# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

Deck: Spy Combo. Format: Pauper. Registered archetype tags: combo, graveyard, reanimator. Treat repeated source tags as one consolidated identity: this is a graveyard-centric combo deck that uses creature-based mana and self-mill to set up a Dread Return kill, not a fair midrange deck that happens to contain graveyard cards.

Registration check: the main deck contains exactly 60 cards, and the sideboard contains exactly 15 cards. The main deck count is validated from the supplied list: 4 Balustrade Spy, 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 3 Wall of Roots, 4 Overgrown Battlement, 3 Saruli Caretaker, 4 Masked Vandal, 2 Nyxborn Hydra, 2 Quirion Ranger, 4 Sagu Wildling, 4 Generous Ent, 3 Gatecreeper Vine, 4 Land Grant, 4 Lead the Stampede, 3 Forest, 2 Swamp, 2 Lotleth Giant, 2 Dread Return, 4 Winding Way, and 4 Troll of Khazad-dûm. The sideboard count is validated from the supplied list: 2 Nyxborn Hydra, 3 Cast Down, 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 1 Flaring Pain, 1 Jack-o'-Lantern, 3 Healer of the Glade, 2 Pilfer, and 1 Voracious Varmint.

Stock status: classify this list as a deck-specific hybrid of Pauper Spy Combo and creature-engine graveyard combo, not as a generic stock list. The registered configuration has the recognizable Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant finish, but it also commits heavily to defender and creature-selection infrastructure through Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Quirion Ranger, and Nyxborn Hydra. Runtime decisions should use this guide’s registered-card assumptions instead of importing plans from unrelated Spy shells.

Legality concern: treat the deck as a supplied Pauper registration for Veles testing, but do not infer legality or card text beyond rules-engine output. If the engine says an action is illegal, unavailable, or differently worded than expected, obey the engine. If a tactical line depends on exact wording of Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Land Grant, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or any sideboard card and the text is not visible, mark the line conditional rather than claiming certainty.

Mana concern: this deck’s mana is intentionally unusual and must be evaluated from visible sources, legal actions, and payment prompts. The registered lands are only 3 Forest and 2 Swamp, so Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Gatecreeper Vine, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, and Quirion Ranger are part of the functional mana system. Do not assume the deck can cast black spells on time unless a legal black source or search line is actually visible.

Role concern: the default role is proactive combo setup, but the decision agent must shift roles when visible pressure, graveyard hate, removal, discard, or counterplay changes the race. Balustrade Spy and Dread Return lines are the primary identity; Mesmeric Fiend, Masked Vandal, Cast Down, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, Healer of the Glade, Voracious Varmint, Flaring Pain, and extra Nyxborn Hydra sideboard plans support protection, disruption, stabilization, or alternate pressure only when legal and tactically justified.

Opponent information status: opponent details are unknown unless supplied by the match context, revealed by legal game actions, shown in public zones, or learned from previous games in the same match. Use archetype-level inference only as probability, never as hidden-hand knowledge. Runtime choices must respect Veles legal actions, visible board state, public information, revealed information windows, and rules-engine prompts over any matchup assumption in this specification.

## Thesis

Spy Combo assembles creature-based mana, card-density selection, and graveyard mass before converting a legal Balustrade Spy or Dread Return line into a Lotleth Giant finish. Prioritize early mana bodies, enough creatures on battlefield to pay costs or survive pressure, and enough velocity to find Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant without relying on hidden information or assumed library order.

The primary plan is to build green mana with Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Forest, and Swamp, then use Lead the Stampede and Winding Way to either find combo pieces or stock creatures for later graveyard payoff. Treat Balustrade Spy as the main self-mill engine only when the visible and rules-engine state make the line productive; because this registered list contains Forest and Swamp, do not assume Balustrade Spy mills the entire library unless lands have been removed or the engine confirms the outcome.

The kill condition is usually Dread Return returning Lotleth Giant after enough creatures are in the graveyard for its rules text to matter. Do not assume Lotleth Giant is lethal from name or archetype alone; count visible graveyard creatures, visible opponent life, replacement/prevention effects, stack interaction, and all legal targets or mandatory choices from the engine. If Dread Return requires sacrificing creatures, preserve expendable bodies and avoid unnecessary attacks or blocks that make the flashback line impossible.

This deck is not trying to win a long fair creature-combat game as Plan A. Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and sideboard Nyxborn Hydra can pressure, stabilize, or punish stalled boards, but their main job is to support a combo race unless the opponent has disrupted the graveyard plan or the legal actions present a clear combat win.

Prioritize actions that increase the next-turn combo branch over actions that merely spend mana. A turn that casts Overgrown Battlement or Lead the Stampede may be better than a low-impact body if it increases access to Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, or enough creatures to make those cards decisive.

## Role Package

- Threats: Balustrade Spy is the registered main threat because it can transform library position into graveyard position. Lotleth Giant is the decisive payoff body when Dread Return or hard-cast lines are legal. Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm are secondary battlefield threats when combo timing is blocked, pressure is needed, or their alternate mana/search functions have already done their job.

- Payoffs: Lotleth Giant is the primary graveyard payoff and should be protected from discard, exile, or premature use when a larger graveyard is required. Dread Return is the recursion payoff that turns spare creatures into a reanimated kill or stabilizer; preserve three suitable bodies when the engine exposes a flashback line. Balustrade Spy is both setup and payoff because a resolved Spy can be the bridge from development to lethal.

- Engines: Overgrown Battlement is the highest-priority mana engine when multiple defenders are visible or likely to follow. Wall of Roots is a mana body and blocker that can bridge early turns without consuming land drops. Saruli Caretaker turns creatures into acceleration, so value cheap bodies more highly when it is present. Quirion Ranger can create extra mana or untap value with Forest-dependent lines when the engine presents legal activations.

- Velocity: Lead the Stampede is the cleanest creature-density refill and should usually be favored when the hand needs bodies, payoffs, or post-disruption rebuild material. Winding Way is a flexible selection/graveyard card; choose modes only from legal prompts and prefer the mode that advances the current role. Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and Gatecreeper Vine are mana-velocity tools that find functional resources before combo turns.

- Interaction: Mesmeric Fiend is main-deck hand interaction and protection when legal; use it to clear the card most likely to stop Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant rather than the most expensive card. Masked Vandal is artifact/enchantment interaction if its text and costs are satisfied; Card text check required for exact graveyard/exile cost handling, so obey engine prompts. Sideboard Cast Down, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, and Flaring Pain expand interaction after Game 1.

- Protection: Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer protect combo windows by attacking known hand resources. Healer of the Glade protects life total against racing decks. Flaring Pain is a conditional anti-prevention tool; Card text check required, and use only when visible prevention or damage-lock concerns make it relevant. Extra Nyxborn Hydra protects against overboarding by giving a credible non-graveyard pressure plan.

- Recursion: Dread Return is the only registered main recursion spell and should be treated as a scarce payoff, not a casual value card. Jack-o'-Lantern may affect graveyards or mana depending on engine text; Card text check required, so use it only from visible legal actions.

- Mana: Forest, Swamp, Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, and Quirion Ranger form one combined mana module. Sequence for green development first unless black is required now for Mesmeric Fiend, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Pilfer, or Cast Down.

- Sideboard modules: Cast Down and Voracious Varmint answer permanents, Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer fight hands, Healer of the Glade buys turns, Flaring Pain contests prevention, Jack-o'-Lantern contests graveyards or utility lines, and sideboard Nyxborn Hydra improves alternate pressure.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Spy-to-Giant kill: Prioritize Balustrade Spy when the visible setup can convert its self-mill into a Dread Return line for Lotleth Giant. Build toward black mana, at least three expendable creatures for Dread Return flashback, and a graveyard with enough creatures for Lotleth Giant to threaten the opponent's visible life total; because Forest and Swamp are registered, never assume Balustrade Spy mills the full library unless the rules engine shows that outcome.

- Setup for the main kill: Use Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Land Grant, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm to create the mana and land access needed to cast Balustrade Spy or hard-cast payoff cards. Prefer development that leaves creatures on battlefield over lines that trade them away, because Dread Return flashback needs sacrificial bodies and Lotleth Giant needs graveyard creature count.

- Execution discipline: Cast Balustrade Spy only when resolving it advances the current turn or next turn toward Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, or a decisive graveyard state. After Spy resolves, count visible graveyard creatures, available sacrifice bodies, black mana, opponent life, stack objects, graveyard hate, prevention effects, and legal target prompts before selecting Dread Return or Lotleth Giant actions.

- Protection path: Use Mesmeric Fiend before the combo turn when it can remove the known card most likely to stop Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant. Do not take a merely powerful card if visible mana, board state, or previous revealed information points to a removal spell, counterspell, graveyard hate, or prevention effect as the card that actually breaks the kill.

- Prioritization rule: Choose the combo kill over value or combat when the engine shows enough mana, bodies, graveyard material, and legal actions to either win now or force the opponent to answer immediately. Delay the kill when a missing sacrifice body, insufficient creature count, visible graveyard hate, or open interaction makes the line likely to fail and a Lead the Stampede or Winding Way action can improve the next attempt.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Big-creature pressure: Use Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm as a real fallback plan when graveyard access is disrupted or the opponent is spending resources on hate instead of board development. Favor this line when a legal large threat stabilizes combat, creates a two-turn clock, or forces removal away from Balustrade Spy and Lotleth Giant.

- Defender board conversion: Treat Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, and Quirion Ranger as more than mana when the combo is delayed; they can block, preserve life, and maintain the creature count needed for later Dread Return. Attack with utility creatures only when damage matters more than keeping blockers, convoke-like bodies, or sacrifice material for an exposed future line.

- Selection rebuild: Use Lead the Stampede as the preferred recovery tool when the hand needs multiple creatures, another Balustrade Spy, or enough bodies to support Dread Return. Use Winding Way when the legal mode advances the current role; creature mode usually rebuilds hand density, while land-related choices are only correct when mana development is the bottleneck shown by the visible state.

- Hard-cast payoff line: Hard-cast Lotleth Giant only when mana is available and the visible graveyard count makes it a meaningful stabilizer or finisher. Do not spend Lotleth Giant early as a low-impact creature if waiting one turn can add several graveyard creatures or if Dread Return is likely to create a stronger immediate result.

- Interaction-pressure line: Use Masked Vandal conditionally as artifact or enchantment interaction when the engine confirms legal costs and targets; Card text check required for exact cost handling. Removing a hate permanent can be better than adding pressure if it reopens Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or Lotleth Giant as a future kill.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: Preserve blockers first, then look for the fastest legal path to either Lotleth Giant lethal or a stabilizing large creature. Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm should block when the damage prevented buys a real combo turn; avoid speculative attacks that expose lethal crack-back.

- Behind on board: Prioritize stabilizing bodies and removal of blocking constraints over pure hand sculpting. If the opponent has lethal or near-lethal pressure, a legal creature cast, large Nyxborn Hydra, or relevant Masked Vandal target can be better than Lead the Stampede, unless the selection spell is the only line that finds enough bodies or a direct Lotleth Giant kill.

- Behind on cards: Use Lead the Stampede and Winding Way to rebuild density, but choose the line that answers the immediate bottleneck. If hand is empty but mana is abundant, prioritize creature refill; if hand contains payoff without mana, prioritize Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or legal mana development.

- Behind on mana: Search and develop before attempting fragile payoff actions. Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, and Quirion Ranger should be sequenced to unlock black for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant while preserving green for the creature engine.

- Engine disrupted: If Balustrade Spy is removed, countered, discarded, or unavailable, pivot to Lead the Stampede and Winding Way to find another copy or build a hard-cast Lotleth Giant plan. If Dread Return is exiled or unusable, keep graveyard count relevant for hard-cast Lotleth Giant and shift pressure toward Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm.

- Graveyard shut down: Do not feed more resources into graveyard-dependent lines while a visible hate permanent or effect makes them ineffective. Use Masked Vandal if legal, pressure with battlefield creatures, and keep selection spells aimed at hand and mana development until the engine shows graveyard recursion is available again.

## Resource Model

- Life is a combo resource until the visible clock makes it a survival resource. Spend early life to keep hands that develop Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Land Grant, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dum toward Balustrade Spy, but preserve blockers once the opponent can present lethal or force a failed combo turn.

- Hand size matters as engine density, not raw card advantage. Keep hands that contain mana plus a path to Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, or multiple defenders; avoid slow hands where the only action is a payoff without green development, black access, or a selection spell.

- Mana is the primary bottleneck and should be converted into permanent sources before speculative pressure. Overgrown Battlement scales with defender count, Wall of Roots can create burst turns, Saruli Caretaker can fix colors with another creature, and Quirion Ranger can create extra mana only when the rules engine exposes legal untap or land-return actions.

- Board presence is both defense and combo material. Protect creatures that add mana or count toward Dread Return flashback, and trade them only when the prevented damage buys a real turn or when a creature is no longer needed for mana, sacrifice fodder, or blocking.

- Graveyard count becomes a win-condition resource after Balustrade Spy, Winding Way, combat trades, cycling, or discard puts creatures there. Before choosing Dread Return or Lotleth Giant lines, count visible graveyard creatures, sacrifice bodies, target legality, opponent life, and any public graveyard hate instead of assuming the kill works.

- Exile is usually a cost, hate, or failed-resource zone. Do not exile a creature to Masked Vandal unless the engine confirms the cost and target and the permanent removed is more important than that creature as Lotleth Giant count, Dread Return fuel, or future hand density; Card text check required for exact Masked Vandal cost handling.

- Lands are scarce and must be treated as colored access, not just mana count. Forest supports the green engine, Swamp supports Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Pilfer, and Cast Down, and land-search or cycling actions should be aimed at the color that unlocks the next known legal line.

- Sacrifice fodder is a protected resource once Dread Return is visible or likely. Preserve low-impact creatures such as extra Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, Mesmeric Fiend after its job is done, or spent blockers when their battlefield body matters more than small attacks.

- Tempo is gained by compressing setup turns into one decisive combo turn. Prefer lines that add mana and bodies together, such as defender development plus color fixing, over lines that spend a turn on a standalone threat unless Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dum stabilizes the visible board.

- Information is a resource gained through Mesmeric Fiend, revealed cards, public zones, and previous legal game actions. Use known cards to decide whether to race, protect with discard, remove a hate piece, or wait; do not play as if an unrevealed Counterspell, removal spell, graveyard hate card, or sweeper is certain.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow mana and deck slots into matchup-specific time. Cast Down answers creatures, Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer protect combo turns, Healer of the Glade buys life, Flaring Pain pressures prevention effects, Jack-o'-Lantern contests graveyards or filters conditionally, Voracious Varmint answers specific permanents conditionally, and extra Nyxborn Hydra improves fair pressure when graveyard plans are contested.

## Mana Guide

- Prioritize green on turns one and two because the deck’s engine begins with Forest, Land Grant, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Lead the Stampede, and Winding Way. A hand with black cards but no reliable green development is usually worse than a green hand that can find Swamp later.

- Secure black before the combo turn when Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Cast Down, or Pilfer is the next important action. Use Swamp, Gatecreeper Vine, Land Grant if it can legally find the needed land type, Troll of Khazad-dum if the engine exposes swampcycling, and Saruli Caretaker fixing when available; Card text check required for exact cycling/search restrictions.

- Sequence land-search before selection when color is the bottleneck. If the hand cannot cast a key spell without Swamp or Forest, prefer legal Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dum setup before Lead the Stampede or Winding Way unless the selection spell is the only legal way to find action.

- Sequence selection before land commitment when the current land drop is flexible and the spell may reveal the needed plan. If the rules engine offers Lead the Stampede or Winding Way before a land play and both Forest and Swamp are possible follow-ups, consider waiting to play the land until after selection; if casting the selection spell requires the land, play the required land first.

- Preserve colored sources when paying generic costs. Spend surplus green from Overgrown Battlement or Wall of Roots before consuming black if the hand contains Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, or Cast Down; preserve green if the next likely turn needs Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, or more defenders.

- Use Wall of Roots as burst mana when the current turn creates a major threshold. Prefer it for Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede into follow-up creatures, or sideboard interaction that prevents lethal; avoid shrinking it casually when its toughness as a blocker matters against visible attackers.

- Use Overgrown Battlement after adding defenders when the order is legal and mana-positive. Casting Gatecreeper Vine, Wall of Roots, or Saruli Caretaker first can increase Battlement output or fixing options, but do not delay a critical spell if waiting exposes the line to lethal combat or known interaction.

- Use Saruli Caretaker as color fixing when another untapped creature is expendable for mana. Tap a creature that is least likely to block, attack profitably, or be needed as Dread Return fodder this turn; avoid tapping the only blocker against a visible lethal attack unless the mana produces a winning or stabilizing action.

- Use Quirion Ranger only when the visible legal action improves mana, color, or combat. Returning Forest can enable an extra mana activation or protect a land-drop sequence, but do not bounce the only land needed for black access or reduce next-turn mana unless the current action is decisive.

- Mulligan mana rule: keep hands with green access, at least one early mana creature or land-finder, and a credible route to black or card selection. Mulligan hands that cannot act before turn three, hands with only payoff cards and no setup, or hands that need both a specific land and a specific creature draw to function.

- Utility-land rule: Forest and Swamp are the only registered lands, so treat tapped or utility-land concerns as rules-engine state from effects, not deck construction. If a land enters tapped or is constrained by an effect, follow the engine output and sequence around the actual available mana shown.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: keep green access plus an early engine creature and a route to cards or black mana, such as Forest, Land Grant, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, and Balustrade Spy. This hand has turn-one or turn-two development, selection to find more creatures, and a visible plan to reach the Balustrade Spy plus Dread Return endgame without needing perfect draws.

- Strong keep: keep Forest or Land Grant with Saruli Caretaker, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Lead the Stampede, and any payoff if the engine shows legal sequencing. The first priority is building mana and bodies; Balustrade Spy, Lotleth Giant, and Dread Return can arrive later if the hand already develops.

- Medium keep: keep one-land green hands with Land Grant, Wall of Roots or Gatecreeper Vine, and Winding Way or Lead the Stampede when the legal first action fixes mana. This hand is acceptable on the draw or against slower decks, but it becomes risky on the play if losing the first creature strands the hand.

- Medium keep: keep Swamp plus Land Grant or Forest plus Mesmeric Fiend when the matchup rewards protection before combo. Mesmeric Fiend is strongest when the opponent is likely to have counterspells, removal, or graveyard hate; do not keep it as the only early action against fast creature pressure unless the rest of the hand stabilizes.

- Risky keep: treat Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Nyxborn Hydra, and Troll of Khazad-dûm-heavy hands as risky without green development. Payoffs are not a plan until visible mana, bodies, and graveyard count make them legal and useful.

- Automatic ship: mulligan hands with no green source, no Land Grant, no Gatecreeper Vine, no Generous Ent or Troll of Khazad-dûm land-search action exposed by the engine, and no castable early creature. The deck cannot rely on drawing out of a nonfunctional opener before fast decks or interaction punish it.

- Automatic ship: mulligan hands that only contain expensive threats and graveyard payoffs, such as Balustrade Spy, Lotleth Giant, Dread Return, Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm, with no early mana creature or selection. A hand that starts on turn three or four without disruption is usually too slow.

- Matchup-dependent keep: keep Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, or extra Mesmeric Fiend postboard only when the opponent’s visible archetype makes that card buy a real turn or protect the combo. Do not keep a sideboard-card hand that lacks the main mana engine.

- Play/draw rule: keep faster, lower-land hands on the play only when they produce turn-one or turn-two development; on the draw, accept slightly slower hands with Winding Way or Lead the Stampede because the extra card improves engine density. Against fast aggro, prioritize Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and Healer of the Glade postboard over speculative combo speed.

- Trap hand: avoid hands that look powerful because they contain Balustrade Spy plus Dread Return but have too few creatures to sacrifice or too little mana to cast Spy. Before keeping, ask whether the hand can make bodies, find black, and survive to the combo turn using only legal visible actions.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: prioritize Forest, Land Grant, or any legal land-search action that enables green development. If Saruli Caretaker or Quirion Ranger is the only legal proactive creature, deploy it when it improves turn-two mana; otherwise prefer fixing with Land Grant, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm if the engine exposes that action and the color is needed.

- Turn 1 deviation: use Swamp into Mesmeric Fiend only when the matchup and hand say protection is worth delaying green setup. This line is best against likely counterspell, removal, or graveyard-hate decks and weak against fast boards unless it removes the card that would stop stabilization.

- Turn 2: prioritize Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, or Saruli Caretaker to build mana and creature count. If both Overgrown Battlement and another defender are legal, choose the line that creates the most turn-three mana while preserving colored access.

- Turn 2 deviation: cast Winding Way or Lead the Stampede when the hand lacks enough creatures, lands, or black access and the engine presents no better development line. Choose the selection mode or action based on the current shortage; Card text check required for exact Winding Way mode handling.

- Turn 3: aim to convert setup into either a large mana turn or a protected setup turn. Preferred plays are Lead the Stampede or Winding Way to refill, Balustrade Spy if legal and likely decisive, or Mesmeric Fiend before a combo attempt when known or likely interaction matters.

- Turn 3 deviation: play Masked Vandal, Cast Down, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, or Voracious Varmint postboard only when the target or disruption changes the next turn cycle more than advancing mana. Card text check required for exact Masked Vandal, Jack-o'-Lantern, and Voracious Varmint tactical text; follow engine legality and visible targets.

- Turns 4-5: prioritize the combo turn when Balustrade Spy can legally resolve and the graveyard, sacrifice bodies, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant path are visible enough to matter. Count creatures in graveyard and battlefield before choosing Dread Return, and do not assume Lotleth Giant is lethal unless opponent life and trigger outcome are supported by visible information.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: pivot to fair pressure with Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm when graveyard hate, missing black, or missing sacrifice bodies blocks the primary line. Keep defenders back as mana and blockers unless attacking changes the race or enables lethal pressure.

- Late game: use selection to rebuild after disruption and protect any renewed combo attempt with Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer when legal. Preserve creatures as Dread Return fuel, preserve black for Balustrade Spy or interaction, and spend removal only on threats or hate permanents that actually stop survival or the kill.

- Late-game emergency: stabilize first when the opponent presents lethal or a short clock. Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, Healer of the Glade, and Cast Down are life-buying tools; choose the line that keeps the most future combo equity after preventing the immediate loss.

## Card Roles

- Balustrade Spy: treat Balustrade Spy as the primary graveyard-conversion spell, not a generic four-mana flyer. Cast it when black mana, creature count, sacrifice bodies, and the follow-up Dread Return path make the self-mill trigger useful; if lands remain in the library, do not assume it mills the entire deck. Target yourself only when the graveyard gain advances a visible combo plan, and target the opponent only if the engine presents that as a tactical library-pressure line with no better combo use. Against counterspell or graveyard-hate decks, prefer Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer protection first when legal and not too slow.

- Dread Return: use Dread Return as the bridge from stocked graveyard to Lotleth Giant, usually through flashback after Balustrade Spy, Winding Way, or combat attrition has put enough creatures in the graveyard. Before choosing it, verify the engine exposes legal sacrifice costs, a legal graveyard target, and enough battlefield creatures to pay the cost without losing survival unnecessarily. Do not spend Dread Return on a fair creature unless the primary kill is blocked and the reanimated body changes the race or stabilizes immediately.

- Lotleth Giant: treat Lotleth Giant as the normal kill target, with lethal dependent on the visible creature-card count in your graveyard and the legal target/output shown by Forge. Do not assume lethal from deck identity alone; count graveyard creatures, opponent life, prevention effects, and any public replacement or damage modification cues. Hard-casting Lotleth Giant is an emergency plan when defender mana is abundant and graveyard count makes the trigger meaningful.

- Overgrown Battlement: prioritize Overgrown Battlement as the best mana-engine permanent because it scales with defenders and accelerates Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede turns, and hard-cast backup threats. Cast it before lower-impact creatures when it increases next-turn mana, especially with Wall of Roots, Gatecreeper Vine, Saruli Caretaker, or additional Overgrown Battlement. Avoid attacking or sacrificing defenders casually; their mana value often exceeds their combat value until the combo turn.

- Wall of Roots: deploy Wall of Roots early as acceleration, blocker, and future Dread Return material. Use its mana ability when it advances the current line or preserves lands/colored sources for black spells, but respect any visible toughness, damage, or counter restrictions the engine reports. Against aggro, Wall of Roots is a stabilizer first and combo fuel second; preserve it if blocking buys more time than sacrificing it this turn.

- Saruli Caretaker: use Saruli Caretaker as a cheap mana enabler whose value depends on having another creature to tap. Cast it early when it improves turn-two or turn-three mana, but do not overvalue it in creature-light hands where it cannot function. In combo turns, compare tapping creatures for mana against keeping three expendable bodies for Dread Return flashback.

- Gatecreeper Vine: cast Gatecreeper Vine when the hand needs land access, a defender, or another body for Overgrown Battlement math. Its role is to smooth green/black development while increasing creature density; choose the land-search option that fixes the next two turns, not merely the current spell. Against removal-heavy decks, Gatecreeper Vine is a low-risk body that helps rebuild after disruption.

- Land Grant: use Land Grant as early fixing and as a way to reduce land bottlenecks before committing to Balustrade Spy lines, while following the exact alternate-cost legality shown by Forge. If casting Land Grant would reveal information, accept that cost only when the mana gain matters more than concealing the hand. Fetch Forest when green development is missing; value Swamp access when Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, or Cast Down lines are constrained by black mana.

- Generous Ent: use Generous Ent primarily as land access or a large backup body depending on the legal actions exposed by the engine. Early, prefer its land-finding mode when the hand needs stable mana; late, hard-cast or recur it only when the fair-combat plan is more realistic than an immediate combo. Card text check required for exact land-search and body details; keep tactical use conditional on Forge prompts.

- Troll of Khazad-dûm: use Troll of Khazad-dûm as black fixing, graveyard density, and a late-game threat when the primary line is slowed. Early, choose the land-search action when it enables Balustrade Spy or disruption; late, treat it as a fair finisher only if defender mana can support it and the opponent cannot easily race. Card text check required for exact land-search and combat text; obey engine legality.

- Lead the Stampede: use Lead the Stampede to reload creature density and find missing engine pieces after the first setup wave. Cast it when the hand lacks bodies, a payoff, or Dread Return fuel; delay it when deploying Overgrown Battlement or Wall of Roots creates a much stronger next turn. Its misses still shape public graveyard information, so reevaluate Dread Return and Lotleth Giant counts after resolution.

- Winding Way: use Winding Way as flexible selection that can fill hand and graveyard while finding creatures or lands. Choose the mode that addresses the visible shortage: creatures for engine/payoff density, lands when black or green access blocks the line. Card text check required for exact mode and reveal handling; after it resolves, update graveyard count before assuming Dread Return or Lotleth Giant is ready.

- Masked Vandal: treat Masked Vandal as main-deck utility and creature density, with its disruptive value dependent on visible legal targets. Cast it as a body when development matters and no target is relevant; hold it when the opponent is likely to present artifact, enchantment, or graveyard-hate permanents that stop the combo. Card text check required for exact exile/additional-cost requirement; do not choose it unless Forge shows the cost and target as legal.

- Mesmeric Fiend: use Mesmeric Fiend as protection before committing Balustrade Spy or Dread Return, especially against counterspells, removal, sweepers, and graveyard hate. Cast it when seeing and taking a relevant card changes the next turn cycle; avoid spending it as a random two-drop if the matchup is about racing creature pressure and your hand needs mana first. Follow revealed-hand information exactly and do not infer unseen cards as known.

- Sagu Wildling: use Sagu Wildling as creature density, mana development, or backup pressure only according to the exact legal actions Forge exposes. Card text check required; do not assume specific abilities beyond what the engine presents. In practice, value it most when it increases creature count for Lead the Stampede, Dread Return, and fair stabilization without delaying higher-impact engine pieces.

- Nyxborn Hydra: treat Nyxborn Hydra as a scalable backup threat and pressure pivot when the graveyard plan is disrupted or too slow. Cast it when mana is abundant and a large creature changes combat; hold it when it would consume resources needed for Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or protection. Card text check required for exact bestow/modified-cost/combat implications; use only visible legal modes.

- Quirion Ranger: use Quirion Ranger as a mana-tactical card that can reuse creatures or lands only when the engine presents legal actions. It is strongest with mana creatures and defender engines, but it can also expose sequencing traps if bouncing a land delays black access. Card text check required for exact activation constraints; do not activate merely because it is available unless it increases current mana, preserves a blocker, or enables a decisive follow-up.

- Forest: treat Forest as the default early land because green starts the deck. Keep green untapped for Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Land Grant follow-ups, Winding Way, and Lead the Stampede unless black is the immediate bottleneck.

- Swamp: treat Swamp as the black-access land for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, and postboard black interaction. Preserve Swamp or black-producing choices when the next meaningful play is protection or the combo payoff, even if green spending is tempting.

## Interaction Priorities

- Discard first: use Mesmeric Fiend and postboard Pilfer on the card that stops the next combo turn, not on the most expensive card. Highest-value discard targets are visible graveyard hate, instant-speed removal for Balustrade Spy or a required sacrifice body, counterspells, sweepers, and fast lethal pressure that invalidates a setup turn.

- Discard timing: cast Mesmeric Fiend before committing Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, or a three-creature sacrifice setup when the opponent has mana or cards that plausibly interact. Against low-interaction aggro, develop Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, or Gatecreeper Vine first unless Mesmeric Fiend can take a clearly lethal burn spell or pump effect.

- Removal first: use Cast Down on the creature that changes the race or blocks the combo turn, especially a fast clock, evasive attacker, hate creature, or creature carrying visible lethal pressure. Do not spend Cast Down on a minor blocker if the current line is to mill and Dread Return Lotleth Giant rather than win through combat.

- Exile first: use Jack-o'-Lantern on the opposing graveyard card that is about to matter, such as a flashback spell, recursion target, dredge-style engine card, or graveyard payoff visible in public zones. Do not fire Jack-o'-Lantern merely to shrink a graveyard if the opponent has no legal graveyard action, and preserve it when its mana or card-flow mode is more important by visible state.

- Artifact/enchantment hate first: use Masked Vandal or Voracious Varmint on visible hate permanents that stop graveyard use, prevent Dread Return, tax key spells, or create an immediate lethal clock. Card text check required for exact Masked Vandal and Voracious Varmint costs and target restrictions; choose these actions only when Forge exposes a legal target and the cost does not break the combo setup.

- Prevention answer: use Flaring Pain only when damage prevention is the visible reason Lotleth Giant, combat damage, or another legal damage line would fail. Do not spend Flaring Pain as a generic spell; hold it until the engine shows a prevention-relevant window or the matchup has demonstrated prevention effects.

- Bait cards: bait counters or removal with Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Gatecreeper Vine, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, or a nonessential creature before exposing Balustrade Spy when the hand can still execute later. Against blue tempo or black removal decks, make the opponent answer reload spells and setup bodies before the one spell that converts the library into a graveyard.

- Ignore first: ignore small ground creatures, incidental life gain, and low-impact artifacts if your current legal line threatens Balustrade Spy into Dread Return. Switch from ignoring them only when life total, clock math, graveyard hate, or a visible activated ability makes them relevant before your next turn.

- Archetype shift: against aggro, interaction buys turns and protects life; against control, interaction protects the combo; against graveyard decks, Jack-o'-Lantern and discard should hit recursion and payoff windows; against artifact or enchantment decks, preserve Masked Vandal and Voracious Varmint for hate or engines instead of casting them as filler.

- Counter/bounce note: the registered list has no normal counterspell or bounce package, so do not pass priority expecting one unless Forge offers a legal action from Flaring Pain, Jack-o'-Lantern, Cast Down, Masked Vandal, Voracious Varmint, or another registered card already on board.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Preserve engine bodies: avoid attacking with Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Masked Vandal, or Mesmeric Fiend when that creature is needed for mana, Dread Return flashback, or blocking the next attack. A point or two of damage is rarely worth losing a body that unlocks Balustrade Spy or Lotleth Giant.

- Block to buy combo turns: block early against aggro when the block preserves a life-total threshold for one more draw, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, or Balustrade Spy turn. Prefer trading expendable bodies over losing Overgrown Battlement or a creature needed for three-body Dread Return unless the life swing is decisive.

- Trade by role: trade Mesmeric Fiend only when its exiled card is no longer important or the opponent’s creature is more dangerous than the returned card. Trade Masked Vandal or Gatecreeper Vine more readily if their enter-the-battlefield role is complete and you still have enough creatures for mana and flashback.

- Protect mana math: keep Overgrown Battlement and Wall of Roots alive when their mana enables a larger next turn than any block or attack available now. Against burn or fast attackers, reassess this rule when life is low enough that preserving the wall but taking damage loses before the combo turn.

- Attack only with a plan: attack with Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Sagu Wildling, or spare creatures when the damage creates a real backup clock or forces blocks that make Dread Return or Lotleth Giant safer. Do not attack just because a creature is untapped if it is better as mana, sacrifice material, or a blocker.

- Backup threat pivot: use Nyxborn Hydra, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm as fair-combat pressure when graveyard hate, discard, or repeated removal makes the direct combo unreliable. Card text check required for exact combat text and casting modes; rely on Forge-visible power, toughness, counters, attachments, and legal attacks.

- Life thresholds: above a comfortable life total, take damage to preserve engine bodies and set up a decisive turn; near lethal or under a two-turn clock, block more aggressively and value Healer of the Glade or Cast Down lines that extend the game. Do not assume exact opposing pump or burn unless revealed, but respect open mana and known archetype pressure.

- Combat tricks: leave enough bodies and mana for post-combat or instant-speed legal actions when Forge shows a relevant window. If the opponent attacks into obvious blocks with mana up, choose blocks that survive common visible outcomes rather than maximizing theoretical value.

- Archetype differences: against creature aggro, become a wall-and-life deck until Balustrade Spy is safe; against control, avoid unnecessary combat trades that reduce Dread Return material; against combo, attack only when pressure changes their clock and does not slow your own; against graveyard hate decks, fair attacks from large creatures matter more after the graveyard plan is visibly constrained.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Find mana before payoff: use Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm to assemble the land or color that lets the next two turns function, not merely the land that spends mana now. Card text check required for exact alternate search modes and costs on Generous Ent and Troll of Khazad-dûm; choose them only through Forge-visible legal actions.

- Sequence Land Grant before blind selection when the hand lacks stable mana, because seeing whether the mana plan is solved changes how Lead the Stampede and Winding Way should be valued. If Land Grant requires revealing the hand, accept that information leak when the alternative is missing the black or green source needed for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, or the defender engine.

- Delay the land drop when legal selection may change the best land, especially before Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm actions. Make the land drop first only when a current spell or ability needs that mana immediately, when holding the land exposes no advantage, or when Quirion Ranger-style sequencing requires a visible land state.

- Treat Lead the Stampede as creature-density selection, not generic card draw. Prioritize lines that cast it when the hand needs bodies for Overgrown Battlement mana, Dread Return flashback material, Balustrade Spy access, or a backup creature plan; avoid casting it before a necessary land-search action if the missing resource is mana rather than creatures.

- Treat Winding Way as role-based pseudo-selection. If Forge asks for a card type or mode, choose the option that fixes the current bottleneck: choose creature density when building mana, sacrifice bodies, or Balustrade Spy access; choose land only when the current hand cannot cast its functional spells or needs a specific next land more than extra creatures. Card text check required for exact mode wording.

- Prefer engine creatures over fair threats when selecting from visible candidates before the combo is assembled. Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, and Masked Vandal usually improve the next-turn branch more than Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm unless combat pressure is already the backup plan.

- Select Balustrade Spy only when mana, board bodies, and graveyard payoff timing make it likely to matter before the opponent’s next decisive action. If the graveyard plan is blocked by visible hate or missing Dread Return/Lotleth Giant access, prefer Lead the Stampede or Winding Way lines that rebuild instead of rushing an exposed payoff.

- Use Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer selection to take the card that stops the current line, not the card with the highest abstract power. Prefer visible graveyard hate, counterspells, removal for Balustrade Spy, fast lethal pressure, or sweepers over medium threats when your hand can already combo.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Pass priority when no legal instant-speed action changes the next meaningful event. This deck usually wins by sorcery-speed setup, so do not hold priority hoping for hidden interaction that is not represented by Forge legal actions.

- Respond to hate, lethal damage, or a protected combo window with the exact legal tool Forge offers. Cast Down answers visible creatures, Jack-o'-Lantern answers graveyard cards or may cycle when that is legal and low risk, Flaring Pain matters only against prevention windows, and Masked Vandal or Voracious Varmint matter only when Forge exposes legal artifact/enchantment targets and costs.

- Let low-impact spells resolve when the current hand threatens Balustrade Spy into Dread Return faster than the opposing play changes the clock. Save scarce interaction for cards that alter graveyard access, remove the key mana engine, create lethal pressure, or stop Lotleth Giant damage.

- Use activated mana abilities conservatively around priority prompts. Preserve Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Quirion Ranger, lands, and any visible mana abilities for the spell or tax that matters most this turn; do not spend a flexible source on optional value if it strands Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Cast Down, or a sideboard answer.

- Treat Dread Return timing as a resource check. Flash it back only when sacrificing the required creatures is legal, the target is legal, the graveyard line is not visibly stopped, and Lotleth Giant or another target advances the win more than preserving the board. Card text check required for exact Dread Return flashback cost and Lotleth Giant trigger details; follow Forge target and trigger prompts exactly.

- Respect stack interaction around Balustrade Spy. If the opponent has visible open mana and a known counter/removal archetype, use available discard first when legal; once Balustrade Spy is on the stack, respond only with actions that protect the line or answer a visible stop, not with unrelated card flow.

- Use combat priority windows to preserve the combo before chasing tricks. After attackers, after blockers, and before damage, prefer Cast Down or other legal interaction only when it saves enough life, protects a crucial defender, or removes a blocker for a real backup threat. Otherwise keep creatures available for mana and Dread Return.

- Make optional payments only when they advance the active plan. Decline optional costs or value actions that consume mana, creatures, graveyard cards, or cards in hand needed for the combo turn; accept them when Forge shows that the payment converts directly into lethal pressure, protection, or survival.

- Handle graveyard timing with public information discipline. Use Jack-o'-Lantern before the opponent can legally use the target card, before a recursion spell resolves if Forge permits, or before your own graveyard becomes irrelevant; do not exile randomly when waiting could reveal a higher-value target.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard with a role first: preserve the Balustrade Spy plus Dread Return plan unless the opponent presents visible pressure, graveyard hate, prevention, counterplay, or creature permanents that demand a slower configuration. Do not add narrow cards merely because they are legal; add them when their role changes the next decisive turn.

- Keep creature density high after sideboarding: Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Masked Vandal, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Sagu Wildling, Nyxborn Hydra, and Balustrade Spy are part of the mana, selection, body-count, or backup-pressure system. Noncreature sideboard cards should enter only when their interaction role is worth lowering Lead the Stampede and Winding Way hit quality.

- Protect black access when adding disruption: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant all increase the importance of Swamp, Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, and Troll of Khazad-dûm sequencing. A hand with sideboard black cards but no realistic black source is not improved merely because it has interaction.

- Cast Down is for creature decks where one threat changes the race, blocks the backup creature plan, or removes a key combo turn by forcing bad blocks. Add role cards: Cast Down against Terror threats, large affinity creatures, fast red attackers, important utility creatures, and creature-based combo pieces. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower fair threats or excess setup pieces when survival is the bottleneck. Cast Down is bad when the opponent’s relevant cards are graveyard hate, counterspells, prevention, or noncreature engines.

- Mesmeric Fiend is for protecting the combo before committing Balustrade Spy or Dread Return. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend against counterspell decks, graveyard-hate decks, removal-heavy midrange, and combo decks where one visible card matters more than board size. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower backup pressure when the matchup is about a protected window. Mesmeric Fiend is bad when the opponent empties their hand quickly, has many redundant cheap threats, or can easily remove it before the exiled card stops mattering.

- Pilfer is for discard density when the game turns on a hidden answer or opposing combo card. Add role cards: Pilfer against control, combo, graveyard hate, and hands where taking one card clears the path for Balustrade Spy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: high-mana backup creatures when tempo is less important than information and protection. Pilfer is bad against fast creature starts when spending mana without adding a blocker risks falling behind.

- Healer of the Glade is for life-total stabilization against red pressure, go-wide attacks, and any matchup where one extra turn is likely to convert into Overgrown Battlement mana or Balustrade Spy. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade against burn, fast red creatures, evasive chip damage, and aggressive starts. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow selection or expensive backup threats when the first turns are about not dying. Healer of the Glade is bad against control, slow combo, and decks that win through graveyard hate rather than damage.

- Jack-o'-Lantern is for graveyard interaction and low-cost utility when the opponent’s graveyard is a real resource. Add role cards: Jack-o'-Lantern against Terror, Dread Return mirrors, recursion decks, flashback-heavy plans, and graveyard loops. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow fair-pressure cards when graveyard timing decides the game. Jack-o'-Lantern is bad when the opponent’s graveyard is irrelevant and your own plan needs maximum creature density.

- Flaring Pain is for prevention effects that would stop lethal Lotleth Giant damage or a backup combat kill. Card text check required for exact timing and flashback details; use it only when Forge shows a legal action and visible prevention is relevant. Add role cards: Flaring Pain against Prismatic Strands-style prevention, fog effects, damage prevention shields, and decks that can survive the combo through prevention. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature interaction when prevention, not creatures, is the obstacle. Flaring Pain is bad when no prevention card or archetype signal is visible.

- Voracious Varmint is for artifact or enchantment hate that must be answered while keeping creature count. Card text check required for exact modes, target restrictions, and costs; choose it only through Forge-visible legal actions. Add role cards: Voracious Varmint against graveyard hate permanents, artifact engines, enchantment locks, and equipment-like pressure when it has a legal target. Reduce main-deck emphasis: less targeted artifact/enchantment pressure when the opponent has few permanents worth answering. Voracious Varmint is bad when it has no visible or likely target and only functions as an undersized body.

- Nyxborn Hydra is the sideboard’s pressure and scaling threat when the opponent attacks the graveyard plan or forces a fair game. Card text check required for exact bestow, counter, or alternate casting modes; use the legal mode that best preserves mana and board pressure. Add role cards: Nyxborn Hydra against control, graveyard hate, low-removal decks, and matchups where Overgrown Battlement mana can convert into a standalone threat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile combo-only cards when the opponent is overloaded on graveyard answers. Nyxborn Hydra is bad when the matchup is too fast for a scaling threat or when removal trades up cleanly.

- Explicit plan against fast red or low-curve creature aggression: prioritize life and removal while keeping the combo engine intact.
Side in: 3 Healer of the Glade, 3 Cast Down
Cut: 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 2 Nyxborn Hydra, 1 Lead the Stampede, 1 Sagu Wildling

- Explicit plan against blue-black Terror or graveyard-reliant tempo: contest the graveyard, remove major threats, and increase disruption before committing Balustrade Spy.
Side in: 3 Cast Down, 1 Jack-o'-Lantern, 2 Pilfer, 2 Mesmeric Fiend
Cut: 2 Nyxborn Hydra, 2 Sagu Wildling, 1 Lead the Stampede, 1 Winding Way, 1 Masked Vandal, 1 Gatecreeper Vine

- Explicit plan against artifact-heavy Affinity or permanent-based hate: preserve creature count while adding direct answers and enough removal for high-impact attackers.
Side in: 3 Cast Down, 1 Voracious Varmint, 2 Pilfer
Cut: 2 Nyxborn Hydra, 1 Lead the Stampede, 1 Winding Way, 1 Gatecreeper Vine, 1 Sagu Wildling

- Explicit plan against prevention-heavy white decks: protect the combo window and answer prevention rather than overloading on creature removal.
Side in: 1 Flaring Pain, 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 2 Pilfer
Cut: 2 Nyxborn Hydra, 1 Sagu Wildling, 1 Lead the Stampede, 1 Masked Vandal

- Explicit plan against slow control or counterspell decks: add discard and resilient pressure while keeping enough selection to find the combo repeatedly.
Side in: 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 2 Pilfer, 2 Nyxborn Hydra
Cut: 3 Masked Vandal, 1 Gatecreeper Vine, 1 Sagu Wildling, 1 Winding Way

- Explicit plan against graveyard-hate decks with artifacts or enchantments: keep Masked Vandal valuable, add Voracious Varmint and discard, and avoid relying on a single Dread Return turn.
Side in: 1 Voracious Varmint, 2 Pilfer, 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 2 Nyxborn Hydra
Cut: 3 Sagu Wildling, 1 Lead the Stampede, 1 Winding Way, 1 Gatecreeper Vine, 1 Wall of Roots

- Use no-change sideboarding when the opponent shows no relevant hate, no fast clock, and no prevention. The main deck is built to maximize creature density, selection, and Balustrade Spy speed; adding narrow answers without a target can make the deck less reliable.

- Reassess after Game 2 with only public evidence: if the opponent revealed graveyard hate, Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, and Nyxborn Hydra according to the hate type. If the opponent revealed mostly speed, Add role cards: Healer of the Glade and Cast Down. If the opponent revealed prevention, Add role cards: Flaring Pain and discard effects.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: stabilize first, then combo once the battlefield is contained. Prioritize Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, and Healer of the Glade as early blockers or life buffers; do not spend early turns on Lead the Stampede or Winding Way when a visible attack would make Balustrade Spy too slow. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade and Cast Down. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mesmeric Fiend against emptying hands, slow Nyxborn Hydra lines, and selection spells when the legal play needs a blocker now.

- Burn: treat life total as the bottleneck, not card count. Keep hands that create blockers plus green mana quickly, value Healer of the Glade highly, and use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer only when the opponent still has enough cards that taking one burn spell changes the next turn cycle. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade, Pilfer, and Mesmeric Fiend when hand disruption is timely. Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive backup threats and slow selection when visible pressure suggests the game ends before Lotleth Giant can resolve.

- Control: force the opponent to answer multiple axes instead of committing everything into one counterspell or removal window. Develop defender mana, use Lead the Stampede and Winding Way to reload after removal, and cast Balustrade Spy when discard, mana density, or opponent shields make the legal window credible. Add role cards: Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, and Nyxborn Hydra. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Masked Vandal when there are no visible artifact or enchantment targets, and excess low-impact blockers once the game is about resilient pressure.

- Removal-heavy decks: make every removal spell awkward by sequencing redundant mana creatures before the single critical payoff. Favor Overgrown Battlement backed by another defender over relying on one Saruli Caretaker, and avoid exposing Balustrade Spy until the resulting Dread Return line is legal or the hand needs a body. Add role cards: Nyxborn Hydra, Mesmeric Fiend, and Pilfer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile all-in timing and low-impact creatures when selection can rebuild.

- Tempo: respect the clock and the interaction window together. Against evasive threats, Terror-style creatures, or counterspell pressure, use Cast Down on the threat that shortens the clock most, then use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer to clear the path before Balustrade Spy. Add role cards: Cast Down, Jack-o'-Lantern, Mesmeric Fiend, and Pilfer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Nyxborn Hydra pressure if the opponent can race it, and some selection when mana plus protection is already present.

- Midrange: trade only when it preserves the combo clock or denies a high-impact attacker. Let Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling, and Generous Ent absorb pressure while Lead the Stampede and Winding Way restore density; do not attack with essential mana creatures unless the damage materially changes a race. Add role cards: Cast Down and Nyxborn Hydra when games become attrition. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mesmeric Fiend if the opponent’s threats are redundant and board presence matters more than one card.

- Big mana: race the setup, disrupt the payoff, and avoid spending turns on fair combat unless the combo is blocked. Prioritize hands with Land Grant, Generous Ent, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, and Balustrade Spy access; use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer on the visible or revealed payoff that beats the combo clock. Add role cards: Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, and Nyxborn Hydra if the opponent has strong graveyard hate. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cast Down unless a single creature is the actual engine or lethal threat.

- Combo: identify whether the matchup is faster combo, graveyard combo, or protection-heavy combo before choosing the axis. Against faster combo, use Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer to break the key turn and keep hands that race with Balustrade Spy; against slower combo, build mana and force them to answer Dread Return. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern for graveyard lines, and Flaring Pain only when prevention is visibly relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cast Down and Healer of the Glade unless damage or a creature engine is the opponent’s route.

- Graveyard decks: protect your own graveyard plan while attacking only the opposing graveyard resource that matters. Use Jack-o'-Lantern when Forge presents a legal graveyard action that breaks recursion, Terror costs, flashback, Dread Return, or a loop; do not spend it merely because a graveyard has cards. Add role cards: Jack-o'-Lantern, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, Cast Down for large graveyard threats, and Nyxborn Hydra as a fair backup. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow fair bodies when timing graveyard interaction decides the game.

- Artifact/enchantment decks: keep creature count high while answering the permanent that actually blocks the kill or dominates combat. Masked Vandal is already a main-deck tool for visible artifact or enchantment pressure; Voracious Varmint adds another answer, but card text check required for exact modes and restrictions. Add role cards: Voracious Varmint, Pilfer, Cast Down, and Nyxborn Hydra when graveyard hate forces fair pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow selection or extra backup bodies when a visible hate permanent must be answered before Balustrade Spy.

- Go-wide decks: survive the widest attack before planning the graveyard kill. Value early blockers, Healer of the Glade, and Cast Down on the creature that most changes combat math; do not sacrifice multiple bodies to Dread Return unless Forge shows the kill is available or the alternative loses on board. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade and Cast Down. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer when the opponent has already converted hand cards into battlefield pressure.

- Single-threat decks: answer or race the one threat according to the visible clock. Cast Down is high priority when one creature represents most damage, Jack-o'-Lantern is high priority when the threat depends on graveyard size, and Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer is high priority before the threat resolves. Add role cards: Cast Down, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, and Jack-o'-Lantern by threat type. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Healer of the Glade unless life padding changes the exact clock.

- Prevention-heavy decks: do not assume Lotleth Giant damage will finish the game if visible prevention or archetype context says it may fail. Use Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer to remove prevention before committing, and use Flaring Pain only when Forge shows a legal action and the prevention issue is real; card text check required for exact timing. Add role cards: Flaring Pain, Mesmeric Fiend, and Pilfer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cast Down when creatures are not the obstacle.

- Post-board graveyard-hate games: pivot sooner when the opponent reveals artifacts, enchantments, exile effects, or discard aimed at Dread Return. Preserve Masked Vandal, consider Voracious Varmint for hate permanents, use Pilfer or Mesmeric Fiend before the combo turn, and let Nyxborn Hydra punish opponents who keep low-pressure hate hands. Add role cards: Voracious Varmint, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, Nyxborn Hydra, and Jack-o'-Lantern when opposing graveyard use also matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in Balustrade Spy timing until the hate piece is answered or the fair plan is better.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- Scope: These notes are archetype-only unless Veles supplies an exact opposing strategy; revealed cards, public zones, and legal actions override every assumption. Use Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, Jack-o'-Lantern, Flaring Pain, Healer of the Glade, Voracious Varmint, and extra Nyxborn Hydra only when their visible role is better than preserving the Balustrade Spy plus Dread Return plan.

- Red Rally / fast red: Stabilize the first attack steps before spending turns on slow selection. Prioritize Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Sagu Wildling, Gatecreeper Vine, Healer of the Glade, and Cast Down on the creature or pump-enabled attacker that changes the clock most. Add role cards: Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra if a fair blocker/closer matters, and Flaring Pain only when prevention is visibly relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer when the opponent has already converted hand cards into battlefield damage.

- Dimir Faeries / Terror: Protect the combo turn from counters, discard, and graveyard-size threats. Prioritize Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer before Balustrade Spy when the opponent has open interaction, Cast Down for the largest clock, and Jack-o'-Lantern only when a graveyard action materially weakens a Terror-style threat or recursion line. Add role cards: Cast Down, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, and Nyxborn Hydra as a post-hate threat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow all-in lines that expose Dread Return without protection.

- Tron / big-mana control: Race setup and disrupt the first decisive payoff rather than fighting every resource card. Prioritize Land Grant, Generous Ent, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, and Balustrade Spy access; use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer on sweepers, graveyard hate, or the payoff that beats the combo clock. Add role cards: Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, Nyxborn Hydra, and Flaring Pain only if prevention has appeared. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cast Down unless one creature is the real engine or lethal threat.

- Grixis Affinity / artifact pressure: Respect both the fast board and artifact/enchantment hate permanents. Prioritize Masked Vandal or Voracious Varmint for visible artifact or enchantment pieces that stop the graveyard kill or dominate combat; use Cast Down on the threat that compresses the clock. Add role cards: Cast Down, Voracious Varmint, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, and Nyxborn Hydra. Reduce main-deck emphasis: purely fair selection when a hate permanent must be answered first.

- Food Gardens / creature midrange: Use defenders to absorb pressure while selection rebuilds toward the combo. Prioritize Cast Down for the creature that changes attacks most, preserve Overgrown Battlement where possible, and let Nyxborn Hydra become the fair closer when graveyard interaction slows Dread Return. Add role cards: Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra, Healer of the Glade if life changes the clock, and Voracious Varmint for visible artifact or enchantment problems. Reduce main-deck emphasis: hand disruption when battlefield size is the main threat.

- Spy mirror or graveyard combo: Identify whether speed, graveyard denial, or discard matters more in the current visible state. Prioritize Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer for the opposing payoff or bridge card, Jack-o'-Lantern for a graveyard action that breaks Dread Return or recursion, and Balustrade Spy speed when disruption is absent. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, and Nyxborn Hydra for post-hate games. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cast Down and Healer of the Glade unless a creature clock is visible.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: The deck can have green bodies without black access for Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Pilfer, or Cast Down. Preserve Land Grant, Generous Ent, Swamp access, and black-producing lines when the next two turns need disruption or the kill card.

- Matchup risk: Fast creature decks punish selection-heavy starts, while control and tempo punish unprotected Balustrade Spy. Re-evaluate role every decision frame instead of following the goldfish plan after the opponent reveals pressure, counters, discard, or hate.

- Draw risk: Lead the Stampede and Winding Way can miss the exact missing piece even when they are legal and efficient. Prefer guaranteed mana or protection when the visible hand already contains a combo path.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Too many role cards can reduce creature density for Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Dread Return sacrifice material, and Lotleth Giant damage. Add role cards only for visible or highly likely problems, and reduce main-deck emphasis on the least relevant package rather than weakening the whole engine.

- Graveyard risk: Balustrade Spy and Dread Return expose the deck to exile effects and graveyard timing. Do not commit to self-mill until Forge shows a legal path, protection is available, or waiting loses to the visible board.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Losing Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, or Saruli Caretaker can collapse a planned turn. Sequence redundant mana first against removal-heavy decks, and avoid spending Quirion Ranger value before it changes the current or next-turn mana branch.

- Closer risk: Lotleth Giant is the primary reanimation kill, but prevention, life gain, exile, or insufficient graveyard count can make the line fail. If uncertain about lethal, use the legal-action labels and visible state rather than assuming the damage outcome.

- Interaction risk: Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer are strongest before the opponent deploys the relevant card, while Cast Down is strongest on the threat that changes the clock. Do not spend interaction just because a target exists.

- Sequencing risk: Land Grant, Generous Ent, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, and defender mana create branches that are easy to close accidentally. Choose the action that preserves black access, defender count, and a protected Balustrade Spy turn over the action that merely spends the most mana now.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Record whether the game was decided by Balustrade Spy resolving, Dread Return being available, Lotleth Giant closing, fair combat with Nyxborn Hydra, opponent graveyard hate, or the deck failing to assemble mana and payoff in time.

- Mulligans: Note whether the opening hand had functional green mana, black access, a first creature, and either velocity or payoff. Flag keeps that had Lead the Stampede or Winding Way but no stable way to cast early creatures.

- Mana: Track whether Forest, Swamp, Land Grant, Generous Ent, Gatecreeper Vine, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, and Quirion Ranger produced the needed colors and timing. Call out games where black access delayed Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, or Pilfer.

- Velocity: Ask whether Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Land Grant, and Generous Ent found the missing resource fast enough, or whether they consumed turns while the opponent’s visible clock became decisive.

- Engine: Check whether Overgrown Battlement and Wall of Roots lived long enough to make a meaningful mana jump. Note whether Saruli Caretaker required too much board material, or whether Quirion Ranger created an important extra-mana branch.

- Interaction: Record whether Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Cast Down, Masked Vandal, Voracious Varmint, Jack-o'-Lantern, or Flaring Pain changed the actual deciding window. Separate interaction that protected the combo from interaction that only spent mana.

- Sideboard: Ask whether added role cards solved the matchup problem without lowering creature density too far for Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Dread Return sacrifice material, and Lotleth Giant damage.

- Closing: Verify whether Lotleth Giant was lethal when chosen, whether Dread Return had legal sacrifice material, and whether prevention, graveyard exile, life total, or insufficient graveyard count made the kill uncertain.

- Role: Identify whether the pilot correctly chose race, stabilize, disrupt, rebuild, or fair beatdown. Flag decisions where the deck kept goldfishing after visible pressure, open interaction, or hate changed the role.

- Mistakes: Mark visible sequencing errors such as exposing Balustrade Spy before protection, spending Cast Down on a low-impact target, using Masked Vandal without a relevant artifact or enchantment, or tapping mana sources that blocked the next required action.

- Stranded cards: List cards stuck in hand and why: no black mana, no green mana, no legal target, insufficient creatures, graveyard hate, too much mana cost, or opponent pressure forcing a different line.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Compare repeated impact from Balustrade Spy, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Mesmeric Fiend, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, Cast Down, Healer of the Glade, Pilfer, and Jack-o'-Lantern against the matchup role they were meant to fill.

## First Tuning Questions

- Balustrade Spy quantity: Is four Balustrade Spy still correct, or did games show too many hands with payoff but not enough mana, protection, or time to cast it?

- Dread Return and Lotleth Giant package: Did two Dread Return and two Lotleth Giant produce enough closing reliability, or did exile, draw order, or insufficient graveyard size make the kill too fragile?

- Black access: Did three Forest, two Swamp, Land Grant, Generous Ent, and Gatecreeper Vine support black spells on time, or should the mana package be changed to reduce stranded Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, and Pilfer?

- Defender density: Did four Overgrown Battlement, three Wall of Roots, three Saruli Caretaker, and three Gatecreeper Vine generate enough early mana, or did removal and slow starts expose a need for more reliable first creatures?

- Velocity mix: Did four Lead the Stampede and four Winding Way improve assembly, or did selection become low-impact when under fast pressure or when the hand already had a combo path?

- Fair-plan tension: Did Nyxborn Hydra and Sagu Wildling win stalled games often enough, or did they conflict with the all-in graveyard plan by occupying turns needed for setup and protection?

- Main-deck disruption: Did two Mesmeric Fiend matter before combo turns, or were more discard effects needed against control, Faeries, Tron, mirror, and graveyard hate?

- Artifact/enchantment answers: Did four Masked Vandal plus one Voracious Varmint handle visible hate and Affinity pressure, or were there too many answer cards without relevant targets?

- Aggro plan: Did Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Sagu Wildling, and Nyxborn Hydra stabilize against fast red and creature decks, or did the deck need more life gain, removal, or cheaper blockers?

- Control plan: Did Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, and extra Nyxborn Hydra create enough resilience against counters, discard, and removal, or did the deck need a stronger protected-combo plan?

- Graveyard-hate plan: Did Jack-o'-Lantern and fair threats cover opposing graveyard lines and hate mirrors, or did games require additional graveyard interaction or more non-graveyard closing power?

- Sideboard slot pressure: Did Flaring Pain, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, Pilfer, Mesmeric Fiend, and extra Nyxborn Hydra each have a clear matchup job, or are any slots too narrow for the expected field?

- Role conflict: Did post-board plans preserve enough creature count and mana density for the core engine, or did adding interaction make Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, and Lotleth Giant less reliable than the fair plan they were meant to protect?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Hand Functional Keep
- Priority: Highest for game starts; keep only hands with a visible path to green development and black access or velocity toward it.
- Decision families: mulligan, pregame
- Cards: Forest, Swamp, Land Grant, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Balustrade Spy
- Phase windows: opening hand, London mulligan decisions, bottom choices
- Runtime cues: opening hand contains mana source plus early creature or selection spell.
- Use when: hand can cast a first green creature by turn two and has either Balustrade Spy, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, or a route to black mana.
- Avoid when: hand has payoff only, no castable early creature, no green source, or black cards stranded with no route to Swamp.
- Instructions: Bottom expensive duplicates before cutting the first green source, first defender, or only black access; preserve one payoff when the hand already develops mana.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Enabling Permanent
- Priority: Develop the first mana creature before spending turns on selection unless the hand lacks any future action.
- Decision families: mana, priority
- Cards: Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Quirion Ranger, Forest, Land Grant
- Phase windows: turns one to three main phases
- Runtime cues: action:cast Wall of Roots; action:cast Overgrown Battlement; action:cast Saruli Caretaker; action:cast Gatecreeper Vine
- Use when: a legal creature action creates mana, blocks visible attackers, or fixes black access for a later Balustrade Spy.
- Avoid when: casting selection first is the only visible way to find any land or castable creature.
- Instructions: Prefer Overgrown Battlement or Wall of Roots when both are legal; use Gatecreeper Vine when black access is missing; use Saruli Caretaker when enough creatures will support tapping.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Black Access Preservation
- Priority: Preserve or fetch black mana before committing to a Balustrade Spy or disruption line.
- Decision families: mana, selection
- Cards: Swamp, Land Grant, Gatecreeper Vine, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, Pilfer
- Phase windows: early main phases, tutor choices, mana payments
- Runtime cues: black spell in hand or legal black spell action appears.
- Use when: Balustrade Spy, Mesmeric Fiend, Dread Return, Cast Down, or Pilfer is visible in hand or legal actions.
- Avoid when: spending black source now prevents a higher-impact legal black action in the same turn cycle.
- Instructions: Fetch or protect Swamp when black is the bottleneck; keep green mana only if it unlocks multiple defenders or selection spells immediately.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Selection Before Payoff
- Priority: Use Lead the Stampede or Winding Way to assemble missing mana, creatures, or payoff, not to delay a complete lethal path.
- Decision families: selection, priority
- Cards: Lead the Stampede, Winding Way, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots
- Phase windows: main phases before combo commitment
- Runtime cues: action:cast Lead the Stampede; action:cast Winding Way
- Use when: visible hand lacks payoff, lacks enough creatures, or lacks mana to reach Balustrade Spy next turn.
- Avoid when: legal Balustrade Spy plus follow-up Dread Return/Lotleth Giant line appears already available and opponent has no visible disruptive pressure.
- Instructions: Choose the selection action that most likely fills the missing resource; do not spend a turn filtering when board pressure makes the next turn lethal against you.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Balustrade Spy Commitment Gate
- Priority: 89
- Decision families: priority, selection
- Cards: Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots
- Phase windows: main phase with priority and sufficient mana
- Runtime cues: action:cast Balustrade Spy
- Use when: black mana is available, graveyard payoff is plausible, sacrifice material is visible or expected after resolution, and either opponent shields are down, visible pressure forces action, or redundancy can beat one interaction piece.
- Avoid when: visible graveyard hate, open interaction without discard/protection/redundancy, missing sacrifice bodies, or no Dread Return/Lotleth Giant route makes Spy only a low-impact flyer.
- Instructions: Treat casting Balustrade Spy as the combo commitment gate, not a deterministic value play. Use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer first when legal and likely to clear a critical answer; commit through interaction only when waiting is worse or the visible hand/board can rebuild or force a second Dread Return/Lotleth Giant line.
- Pilot skill floor: casual
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Balustrade Spy Targets Self
- Priority: 100
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant
- Phase windows: Balustrade Spy triggered target prompt
- Runtime cues: action:target self Balustrade Spy
- Use when: Balustrade Spy's target prompt is legal and the current plan is self-mill into Dread Return or Lotleth Giant.
- Avoid when: the only winning line is intentionally milling the opponent, or the engine/legal action label proves the target is not Balustrade Spy's library trigger.
- Instructions: Target yourself with Balustrade Spy when using it as the combo mill engine; never target the opponent merely because the effect looks like a curse or mill spell.
- Pilot skill floor: casual
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Dread Return Kill Check
- Priority: 99
- Decision families: priority, selection
- Cards: Dread Return, Lotleth Giant, Balustrade Spy, Masked Vandal, Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Sagu Wildling
- Phase windows: graveyard casting prompts, main phase, post-Spy resolution
- Runtime cues: action:target Lotleth Giant Dread Return
- Use when: Lotleth Giant is a legal target and visible graveyard/card counts suggest lethal or a decisive swing.
- Avoid when: sacrificing creatures collapses survival, target is absent, graveyard hate is on stack, or lethal damage is not supported by visible information.
- Instructions: When Dread Return and Lotleth Giant are both legal in the same action label, choose the Lotleth Giant target before value creatures, extra Balustrade Spy copies, or discard creatures. If Lotleth Giant is not legal, compare reanimating Balustrade Spy or stabilizing bodies only if legal actions expose that line; never assume hidden graveyard contents beyond logged state.
- Pilot skill floor: casual
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Disruption Before Combo
- Priority: Use Mesmeric Fiend or Pilfer to clear interaction, hate, or a faster kill before committing the combo.
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lotleth Giant
- Phase windows: pre-combo main phases, post-board setup turns
- Runtime cues: action:cast Mesmeric Fiend; action:cast Pilfer
- Use when: opponent has cards in hand, open mana, known hate, or archetype pressure that can stop Balustrade Spy or Dread Return.
- Avoid when: the opponent is empty-handed, the combo is already lethal now, or spending mana prevents the only winning line this turn.
- Instructions: Take the card that most directly stops the current plan; if revealed cards are uncertain, prefer graveyard hate, counter/removal for Balustrade Spy, or lethal pressure enablers.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Hate Permanent Answer
- Priority: Use Masked Vandal or Voracious Varmint only on artifacts/enchantments that block the combo, stabilize the opponent, or threaten immediate loss.
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Masked Vandal, Voracious Varmint, Jack-o'-Lantern, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return
- Phase windows: main phase, response windows when legal
- Runtime cues: action:cast Masked Vandal; action:cast Voracious Varmint
- Use when: visible artifact or enchantment hate interferes with graveyard, reanimation, mana, or combat survival.
- Avoid when: no relevant legal target exists or the permanent does not affect the next two turn cycles.
- Instructions: Prioritize graveyard hate and lock pieces over minor value artifacts; do not spend the answer just to use mana.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Creature Removal Triage
- Priority: Use Cast Down on threats that shorten the clock below your combo setup or remove a key blocker for a fair Nyxborn Hydra line.
- Decision families: interaction, combat, priority
- Cards: Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Healer of the Glade
- Phase windows: opponent combat, end step, your main phase when clearing blockers
- Runtime cues: action:cast Cast Down
- Use when: a visible creature creates lethal pressure, disrupts the combo, or blocks a decisive attack.
- Avoid when: the creature is low-impact and the removal must be saved for a faster clock or hate creature.
- Instructions: Prefer using Cast Down at the last safe window unless main-phase removal unlocks a winning attack or prevents a known trigger.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fair Beatdown Pivot
- Priority: Pivot to creature combat when graveyard hate, missing payoff, or disruption makes immediate combo unreliable.
- Decision families: combat, mana, priority
- Cards: Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Overgrown Battlement, Wall of Roots, Healer of the Glade
- Phase windows: main phases, combat steps, post-board games
- Runtime cues: legal attack or cast action involving Nyxborn Hydra, Sagu Wildling, Generous Ent, or Troll of Khazad-dûm.
- Use when: opponent is low on removal, board is stalled, or graveyard plan is visibly blocked.
- Avoid when: attacking sacrifices needed defenders or exposes lethal crack-back.
- Instructions: Keep enough blockers against fast decks; grow or deploy threats only when they improve the next combat more than preserving combo mana.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Block To Survive, Not To Trade Engine
- Priority: Block with expendable creatures before sacrificing key mana engines unless life total demands it.
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Wall of Roots, Overgrown Battlement, Saruli Caretaker, Gatecreeper Vine, Masked Vandal, Sagu Wildling, Healer of the Glade
- Phase windows: declare blockers, combat damage prevention decisions
- Runtime cues: action:block
- Use when: visible attackers create a short clock or lethal damage this turn.
- Avoid when: preserving the blocker enables a guaranteed combo or stabilizing spell next turn and damage is survivable.
- Instructions: Protect Overgrown Battlement and Wall of Roots when they are the only route to Balustrade Spy; trade lesser bodies to buy the turn that wins.
- Pilot skill floor: low
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Priority Pass Discipline
- Priority: Pass only when all legal actions are lower impact than preserving mana, hidden timing, or board material.
- Decision families: priority, interaction
- Cards: Cast Down, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Balustrade Spy, Dread Return, Lead the Stampede, Winding Way
- Phase windows: all priority windows
- Runtime cues: action:pass
- Use when: no legal action improves survival, setup, disruption, or lethal prospects before the next decision.
- Avoid when: legal selection, discard, removal, or combo actions address a visible bottleneck or imminent threat.
- Instructions: Explain what is being declined; pass with open Cast Down only if the current threat is not worth the removal or a better target/window is likely from visible state.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Against Fast Creature Pressure
- Priority: Add life gain and removal while preserving enough creatures and combo density to end the game.
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Healer of the Glade, Cast Down, Nyxborn Hydra, Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Flaring Pain, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint
- Phase windows: sideboarding after game one or game two
- Runtime cues: sideboard prompt with opponent archetype showing fast red, go-wide, or creature pressure.
- Use when: losses or visible matchup identity show short clocks, burn reach, or attackers that outpace setup.
- Avoid when: opponent is slow control or combo where life gain does not interact.
- Instructions: Add Healer of the Glade and Cast Down first; reduce slower fair threats or narrow disruption only through exact legal sideboard plans from Sideboard Map.
- Pilot skill floor: medium
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Against Control, Combo, And Hate
- Priority: Add discard and targeted answers before adding fair threats unless the opponent proves the graveyard plan is heavily taxed.
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Pilfer, Jack-o'-Lantern, Voracious Varmint, Masked Vandal, Nyxborn Hydra, Flaring Pain, Cast Down
- Phase windows: sideboarding after game one or game two
- Runtime cues: sideboard prompt with opponent archetype showing counters, hand disruption, graveyard reliance, or artifact/enchantment hate.
- Use when: opponent can stop Balustrade Spy, exile graveyards, race with their own graveyard, or rely on prevention effects.
- Avoid when: adding too many non-engine cards would leave no reliable mana-plus-payoff path.
- Instructions: Add Mesmeric Fiend and Pilfer against interactive hands; add Jack-o'-Lantern for graveyard mirrors; add Voracious Varmint for visible permanent hate; add Flaring Pain only when prevention effects are relevant or confirmed.
- Pilot skill floor: high
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
