# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Dimir Mill is a Historic 60-card main-deck strategy with no registered sideboard. The validated inventory is 60 main / 0 sideboard, so the deck satisfies the active Historic deck-count contract: at least 60 main-deck cards and at most 15 sideboard cards. Runtime pilots must treat sideboarding as unavailable unless the registered list changes; there are no legal sideboard additions and no post-board transformation to infer.

- Format: Historic.
- Strategy name: Dimir Mill.
- Registered colors: Dimir, with blue as the primary color and black as a secondary support color.
- Current tags: control, combo, mill.
- Stock status: hybrid rogue-control/combo mill shell, not a generic stock control deck.
- Main-deck count: 60.
- Sideboard count: 0.
- Validation status: passes the supplied format-aware validation contract.

Dimir Mill should be piloted as a proactive mill-combo deck with control pacing, not as a creature-damage deck. The core plan is to convert early permanents and spell-based mill into a compressed library clock through `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Archive Trap`, `Thought Collapse`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`. `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` is included as a repeat-value engine for visible enter-the-battlefield lines, especially with `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, but the pilot must not assume blink legality, target quality, or survival through removal unless the rules engine exposes the legal action.

The deck is structurally blue-heavy and must prioritize stable access to blue mana. `Island`, `Clearwater Pathway`, `Temple of Deceit`, and `Fabled Passage` are central to casting early blue spells on time, while `Swamp` supports black requirements for `Ashiok, Dream Render`, `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, and `Glimpse the Unthinkable`. Mana decisions should respect visible legal spell costs and current land choices rather than assuming a perfect Dimir curve; incorrect color sequencing can strand the deck’s strongest pressure cards.

The role concern is that the deck has limited traditional creature combat and limited hard removal. `Thought Collapse` is the main registered counterspell, while `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` can provide board interaction only when the rules engine offers the relevant loyalty action and target. The pilot should therefore value turns that reduce the opponent’s library quickly, preserve life total through selective blocking, and avoid spending mana on low-impact actions when a decisive mill spell or counter window is visible.

The legality concern is that several powerful lines depend on game-state permissions. `Archive Trap` may be cast for an alternate cost only when the engine exposes that legal action. `Fraying Sanity` requires a legal enchant-player target. `Fabled Passage` can trigger `Ruin Crab` only through actual legal land and search actions resolved by the engine. `Ashiok, Dream Render` can affect searching and graveyards only according to current rules text and visible legality; if an exact static or activated effect matters, card text check required.

Opponent information status is currently unspecified beyond runtime visible state. The pilot must not infer hidden hand contents, library contents, or deck composition unless public logs, revealed cards, matchup metadata, or legal action text expose them. When opponent archetype is unknown, play the deck’s baseline plan: establish early mill pressure, conserve `Thought Collapse` for high-impact visible spells, and accelerate toward library depletion without inventing opponent interaction.

## Thesis
Dimir Mill assembles a compressed library clock by stacking repeatable mill permanents, high-volume mill spells, and control checkpoints. The core pressure package is `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`; the deck wins when these effects reduce the opponent's library faster than the opponent can convert battlefield pressure into lethal damage.

Prioritize early blue mana, early mill permanents, and mana-efficient library pressure over creature combat. `Ruin Crab` plus land drops, especially legal `Fabled Passage` lines, can make ordinary setup turns into major mill turns; `Drowned Secrets` rewards sequencing blue spells after it resolves; `Fraying Sanity` turns a single high-volume mill event into a decisive end-step pressure point when the enchantment has a legal target.

Play as a proactive control-combo deck, not as a damage race deck. `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Ruin Crab`, and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` can affect the battlefield, but their main purpose is to enable library depletion, buy time, or repeat visible enter-the-battlefield value. Do not preserve creatures for damage unless the visible board makes attacking clearly safe and tempo-positive.

Use `Thought Collapse` as the main permission gate for visible threats that change the race, not as a generic way to spend mana. The deck has limited removal and no sideboard, so a missed counter window against a creature, planeswalker, combo piece, or graveyard reshuffle effect can matter more than squeezing in a small mill action.

Respect runtime legality for every explosive line. `Archive Trap` should be used for its alternate-cost line only when the engine exposes it as legal; `Fabled Passage` should be used as a landfall accelerator only through actual legal activation and search actions; `Ashiok, Dream Render` and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` should be used according to visible loyalty actions and target legality rather than assumed card text.

## Role Package
- Threats: `Ruin Crab` and `Overwhelmed Apprentice` are early permanents that pressure the opponent's library while incidentally blocking small attackers. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` is the largest board-facing threat because it can pressure resources and threaten repeatable planeswalker value when protected by visible board state.

- Payoffs: `Fraying Sanity` is the main multiplier payoff and should be treated as a commitment card that rewards casting or triggering large mill effects after it is in place. `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, and `Maddening Cacophony` are the main burst payoffs because they can move the opponent from stable to near-decked in one turn cycle.

- Engines: `Ruin Crab` plus `Fabled Passage` is the cleanest repeatable engine when legal land sequencing supports it. `Drowned Secrets` is the spell-chain engine and becomes stronger when blue spells can be cast after it resolves. `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` is a repeat-value engine with `Overwhelmed Apprentice` when the engine exposes legal blink targets and timing.

- Velocity: `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Temple of Deceit` help sculpt draws and reduce nonfunctional hands, but they should not distract from deploying actual mill pressure. `Maddening Cacophony` can be a scalable pressure spell; use the mode or cost only as the rules engine exposes it and only when the mana investment fits the current clock.

- Interaction: `Thought Collapse` is the primary stack interaction and should defend the library-clock plan against visible high-impact spells. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` may provide board or resource interaction through legal loyalty actions; card text check required for exact tactical effect in any unfamiliar runtime prompt.

- Protection: The deck has no dedicated protection card. Protect the plan through sequencing, mana discipline, selective `Thought Collapse` use, planeswalker timing, and avoiding fragile tap-out turns when the opponent's visible pressure or known public cards make waiting safer.

- Recursion: The registered list has no dedicated recursion package. Do not plan to recover spent `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Thought Collapse`, destroyed `Drowned Secrets`, or destroyed `Fraying Sanity` unless a legal runtime effect explicitly creates that option.

- Mana: `Island`, `Clearwater Pathway`, `Temple of Deceit`, and `Fabled Passage` support the blue-heavy curve; `Swamp`, `Clearwater Pathway`, `Temple of Deceit`, and `Fabled Passage` support black requirements for `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`. Choose land faces and searches from visible costs, not from generic color balance.

- Sideboard: There is no sideboard module. Treat Game 1 configuration as the whole registered strategy, and do not infer post-board cards, transformational plans, or silver bullets.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Burst mill is the primary kill when the opponent's library is already under pressure or when `Fraying Sanity` can legally multiply a large mill event. Setup requires a legal target for `Fraying Sanity`, enough mana to cast `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, or `Thought Collapse`, and enough life or board stability to survive the next attack. Execute by resolving the largest legal mill action after `Fraying Sanity` is active; prioritize this line when a single turn cycle can move the opponent near zero cards or when waiting exposes `Fraying Sanity` to removal.

- Landfall mill is the cleanest early engine when `Ruin Crab` is on the battlefield and legal land actions are available. Setup with `Ruin Crab`, preserve land drops when possible, and treat `Fabled Passage` as a high-leverage land only when the engine exposes the legal play, activation, and search sequence. Execute landfall before spending mana on slower engines if the extra cards milled change the clock; prioritize this line against creature pressure because it advances the win while leaving mana for `Thought Collapse` when possible.

- Spell-chain mill wins through `Drowned Secrets` plus repeated blue spells. Setup by resolving `Drowned Secrets` before casting blue mill cards when the tempo loss is acceptable. Execute with `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Thought Collapse`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and planeswalkers only as legality and colors allow; prioritize this line in slower games where incremental triggers can make every control spell also reduce the opponent's library.

- Planeswalker pressure is the main value win path when the battlefield can protect loyalty. Setup by casting `Ashiok, Dream Render` or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` after checking visible attackers and known haste or direct-pressure risks. Execute only legal loyalty actions; use `Ashiok, Dream Render` as a library and graveyard-pressure tool when the engine exposes that action, and use `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` as a repeatable resource engine or board-facing threat when its visible choices improve survival or library pressure. Prioritize planeswalkers when the opponent is low on board pressure or when `Thought Collapse` can protect the next critical turn.

- Blink repetition wins when `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` can repeatedly reuse `Overwhelmed Apprentice` without sacrificing survival. Setup with a surviving `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and legal `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` timing. Execute legal blink targets that generate library pressure or selection; prioritize this line when the game is stable and repeated small mill plus card selection is better than tapping out for one burst spell into open danger.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Creature pressure is a fallback, not the baseline plan. Attack with `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, or creature tokens or permanents from legal `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` actions only when attacks are visibly safe, do not expose planeswalkers, and do not reduce blocking needed to survive. Do not trade away `Ruin Crab` while landfall can still produce meaningful mill unless the trade prevents lethal or protects a planeswalker that is about to win.

- Counter-mill tempo is a secondary path when `Thought Collapse` can both stop a visible high-impact spell and add library pressure. Hold `Thought Collapse` for spells that change the race, remove the core engine, win the game, or create graveyard/library reshuffle risk; spend it on lower-impact spells only when the opponent's library count is low enough that the mill rider materially advances the kill or unused mana would otherwise waste a decisive window.

- Scalable `Maddening Cacophony` is a finishing line only when the rules engine exposes the relevant cost or mode as legal. Use the smaller legal line when it preserves mana for `Thought Collapse` or additional mill in the same turn. Use the larger legal line when the opponent's library count, life race, and visible interaction make immediate compression more important than future flexibility.

- Value selection supports wins by finding more mill, not by becoming a separate draw engine. `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Temple of Deceit` should sculpt toward lands, black-blue access, `Ruin Crab`, `Fraying Sanity`, and burst mill. When the hand already has enough mill to win, selection should favor mana discipline, `Thought Collapse`, or survival pieces over redundant slow cards.

- Recursion is not a planned win condition because the registered deck has no dedicated recursion. Treat each `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Thought Collapse`, `Drowned Secrets`, and `Fraying Sanity` as expendable but finite. Do not assume spent cards return unless a legal runtime action explicitly says so.

## Emergency Lines
- Behind on life or board, convert the deck into a short-clock control deck. Keep blockers back, value `Thought Collapse` against the next visible lethal or snowball spell, and choose mill lines that leave mana open unless a burst sequence can plausibly end the game before the next combat. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` should be committed only if its legal action immediately affects survival or the opponent cannot efficiently attack it.

- Behind on cards, prioritize engines that make each draw matter. `Drowned Secrets`, `Ruin Crab`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` plus `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, and planeswalkers can compensate for low hand size if they survive. Avoid spending the last high-volume mill spell into an opponent who is not close to decking unless `Fraying Sanity` or visible library count makes it decisive.

- Behind on mana, protect color access before maximizing burst. Use `Fabled Passage`, `Clearwater Pathway`, `Temple of Deceit`, `Island`, and `Swamp` according to visible costs; favor blue early for `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Thought Collapse`, and secure black when `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` is the likely next play.

- Missing an engine, win through raw volume. Cast legal `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, and `Thought Collapse` on a curve that respects lethal pressure. Do not wait indefinitely for `Fraying Sanity` or `Drowned Secrets` if the opponent's battlefield clock says the game will end first.

- Removed win conditions require tighter library math. If `Ruin Crab`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, or planeswalkers are removed, count visible remaining library pressure from hand, battlefield, graveyard, and known logs before choosing a line. When the count is short, prioritize survival and selection; when the count is enough, execute immediately before more interaction appears.

## Resource Model
- Life is a spendable buffer only until the opponent presents a visible two-turn clock. Use life to keep mana open for `Thought Collapse`, to deploy `Fraying Sanity` before burst mill, or to preserve `Ruin Crab` landfall turns; stop spending life-equivalent tempo when blocking with `Overwhelmed Apprentice` or `Ruin Crab` prevents lethal or protects a planeswalker that can win.

- Hand size is converted into library pressure, not card advantage. Treat `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Thought Collapse` as finite chunks toward decking; avoid trading the last burst spell for low-impact progress unless `Fraying Sanity`, `Drowned Secrets`, or visible library count makes the exchange decisive.

- Mana is the deck's main timing constraint because most strong lines are color-bound. Blue unlocks `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Ruin Crab`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and `Thought Collapse`; black is needed for `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`. Preserve double blue when `Thought Collapse` is the stabilizing action.

- Board presence is defensive infrastructure first and pressure second. `Ruin Crab` and `Overwhelmed Apprentice` buy time, trigger or enable mill, and protect `Ashiok, Dream Render` or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`; attack only when the legal combat action does not reduce survival, landfall value, or planeswalker protection.

- Graveyards are both progress and risk information. Count cards milled into the opponent's graveyard as progress toward `Fraying Sanity` math and possible `Ashiok, Dream Render` value, but do not assume graveyard cards are locked away unless a legal exile action resolves. Your own graveyard mostly records spent finite mill; do not plan recursion.

- Exile matters mainly through legal planeswalker and graveyard-exile actions. Use visible exile to track cards removed by `Ashiok, Dream Render` or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`; do not assume exiled opponent cards are castable or relevant unless the rules engine exposes a legal action.

- Lands are active resources, not just mana. `Fabled Passage` is a landfall burst with `Ruin Crab`, a color-fix for `Island` or `Swamp`, and a potential enablement window for `Archive Trap` only when the opponent searches, not when you search. `Temple of Deceit` converts tempo into selection; `Clearwater Pathway` locks a color choice for the game.

- Sacrifice fodder is effectively absent. The registered deck has no sacrifice-cost plan, so never treat `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, or planeswalker-created objects as expendable sacrifice resources unless a legal runtime action explicitly requires or offers that cost.

- Tempo converts into extra draw steps and extra landfall triggers. Favor cheap actions that advance decking while keeping `Thought Collapse` available when under pressure; tap out for `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, or `Fraying Sanity` when the visible board says the opponent cannot punish the window or when waiting loses the mill race.

- Information comes from selection and public zones. Use `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Temple of Deceit` to choose whether the next draw should be land, interaction, or burst mill; use visible library count, graveyard count, hand count, battlefield pressure, and stack contents before choosing between setup and immediate mill.

- Sideboard bullets do not exist in this registration. There are no sideboard cards, so post-game plans must preserve all 60 main-deck cards and focus only on play-pattern adjustments.

## Mana Guide
- Keep mana that casts the first two plays and reaches double blue. Strong keeps usually contain blue plus either `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Maddening Cacophony`, or `Glimpse the Unthinkable`; hands with `Thought Collapse` need a credible path to two blue by turn three. Hands with only black mana, only tapped lands without early plays, or no path to blue should be treated as high-risk mulligans.

- Choose `Clearwater Pathway` color from the hand's bottleneck. Pick blue when early hand pressure needs `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Fraying Sanity`, or `Thought Collapse`; pick black when the hand already has blue and needs `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`. Do not pick black early if it strands double-blue interaction.

- Sequence `Temple of Deceit` when the turn can absorb tapped mana. Lead on `Temple of Deceit` in slower hands to fix the next draw; delay it when turn-one `Ruin Crab` or `Overwhelmed Apprentice` is important, or when leaving untapped blue changes a legal `Thought Collapse` window.

- Use `Fabled Passage` deliberately with `Ruin Crab`. If `Ruin Crab` is on the battlefield and the engine exposes land play and search resolution, play `Fabled Passage` before nonland mill when the landfall mill changes the clock or `Fraying Sanity` end-step math. If color is the bottleneck or `Thought Collapse` must stay available, fetch the needed `Island` or `Swamp` before spending colored mana.

- Play lands before draw-like or selection actions when landfall or mana certainty matters. With `Ruin Crab`, land first if the mill trigger is required this turn. With `Temple of Deceit` or `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, use selection before the land drop when you are deciding whether to keep a land on top and do not need immediate landfall first.

- Preserve mana for `Thought Collapse` when the opponent's next spell can beat the mill clock. Passing with three mana and double blue is correct when visible board, stack risk, or known public information indicates a high-impact spell is more dangerous than advancing with sorcery-speed mill.

- Spend mana proactively when the opponent's library count is the limiting resource. Cast `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Fraying Sanity`, or `Drowned Secrets` on curve when the opponent lacks visible pressure or when the deck must shorten the game before creatures or planeswalker attacks take over.

- Treat `Archive Trap` cost reduction as conditional, not guaranteed. Cast it for zero only when the rules engine exposes the legal trap action after an opponent search; otherwise evaluate any normal-cost action against the current need to hold `Thought Collapse` or deploy a stronger mill spell.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keeps start with blue mana, an early mill permanent, and a second-wave payoff. Keep hands like `Island`, `Fabled Passage`, `Ruin Crab`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Thought Collapse`, `Fraying Sanity`, plus any third land because they apply pressure, hit landfall, and leave a turn-three interaction or multiplier path.

- Strong keeps also include selection plus stable colors. Keep `Temple of Deceit`, `Clearwater Pathway`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, and a third land when `Clearwater Pathway` can supply the missing color and the first two turns are not empty.

- Medium keeps need either a fast clock or reliable control posture. A hand with two lands, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Thought Collapse`, and no one-drop is acceptable on the play against slower decks, but it is weaker on the draw against creature pressure because it may spend turn one doing nothing.

- Risky keeps are payoff-heavy without enough mana or early board. Hands with `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Archive Trap`, and only two lands need early selection or a known slow matchup; without a cheap creature or third-land path, they can lose before the expensive cards matter.

- Automatic ship hands lack functional blue mana. Mulligan any hand with no blue source, no `Temple of Deceit`, no blue-facing `Clearwater Pathway` choice, and no credible way to cast `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Maddening Cacophony`, or `Thought Collapse` on time.

- Automatic ship hands rely on unsupported `Archive Trap`. Do not keep a hand whose only real mill plan is one or more `Archive Trap` with no early creature, no `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, no `Maddening Cacophony`, and no control spell, because the opponent may never expose a search-triggered zero-cost action.

- Matchup-dependent keeps change with visible speed. Against fast creature decks, prioritize `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Thought Collapse`, and enough lands over slower `Fraying Sanity` or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` hands; against slow control or combo, keep hands with `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, `Thought Collapse`, and burst mill even if early blockers are light.

- Play/draw decisions reward different risk. On the play, a tapland into two-mana mill hand can be fine if it curves into `Glimpse the Unthinkable` or `Drowned Secrets`; on the draw, prefer a one-mana permanent or a clear turn-three `Thought Collapse` plan so the opponent cannot snowball first.

- Trap hands look powerful but can be dead. `Archive Trap`, `Archive Trap`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, and three lands is not a strong keep unless the matchup or visible rules output indicates opponent searches are likely, because the hand may spend early turns without affecting board or library.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 priority is to establish cheap pressure or selection. Cast `Ruin Crab` first when available because every later land becomes mill; cast `Overwhelmed Apprentice` when you need immediate mill plus scry, or when `Ruin Crab` is absent and the hand needs help finding land or colors.

- Turn 1 land sequencing should protect the first action. Play untapped blue for `Ruin Crab` or `Overwhelmed Apprentice`; play `Temple of Deceit` only when there is no one-drop or when scrying for the second color is more important than immediate board presence.

- Turn 2 priority is to convert mana into repeatable or large mill. Cast `Glimpse the Unthinkable` when black is available and the opponent is not threatening a must-counter turn; cast `Drowned Secrets` when the hand contains multiple blue spells and the game is expected to last several turns; cast `Maddening Cacophony` when immediate library pressure matters more than permanent setup.

- Turn 2 with `Ruin Crab` favors landfall before spells. Play `Fabled Passage` while `Ruin Crab` is on the battlefield when legal landfall triggers matter, then fetch the color that unlocks the next turn; do not delay needed black if `Glimpse the Unthinkable` or `Ashiok, Dream Render` is the planned follow-up.

- Turn 3 is the main branch between protection and acceleration. Hold up `Thought Collapse` when the opponent can resolve a high-impact spell or when your current mill clock is already credible; cast `Fraying Sanity` when you can safely turn every mill event into a larger end-step hit.

- Turn 3 `Ashiok, Dream Render` is strongest when search denial or graveyard exile matters. Deploy it against search-heavy, graveyard-reliant, or slow hands when the board can protect it; avoid tapping out into lethal or obvious planeswalker pressure if `Thought Collapse` is the only stabilizer.

- Turns 4-5 are for compounding engines or closing chunks. Cast `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` when `Overwhelmed Apprentice` is present and blinking it will repeatedly mill and scry; cast `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` when a blocker, bounce line, or planeswalker loyalty plan is better than another sorcery-speed mill spell.

- Turns 4-5 with `Fraying Sanity` should count exact visible library pressure. After enchanting the opponent, prefer `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Ruin Crab` landfall, or legal `Archive Trap` actions that create decisive end-step mill; keep `Thought Collapse` available if one opposing spell can undo the clock.

- Late game decisions revolve around visible library count and survival. Fire `Maddening Cacophony` kicked only when the legal action materially shortens the game or wins soon; otherwise use cheaper mill plus `Thought Collapse` to avoid dying with a full hand.

- Late game combat remains defensive. Use `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, and planeswalker-created battlefield objects to preserve life totals and planeswalkers; attack only when the engine shows no meaningful crack-back or blocker duty.

- Deviation rule: choose interaction over mill when survival is the bottleneck. Passing with `Thought Collapse` is correct if the opponent's next visible or likely spell beats the clock; tapping out for `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Fraying Sanity`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` is correct when waiting gives the opponent more draw steps than your library-pressure line does.

## Card Roles
- `Ruin Crab` is the best turn-one engine because it turns every later land into material library pressure. Cast it before other one-mana plays when a landfall follow-up is likely, sequence `Fabled Passage` after it when legal, and value its 0/3 body as early damage prevention against small attackers. Do not hold `Ruin Crab` for surprise value unless the opponent has visible removal and another immediate mill spell already advances the clock. Against fast creature decks it is both engine and blocker; against control or combo it is the cleanest way to pressure without tapping much mana on later turns.

- `Overwhelmed Apprentice` is the best one-mana stabilizing setup card when the hand needs selection, colors, or a defensive body. Cast it early to mill two and scry toward land drops, black mana, `Thought Collapse`, or a multiplier, and prioritize it over a tapped land only when the current hand has a turn-two line. With `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice` becomes a repeatable end-step mill and scry engine; protect that loop when the extra selection matters. Do not attack with it into trades unless life total and planeswalker defense are irrelevant.

- `Glimpse the Unthinkable` is the cleanest two-mana burst and should usually be pointed at the opponent as soon as black and blue are available. Cast it early when the game is about racing library count, but hold it when `Fraying Sanity` is about to resolve safely or when keeping up `Thought Collapse` prevents a more dangerous opposing turn. With `Fraying Sanity`, it becomes a major closing chunk because the end-step trigger scales from the cards milled. Do not cast it into a turn where dying on board is the real bottleneck.

- `Maddening Cacophony` is flexible burst mill that fills the two-mana curve and later becomes a high-impact kicked finisher. Cast it unkicked when immediate pressure matters, when `Drowned Secrets` wants another blue spell, or when `Fraying Sanity` is already active and a small spell becomes a larger end-step hit. Consider the kicked mode only after checking visible library count, available mana, and whether holding interaction is safer. Do not default to saving every copy for kicker; many games are won by stacking smaller mill events before the opponent stabilizes.

- `Archive Trap` is a powerful instant-speed payoff, but it must be treated as conditional unless the rules engine exposes a legal zero-mana trap action or full-cost casting is tactically acceptable. Use the zero-cost action immediately when the opponent has searched and visible timing makes it legal, especially with `Fraying Sanity` active or when it produces lethal library pressure. Full-price `Archive Trap` is a late-game option when mana is abundant, the opponent is tapped low, or passing with interaction is less important. Do not keep or plan around `Archive Trap` as guaranteed free mill without public evidence of a search.

- `Thought Collapse` is the main interaction spell and also advances the mill plan while countering. Hold it up when the opponent can resolve a spell that beats the current clock, removes the key engine, pressures planeswalkers, or wins before library pressure matters. Cast proactive mill instead when the opponent has no visible high-impact play window and the library clock is short. Do not spend `Thought Collapse` on a low-impact spell just because it mills three; its counter half is the scarce resource.

- `Drowned Secrets` is a low-copy engine that rewards blue-heavy sequencing across several turns. Cast it on turn two when the hand contains multiple blue spells such as `Maddening Cacophony`, `Thought Collapse`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, or planeswalkers and the opponent is not forcing immediate interaction. Its triggers make routine blue spells matter, so after it resolves, prefer blue mill or control actions when they are otherwise close. Do not tap out for it against a board that already demands a blocker, counterspell, or immediate burst to race.

- `Fraying Sanity` is the main multiplier and the clearest commitment card in the deck. Cast it when the opponent is the correct enchanted player, the turn cycle is survivable, and at least one mill event can follow before the opponent gains too many draw steps. It magnifies `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, `Ruin Crab` landfall, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Thought Collapse`, and planeswalker mill/exile pressure where applicable. Do not cast it as an empty enchantment into lethal pressure or when holding `Thought Collapse` is required to stop a decisive spell.

- `Ashiok, Dream Render` is both a mill source and a metagame hate piece against search and graveyard plans. Deploy it when search denial matters, when graveyard exile is relevant, or when the board can keep loyalty from being immediately attacked down. Its activated mill/exile line is strong with `Fraying Sanity` and can cut off graveyard recursion after the opponent has stocked the graveyard. Do not expose it to a board that cleanly kills it unless the immediate activation is worth the exchange.

- `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` is the five-mana stabilizer, blocker generator, and nonland-permanent pressure valve. Cast it when the deck needs a recurring board object, a way to pressure hand and library through combat, or a bounce effect to buy time against a resolved threat. The plus line is usually the default against creatures because it creates defense while threatening future value; the minus line is reserved for visible nonland permanents that must be removed from the battlefield for survival or tempo. Do not treat it as a pure finisher when leaving mana for `Thought Collapse` is the only way to survive the opponent's next turn.

- `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` is a slow engine and defensive utility permanent rather than a primary curve play. Cast it when blinking `Overwhelmed Apprentice` creates repeated mill plus scry, when devotion or board presence makes its body relevant, or when the tap ability can buy critical combat time. It also resets small creature roles after combat if legal targets and timing line up through the engine. Do not keep hands that rely on `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` without early plays, and do not cast it into pressure if it does not affect the current board or next end step.

- `Fabled Passage` is a landfall accelerator with `Ruin Crab` and a color fixer for black requirements. When `Ruin Crab` is already on the battlefield, play and crack `Fabled Passage` in the same turn if the legal actions produce extra landfall and the needed basic is available. Fetch `Swamp` when `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` needs black; fetch `Island` when double-blue `Thought Collapse` or blue-heavy sequencing is the bottleneck. Do not spend `Fabled Passage` before `Ruin Crab` unless color access or curve timing demands it.

- `Clearwater Pathway` is the flexible color land that should be chosen according to the next two turns, not only the current spell. Choose blue-facing access when early `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Drowned Secrets`, or `Thought Collapse` matters; choose black-facing access when the hand otherwise cannot cast `Glimpse the Unthinkable` or the Ashiok planeswalkers on time. Do not strand double-blue interaction by overvaluing black if another black source is already available.

- `Temple of Deceit` is the tapland that smooths hands but taxes tempo. Play it on turn one when there is no legal one-drop or when scrying for land/color is the highest-value setup; delay it when an untapped blue source enables `Ruin Crab` or `Overwhelmed Apprentice`. Use the scry to find missing colors, land three for `Fraying Sanity` or `Thought Collapse`, or a high-impact mill spell under low pressure. Do not keep slow hands just because `Temple of Deceit` scries unless the matchup gives time.

- `Island` and `Swamp` are basic role players, but the mix makes blue the default priority. `Island` supports the majority of the deck, including one-drops, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Thought Collapse`, and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`; `Swamp` mainly unlocks `Glimpse the Unthinkable` and the Ashiok cards. When choosing basics, preserve double blue by turn three when `Thought Collapse` is likely, and preserve at least one black source by turn two or three when black spells are in hand.

## Interaction Priorities

- Counter decisive spells with `Thought Collapse` before spending mana on routine mill. Use it on visible threats that shorten the clock faster than the deck can mill, spells that remove `Ruin Crab`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Drowned Secrets`, or planeswalkers, and engine/combo pieces that will win without another full turn cycle. Let low-impact creatures or redundant setup resolve when a proactive `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, or `Fraying Sanity` line creates a shorter opponent-library clock.

- Preserve `Thought Collapse` when the opponent is representing a must-answer noncreature turn. Its three-card mill is upside, not the reason to counter. If the opponent is nearly empty-library, countering almost any legal spell can be correct because the mill rider may become lethal or force the final draw step, but do not ignore board-lethal pressure to chase the rider.

- Bounce resolved nonland permanents with `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` when the permanent threatens survival, planeswalker loyalty, or the next decisive mill turn. Prioritize permanents that remove `Fraying Sanity`, attack down `Ashiok, Dream Render` or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, shut off casting, or present lethal damage. Ignore permanents that are slow, redundant, or irrelevant to the library race unless bouncing them clears an immediate planeswalker or combat line.

- Exile graveyards with `Ashiok, Dream Render` when the opponent visibly benefits from graveyard resources or when the activation also advances a lethal `Fraying Sanity` turn. Do not activate only for graveyard cleanup if holding loyalty, blockers, or mana for survival is more important. Against decks with public graveyard recursion, treat `Ashiok, Dream Render` as interaction first and mill second.

- Bait interaction with lower-commitment mill before exposing `Fraying Sanity` when the opponent has open mana and the deck can still progress. `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Ruin Crab`, `Maddening Cacophony`, or even a nonlethal `Glimpse the Unthinkable` can draw permission or removal. Once `Fraying Sanity` is likely to survive or the opponent must be forced to answer it, cast it before the largest mill event.

- Change priorities by archetype, not by card pride. Against fast creature decks, counter or bounce board pressure before maximizing mill volume, and use `Overwhelmed Apprentice` or `Ruin Crab` as blockers when needed. Against slower control decks, protect engines and planeswalkers, make land drops, and avoid firing `Archive Trap` for full cost into open interaction unless waiting is worse. Against graveyard decks, value `Ashiok, Dream Render` highly even when its mill is not immediately lethal. Against combo decks, keep `Thought Collapse` for the visible payoff or enabling spell rather than the first setup piece unless the setup piece is clearly the choke point.

- Recognize absent tools honestly. This deck has no main-deck discard spell, creature removal spell, or permanent exile spell beyond the graveyard pressure from `Ashiok, Dream Render` and the nonland bounce line from `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`. If the rules engine presents an unexpected discard, destroy, exile, or sacrifice action, follow the legal action text and visible source, but do not assume it is part of the normal Dimir Mill plan.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Protect life total once the opponent can kill in two attacks. `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Ruin Crab` are engines early, but they become expendable blockers when preserving one more turn enables `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, `Fraying Sanity`, or planeswalker activation to finish the library. Do not preserve a one-drop for future value if taking damage removes the final draw step needed to win.

- Preserve `Ruin Crab` when landfall is still a major route to victory and life is not under immediate threat. A `Ruin Crab` plus `Fabled Passage` can represent multiple mill events in one turn, especially with `Fraying Sanity`; trade it only when the damage prevented matters more than future landfall. If no lands remain in hand and no `Fabled Passage` line is visible, its engine value drops and blocking becomes easier.

- Use `Overwhelmed Apprentice` as the more disposable early creature in most combat spots. Its enters-the-battlefield value has already happened, and additional value normally requires `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`. Preserve it over `Ruin Crab` only when `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` is active or likely and repeated blink-scry/mill is a meaningful plan.

- Attack with Nightmare tokens from `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` only when the attack does not expose the planeswalker or life total to a worse crack-back. The attack-trigger mill/exile pressure is valuable, but the token is also the deck's best repeatable blocker. Against small creature boards, leaving it back is often correct until the library clock is already decisive.

- Block to defend planeswalkers when loyalty will convert into another high-impact activation. Protect `Ashiok, Dream Render` if search denial or graveyard exile is still relevant, and protect `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` when another token or bounce will stabilize. Let a planeswalker take damage only when keeping a creature enables lethal mill, a necessary `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` blink line, or survival against a different attacker.

- Use `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` defensively when legal text provides a tap action or blink value that changes combat math. Card text check required for exact devotion, creature status, and tap timing in the runtime engine. If it can legally tap an attacker or blocker, prefer tapping the creature that changes lethal damage, protects a planeswalker, or opens a safe attack with a Nightmare token.

- Treat combat as time-buying, not a primary damage plan. This deck wins by library exhaustion, so attack damage matters only when it pressures planeswalkers, forces blocks that protect your own walkers, or adds value through a Nightmare token. Do not trade away `Ruin Crab` or a defensive token for chip damage unless the rules output shows the trade improves survival or unlocks a decisive mill turn.

- Adjust trades by matchup speed. Against fast aggro, trade one-drops and tokens aggressively, keep life above the next visible attack step, and accept losing engine pieces after they generated value. Against control or combo, avoid unnecessary trades, because the opponent's creature damage is often slower than the library clock and engines matter more. Against graveyard decks, blockers buy time for `Ashiok, Dream Render`; do not throw them away if a graveyard-exile activation is the real stabilizer.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Treat this list as pseudo-selection, not tutoring. The registered deck has no true library tutor, so selection comes from `Temple of Deceit`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, repeated `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` blink value, land sequencing with `Fabled Passage`, and runtime-visible planeswalker activations.

- Use `Temple of Deceit` scry to protect the next two turns of mana and mill density. Keep early black-blue access, the third land for `Fraying Sanity` or `Ashiok, Dream Render`, the fourth land for `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, and blue interaction when `Thought Collapse` is needed. Bottom extra slow legends, redundant planeswalkers, or full-cost `Archive Trap` when the hand lacks time or mana.

- Use `Overwhelmed Apprentice` scry as a setup spell before committing important draws. Keep lands when `Ruin Crab`, `Fraying Sanity`, or planeswalkers need curve support; keep `Glimpse the Unthinkable` and `Maddening Cacophony` when a fast library clock is already forming. Bottom cards that do not solve the visible problem, especially expensive duplicate permanents under creature pressure.

- Blink `Overwhelmed Apprentice` with `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` when repeated scry/mill improves the next draw or creates a lethal library timeline. Prefer blinking `Overwhelmed Apprentice` over a generic creature when the engine has time; decline or redirect the blink if preserving a blocker, planeswalker, or `Ruin Crab` landfall plan matters more. Card text check required for exact `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` end-step trigger wording and legal target restrictions.

- Time `Fabled Passage` around `Ruin Crab` and `Fraying Sanity`. If `Ruin Crab` is already on the battlefield, play or crack `Fabled Passage` in the sequence that produces all legal landfall triggers before the turn's largest end-step `Fraying Sanity` count. If `Ruin Crab` is not yet on the battlefield and can be cast first, usually cast it before making the land drop unless mana requirements prevent that line.

- Save a land drop when the rules engine shows a same-turn `Ruin Crab` line. Do not spend `Fabled Passage` early for perfect mana if holding it creates a visible multi-trigger mill turn and the current hand can still function. Spend it earlier only when color access, untapped mana, or survival interaction is required.

- Aim selection toward mill multiplication over raw card pride. `Fraying Sanity` before `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, or multiple `Ruin Crab` triggers is often the highest-ceiling setup, but bottom or delay `Fraying Sanity` when the opponent's board makes a three-mana enchantment too slow.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Cast sorcery-speed mill when shields are acceptable and the turn's mana is otherwise unused. `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` normally require main-phase commitment, so choose them only after checking visible pressure, needed blockers, and whether `Thought Collapse` mana must remain open.

- Hold `Thought Collapse` for spells that change survival, stop a decisive mill turn, remove a key permanent, or win the opponent's game. The mill rider is meaningful, but the first job is still countering the correct visible spell. When the opponent is very low-library, countering any legal spell can become lethal pressure, but do not spend it on a low-impact spell if a known higher-impact spell is likely and the stack state allows patience.

- Fire `Archive Trap` for zero mana when the opponent has visibly searched and the legal action text confirms the alternate cost. Use it immediately if the opponent could gain protection, reshuffle, counter later, or die to the mill now. Wait only when `Fraying Sanity` can be committed first in the same turn without losing the zero-cost window or exposing the line to a worse response.

- Avoid full-cost `Archive Trap` unless five mana is genuinely spare or it is the cleanest lethal line. Full-cost trap competes with holding `Thought Collapse`, casting planeswalkers, and double-spelling. Use full cost when the opponent is near empty-library, the battlefield is stable, or no better pressure exists.

- Stack `Drowned Secrets` trigger targets toward the opponent unless legal text or an unusual runtime objective says otherwise. The deck is not a self-mill deck. If multiple blue spells and triggers are available, keep executing opponent-mill triggers after each legal cast and reassess only when a visible replacement, prevention, or graveyard concern changes the value.

- Activate planeswalkers at sorcery speed with survival first. Use `Ashiok, Dream Render` when graveyard exile or library pressure matters this turn, and use `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` to make a blocker or bounce a threatening nonland permanent before passing into combat. Do not tick a planeswalker for abstract value if a visible board state demands a different legal activation.

- Let harmless spells resolve when mana must be preserved for a better counter window or a larger mill turn. Passing priority is acceptable when the stack spell does not affect life total, planeswalkers, library race, or the ability to execute `Fraying Sanity` plus a major mill event. Explain pass choices in terms of the visible stack and next expected decision.

- Respect end-step and combat windows from the engine. Use instant-speed `Archive Trap` or `Thought Collapse` only when the legal action exists; otherwise pass through priority without inventing responses. If `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` offers a tap, blink, or end-step action, choose based on visible combat math, next-turn mill setup, and legal targets rather than assuming hidden card text.

## Sideboard Map

- Registered sideboard status: no sideboard cards are registered, so Veles must not generate any sideboard action that changes the 60-card main deck. Any engine prompt between games should lock the same registered main deck unless the rules engine exposes a legal no-change confirmation.

- Executable plan status: no explicit card-swap plan exists because the registered sideboard is empty. Treat every matchup plan as a role and sequencing adjustment only; do not name non-registered cards as available configuration choices.

- Sideboard legality rule: preserve the exact registered main deck of 4 `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, 4 `Ruin Crab`, 3 `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, 4 `Archive Trap`, 4 `Thought Collapse`, 4 `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, 3 `Maddening Cacophony`, 2 `Drowned Secrets`, 3 `Fraying Sanity`, 3 `Ashiok, Dream Render`, 4 `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, 4 `Clearwater Pathway`, 4 `Fabled Passage`, 7 `Island`, 3 `Swamp`, and 4 `Temple of Deceit`. If a sideboarding API offers any card movement, reject it unless it is a no-change action from the registered 60.

- Post-board identity rule: keep playing as Dimir Mill even after revealing the opponent's plan. The deck cannot transform into creature control or planeswalker midrange; it can only adjust how much it values early blockers, counterspell patience, tap-out engines, and burst-mill timing.

- Against fast creature decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to value early `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Ruin Crab` as blockers when life total or planeswalker survival is under visible pressure, while still converting every safe landfall, scry, and blue-spell trigger into opponent-library pressure. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` should lean toward creating a body or removing a visible attacker when that stabilizes the next combat step; `Fraying Sanity` and `Drowned Secrets` become safer only after the board is not presenting a short clock.

- Against controlling decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to conserve burst density and force the opponent to answer multiple different permanent and spell axes. `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` are more important when the battlefield is slow because they generate repeated pressure that does not depend on combat. `Thought Collapse` should prioritize opposing card-advantage engines, win conditions, or interaction that stops a decisive mill turn rather than low-impact setup spells.

- Against combo decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to race while holding `Thought Collapse` for the visible spell that enables the opponent's kill or protects it. `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, and `Fraying Sanity` should be sequenced toward the shortest library clock, but a tap-out mill spell is wrong when the engine exposes a stack or priority window where `Thought Collapse` is the only available disruption.

- Against graveyard decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to make `Ashiok, Dream Render` a central stabilizing permanent because it pressures libraries while interacting with graveyards. Use `Ashiok, Dream Render` activations when the graveyard is visibly relevant or when exile materially reduces the opponent's next-turn options; do not overvalue raw mill from `Glimpse the Unthinkable` or `Maddening Cacophony` if it visibly improves the opponent's graveyard more than it advances a lethal library count.

- Against search-heavy decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to treat `Archive Trap` as a premium response when the opponent has visibly searched and the legal action confirms a zero-mana cast. `Ashiok, Dream Render` also gains value because its static or activated text may restrict or punish search lines; Card text check required for exact runtime restrictions, so rely on rules-engine legal actions rather than assumed lock text.

- Against planeswalker or permanent-heavy decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to use `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` for board management when a visible nonland permanent is stopping the mill clock or threatening lethal pressure. Do not spend `Thought Collapse` on minor spells if a higher-impact planeswalker, haste threat, or engine piece is likely to appear and mana can remain open.

- Against discard-heavy decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to deploy cheap engines before the opponent can strip them when doing so does not sacrifice needed interaction. `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, and `Drowned Secrets` can turn otherwise weakened hands into repeated mill sources, while holding multiple expensive spells risks losing the only meaningful line to visible or known hand disruption.

- Against removal-heavy decks: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: none. The practical role change is to avoid making creature survival the only plan. `Ruin Crab` is excellent when it gets immediate landfall value, but `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Drowned Secrets`, and planeswalkers should carry the plan if creatures are unlikely to remain on the battlefield.

- Game 2 and Game 3 discipline: keep mulligan standards matchup-aware because the card pool cannot improve after sideboarding. Hands with no early mill, no reliable mana, or no way to interact with the opponent's known fast plan should not be kept merely because there is no sideboard upgrade available.

- Runtime sideboarding response: if Veles asks for a generated plan, return a no-change plan with a reason tied to the empty registered sideboard. If the API requires per-card movement fields, submit empty movement arrays and preserve all main-deck quantities exactly.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Stabilize first, then compress the library clock once combat damage is contained. Keep hands that cast `Overwhelmed Apprentice` or `Ruin Crab` early, because the body buys turns while the enter-the-battlefield or landfall mill keeps the plan moving. Use `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` defensively when its visible legal action creates a blocker or removes a key attacker; do not tap out for `Fraying Sanity` or `Drowned Secrets` if the next combat step can make the game unwinnable. Treat `Thought Collapse` as a way to stop the spell that changes the clock, not as a routine counter for any cheap creature.

- Control: Diversify pressure across permanents and burst spells instead of spending everything into open mana. `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` are high-value when the battlefield is slow because they force answers while `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Archive Trap` threaten large library swings. Hold `Thought Collapse` for card advantage, finishers, or protection for a decisive mill turn; passing with mana open is often stronger than casting a single sorcery into a visible response window.

- Combo: Race with the fastest legal mill sequence while preserving `Thought Collapse` for the visible engine spell, payoff, or protection spell. `Glimpse the Unthinkable` and `Maddening Cacophony` are the cleanest proactive pressure, while `Fraying Sanity` turns a same-turn burst into a kill threat if the opponent cannot immediately win. Do not assume the opponent needs a graveyard, hand, or library search unless public information shows it; follow the rules engine's legal actions and stack objects.

- Tempo: Protect mana efficiency and avoid spending a full turn on a permanent that does not affect the immediate race. `Ruin Crab` plus `Fabled Passage` is strong if it creates multiple mill triggers before removal or bounce matters, while `Overwhelmed Apprentice` helps smooth draws and trade time. Cast `Thought Collapse` when it prevents a threat plus tempo swing; do not counter low-impact cantrips if the visible battlefield already demands an answer to a creature clock.

- Midrange: Make every exchange advance the opponent-library count, because midrange can pressure life total and answer isolated engines. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` is important when it can either stabilize against creatures or tax removal over multiple turns. `Fraying Sanity` should be deployed when there is a realistic follow-up mill spell, landfall chain, or planeswalker activation; a naked enchantment is weaker if the opponent is presenting immediate board pressure.

- Big mana: Prioritize search punishment and high-volume mill before the opponent's expensive spells dominate. `Archive Trap` becomes premium when the opponent has visibly searched and the legal action confirms the alternate cost. `Ashiok, Dream Render` should be valued if the engine exposes search restriction or graveyard exile relevance; Card text check required for exact static restriction behavior, so rely on visible legal actions. Use `Thought Collapse` on ramp payoffs or the spell that converts mana into a win, not on minor setup unless it is the only way to preserve a lethal mill turn.

- Graveyard decks: Mill carefully when the opponent visibly benefits from cards entering the graveyard. `Ashiok, Dream Render` is the key registered card for this lane because it can pressure the library while interacting with the graveyard when legal actions expose that mode. Use `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Archive Trap` aggressively only when the resulting library reduction matters more than the visible graveyard fuel it creates.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: Identify whether the opponent is an engine deck or a fast permanent-pressure deck, because Dimir Mill has no registered sideboard cards and limited permanent interaction. `Thought Collapse` should stop the artifact or enchantment spell that unlocks repeated advantage, lethal pressure, or protection from mill. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` can matter if its legal action removes a visible nonland permanent; do not invent removal text beyond what the engine offers.

- Go-wide decks: Treat life total and planeswalker survival as the immediate constraint. `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Ruin Crab` should block when the damage prevented changes the clock or protects `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`; their mill value already occurred or can continue only if survival is maintained. Avoid slow `Fraying Sanity` setup when multiple attackers create a short clock, and use `Thought Collapse` on anthem effects, token engines, or haste pressure when those objects are visible.

- Single-threat decks: Let mill spells advance the win while reserving `Thought Collapse` or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` for the threat that matters. If one creature or planeswalker is the opponent's main route to victory, countering or removing that object is usually worth more than casting another medium mill spell. `Fraying Sanity` is safer here than against go-wide pressure if the single threat is contained or not yet present.

- Burn: Preserve life total by using creatures as blockers and avoiding unnecessary tap-out turns. `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Ruin Crab` are not merely engines in this matchup; they are time-buying permanents that can absorb attacks while milling. `Thought Collapse` should counter the burn spell or threat that changes the lethal math when the engine exposes it. `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` is risky if it does not immediately affect the board or absorb damage.

- Removal-heavy decks: Shift the plan away from relying on creature survival. `Ruin Crab` is still strong when paired with immediate land drops, especially `Fabled Passage`, but do not keep a hand whose only pressure disappears if the first creature dies. `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` carry the durable plan. `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` is valuable only when the visible battlefield offers a meaningful blink target or defensive tap line; Card text check required for exact devotion and activated ability conditions.

- Mirror or opposing mill: Count both libraries and race from visible totals, not from assumed inevitability. `Fraying Sanity` and burst mill can close quickly, but tapping out may lose to the opponent's own burst. `Thought Collapse` should prioritize the spell that creates the largest library swing or protects a lethal sequence. `Ashiok, Dream Render` may be relevant if graveyard or search text matters, but do not assume it stops the opponent unless the engine confirms legal consequences.

- No-sideboard discipline: Make role adjustments only through mulligans, sequencing, counterspell targets, planeswalker modes, and combat choices. No card-swap action is legal because the registered sideboard contains no cards. In Games 2 and 3, keep sharper opening hands against the known archetype instead of expecting configuration help.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only note: No exact opposing decklists are supplied for this batch, so revealed cards, legal actions, stack objects, graveyards, library counts, and battlefield pressure override every archetype assumption. Sideboarding is unchanged in all matchups because the registered sideboard contains no cards; improve Games 2 and 3 only through mulligan discipline, `Thought Collapse` targets, tap-out timing, and whether `Fraying Sanity` is safe before a burst turn.

- Aggro and burn: Preserve life total before maximizing engine value. `Overwhelmed Apprentice` and `Ruin Crab` can buy turns as blockers after their immediate value, and `Thought Collapse` should prioritize the visible spell that changes the lethal clock, adds haste pressure, or invalidates blocks. Avoid slow `Drowned Secrets`, unsupported `Fraying Sanity`, or tap-out `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` lines when the opponent already presents a short clock.

- Control and removal-heavy decks: Shift pressure toward durable noncreature mill and planeswalkers instead of assuming creatures survive. `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` matter more than a lone `Ruin Crab` without immediate landfall. Priority targets for `Thought Collapse` are counterspells, sweepers, card-advantage engines, and finishers shown by legal stack information.

- Combo and big mana: Race decisively while holding `Thought Collapse` for the engine spell, payoff, search-conversion spell, or protection spell visible on the stack. `Archive Trap` is premium only when the legal action confirms its alternate-cost window or the normal cost is an acceptable use of mana. `Ashiok, Dream Render` should be valued when visible rules output shows search or graveyard relevance; Card text check required for exact static-effect implications.

- Graveyard decks: Do not mill blindly when the opponent visibly benefits from graveyard volume. Use `Ashiok, Dream Render` whenever its legal actions meaningfully reduce graveyard risk while advancing the library plan. `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Archive Trap` should be timed around whether the library reduction is closer to victory than the graveyard fuel is to the opponent's payoff.

- Creature-light single-threat decks: Reserve `Thought Collapse` and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` for the one object that matters while the rest of the deck attacks the library. `Fraying Sanity` is strongest here when a follow-up `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, or landfall sequence is already plausible from visible mana and hand.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: The deck needs early blue, black by the planeswalker turns, and enough untapped mana to sequence mill plus interaction. `Temple of Deceit`, `Clearwater Pathway`, `Fabled Passage`, `Island`, and `Swamp` decisions should protect turn-two `Glimpse the Unthinkable` or `Drowned Secrets` while preserving `Thought Collapse` timing when interaction matters.

- Matchup risk: Fast creature decks can kill before `Fraying Sanity`, `Drowned Secrets`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` generate enough value. Treat life total, blocker availability, and opponent attack power as real constraints, not distractions from milling.

- Draw risk: Hands with only payoffs and no cheap action are fragile. A hand full of `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` needs lands, early mill, or interaction before it becomes keepable.

- Over-sideboarding risk: No sideboard exists, so any runtime sideboard request should be rejected or treated as no change. Do not invent card-swap plans for Games 2 and 3.

- Graveyard risk: `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, `Archive Trap`, and `Ruin Crab` can enable graveyard synergies. Prefer `Ashiok, Dream Render` lines when the engine exposes graveyard interaction and the opponent's public cards reward being milled.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Creature-heavy openings relying on `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` can fold to removal or sweepers. Diversify into sorcery mill, enchantment engines, and planeswalkers when the opponent shows heavy answers.

- Closer risk: `Fraying Sanity` is a multiplier, not guaranteed inevitability. Cast it when the next sequence can exploit it or when waiting is worse; do not spend a full turn on it under lethal pressure without a defensive reason.

- Interaction risk: `Thought Collapse` is the only registered counterspell, so spending it on low-impact setup can lose to a visible payoff later. Counter the spell that changes the clock, shuts off milling, protects a combo, or creates a decisive resource swing.

- Sequencing risk: `Fabled Passage` with `Ruin Crab`, blue spells after `Drowned Secrets`, and burst turns after `Fraying Sanity` reward patience. Do not crack, cast, or tap out automatically when a visible stack window or landfall trigger can be saved for a stronger legal sequence.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Result driver: Record the deciding axis before judging individual plays. Did Dimir Mill win because library pressure crossed the finish line, because `Thought Collapse` stopped the decisive spell, because `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` stabilized, or because the opponent stumbled?

- Mulligan quality: Check whether the opening hand had early blue action, black access by the planeswalker turns, and a real path to mill volume. Flag keeps that contained only expensive payoffs such as `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Fraying Sanity`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` without `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Drowned Secrets`, or stable mana.

- Mana execution: Review every `Clearwater Pathway`, `Temple of Deceit`, `Fabled Passage`, `Island`, and `Swamp` decision for color timing. Note whether `Fabled Passage` was saved for `Ruin Crab` landfall when legal, cracked too early, or held too long while `Thought Collapse` or double-spell turns needed mana.

- Velocity check: Count how quickly the opponent library moved from starting size to lethal range. Separate burst cards like `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, and `Maddening Cacophony` from engine cards like `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ruin Crab`, and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` so tuning does not confuse setup with payoff.

- Engine performance: Ask whether `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` generated enough extra mill to justify their tempo cost. Mark games where these cards were stranded, removed before value, or cast into lethal pressure when immediate mill or interaction was needed.

- Interaction discipline: Audit each `Thought Collapse` use against the visible stack and board. The key question is whether it countered the spell that changed the clock, protected a lethal mill sequence, stopped a combo or finisher, or was spent on a lower-impact spell because no better plan existed.

- Board survival: Record whether `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Ruin Crab`, Ashiok token creation from `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, or legal bounce/defensive modes bought relevant turns. If creatures attacked or blocked, judge the decision from visible life totals, combat math, and library clock, not from generic aggression.

- Closing accuracy: Inspect turns involving `Fraying Sanity`, `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Ruin Crab` triggers for missed lethal sequencing. Ask whether a burst spell, land drop, kicked or alternate legal mode, or held trap window would have closed sooner.

- Role assignment: Label the game plan as race, control, stabilize-then-burst, or planeswalker pressure. Note mistakes where the pilot played a slow control role while the opponent library was nearly dead, or raced while visible battlefield pressure required defense.

- Stranded-card report: List cards that remained unusable for multiple turns and why. Separate color screw, too much mana cost, wrong matchup texture, no legal target or mode, and timing errors for `Archive Trap`, `Thought Collapse`, `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Fraying Sanity`, and `Ashiok, Dream Render`.

- Sideboard reality: Confirm that no sideboard action occurred because the registered sideboard contains zero cards. For post-board games, evaluate adaptation through mulligans, sequencing, and counterspell targets only.

- Overperformer and underperformer notes: Name the exact cards that exceeded or missed expectations in context. Useful notes include `Ruin Crab` producing repeated landfall, `Overwhelmed Apprentice` buying a turn, `Ashiok, Dream Render` mattering only when legal actions supported it, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` being too slow under pressure.

## First Tuning Questions

- Quantity question: Should the deck keep the full four `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` if multiple games show it stranded before five mana or ineffective against fast pressure? Reduce only if logs show the card was both slow and less decisive than cheaper mill or interaction.

- Engine balance question: Are three `Fraying Sanity`, two `Drowned Secrets`, and three `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` creating too many setup hands? Increase engine density only if games go long without enough repeatable mill, and reduce it if early turns often lack immediate action.

- Burst density question: Are four `Archive Trap`, four `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, and three `Maddening Cacophony` enough to close once the opponent is below half library? If losses repeatedly leave the opponent at a low library count, the deck may need more immediate mill or better sequencing around existing burst cards.

- Mana question: Does the `Clearwater Pathway`, `Fabled Passage`, `Temple of Deceit`, `Island`, and `Swamp` mix reliably cast `Glimpse the Unthinkable` early while holding `Thought Collapse` on time? If black is late or tapped lands cost games, adjust mana before changing threats.

- Aggro plan question: Does the main deck have enough early stabilization from `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Ruin Crab`, `Thought Collapse`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` tokens? If fast creature losses dominate, decide whether the maindeck needs more defensive interaction or whether mulligan standards are simply too loose.

- Control plan question: Does the deck overload opposing answers with noncreature pressure from `Drowned Secrets`, `Fraying Sanity`, `Ashiok, Dream Render`, and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`? If creature removal blanks too many starts, lean tuning toward durable engines and sorcery burst rather than more creature dependence.

- Closer question: Is `Fraying Sanity` acting as a real finisher or as a slow multiplier that does not affect losing boards? Keep it high if it creates immediate two-turn kills with visible follow-up; reduce it if it is repeatedly cast without enough mana, life, or cards to exploit it.

- Sideboard-slot question: Is the zero-card sideboard acceptable for testing, or are Games 2 and 3 exposing repeated unsolved problems against aggro, control, graveyard decks, or combo? If post-board losses cluster by archetype, the next build needs actual sideboard roles rather than play-pattern adaptation only.

- Role-conflict question: Are `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`, and `Thought Collapse` pulling the deck toward a slower control plan while `Archive Trap`, `Glimpse the Unthinkable`, `Maddening Cacophony`, and `Ruin Crab` want speed? Tune toward one dominant plan if mixed draws keep producing half-control, half-race losses.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Mulligan For Functional Mill Starts
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Ruin Crab; Overwhelmed Apprentice; Glimpse the Unthinkable; Thought Collapse; Clearwater Pathway; Island; Swamp; Temple of Deceit
Phase windows: pregame, opening hand, mulligan decisions
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible hand; land count; color availability
Use when: choosing keep or mulligan before any game action.
Avoid when: a legal forced keep or forced mulligan is the only engine action.
Instructions: Keep hands with two or three lands, early blue access, and at least one early mill piece or interaction path. Mulligan hands with no blue source, one land without `Ruin Crab` plus `Fabled Passage`, five-plus lands without engine density, or expensive-only payoffs such as `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` and `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Permanent Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, priority
Cards: Ruin Crab; Overwhelmed Apprentice; Drowned Secrets; Temple of Deceit; Fabled Passage
Phase windows: turns 1-3 main phases
Runtime cues: legal cast actions; available lands; visible hand
Use when: choosing the first proactive play of the game.
Avoid when: the opponent has a lethal or near-lethal visible attack and only one defensive action is legal.
Instructions: Lead with `Ruin Crab` when a landfall follow-up is visible, lead with `Overwhelmed Apprentice` when scry/blocking matters immediately, and cast `Drowned Secrets` before blue spell chains when mana and life total permit. Do not hold all early pieces for theoretical synergy if the opponent clock is already visible.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Ruin Crab Landfall Sequencing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana, selection
Cards: Ruin Crab; Fabled Passage; Clearwater Pathway; Island; Swamp; Temple of Deceit
Phase windows: main phases before land play, landfall trigger windows
Runtime cues: visible `Ruin Crab`; legal land play; legal `Fabled Passage` activation
Use when: deciding land timing while `Ruin Crab` is on the battlefield.
Avoid when: holding a land prevents casting a required spell this turn.
Instructions: Play `Fabled Passage` after `Ruin Crab` when legal to create multiple landfall events. Delay cracking `Fabled Passage` only when the mana is not needed and a future `Ruin Crab` or `Fraying Sanity` turn is more valuable from visible actions.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Target Opponent With Mill Spells
Priority: Low
Decision families: selection, priority
Cards: Archive Trap; Glimpse the Unthinkable; Fraying Sanity; Drowned Secrets
Phase windows: spell target prompts, triggered ability target prompts
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Archive Trap; action:target opponent Glimpse the Unthinkable; action:target opponent Fraying Sanity; action:target opponent Drowned Secrets
Use when: a legal target prompt names one of these cards and the visible legal action text offers `target opponent`.
Avoid when: the legal action text does not identify the opponent target.
Instructions: Select the opponent as the target for mill effects and `Fraying Sanity` attachment when the committed line is already being executed.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Burst Mill Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, interaction
Cards: Archive Trap; Glimpse the Unthinkable; Maddening Cacophony; Fraying Sanity
Phase windows: main phases, opponent search response windows, end-step windows when legal
Runtime cues: legal cast actions; opponent library count; visible stack; available mana
Use when: deciding whether to spend burst mill now or wait.
Avoid when: the only legal action is a deterministic target prompt after a spell is already selected.
Instructions: Fire burst mill when it materially shortens the library clock, uses mana that would otherwise be idle, or converts `Fraying Sanity` into a near-term kill. Hold `Archive Trap` for opponent search windows when the visible game state supports waiting; cast it normally only when mana, library count, and survival pressure make waiting worse.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fraying Sanity Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mana, priority
Cards: Fraying Sanity; Glimpse the Unthinkable; Archive Trap; Maddening Cacophony; Ruin Crab
Phase windows: main phases before mill spells, second main after combat
Runtime cues: legal cast `Fraying Sanity`; visible follow-up mill; opponent library count; life total
Use when: choosing whether to tap out for `Fraying Sanity`.
Avoid when: visible pressure requires holding `Thought Collapse` or creating blockers this turn.
Instructions: Cast `Fraying Sanity` when the same turn or next turn contains visible mill volume that can exploit it. Do not spend a full turn on it if the opponent battlefield demands immediate stabilization or the hand lacks follow-up mill.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Thought Collapse Permission Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction, priority
Cards: Thought Collapse
Phase windows: opponent spell on stack, own-turn protection windows
Runtime cues: visible stack spell; legal cast `Thought Collapse`; available mana
Use when: deciding whether to counter a spell.
Avoid when: the stack spell is already illegal to target or cannot be countered according to engine actions.
Instructions: Use `Thought Collapse` on spells that change the damage clock, remove a key engine, stop a lethal or combo turn, or protect a closing mill sequence. Pass on low-impact spells when the visible library clock is already faster than the battlefield clock.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Mana Color Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Clearwater Pathway; Temple of Deceit; Island; Swamp; Fabled Passage; Glimpse the Unthinkable; Thought Collapse; Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
Phase windows: land play, spell payment, path choice, fetch choice
Runtime cues: legal mana source choices; visible hand costs; current turn spell plan
Use when: choosing land face, fetch basic, or mana payment.
Avoid when: the rules engine offers only one payment action.
Instructions: Preserve early blue for `Ruin Crab`, `Overwhelmed Apprentice`, `Thought Collapse`, and blue spell chains. Secure black for `Glimpse the Unthinkable` and `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` only after blue development is stable, unless black is required for the current legal spell.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Pay Exact Mana For Selected Spell
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: none
Phase windows: mana payment prompts
Runtime cues: action:pay; action:activate mana ability
Use when: one legal payment sequence is available for the already selected spell or ability.
Avoid when: multiple legal payment choices differ by land left untapped, color left floating, or `Fabled Passage` timing.
Instructions: Submit the sole legal payment action when the spell has already been selected and the engine exposes no meaningful alternative.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Thassa Blink Target Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection, priority
Cards: Thassa, Deep-Dwelling; Overwhelmed Apprentice; Ruin Crab
Phase windows: end step trigger prompts
Runtime cues: legal `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling` target choices; visible creatures; visible scry or landfall setup
Use when: choosing a creature to exile and return with `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`.
Avoid when: the only legal action is decline and no target exists.
Instructions: Prefer blinking `Overwhelmed Apprentice` when scry improves next-turn mill or mana and the body is not needed to block before the next combat. Blink `Ruin Crab` only if rules output shows a relevant benefit; do not assume landfall repeats from blinking alone.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Ashiok Dream Render Timing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, interaction
Cards: Ashiok, Dream Render
Phase windows: main phases, opponent search-denial contexts
Runtime cues: legal cast or activate `Ashiok, Dream Render`; opponent library/graveyard visibility
Use when: deciding whether to deploy or activate `Ashiok, Dream Render`.
Avoid when: the board requires immediate blockers, counter mana, or lethal burst mill.
Instructions: Use `Ashiok, Dream Render` when search denial, graveyard exile, or repeat mill matters from public information. Do not overvalue it as a generic three-mana play if the opponent is pressuring life total and the hand contains faster mill.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Ashiok Nightmare Muse Stabilization Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority, combat, interaction
Cards: Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
Phase windows: main phases with five mana, planeswalker activation prompts
Runtime cues: legal cast or activate `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse`; visible battlefield; life total; opponent library count
Use when: choosing whether to tap out for the five-mana planeswalker or select its activation.
Avoid when: immediate mill is lethal through visible legal actions.
Instructions: Cast `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` when the token or bounce/exile pressure buys turns or creates a durable alternate win path. Avoid tapping out for it when `Thought Collapse` must answer a visible stack threat or when cheaper mill ends the game sooner.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Defense Before Damage Race
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat
Cards: Overwhelmed Apprentice; Ruin Crab; Ashiok, Nightmare Muse
Phase windows: declare blockers, attack decisions, planeswalker defense
Runtime cues: legal attack/block actions; visible attackers; life totals; planeswalker loyalty
Use when: assigning attacks or blocks with small creatures or tokens.
Avoid when: exactly one legal no-block action exists.
Instructions: Treat creatures mostly as engine pieces and blockers, not damage sources. Block to preserve life or planeswalker loyalty when the mill clock needs another turn; avoid trading `Ruin Crab` unless survival or a decisive planeswalker protection line requires it.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Scry For Land And Mill Density
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection
Cards: Overwhelmed Apprentice; Temple of Deceit
Phase windows: scry prompts, early turns, pre-draw setup
Runtime cues: scry choice; visible top card identities; hand mana and spell mix
Use when: choosing top or bottom for scry.
Avoid when: the engine hides the card identity or provides no choice.
Instructions: Keep missing land drops early, keep required colors for current hand, and keep immediate mill or `Thought Collapse` when the opponent clock demands interaction. Bottom redundant expensive cards when hand already contains `Thassa, Deep-Dwelling`, `Fraying Sanity`, or `Ashiok, Nightmare Muse` without enough mana.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Drowned Secrets Blue Spell Chain
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, selection
Cards: Drowned Secrets; Overwhelmed Apprentice; Thought Collapse; Maddening Cacophony; Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
Phase windows: main phases, blue spell cast triggers, stack resolution
Runtime cues: visible `Drowned Secrets`; legal blue spell; trigger target prompt
Use when: `Drowned Secrets` is on battlefield and blue spells are legal.
Avoid when: casting the blue spell walks into visible lethal pressure or wastes needed counter mana.
Instructions: Sequence blue spells after `Drowned Secrets` when tempo allows, especially low-cost plays that add mill without losing board stability. Target the opponent with the trigger when that legal target prompt is exposed.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard No-Change Contract
Priority: Low
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: none
Phase windows: between games, sideboard submission
Runtime cues: action:submit sideboard plan; sideboard count zero; legal sideboard request
Use when: a sideboard decision is requested for this registered list.
Avoid when: the runtime deck registration shows sideboard cards not present in this specification.
Instructions: Submit no card changes because the registered sideboard contains zero cards. Adapt post-board games through mulligan standards, sequencing, and `Thought Collapse` targets only.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Pass Priority With Counterspell Awareness
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority, interaction
Cards: Thought Collapse; Archive Trap
Phase windows: all priority windows, opponent turn, end step
Runtime cues: legal pass action; visible stack; available mana; visible `Thought Collapse` or `Archive Trap`
Use when: deciding whether to pass priority instead of casting an instant-speed action.
Avoid when: a legal action wins immediately or prevents immediate loss from visible information.
Instructions: Pass with mana open when holding `Thought Collapse` and the opponent can present a meaningful spell. Pass through harmless empty-stack windows when no instant legal action improves the current library clock or survival plan.
Pilot skill floor: light-model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
