveler
Use when: deciding whether to tap out or partially tap out for Teferi, Time Raveler.
Avoid when: visible battlefield pressure will immediately remove Teferi without gaining a card, tempo, or stack-control advantage.
Instructions: Cast Teferi when its static ability protects a key turn, its bounce can reset a threat or engine piece, or the opponent’s interaction makes passing worse. Delay Teferi when holding removal or Solitude is necessary for survival.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Quantum Riddler Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Quantum Riddler
Phase windows: own main phase, legal cast windows
Runtime cues: action:cast Quantum Riddler
Use when: deciding whether to deploy Quantum Riddler.
Avoid when: exact card text is unavailable or the current turn requires interaction to survive.
Instructions: Card text check required. Treat Quantum Riddler as a high-investment play until Veles exposes its legal actions and resulting choices; cast it when mana is stable, the board is not collapsing, and the expected next turn benefits from a larger threat or selection effect.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Engine Timing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; priority
Cards: Emperor of Bones; Overlord of the Balemurk; Boggart Trawler; Surgical Extraction
Phase windows: main phase, beginning combat, graveyard selection prompts
Runtime cues: action:target, graveyard card candidates
Use when: a legal prompt asks for graveyard selection or graveyard-dependent commitment.
Avoid when: selecting a graveyard card is optional and public graveyards show no card that advances the current plan.
Instructions: Card text check required for Emperor of Bones, Overlord of the Balemurk, and Boggart Trawler. Use visible graveyard information only; do not assume hidden library contents. Surgical Extraction decisions must target a card whose known copies or graveyard role matter to the opponent’s next turns.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat With Blink Creatures
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat; priority
Cards: Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd; Emperor of Bones; Flickerwisp; Solitude; Quantum Riddler; Overlord of the Balemurk
Phase windows: beginning combat, declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage
Runtime cues: action:attack, action:block, visible creatures
Use when: choosing attacks, blocks, or combat-trick timing.
Avoid when: exactly one legal no-attack or no-block action is procedural and the decision has no visible combat consequence.
Instructions: Attack when the creature can pressure planeswalkers, shorten the clock, or enable a legal Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd trigger without losing the engine to a known blocker. Block to preserve life against short clocks, but avoid trading away the only engine creature unless survival or a blink/removal line converts the exchange.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Priority Pass Under Threat
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; interaction
Cards: Fatal Push; Solitude; March of Otherworldly Light; Prismatic Ending; Ephemerate; Mystical Dispute; Consign to Memory
Phase windows: opponent turn, combat steps, stack windows
Runtime cues: action:pass, legal instant-speed actions visible
Use when: choosing between pass and an available response.
Avoid when: no non-pass legal action is visible.
Instructions: Do not pass through a window where a visible spell, attacker, trigger, or permanent can be answered by a legal action and waiting risks losing the answer window. Passing is acceptable when interaction is mismatched, conserving resources beats the current object, or the stack/board does not threaten the chosen role.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Lock Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard; pregame
Cards: Archon of Emeria; Clarion Conqueror; Consign to Memory; High Noon; Mystical Dispute; Surgical Extraction; Wrath of the Skies
Phase windows: sideboarding, pregame
Runtime cues: sideboard prompt, matchup label, game number
Use when: choosing post-board configuration.
Avoid when: the submitted plan would violate registered 75 preservation or exceed available card counts.
Instructions: Add role cards that match public matchup pressure: Wrath of the Skies for creature or artifact boards, Mystical Dispute for blue stack fights, Consign to Memory for legal colorless or triggered targets, High Noon and Archon of Emeria for spell-chain decks, Surgical Extraction for graveyard reliance, and Clarion Conqueror only after card text check required confirms relevance.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Spend Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Mystical Dispute; Consign to Memory; High Noon; Archon of Emeria; Teferi, Time Raveler
Phase windows: stack windows, opponent main, combo turn
Runtime cues: action:cast Mystical Dispute, action:cast Consign to Memory, spell or trigger on stack
Use when: deciding whether to spend sideboard permission or prison effects.
Avoid when: the target is low impact and a later visible or likely decisive spell is the reason the card was sideboarded.
Instructions: Spend permission on spells or triggers that beat current board position, stop a stabilizing engine, or force through the next Esper threat. Deploy High Noon or Archon of Emeria when slowing the opponent matters more than developing blink value that turn.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Surgical Target After Commitment
Priority: Low
Decision families: selection; interaction
Cards: Surgical Extraction
Phase windows: graveyard target prompt
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Surgical Extraction
Use when: the legal action text lists exactly one opponent graveyard card selected by a prior committed Surgical Extraction line.
Avoid when: multiple opponent graveyard targets are legal.
Instructions: Submit the exact Surgical Extraction target action exposed by Veles.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes
