# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype
Silas Renn, Seeker Adept // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful is a Duel Commander Esper singleton midrange deck built around cheap legendary pressure, efficient interaction, disruptive flash threats, and commander-zone material. The active validation contract reports 100 main-deck cards and 10 sideboard cards, with singleton construction outside basic lands and a Veles policy sideboard of exactly 10 cards; do not flag this list for 60-card constructed sizing. Treat Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful as the named command-zone identity for runtime strategy, even though the supplied inventory lists all registered cards together in Main.

The archetype is best classified as hybrid rogue midrange rather than stock Duel Commander. It uses familiar Esper pressure-and-answer patterns, but the exact package is highly deck-specific: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful rewards the dense legend count; Silas Renn, Seeker Adept gives artifact recursion access; Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, Swift Reconfiguration, Parallax Wave, Flowering of the White Tree, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares create overlapping advantage or tempo plans. The pilot should not assume a solved stock playbook; legal actions, visible board state, public zones, and the rules engine’s current prompt must outrank any heuristic.

The primary strategic tag is midrange, with secondary pressure, tempo, disruptive-creature, legends-matter, and artifact-recursion subthemes. Early games often want Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful or another cheap threat backed by Thoughtseize, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Daze, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Stifle, Tale's End, Wash Away, Force of Negation, Cut Down, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Sheoldred's Edict, Dismember, Swift Reconfiguration, Solitude, Subtlety, or Tishana's Tidebinder. Longer games can pivot into Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Barrowgoyf, Emperor of Bones, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept recursion, or incremental chip damage from evasive and flash threats.

The mana base is powerful but tactically demanding because the deck is three colors with many early one-mana interaction spells and several colorless or conditional utility lands. Command Tower, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Plaza of Heroes, Underground Sea, Tundra, Scrubland, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Adarkar Wastes, Underground River, Caves of Koilos, Seachrome Coast, Concealed Courtyard, Undercity Sewers, Shadowy Backstreet, and Meticulous Archive are core fixing references. Fetch lands such as Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, Arid Mesa, Windswept Heath, and Bloodstained Mire should preserve access to white, blue, and black unless a visible line demands a narrower source. Utility lands such as Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Eiganjo Castle, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, Flagstones of Trokair, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Barad-dur, Starting Town, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth should be valued for text only after color needs are safe.

Legality and card-text confidence are runtime concerns, not excuses to improvise. The supplied format-aware validation result passes, but Veles must still rely on the rules engine for legal actions, commander tax, sideboard availability, target legality, timing, replacement effects, and hidden information boundaries. Card text check required for newer or less familiar registered cards if the local rules database does not expose exact text, especially Aang, Swift Savior; Spectacular Spider-Man; Cloud, Midgar Mercenary; Starting Town; Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector; Wan Shi Tong, Librarian; Requiting Hex; Pre-War Formalwear; Basim Ibn Ishaq; Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom; Pippin, Guard of the Citadel; Voice of Victory; and Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel.

Opponent information is currently unspecified, so pregame and mulligan policy must begin from open-field Duel Commander assumptions. Do not infer an opponent archetype from absent data, and do not name metagame staples inside policy card fields unless runtime reveals them or matchup notes explicitly prefix them as opponent examples. Sideboard guidance should use the registered sideboard only: Rest in Peace, Dovin's Veto, Grafdigger's Cage, Pithing Needle, Disenchant, Kaya's Guile, Supreme Verdict, Duress, Dauthi Voidwalker, and Stony Silence.

## Thesis
This deck assembles a low-curve Esper midrange battlefield where cheap legendary creatures, disruptive flash threats, and one-mana answers force the opponent to act first. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful is the cleanest early pressure piece, while Silas Renn, Seeker Adept turns artifact permanents and graveyard access into longer-game material when combat stalls. Prioritize hands that cast a threat early, hold up at least one relevant interaction spell, and keep all three colors reachable without spending too many turns on tapped or utility-only lands.

The deck wins by converting small tempo edges into sustained damage, then closing with individually powerful threats or snowballing engines. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful grows from legendary sequencing; Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Barrowgoyf, Psychic Frog, Emperor of Bones, Vendilion Clique, Brazen Borrower, and Orcish Bowmasters give the deck pressure that also taxes the opponent's decisions. Flowering of the White Tree, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Eiganjo Castle, Plaza of Heroes, and combat tricks or protection can turn modest creatures into a lethal clock, but only after the rules engine confirms legal timing and targets.

The deck is not trying to play draw-go control until inevitability, race blindly, or spend early turns on generic value with no clock. Its best games pair a visible threat with Thoughtseize, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Daze, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Stifle, Tale's End, Wash Away, Force of Negation, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Solitude, Subtlety, Tishana's Tidebinder, Ertai Resurrected, or Swift Reconfiguration. Do not hold interaction indefinitely for perfect targets when the opponent is developing faster; do not tap out for a value permanent when a known stack or combat window can punish it.

The pilot should prioritize role clarity over card rarity or novelty. Against faster decks, preserve life total and trade resources until Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Solitude, Parallax Wave, Supreme Verdict after sideboard, or efficient removal stabilizes the board. Against slower decks, make the opponent answer early legends, protect the first real engine, and use discard or permission to stop sweepers, haymakers, or graveyard hate that turns off Silas Renn, Seeker Adept lines. When card text is uncertain for newer registered cards, especially Aang, Swift Savior; Cloud, Midgar Mercenary; Spectacular Spider-Man; Starting Town; Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector; Wan Shi Tong, Librarian; Requiting Hex; Basim Ibn Ishaq; Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom; Pippin, Guard of the Citadel; Voice of Victory; Pre-War Formalwear; and Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, treat the rules engine output as authoritative and avoid assuming unsupported abilities.

## Role Package
- Threats: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful; Silas Renn, Seeker Adept; Raffine, Scheming Seer; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; Svyelun of Sea and Sky; Barrowgoyf; Psychic Frog; Emperor of Bones; Vendilion Clique; Brazen Borrower; Orcish Bowmasters; Opposition Agent; Dauthi Voidwalker after sideboard; and any text-confirmed pressure from Aang, Swift Savior, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Spectacular Spider-Man, Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector, Basim Ibn Ishaq, Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel, Voice of Victory, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, and Requiting Hex. Lead with threats that fit current mana and protection; do not expose a fragile engine into open removal if a lower-value threat can pressure first.

- Payoffs: Flowering of the White Tree, Plaza of Heroes, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Eiganjo Castle, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Parallax Wave, and Skullclamp convert creature presence into damage, protection, cards, or tempo. Treat payoff deployment as a commitment decision when the opponent has visible mana and cards; prefer payoffs after a threat is already present or when the payoff itself stabilizes the board.

- Engines: Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, Swift Reconfiguration, Parallax Wave, Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Psychic Frog, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse are the main repeatable advantage references. Card text check required for Pre-War Formalwear and several Universes Beyond cards; use them according to legal action text rather than assumed synergies.

- Velocity: Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Vendilion Clique, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Barad-dur, and Skullclamp help convert information or material into the next relevant action. Spend selection on lands or interaction when behind, and on closing threats or engines when stable.

- Interaction: Fatal Push, Cut Down, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Swift Reconfiguration, Solitude, Subtlety, Force of Negation, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Daze, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Stifle, Tale's End, Wash Away, Tishana's Tidebinder, Ertai Resurrected, Orcish Bowmasters, Opposition Agent, Teferi, Time Raveler, Parallax Wave, Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and sideboard Dovin's Veto, Duress, Disenchant, Kaya's Guile, Supreme Verdict, Pithing Needle, Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, and Stony Silence form the answer suite. Match the answer to the threat type; cheap soft permission is best before the opponent has spare mana.

- Protection and recursion: Plaza of Heroes, Eiganjo Castle, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Reverent Mantra, Force of Negation, Daze, Teferi, Time Raveler, Unearth, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, and Pre-War Formalwear preserve or rebuy key material. Protect the active clock first when racing and the active engine first when grinding.

- Mana and sideboard modules: Fetch lands plus Underground Sea, Tundra, Scrubland, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Command Tower, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Adarkar Wastes, Underground River, Caves of Koilos, Seachrome Coast, Concealed Courtyard, Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, Undercity Sewers, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, and utility lands must support early white, blue, and black interaction. Sideboard cards divide into graveyard hate with Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Kaya's Guile, and Dauthi Voidwalker; noncreature or stack pressure with Dovin's Veto and Duress; artifact or enchantment pressure with Disenchant, Pithing Needle, and Stony Silence; and battlefield reset with Supreme Verdict.

## Primary Win Conditions
- Yoshimaru legend-tempo pressure is the cleanest proactive kill when the opener has white mana, Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, and at least one follow-up legendary permanent. Set up by sequencing Yoshimaru before legends such as Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, Vendilion Clique, or utility legends like Plaza of Heroes, Eiganjo Castle, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Otawara, Soaring City, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire when the mana plan allows it. Execute by pairing the clock with Thoughtseize, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Daze, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Stifle, Tale's End, Wash Away, Force of Negation, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Swords to Plowshares, or Prismatic Ending; prioritize this path against slower decks, combo decks, and hands where early pressure plus one or two answers can end the game before larger engines matter. Disruption that removes Yoshimaru or blanks combat should shift the plan toward a second threat rather than overprotecting an empty board.

- Esper disruptive midrange wins by sticking one high-impact threat and trading every later card for time. Set up with Psychic Frog, Barrowgoyf, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Orcish Bowmasters, Opposition Agent, Skyclave Apparition, Brazen Borrower, Vendilion Clique, or a text-confirmed threat from Cloud, Midgar Mercenary; Spectacular Spider-Man; Aang, Swift Savior; Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector; Basim Ibn Ishaq; Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom; Pippin, Guard of the Citadel; Voice of Victory; Wan Shi Tong, Librarian; Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel; or Requiting Hex. Card text check required for the newer named threats before relying on exact keywords, triggers, or combat math. Execute by keeping mana open after the threat when soft permission is live, using removal on blockers or faster clocks, and forcing the opponent to act into narrow windows. Prioritize this path when the opponent has visible removal, when commander pressure is taxed, or when the game is about two-for-one exchanges rather than raw speed.

- Silas artifact-value wins when combat damage or legal recursion can turn small artifacts into repeated material. Set up with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept plus Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, Swift Reconfiguration, or any artifact permanent the rules engine shows as legally recastable or reusable. Card text check required for Pre-War Formalwear and Swift Reconfiguration synergies; choose only legal engine actions shown by Forge. Execute by clearing blockers with Fatal Push, Cut Down, Swords to Plowshares, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Parallax Wave, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, then convert each successful connection into durable advantage. Prioritize this path in grindy games where life total is stable and the opponent is spending removal one-for-one.

- Protected haymaker pressure closes stabilized games through Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Parallax Wave, Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or a large Barrowgoyf/Psychic Frog battlefield. Set up by forcing action with discard or cheap counters before tapping low, then execute by protecting the haymaker with Plaza of Heroes, Reverent Mantra, Force of Negation, Daze, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, or Teferi, Time Raveler timing restrictions when legally relevant. Prioritize this path when both players have traded down and the opponent needs a single expensive spell, sweeper, graveyard piece, or planeswalker to recover.

## Secondary Win Conditions
- Backup combat wins through small legendary and flash threats when the primary clock is removed. Use Orcish Bowmasters tokens, Vendilion Clique, Brazen Borrower, Skyclave Apparition, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel, Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector, and other text-confirmed creatures as chip pressure, then turn the corner with Flowering of the White Tree, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Eiganjo Castle, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, or Plaza of Heroes if legal. Treat Flowering of the White Tree as a board-commitment payoff; do not cast it into an empty or unstable board unless the action text itself advances survival.

- Value attrition wins by making the opponent's last cards ineffective. Use Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique, Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Skullclamp, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Barad-dur, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Unearth, and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept to find or rebuy the next relevant threat or answer. Choose Demonic Tutor and Tainted Pact targets by current role: removal or Solitude when dying, permission or discard when protecting a lead, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares when the game needs a finisher, and mana when the hand cannot cast its spells.

- Lock and tempo wins come from preventing the opponent from executing a key turn rather than hard-locking the table. Teferi, Time Raveler, Tishana's Tidebinder, Stifle, Tale's End, Opposition Agent, Orcish Bowmasters, Parallax Wave, Ertai Resurrected, Subtlety, Force of Negation, Daze, Memory Lapse, and Wash Away can each steal a critical exchange if the rules engine exposes the relevant legal action. Use these cards to preserve an existing clock, not as abstract value when no pressure or follow-up exists.

## Emergency Lines
- When behind on life, spend cards to stop damage before building engines. Prioritize Swords to Plowshares, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Prismatic Ending, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Solitude, Subtlety, Swift Reconfiguration, Parallax Wave, Skyclave Apparition, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse over slow Silas Renn, Seeker Adept or Skullclamp lines unless the engine action immediately blocks, gains life, or removes pressure.

- When behind on board, trade down and reset the combat texture. Use edicts for single large threats, exile or bounce for recursive bodies, Parallax Wave for clustered attackers, and Supreme Verdict only after sideboarding and only when the legal action improves the battlefield more than it destroys your own winning pressure. Do not protect a medium threat if letting it die enables a cleaner stabilization line.

- When behind on cards, make every action answer a visible problem or create immediate velocity. Skullclamp, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Psychic Frog, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Gitaxian Probe, Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, and Barad-dur are recovery tools, but they should not replace removal when lethal or a short clock is visible.

- When behind on mana, fetch and play lands for castable interaction first. Keep hands and lines that produce early white, blue, and black through Command Tower, Tundra, Underground Sea, Scrubland, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Adarkar Wastes, Underground River, Caves of Koilos, Seachrome Coast, Concealed Courtyard, and fetch lands; delay colorless utility lands when they prevent holding up a live answer.

- When engines, graveyard recursion, or win conditions are removed, become a low-curve permission deck with creatures. Win by chaining any legal threat with one answer per turn, using Unearth or Takenuma, Abandoned Mire only when they restore a relevant permanent, and accepting smaller attacks if they force the opponent to act first. If graveyard hate is visible, stop valuing Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, and Takenuma lines until Forge shows a legal, productive action through that hate.

## Resource Model
- Life buys tempo, not inevitability. Spend life from Thoughtseize, Dismember, fetch lands, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Adarkar Wastes, Underground River, and Caves of Koilos when it enables an early commander, holds up real interaction, or removes a threat that would deal more damage later. Stop paying extra life once the opponent has a visible short clock unless the legal action prevents lethal, protects a winning board, or unlocks Sheoldred, the Apocalypse stabilization.

- Hand size is the deck's tactical fuel. Convert cards into tempo with Force of Negation, Subtlety, Solitude, Daze, Mental Misstep, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Spell Pierce, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Wash Away, Tale's End, Stifle, and removal only when the exchange protects pressure, denies a decisive spell, or prevents a board snowball. Do not pitch a premium blue or white card to free interaction if a normal mana payment or cheaper answer preserves the same visible outcome.

- Mana is the binding constraint for double-spelling. The deck often wins by presenting Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, or Barrowgoyf while keeping one mana open for a counter or removal spell. Prefer lines that leave W, U, or B interaction available over lines that spend all colors on medium development.

- Board material converts into pressure, protection, and card flow. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful rewards legendary sequencing; Skullclamp converts expendable small creatures or tokens when legal; Flowering of the White Tree rewards an established creature board; Eiganjo Castle, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, and Plaza of Heroes make specific legendary permanents harder to race or answer. Card text check required for Aang, Swift Savior, Spectacular Spider-Man, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, and Requiting Hex before relying on exact resource conversion.

- Graveyard value is real but conditional. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Emperor of Bones, Pre-War Formalwear, Barrowgoyf, Psychic Frog, and Tainted Pact can turn the graveyard into threats, recursion, or selection, but Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Dauthi Voidwalker, and opponent graveyard hate can change the value of every graveyard line. When hate is visible, ask only what Forge says is legal and productive.

- Exile is both cost and denial. Solitude, Subtlety, Force of Negation, Reverent Mantra, Tainted Pact, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, Parallax Wave, and sideboard Rest in Peace can move cards to exile for tempo or permanence. Treat exiling your own cards as a commitment cost; treat exiling opposing threats as high value when it beats recursion, death triggers, or graveyard scaling shown by public information.

- Lands are not just mana sources. Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Barad-dur, Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, Eiganjo Castle, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Plaza of Heroes, and Flagstones of Trokair are utility resources. Do not expose or spend them early if a normal colored land casts the hand and the utility mode is likely to matter.

- Sacrifice fodder is scarce. Orcish Bowmasters tokens, small creatures made low-impact by board state, or creatures already blanked by removal can become Skullclamp material or edict buffers, but this deck is not a sacrifice engine. Preserve creatures that carry Flowering of the White Tree, pressure planeswalkers, enable Silas Renn, Seeker Adept combat damage, or hold equipment-like artifacts unless the legal sacrifice/draw line clearly improves the current exchange.

- Information changes card value immediately. Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, Duress after sideboarding, and public reveal effects should drive whether to tap out, hold counters, name a target, tutor, or commit a threat. Do not assume hidden cards; use only revealed cards, known zones, prior legal actions, and archetype guidance.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow slots into matchup-specific resource denial. Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Dauthi Voidwalker, Stony Silence, Pithing Needle, Disenchant, Dovin's Veto, Duress, Kaya's Guile, and Supreme Verdict should be valued as answers to visible or strongly expected engines, not as generic upgrades over the deck's low-curve pressure plan.

## Mana Guide
- Keep hands that cast an early threat and at least one relevant interaction spell. A strong opener normally has two or three lands, access to at least two of white, blue, and black, and a play involving Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Wash Away, or another cheap legal action. Mulligan hands with only colorless utility, only tapped lands, or one land plus no free interaction unless the rules engine and matchup context make the risk necessary.

- Prioritize white and blue early, then black by turn two or three. White casts Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Swords to Plowshares, Mana Tithe, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, Swift Reconfiguration, Skyclave Apparition, and Flowering of the White Tree. Blue casts Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, counters, Gitaxian Probe, Psychic Frog, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, and Teferi, Time Raveler. Black casts Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Orcish Bowmasters, Sheoldred's Edict, Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

- Fetch for untapped dual colors when tempo matters. Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Marsh Flats, Windswept Heath, Verdant Catacombs, Scalding Tarn, Bloodstained Mire, Arid Mesa, and Misty Rainforest should find Tundra, Underground Sea, Scrubland, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Meticulous Archive, Undercity Sewers, or Shadowy Backstreet according to the next two turns of legal spells. Respect life total before choosing shock lands untapped.

- Sequence tapped lands when the turn has no one-mana obligation. Meticulous Archive, Undercity Sewers, Shadowy Backstreet, and any land Forge shows entering tapped are best played on turns where the hand still presents Gitaxian Probe, free interaction, or no needed instant-speed answer. Do not play a tapped land before holding up Swords to Plowshares, Fatal Push, Spell Pierce, Mental Misstep, or Wash Away if the opponent can punish the delay.

- Delay utility lands when colors are unstable. Plaza of Heroes, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Barad-dur, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Eiganjo Castle, and Flagstones of Trokair are valuable, but early turns must cast spells. Play them early only if they complete colors, protect a key legendary permanent, or the hand already has stable WUB access.

- Play lands before selection when the legal action requires exact mana or landfall-adjacent information is irrelevant. Play a fetch or untapped source before Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or a multi-spell turn when the chosen line needs known available colors. Delay land plays until after Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique information, draw steps, or selection effects when land choice depends on revealed interaction, needed shock decisions, or whether Daze-style protection must remain represented.

- Preserve channel and special lands as spells when mana allows. Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire often function as interaction or recursion that dodges some permission. Use them as mana only when colored development would otherwise fail or when the spell mode is unlikely to matter before the game is decided.

- Count alternative costs before tapping out. Daze may need an Island-type land to return; Force of Negation, Subtlety, Solitude, and Reverent Mantra may need specific pitch cards; Plaza of Heroes or legendary utility may need the correct permanent context. Choose mana payments that keep these backup lines legal when the opponent's next turn is dangerous.

## Mulligan Guide
- Strong keep: Keep two or three lands with early WUB access plus Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful or Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and at least one cheap interaction spell such as Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Wash Away, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, or Daze. A hand like Flooded Strand, Underground Sea, Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, Swords to Plowshares, and Orcish Bowmasters has information, pressure, and answer density.

- Medium keep: Keep slower hands when they still cast spells on the first two turns and have a clear stabilizer. A hand like Meticulous Archive, Scrubland, City of Brass, Psychic Frog, Mana Leak, Skyclave Apparition, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is acceptable on the draw or against midrange, but it needs careful life and tapped-land sequencing.

- Risky keep: Keep one-land hands only with a fetch land or untapped blue/white/black source, Gitaxian Probe or cheap information, and multiple one-mana plays or free interaction. Polluted Delta, Gitaxian Probe, Mental Misstep, Daze, Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Fatal Push, and Tainted Pact is a calculated keep only if the matchup rewards tempo and the engine confirms the legal first-turn play.

- Automatic ship: Mulligan hands with zero lands, one land plus only three- and four-mana spells, all utility lands without reliable colored spells, or no meaningful play before turn three. Hands built around Barad-dur, Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Parallax Wave, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and Ertai Resurrected should be shipped unless a legal free-interaction package and draw context make survival credible.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Keep Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, or counter-heavy hands against combo and control, but prefer Fatal Push, Cut Down, Swords to Plowshares, Sheoldred's Edict, Solitude, and cheap blockers against creature pressure. Against graveyard decks after sideboarding, Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Dauthi Voidwalker, or Kaya's Guile can upgrade a slower hand only if mana casts them on time.

- Play/draw rule: On the play, prioritize Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe into disruption, or a one-mana answer backed by Daze, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, or Spell Pierce. On the draw, value Mental Misstep, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Cut Down, Force of Negation, Solitude, Subtlety, and hands that answer the opponent's first threat before deploying your own engine.

- Trap hand: Do not keep a hand because it contains powerful expensive cards if it cannot interact early. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Parallax Wave, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Ertai Resurrected, Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, and a single tapped land is not a plan; it is a delayed loss unless the mulligan context is extreme.

- Commander access rule: Treat command-zone access as pressure and recursion texture, not as a reason to keep bad mana. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful improve fair hands, but they do not rescue hands that fail to cast interaction through the first two turns.

## Turn Arc
- Turn 1 priority: Lead on untapped mana that enables Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Wash Away, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, or Daze. Prefer information before committing a fragile threat when Thoughtseize or Gitaxian Probe can reveal whether the opponent has removal, a must-counter engine, or a faster clock.

- Turn 1 deviation: Play a tapped surveil or utility land only when no one-mana spell matters and the opponent cannot punish a shields-down start. Preserve Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, and Plaza of Heroes when a normal colored land casts the hand.

- Turn 2 priority: Establish a threat while holding or representing interaction. Preferred plays include Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Barrowgoyf, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel, or a protected Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful plus one-mana interaction.

- Turn 2 deviation: Pass with Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Spell Pierce, Stifle, Tale's End, Daze, Wash Away, or Sheoldred's Edict when the opponent's next legal play is more important than adding pressure. Use Cut Down, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Swift Reconfiguration, or Dismember before damage when visible attacks or snowball permanents threaten the resource plan.

- Turn 3 priority: Convert information into a swing turn. Teferi, Time Raveler, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Skyclave Apparition, Vendilion Clique, Tishana's Tidebinder, Brazen Borrower, Opposition Agent, Emperor of Bones, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, or Demonic Tutor should be chosen according to visible pressure, known cards, and available protection.

- Turn 3 deviation: Hold up interaction instead of tapping out when the opponent is representing a decisive spell, activated ability, graveyard setup, or planeswalker. Use Tainted Pact only when the needed answer, threat, or land category is worth the exile risk and the legal selection interface confirms each choice.

- Turns 4-5 priority: Commit a high-impact stabilizer or finisher when the stack and board allow it. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Ertai Resurrected, Parallax Wave, Solitude, Subtlety, Force of Negation backup, or Flowering of the White Tree should convert early tempo into a protected advantage state.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: Do not jam Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Parallax Wave, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares into obvious open interaction if a cheaper threat plus counter line keeps pressure and protects life. Spend Reverent Mantra or free elementals only when the exchange prevents lethal, saves a decisive board, or wins the tempo race.

- Late-game priority: Turn utility lands and recursion into inevitability. Activate or channel Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Barad-dur, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, or Eiganjo Castle only when the visible state makes the spell or ability mode better than preserving mana.

- Late-game deviation: Protect against decking, overextension, and hidden-information traps. Use Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Skullclamp, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept lines only when Forge confirms legal targets and the chosen line beats visible board pressure or known interaction. Card text check required for Aang, Swift Savior, Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector, Spectacular Spider-Man, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Starting Town, Voice of Victory, Basim Ibn Ishaq, Requiting Hex, and Wan Shi Tong, Librarian before relying on precise tactical text.

## Card Roles
- Command-zone pressure: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful is the preferred early commander when the hand can cast it and follow with legendary permanents or protection; use it to punish slow starts, not as a reason to keep weak mana. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept is the grind commander and artifact-recursion texture; commit Silas when combat is credible or when Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, or another legal artifact line is already visible, and do not attack Silas into free trades unless the recursion trigger matters.

- One-mana disruption: Thoughtseize and Gitaxian Probe convert hidden-information uncertainty into sequencing certainty; use them before deciding whether to tap out, expose Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, or hold counters. Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Wash Away, Daze, Stifle, and Tale's End are tempo tools first; spend them on plays that beat your current board or invalidate your next turn, not on low-impact spells you can answer later.

- Harder permission and stack control: Mana Leak and Memory Lapse protect early advantage and buy tempo against midgame haymakers; Force of Negation is reserved for noncreature spells that threaten a decisive loss or protect an all-in turn. Dovin's Veto is sideboard-only and should replace softer permission when the matchup is about planeswalkers, sweepers, combo spells, or removal wars. Ertai Resurrected and Tishana's Tidebinder are flexible flash interaction; use them when the body matters after the counter or ability stop, and avoid spending them into known cheap removal unless the stopped effect is worth the body loss.

- Creature removal: Swords to Plowshares, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Swift Reconfiguration, Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, Solitude, and Parallax Wave are the deck's board-control spine. Prefer the cheapest clean answer that leaves mana for another action, but save exile or edict effects for creatures that cannot be killed normally, protected threats, large singular attackers, or recursive engines. Swift Reconfiguration is also a special-case answer to commanders or static creatures; Card text check required before using it as a combo or vehicle-line tool.

- Bounce, channel, and tempo removal: Brazen Borrower and Otawara, Soaring City reset a threat, clear a blocker, or break up a stack/board commitment when a permanent answer is not required. Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire is best as uncounterable combat or planeswalker pressure interaction; do not spend it as a land if the hand already has stable mana and expects creature combat. Takenuma, Abandoned Mire is late-game recursion and selection; use it after a high-value creature or planeswalker is in the graveyard, not merely to spend mana.

- Card advantage engines: Psychic Frog, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, and Skullclamp are the primary ways to keep resources flowing. Commit them when you can attack safely, protect the engine, or immediately extract value. Card text check required for Wan Shi Tong, Librarian before relying on precise card draw, reveal, or permission text.

- Threats that stabilize while pressuring: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Barrowgoyf, Orcish Bowmasters, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd, Emperor of Bones, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel, and Voice of Victory create board presence while disrupting the opponent's plan. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse is a finisher and life-buffer; deploy it when it survives likely visible removal or when forcing an answer is tactically acceptable. Card text check required for Voice of Victory before treating it as protection, token pressure, or anti-interaction.

- Flash and information creatures: Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, Orcish Bowmasters, Ertai Resurrected, Tishana's Tidebinder, Brazen Borrower, Solitude, and Subtlety reward passing with mana. Hold them when the opponent must act first, especially around tutors, draw spells, commander casts, activated abilities, or combat blowouts. Do not flash a creature only to spend unused mana if the legal prompt suggests a more valuable response window may occur later in the turn.

- Legendary-matters package: Flowering of the White Tree, Plaza of Heroes, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Eiganjo Castle, Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares make legendary permanents more threatening. Cast Flowering of the White Tree only when it improves immediate combat, protects a key board, or turns multiple bodies into a clock; it is weak when behind without creatures.

- Planeswalker and tempo-control permanents: Teferi, Time Raveler changes stack timing and protects tap-out turns; prioritize it against instant-speed interaction and reactive decks. Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is a pressure-plus-card engine; commit it when the board can defend it or when its immediate legal action produces enough value even if attacked. Parallax Wave is a swing stabilizer; use it to remove attackers, clear blockers for lethal pressure, or protect your own creatures only when the rules engine exposes the exact legal targets.

- Recursion and artifact texture: Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Skullclamp, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire let the deck reuse small threats and convert creatures into cards. Use Unearth on a creature that changes the current turn, such as Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Opposition Agent, or a cheap legendary threat, rather than a body with no immediate impact. Card text check required for Pre-War Formalwear before choosing equip, recursion, or sacrifice-adjacent lines.

- Tutors and selection: Demonic Tutor is the exact-answer or exact-finisher card; choose the card that solves the visible problem, not the abstract strongest card. Tainted Pact is a commitment card because exiling singleton resources is real; use it when the needed category is narrow enough to justify stopping on the first legal hit, such as removal, counter, land, graveyard hate after sideboarding, or a protected finisher. Gitaxian Probe should often precede Demonic Tutor or Tainted Pact when legal.

- Free spells and pitch decisions: Force of Negation, Solitude, Subtlety, Reverent Mantra, Daze, and Mental Misstep let the deck steal tempo, but their card cost is high. Pitch only when the exchange preserves a winning board, stops a decisive opposing action, or prevents lethal pressure. Reverent Mantra is not generic protection; use it only when the chosen color and visible board make the protection mode materially change combat, removal, or lethal math.

- New or text-sensitive Universes cards: Aang, Swift Savior, Spectacular Spider-Man, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Basim Ibn Ishaq, Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector, Requiting Hex, Starting Town, and Wan Shi Tong, Librarian require card text verification before the agent relies on exact modes, triggers, costs, or target rules. Until verified, treat each as a legal-action-dependent role-player: cast only when the engine shows a clear immediate effect, a useful body, or synergy with the current pressure plan.

- Mana base roles: Command Tower, City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Tundra, Underground Sea, Scrubland, Hallowed Fountain, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Meticulous Archive, Undercity Sewers, Shadowy Backstreet, Seachrome Coast, Concealed Courtyard, Adarkar Wastes, Underground River, Caves of Koilos, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth provide color stability; fetchlands should prioritize the colors needed for the next two turns. Preserve utility lands when possible: Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, Flagstones of Trokair, Barad-dur, Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Plaza of Heroes, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Eiganjo Castle, Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire all have tactical value beyond mana, but none is worth missing a critical colored spell.

## Interaction Priorities

- Removal priority: spend Swords to Plowshares, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, Parallax Wave, Swift Reconfiguration, Requiting Hex, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire on threats that change the next combat, shut off your engines, or invalidate commander pressure. Do not burn premium removal on small bodies that Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Barrowgoyf, Orcish Bowmasters, or Dennick, Pious Apprentice can contain in combat unless life total or planeswalker defense demands it. Card text check required for Requiting Hex before relying on exact target or effect type.

- Counter priority: use Force of Negation, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Daze, Spell Pierce, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Wash Away, Mental Misstep, Tale's End, Stifle, Subtlety, Tishana's Tidebinder, and Ertai Resurrected on cards that beat the current board rather than on generic value. Counter sweepers when you are ahead, haymakers when you are behind, tutors or commander-centric actions when Opposition Agent, Vendilion Clique, Thoughtseize, or Gitaxian Probe has shown the opponent is assembling something specific, and removal only when the protected threat is carrying the game.

- Disruption priority: fire Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique, and Gitaxian Probe before committing Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Parallax Wave when legal. Take the card that breaks your current line first: sweeper against board advantage, cheap removal against Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful pressure, graveyard hate against Silas Renn, Seeker Adept or Unearth plans, and combo payoff against fast linear decks.

- Bounce and exile priority: use Brazen Borrower and Otawara, Soaring City to reset expensive permanents, clear a lethal blocker, answer tokens cleanly, or create a tempo window for commander damage and planeswalker pressure. Use Parallax Wave as a commitment spell only when its targets are visible and the tempo swing is immediate; do not expose it into open interaction merely to delay a board you can already block.

- Ignore priority: decline to fight low-impact card selection, redundant small attackers, and nonlethal value permanents when your hand contains only one hard answer or a free pitch spell with a painful card cost. This deck wins many games by making the opponent's decisive turn fail, so passing with Force of Negation, Solitude, Subtlety, Daze, Spell Pierce, or Mana Leak available is often stronger than tapping out for a medium threat.

- Bait priority: lead with resilient or lower-commitment threats such as Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, or Skullclamp before exposing Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Teferi, Time Raveler, or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares into unknown interaction. Against reactive decks, force them to answer cheap pressure; against creature decks, save the clean answer for the creature that makes blocking impossible.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack priority: pressure early with Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful whenever the visible blocks do not trade it down for less than a major tempo gain. Legendary follow-ups such as Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, and Flowering of the White Tree can turn Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful from chip damage into a must-answer clock, but do not attack it into a board where losing it removes your only pressure.

- Trade priority: trade small creatures aggressively against faster creature decks when the exchange preserves life and buys time for Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Parallax Wave, Supreme Verdict after sideboarding, or planeswalker stabilization. Preserve Psychic Frog, Orcish Bowmasters, Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Raffine, Scheming Seer, and Skullclamp carriers when they are actively producing cards or filtering decisions; trade them only to stop a lethal clock or protect a more important permanent.

- Silas combat priority: attack with Silas Renn, Seeker Adept when deathtouch makes blocks bad for the opponent or when connecting enables a visible artifact line involving Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, or another legal artifact action. Do not risk Silas Renn, Seeker Adept into first-strike, exile, bounce, or unfavorable double blocks unless the resulting trade unlocks a decisive graveyard or tempo sequence. Card text check required for Pre-War Formalwear before valuing exact recursion or equip lines.

- Protection priority: use Plaza of Heroes, Eiganjo Castle, Reverent Mantra, Force of Negation, Daze, and other stack interaction to protect a threat only when that threat is central to the current plan. Protect Sheoldred, the Apocalypse when its life swing stabilizes the race, protect Raffine, Scheming Seer or Kaito, Bane of Nightmares when they will snowball cards, and protect Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful only when it represents the real clock rather than replaceable damage.

- Life threshold priority: above roughly 14 life, prefer tempo-positive attacks and card engines over defensive trades unless facing visible burst damage. From 8 to 13 life, block to preserve the ability to use pain lands, fetch-shock sequencing, Thoughtseize, Dismember, Mana Confluence, and City of Brass. At 7 or less, assume every unblocked attacker matters and convert free spells, removal, and flash creatures into survival unless a counterlethal attack is visible.

- Archetype adjustment: against aggro, become the removal-and-blocking deck and let Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Solitude, Parallax Wave, Orcish Bowmasters, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, and Kaya's Guile after sideboarding stabilize before attacking widely. Against control, attack patiently with cheap legends and flash threats while holding counters for sweepers and finishers. Against combo or engine decks, shorten the clock with Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful and evasive or disruptive bodies while preserving Thoughtseize, Opposition Agent, Vendilion Clique, Stifle, Tale's End, and hard counters for the turn that matters.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Demonic Tutor priority: find the card that changes the current game, not the abstract strongest card. Search for Swords to Plowshares, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Sheoldred's Edict, Solitude, or Prismatic Ending when a visible threat is winning; find Force of Negation, Mana Leak, Dovin's Veto after sideboarding, or Teferi, Time Raveler when the next stack fight decides the game; find Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Parallax Wave, or Flowering of the White Tree when you already have time and need a closing engine.

- Tainted Pact priority: treat Tainted Pact as a commitment spell because passing a unique singleton card can remove it from the game. Cast it when you know the category you need before resolution, such as untapped colored land, free interaction, one-mana removal, graveyard hate after sideboarding, or a win-condition permanent; stop on the first card that satisfies the visible requirement unless the current board clearly demands a narrower answer.

- Information priority: use Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, and Vendilion Clique before high-commitment selection whenever legal and tactically relevant. Probe or discard first when deciding whether to tap out for Demonic Tutor, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Parallax Wave, or Raffine, Scheming Seer; preserve Thoughtseize if life pressure makes the two life cost dangerous or if the opponent is empty-handed.

- Filter priority: use Raffine, Scheming Seer, Psychic Frog, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Skullclamp, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, and Wan Shi Tong, Librarian as visible-card-quality engines only when their legal actions are exposed by the rules engine. Card text check required for Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Psychic Frog before assuming exact draw, loot, discard, or attack-trigger conditions.

- Surveil-land priority: sequence Meticulous Archive, Shadowy Backstreet, and Undercity Sewers when an entering-tapped land is acceptable or when a top-card decision is worth the tempo cost. Keep interaction, pressure, or missing colors on top; bin redundant tapped lands, late discard, or slow engines when the visible game demands immediate defense.

- Land-drop timing: delay fetch lands such as Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Marsh Flats, Windswept Heath, Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, Bloodstained Mire, and Arid Mesa only when you need to preserve shuffle equity for a known top card or conceal colors. Make the land drop before casting Daze-sensitive, Spell Pierce-sensitive, or Mana Tithe-sensitive spells if the extra mana changes legal protection or payment options.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Default priority rule: pass priority when no legal action improves the visible board, protects a key permanent, or stops a decisive opponent action. Do not cast interaction just because mana is open; this deck gains edge by making Force of Negation, Daze, Spell Pierce, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Wash Away, Stifle, Tale's End, Tishana's Tidebinder, Subtlety, and Ertai Resurrected line up with the opponent's actual pivot spell.

- Fight commitment rule: initiate stack fights over sweepers, combo pieces, planeswalker answers, commander removal, graveyard hate against Silas Renn, Seeker Adept or Unearth, and threats that invalidate combat. Let low-impact cantrips, medium creatures, and redundant setup resolve when your answer density is low or your board already pressures them.

- Free-spell rule: use Force of Negation, Solitude, Subtlety, Daze, Mental Misstep, Reverent Mantra, and potentially Requiting Hex only after checking card cost, life total, and follow-up mana. Card text check required for Requiting Hex and Reverent Mantra before relying on exact alternate-cost or protection behavior.

- Trigger and ability rule: use Stifle, Tale's End, Tishana's Tidebinder, and Pithing Needle after sideboarding on activated or triggered abilities that the engine exposes as legal targets and that materially change the game. Prioritize fetch-land or tutor disruption only when it denies a critical color, stops a known combo line, or strands the opponent under pressure; otherwise save these cards for commanders, planeswalkers, cascade-like effects, sacrifice triggers, or game-winning abilities.

- Combat-window rule: hold instant-speed interaction through attackers and blockers when blocks, removal, bounce, or protection can change damage. Use Swords to Plowshares, Fatal Push, Cut Down, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Swift Reconfiguration, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Solitude, Subtlety, and Parallax Wave at the last legal window that preserves the intended outcome.

- Optional-payment rule: decline optional costs, protection, or ability activations when they consume mana needed for visible counters, removal, commander recast, or a known tax. Pay only when the rules engine shows the payment is legal and the resulting action protects the central threat, advances lethal pressure, or prevents a decisive opposing resolution.

- Graveyard timing rule: activate or cast Unearth, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept lines, Pre-War Formalwear lines, and post-board Kaya's Guile or Dauthi Voidwalker actions only with legal targets visible. Card text check required for Pre-War Formalwear and Dauthi Voidwalker before assuming exact graveyard, artifact, or exile timing.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard principle: use the ten-card sideboard as targeted role compression, not as a new deck. Keep the command-zone pressure plan intact with Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, cheap legends, and stack interaction; add narrow cards only when the opponent's visible archetype makes that narrow text more valuable than flexible main-deck interaction.

- Rest in Peace role: bring Rest in Peace against graveyard combo, recursive midrange, escape, reanimator, dredge-like engines, and decks where the graveyard is a primary resource. Rest in Peace is bad when your own graveyard recursion from Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Emperor of Bones, Pre-War Formalwear, and Barrowgoyf matters more than the opponent's graveyard; do not add it against generic creature decks just because a graveyard is present. Its role changes from hard hate to emergency stabilizer only when the opponent already showed graveyard inevitability and your hand can win through your own graveyard being constrained.

- Dovin's Veto role: bring Dovin's Veto against control, combo, planeswalker-heavy decks, sweeper-heavy midrange, and spell-based engines where one resolved noncreature spell decides the game. Dovin's Veto is weak against creature-density decks that win through battlefield deployment before you can hold two mana. Treat it as a commitment gate: preserve it for the spell that beats your board, not for low-impact selection.

- Grafdigger's Cage role: bring Grafdigger's Cage against graveyard casting, reanimation, library-to-battlefield creature engines, and commander-adjacent engines if the rules text visibly matters. Grafdigger's Cage is bad when the opponent uses the graveyard only as incidental value or when your own Silas Renn, Seeker Adept and Unearth lines are essential to recover from removal. Card text check required at runtime before assuming it stops a specific visible action.

- Pithing Needle role: bring Pithing Needle against commanders, planeswalkers, equipment engines, artifact engines, lands, or combo permanents with activated abilities that are known from public information. Pithing Needle is bad when the opponent presents mostly triggered abilities, static abilities, combat stats, or spells from hand. Name only a card actually known or strongly implied by public information; if the engine asks for a name with no reliable object to constrain, prefer a different sideboard role.

- Disenchant role: bring Disenchant against artifact or enchantment engines, prison pieces, equipment, graveyard hate that blocks Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, and permanent-based combo pieces. Disenchant is bad against creature-only aggression and spell combo with few legal permanent objects to answer. Its role changes from answer to tempo play when removing a blocker-enabler, equipment, or hate permanent opens a protected attack from Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful or an evasive legend.

- Kaya's Guile role: bring Kaya's Guile against graveyard decks, sacrifice-sensitive creature decks, go-wide creature decks, burn pressure, and midrange mirrors where flexible instant-speed modes can stabilize life, material, or graveyard pressure. Kaya's Guile is bad when the opponent ignores creatures and graveyards or when holding three mana prevents you from using cheaper interaction. Card text check required for exact mode availability and any additional payment; choose modes only from visible legal options.

- Supreme Verdict role: bring Supreme Verdict against creature swarms, hexproof-like board states, creature commanders backed by protection, and opponents that can overload one-for-one removal. Supreme Verdict is bad when you are the board-advantage player with Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful plus multiple legends, or when the opponent's threats are mostly planeswalkers, artifacts, graveyard loops, or single protected finishers. Treat Supreme Verdict as a reset button, not a routine answer.

- Duress role: bring Duress against combo, control, sweepers, planeswalkers, and decks where removing a noncreature spell clears the path for a threat. Duress is bad against low-curve creature decks with few noncreature cards and against topdeck races where immediate board impact matters more than information. Use it before committing Teferi, Time Raveler, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Parallax Wave, or Demonic Tutor when the opponent's hand is unknown.

- Dauthi Voidwalker role: bring Dauthi Voidwalker against graveyard decks, attrition mirrors, spell-heavy decks where exiled cards can become a swing, and opponents that struggle to block shadow-like pressure if that text is confirmed. Dauthi Voidwalker is bad when a fragile creature body is too slow, when Rest in Peace is the cleaner hate plan, or when your curve needs more instant interaction. Card text check required before assuming exact exile replacement, casting permission, or evasion behavior.

- Stony Silence role: bring Stony Silence against artifact mana, equipment, artifact combo, and activated artifact engines. Stony Silence is bad when your own Skullclamp, artifact recursion from Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, or Pre-War Formalwear lines are more important than the opponent's artifacts, or when the opponent's artifacts are mostly static hate that Disenchant can answer more cleanly. Card text check required before assuming it stops a specific artifact ability.

Balanced anti-combo/control plan
Side in: Dovin's Veto; Duress; Pithing Needle; Dauthi Voidwalker
Cut: Cut Down; Fatal Push; Swift Reconfiguration; Parallax Wave

- Plan use: apply the anti-combo/control plan when the opponent's primary wins are noncreature spells, planeswalker or commander abilities, graveyard value, or a compact engine rather than creature combat. Keep cheap pressure and permission; reduce creature-only answers that lack targets. If the opponent showed artifact engines instead of graveyard pressure, use Stony Silence or Disenchant as role cards and reassess Dauthi Voidwalker.

Balanced anti-graveyard plan
Side in: Rest in Peace; Grafdigger's Cage; Kaya's Guile; Dauthi Voidwalker
Cut: Unearth; Pre-War Formalwear; Barrowgoyf; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

- Plan use: apply the anti-graveyard plan only when graveyard access is central enough to justify weakening your own graveyard package. Add broad shutdown, library-or-graveyard constraints, flexible instant interaction, and pressure plus disruption. Reduce main-deck emphasis on cards whose best lines depend on your own graveyard or artifact-recursion value.

Balanced artifact/enchantment plan
Side in: Disenchant; Stony Silence; Pithing Needle
Cut: Requiting Hex; Swift Reconfiguration; Memory Lapse

- Plan use: apply the artifact/enchantment plan against decks whose public permanents are more dangerous than their creatures on rate. Add specific permanent answers, activated-artifact suppression, and known activated-ability coverage. Reduce main-deck emphasis on narrow tempo interaction and uncertain-text cards when permanent answers are required. Card text check required for Requiting Hex before assigning it a lower role.

Balanced creature-swarm plan
Side in: Supreme Verdict; Kaya's Guile; Disenchant
Cut: Gitaxian Probe; Spell Pierce; Force Spike

- Plan use: apply the creature-swarm plan against decks that overload one-for-one removal with multiple creatures, tokens, or protection-backed boards. Add a true reset and flexible stabilization; include Disenchant only when equipment, anthem, enchantment, or artifact support is part of the creature plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis on soft permission and life-cost information when the game is decided on battlefield containment.

Balanced big-mana/artifact ramp plan
Side in: Stony Silence; Pithing Needle; Duress; Dovin's Veto
Cut: Cut Down; Fatal Push; Swift Reconfiguration; Dismember

- Plan use: apply the big-mana/artifact ramp plan when mana rocks, activated lands, planeswalkers, commanders, or expensive noncreature payoffs are the opponent's route to inevitability. Keep pressure, tax the decisive turn, and remove creature-only answers when the opponent is not trying to win through small attackers.

Balanced removal-heavy attrition plan
Side in: Duress; Dovin's Veto; Dauthi Voidwalker; Kaya's Guile
Cut: Cut Down; Fatal Push; Force Spike; Dismember

- Plan use: apply the removal-heavy attrition plan against decks with sweepers, removal density, graveyard value, or planeswalker follow-up. Protect high-value threats, preserve recursive resources when graveyard hate is not required, and avoid overloading on narrow hate if the opponent's plan is simply trading cards.

Balanced burn/race stabilization plan
Side in: Kaya's Guile; Duress; Dovin's Veto
Cut: Gitaxian Probe; Dismember; Force Spike

- Plan use: apply the burn/race stabilization plan when life total is the bottleneck and the opponent uses burn, reach, or noncreature finishers alongside pressure. Reduce voluntary life payments and soft permission that expires quickly; add flexible lifegain, hand disruption for reach, and uncounterable protection against decisive noncreature spells.

- Archetype rule against fast aggro: add Supreme Verdict and Kaya's Guile first, then Disenchant if the opponent showed equipment or enchantment pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Gitaxian Probe, slow selection, and permission that fails once threats are already on the battlefield.

- Archetype rule against midrange: add only sideboard cards that answer a confirmed axis. Dauthi Voidwalker, Kaya's Guile, Pithing Needle, Disenchant, Rest in Peace, or Supreme Verdict can be correct, but overboarding into narrow hate makes the deck lose its efficient legend-plus-interaction identity.

- Archetype rule against control: add Dovin's Veto, Duress, and Pithing Needle before graveyard hate unless their public plan uses the graveyard. Keep threats that generate value through attack, flash, or planeswalkers; reduce dead removal rather than pressure.

- Archetype rule against combo: add Duress, Dovin's Veto, Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace, Stony Silence, or Dauthi Voidwalker according to the combo's visible resource. Do not add hate by card type alone; match the sideboard card to the actual engine the rules engine and public information expose.

## Matchup Guidance
- Aggro: stabilize first, then turn the corner with Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, or equipped pressure from Skullclamp and Pre-War Formalwear only when the board is contained. Prioritize cheap removal such as Fatal Push, Cut Down, Swords to Plowshares, Dismember, Solitude, Prismatic Ending, and Sheoldred's Edict over holding soft permission for later turns. Add role cards: Supreme Verdict and Kaya's Guile when the opponent presents multiple creatures, with Disenchant only for visible equipment, anthem, artifact, or enchantment pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Gitaxian Probe, Force Spike, Spell Pierce, and slow reactive cards when the game is already about board presence.

- Control: lead with resilient, low-commitment pressure and make the opponent answer one meaningful threat at a time. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful backed by legends, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept backed by artifact value, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Vendilion Clique, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse are strong pressure points if protected from sweepers and hard counters. Add role cards: Duress, Dovin's Veto, Pithing Needle, and Dauthi Voidwalker when the opponent relies on noncreature spells, planeswalkers, graveyard value, or activated abilities. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Cut Down, Fatal Push, Swift Reconfiguration, and Parallax Wave if they lack creature targets or do not answer the opponent's actual win condition.

- Combo: treat every turn cycle as a resource-denial test, not a race by default. Use Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, Orcish Bowmasters, Tishana's Tidebinder, Ertai Resurrected, Tale's End, Stifle, Wash Away, Mental Misstep, Spell Pierce, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Daze, Force of Negation, Mana Tithe, and Force Spike to break the decisive setup turn rather than to trade for low-impact selection unless mana efficiency or known hand contents justify it. Add role cards: Duress, Dovin's Veto, Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace, Dauthi Voidwalker, or Stony Silence according to the engine the visible game state exposes. Do not name a hate piece as correct just because the opponent is combo; match the answer to graveyard, artifact, activated ability, library, or spell-stack dependency.

- Tempo: value mana efficiency above raw card advantage until the first stable board is achieved. Keep one-mana interaction live, play around Daze-like exchanges only when visible mana and public information support it, and prefer threats that also disrupt or generate value: Orcish Bowmasters, Psychic Frog, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Brazen Borrower, Vendilion Clique, Tishana's Tidebinder, and Ertai Resurrected. Use Teferi, Time Raveler as a commitment gate: deploy it when it protects a follow-up, breaks a stack fight, or bounces a meaningful permanent, not merely because it is castable. Add sideboard cards sparingly; Duress or Dovin's Veto can matter against spell-heavy tempo, while Supreme Verdict is only for boards that truly overload spot removal.

- Midrange: win the exchange economy by turning each card into pressure, information, or a two-for-one. Preserve Demonic Tutor and Tainted Pact for the missing piece in the current board texture: removal when behind, a finisher when stable, graveyard disruption when the opponent's recursion is public, or protection when a key threat is already winning. Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful grows from legendary sequencing, so choose legend deployment order with combat math and removal exposure in mind. Silas Renn, Seeker Adept matters more when Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, or other artifact lines are available and less when graveyard hate is expected. Add role cards narrowly: Kaya's Guile, Dauthi Voidwalker, Pithing Needle, Disenchant, Rest in Peace, or Supreme Verdict only when the opponent's axis is visible.

- Big mana: attack mana development and payoff timing rather than trying to answer every permanent after it resolves. Use Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, Stifle, Tale's End, Tishana's Tidebinder, Wash Away, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Force of Negation, and Dovin's Veto to interrupt search, activated abilities, commanders, or expensive noncreature payoffs when those actions are legal and visible. Pressure must be real: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Psychic Frog, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and evasive or disruptive creatures should close before the opponent's mana advantage invalidates soft permission. Add role cards: Pithing Needle for known activated engines, Stony Silence for artifact-mana clusters, Disenchant for key permanents, and Duress for noncreature payoffs.

- Graveyard: identify whether the opponent needs the graveyard to win, to grind, or only as incidental value before committing hate that weakens your own recursion. Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage are strongest when they stop the opponent's core engine; Dauthi Voidwalker is better when pressure plus disruption matters; Kaya's Guile is better when flexible instant-speed interaction is needed. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Barrowgoyf, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept artifact-recursion plans when broad graveyard hate is deployed. Do not assume a graveyard card is locked out unless the rules engine shows the hate permanent and legal actions confirm the restriction.

- Artifact/enchantment: answer the permanent that actually converts into a win, not the first permanent with a scary card type. Disenchant is for specific engines, hate pieces, equipment, or enchantments that invalidate combat or recursion; Stony Silence is for activated artifact clusters; Pithing Needle is for a named activated ability visible from public information or known from revealed cards. Skyclave Apparition, Prismatic Ending, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Tishana's Tidebinder can provide temporary or permanent interaction depending on legal action text. Reduce main-deck emphasis on narrow creature removal when the threat is a noncreature permanent engine.

- Go-wide: preserve life total and board parity until Supreme Verdict, Parallax Wave, Solitude, Sheoldred's Edict, Kaya's Guile, or efficient removal can reset the attack math. Do not trade Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful or a high-value legend into a token unless that trade prevents lethal, protects a planeswalker that will stabilize, or unlocks Skullclamp value that the board can support. Flowering of the White Tree may change combat math if its text and static effects are confirmed by the engine; card text check required before relying on exact bonuses. Add role cards: Supreme Verdict, Kaya's Guile, and Disenchant for token engines or anthem permanents.

- Single-threat: force the opponent to commit protection before spending the cleanest answer when possible. Sheoldred's Edict, Swords to Plowshares, Solitude, Dismember, Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, Swift Reconfiguration, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, and Parallax Wave should be sequenced around ward, counters, sacrifice protection, and combat timing shown by legal actions. Pithing Needle is excellent when the single threat is a commander, planeswalker, equipment, or activated engine with a known ability. Keep pressure active so the opponent cannot spend every turn protecting one permanent.

- Burn: treat life as a scarce resource and avoid unnecessary pain from City of Brass, Mana Confluence, shock lands, Gitaxian Probe, Dismember, and fetch sequencing unless the tempo gained prevents more damage. Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Dennick, Pious Apprentice, Kaya's Guile, Solitude, Swords to Plowshares on your own creature only when legal and necessary, and early blockers can swing the race. Counter the spell that changes the clock, not always the first spell. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow card advantage that costs life or mana without affecting the race.

- Removal-heavy decks: diversify threat types and avoid putting all pressure into one creature unless protection or recursion is available. Sequence Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful with other legends to demand answers, then reload with Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept artifact value, Unearth, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, or Pre-War Formalwear when legal and tactically sound. Do not expose Skullclamp or Pre-War Formalwear lines into graveyard hate or artifact hate without a payoff. Add role cards: Duress and Dovin's Veto against sweepers and removal-heavy control, Dauthi Voidwalker for attrition, and Pithing Needle when the removal engine is ability-based.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- General/archetype-only: exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards, legal actions, and public zones override every assumption here. Use Gitaxian Probe, Thoughtseize, Duress, Vendilion Clique, and Opposition Agent information to update the plan immediately; do not spend a counter, removal spell, tutor, or sideboard card on a guessed axis when the board shows a different one.

- Fast creature decks: preserve life before preserving long-game engines. Prioritize Cut Down, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Solitude, Dismember, Sheoldred's Edict, Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, Parallax Wave, and Supreme Verdict for creatures that change the next combat step or make blocking impossible. Add role cards: Supreme Verdict and Kaya's Guile, with Disenchant only for a visible artifact or enchantment engine. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow tutors, expensive tap-out threats, and life-costing lines from City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Gitaxian Probe, or Dismember when the tempo gain is not decisive.

- Control and permission decks: force action on their turn when possible, then resolve a protected threat or planeswalker. Prioritize Thoughtseize, Duress, Vendilion Clique, Dovin's Veto, Spell Pierce, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Force of Negation, Daze, Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Teferi, Time Raveler, and Voice of Victory around visible shields and open mana. Add role cards: Dovin's Veto, Duress, Dauthi Voidwalker, and Pithing Needle for known planeswalker or activated engines. Reduce main-deck emphasis on narrow creature removal unless the opponent has committed a real threat.

- Graveyard decks: decide whether hate is worth weakening your own Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Barrowgoyf, Emperor of Bones, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, and Tainted Pact lines. Add role cards: Rest in Peace for broad shutdown, Grafdigger's Cage for cast-from-graveyard or library-style engines when confirmed, Dauthi Voidwalker for pressure plus denial, and Kaya's Guile for instant-speed flexibility. Priority targets are the public graveyard card or enabled action that creates the win, not incidental value.

- Artifact or enchantment engines: answer the permanent that converts into cards, mana, combat inevitability, or a lock. Add role cards: Disenchant, Stony Silence, Pithing Needle, and sometimes Dovin's Veto. Main-deck answers include Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, Brazen Borrower, Otawara, Soaring City, Teferi, Time Raveler, Tishana's Tidebinder, and Ertai Resurrected. Reduce main-deck emphasis on creature-only removal when the opponent's visible engine is noncreature.

- Combo or big-mana decks: use pressure plus interruption rather than trying to answer every payoff after resolution. Prioritize Thoughtseize, Duress, Vendilion Clique, Opposition Agent, Stifle, Tale's End, Tishana's Tidebinder, Wash Away, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Force of Negation, Dovin's Veto, and Spell Pierce for search, commander, activated ability, or noncreature payoff windows shown by legal actions. Add role cards: Pithing Needle, Stony Silence, Grafdigger's Cage, Rest in Peace, Dauthi Voidwalker, or Disenchant only when the revealed plan uses that axis.

- Tempo mirrors and low-curve disruption decks: trade mana efficiently and avoid sideboarding into clunky answers. Keep Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful pressure active, respect opposing soft permission, and use cheap interaction to protect the threat that is already winning. Duress is better when their disruptive density is spell-heavy; Supreme Verdict is only for boards that actually go wide; Rest in Peace is not a default answer unless graveyard recursion is central.

- Midrange mirrors: keep the deck's pressure-plus-interaction identity intact. Kaya's Guile and Dauthi Voidwalker are the most natural role cards when the opponent trades resources and uses graveyards; Pithing Needle or Disenchant should answer a confirmed engine; Rest in Peace is reserved for graveyard inevitability strong enough to justify suppressing your own recursion. Do not cut all cheap removal just because the opponent has late-game cards, since Commander-family games still hinge on early legendary pressure and combat pivots.

- Go-wide boards: preserve parity until a reset or life-stabilizing spell can shift the race. Supreme Verdict is the cleanest reset, Kaya's Guile can buy a combat step or drain graveyard value, and Disenchant is for anthem, equipment, or token-engine permanents. Avoid overcommitting legends into a board wipe if Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful plus one protected follow-up already forces the opponent to react.

- Single-threat commanders or protected engines: answer the enabling ability or protection layer before spending the cleanest removal if possible. Pithing Needle is a high-priority role card when the threat is activated-ability dependent; Dovin's Veto and Duress matter when protection or payoff comes from noncreature spells; Disenchant matters when the threat is carried by equipment or enchantment support. Keep pressure active so the opponent cannot spend every turn holding up protection.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: the deck is powerful but color-hungry, and several lands or spells ask for painful sequencing. Avoid unnecessary damage from City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Underground River, Caves of Koilos, Gitaxian Probe, and Dismember when the opponent is pressuring life. Fetch decisions with Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, Arid Mesa, Windswept Heath, and Bloodstained Mire must preserve access to white removal, blue interaction, and black discard.

- Matchup risk: the guide is archetype-only unless an opponent is known. Revealed cards and engine legal actions override broad labels; do not keep a hand, tutor with Demonic Tutor, or exile for Force of Negation based only on a guessed archetype.

- Draw risk: singleton midrange draws can contain the wrong half. Mulligan hands that cannot cast early interaction or pressure, and use Demonic Tutor, Tainted Pact, Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Psychic Frog, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, and Skullclamp only when the legal line improves the current texture rather than chasing generic value.

- Over-sideboarding risk: broad hate can shut off your own recursion, artifact, and graveyard value. Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Stony Silence, and Dauthi Voidwalker should enter only for visible or strongly indicated axes; avoid diluting Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful pressure and interaction density with hate that does not affect legal opposing actions.

- Graveyard risk: relying on Unearth, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Pre-War Formalwear, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Emperor of Bones, or Barrowgoyf into known graveyard hate can strand resources. Treat graveyard plans as conditional unless the hate is absent, answered, or outweighed by immediate board impact.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful can invite overcommitment. Sequence Flowering of the White Tree, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, and other legends so one removal spell or sweeper does not erase all pressure unless the clock demands it.

- Closer risk: the deck can stabilize without ending the game. Once ahead, identify the cleanest closer among Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Psychic Frog, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, or evasive pressure, then spend interaction to protect that clock.

- Interaction risk: soft counters lose value as mana grows. Spend Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Spell Pierce, Daze, Mana Leak, and Memory Lapse on turns where they deny a meaningful spell, tempo swing, or engine start; preserve Dovin's Veto, Force of Negation, Tale's End, Stifle, Tishana's Tidebinder, and Ertai Resurrected for higher-leverage windows when visible.

- Sequencing risk: legendary and utility lands create tactical traps. Plaza of Heroes, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Eiganjo Castle, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Otawara, Soaring City, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, Barad-dur, Starting Town, and Flagstones of Trokair should be played or held according to current legal actions, commander tax, interaction needs, and channel/utility value; card text check required for unfamiliar or newly printed cards before relying on exact effects.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: identify whether the game turned on early Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful pressure, a protected Silas Renn, Seeker Adept recursion line, a planeswalker or legend sticking, a single interaction window, mana failure, or inability to close after stabilization.

- Mulligan review: record whether the opener had castable pressure, at least two usable mana sources, and interaction aligned to the opponent. Flag hands that kept only cantripping or speculative cards such as Gitaxian Probe, Tainted Pact, Demonic Tutor, Rivendell, or Minas Tirith without a clear first-three-turn plan.

- Mana review: note every game where City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Watery Grave, Godless Shrine, Hallowed Fountain, Underground River, Caves of Koilos, Dismember, or Gitaxian Probe materially changed life totals. Check whether fetch sequencing with Flooded Strand, Polluted Delta, Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, Misty Rainforest, Scalding Tarn, Arid Mesa, Windswept Heath, or Bloodstained Mire preserved white removal, blue permission, and black discard.

- Velocity review: ask whether Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel, Psychic Frog, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Skullclamp, Minas Tirith, Rivendell, or Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom converted into decisions that improved the current board texture. Card text check required for unfamiliar draw or filtering details before blaming a card for low output.

- Engine review: track whether Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Emperor of Bones, Barrowgoyf, and Tainted Pact were enabled or stranded by graveyard pressure, sideboard hate, or sequencing.

- Removal review: record whether Cut Down, Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending, Sheoldred's Edict, Dismember, Solitude, Skyclave Apparition, Swift Reconfiguration, Parallax Wave, Otawara, Soaring City, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire answered the threat that mattered before combat or only cleaned up after the game was already slipping.

- Stack review: identify missed or overused windows for Force Spike, Mana Tithe, Spell Pierce, Daze, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Force of Negation, Wash Away, Tale's End, Stifle, Subtlety, Tishana's Tidebinder, Ertai Resurrected, Dovin's Veto, and Mental Misstep. Mark whether the soft counters were spent while they still constrained mana.

- Sideboard review: ask whether Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Dauthi Voidwalker, Kaya's Guile, Stony Silence, Pithing Needle, Disenchant, Supreme Verdict, Duress, or Dovin's Veto affected visible opposing actions. Flag any sideboard card that entered without a public target, matchup reason, or clear pressure plan.

- Closing review: record whether wins came from Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Psychic Frog, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, Svyelun of Sea and Sky, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, evasive legends, or attrition. Ask whether the deck stabilized but gave the opponent too many draw steps.

- Role review: compare the chosen role against the revealed game. Note when the pilot acted as control despite having the only clock, or raced despite holding better interaction.

- Mistake review: log every action where Veles selected a legal line but ignored visible board pressure, a stack window, a commander tax constraint, a sideboard hate conflict, or a known card from Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, Vendilion Clique, or reveal effects.

## First Tuning Questions

- Mana question: do color failures cluster around double-colored interaction, early Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful plus blue permission, or black discard starts? If yes, reassess utility land pressure from Barad-dur, Rivendell, Minas Tirith, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Oboro, Palace in the Clouds, Starting Town, and Flagstones of Trokair against colored source needs.

- Aggro question: does the deck lose before Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Parallax Wave, Supreme Verdict, or Kaya's Guile can stabilize? If yes, test whether more cheap interaction density is needed over slow card selection, high-pain lines, or conditional legends with card text check required.

- Control question: does the deck fail to resolve a durable threat through removal and permission? If yes, evaluate whether Thoughtseize, Duress, Voice of Victory, Teferi, Time Raveler, Vendilion Clique, Force of Negation, Dovin's Veto, and resilient commander deployment are being prioritized correctly before changing slots.

- Closer question: does the deck trade resources well but fail to end games? If yes, examine whether Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful is protected enough, whether Flowering of the White Tree overperforms, and whether Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Raffine, Scheming Seer, Psychic Frog, Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, or Svyelun of Sea and Sky should be treated as primary closers more often.

- Graveyard question: does Rest in Peace or Grafdigger's Cage solve matchups while weakening Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Emperor of Bones, Barrowgoyf, and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire too much? If yes, prefer matchup-specific hate selection over automatic broad hate.

- Artifact question: does Stony Silence conflict with Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, or Silas Renn, Seeker Adept lines more than it disrupts the opponent? If yes, reserve it for visible artifact-engine matchups and lean on Disenchant, Pithing Needle, Prismatic Ending, Skyclave Apparition, or Otawara, Soaring City elsewhere.

- Role-conflict question: are legendary pressure cards, reactive counters, graveyard recursion, and planeswalker value pulling the pilot into incompatible turns? If yes, tune the decision guide first by tightening mulligan and commitment gates before changing the registered 100.

- Stranded-card question: which cards are repeatedly uncastable, text-uncertain, or low impact in logs: Aang, Swift Savior, Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Spectacular Spider-Man, Requiting Hex, Starting Town, Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector, Pippin, Guard of the Citadel, or Cloud, Midgar Mercenary? Card text check required before downgrading any unfamiliar card.

- Sideboard-slot question: which sideboard card has the fewest real targets across tested opponents? If a slot is inactive, compare its role against the observed need for graveyard hate, stack protection, artifact or enchantment answers, sweepers, discard, and activated-ability suppression.

- Tutor question: does Demonic Tutor or Tainted Pact find decisive cards or merely patch poor keeps? If the latter, update mulligan policy and target-selection policy before treating tutor performance as a card-quality issue.

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening-Hand Keep Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful; Thoughtseize; Mental Misstep; Fatal Push; Cut Down; Swords to Plowshares; Force Spike; Mana Tithe; Spell Pierce
Phase windows: mulligan
Runtime cues: opening hand; mulligan decision
Use when: deciding keep or mulligan from a visible opening hand.
Avoid when: runtime hand data is incomplete.
Instructions: Keep hands that cast early pressure or disruption with stable colors; reject hands with only slow lands, no cheap interaction, and no credible first two turns. Value one-mana interaction highly against unknown fast opponents, but do not keep a hand that cannot cast its spells.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: First Threat Setup
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful; Flowering of the White Tree; Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel; Psychic Frog; Dennick, Pious Apprentice; Orcish Bowmasters; Voice of Victory
Phase windows: turns 1-3 main phases
Runtime cues: action:cast; visible hand; available mana
Use when: choosing the first proactive permanent in the opening turns.
Avoid when: holding up interaction is required by a visible stack threat or known card.
Instructions: Start pressure with Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful when mana allows and removal exposure is acceptable. Prefer a cheap disruptive or card-advantage creature when it uses mana efficiently and keeps interaction available. Card text check required for unfamiliar legends before treating them as engines.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fetch And Color Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Flooded Strand; Polluted Delta; Marsh Flats; Verdant Catacombs; Misty Rainforest; Scalding Tarn; Arid Mesa; Windswept Heath; Bloodstained Mire; Watery Grave; Godless Shrine; Hallowed Fountain; Scrubland; Underground Sea; Tundra
Phase windows: land decisions; upkeep; main phases; opponent end step
Runtime cues: action:activate; action:play land; available mana
Use when: choosing land sequencing or fetch targets.
Avoid when: the rules engine offers only one legal mana action.
Instructions: Prioritize untapped white for removal and Yoshimaru, blue for permission, and black for discard or edicts. Preserve life against aggressive boards by avoiding unnecessary shock or pain lines. Fetch before selection effects only when shuffle value is concrete and legal.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Exact Mana Payment Execution
Priority: Low
Decision families: mana
Cards: City of Brass; Mana Confluence; Command Tower; Plaza of Heroes; Underground River; Caves of Koilos; Adarkar Wastes
Phase windows: payment prompts
Runtime cues: action:pay; action:choose mana
Use when: exactly one legal payment action pays the announced spell or ability cost and leaves no alternative source choice in the legal action list.
Avoid when: multiple lands or pain sources can pay the same cost.
Instructions: Submit the exact payment action exposed by the engine. Do not infer alternate payments, damage prevention, or color restrictions beyond legal action text.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Permission Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Force Spike; Mana Tithe; Spell Pierce; Daze; Mana Leak; Memory Lapse; Force of Negation; Wash Away; Tale's End; Stifle; Subtlety; Tishana's Tidebinder; Ertai Resurrected; Mental Misstep
Phase windows: opponent cast/ability windows; combat trick windows; end step
Runtime cues: stack; action:counter; action:cast
Use when: deciding whether to spend permission or pass priority.
Avoid when: the stack object, available mana, or known opposing follow-up is missing.
Instructions: Spend soft permission while it taxes current mana, not after it expires. Protect a winning board, stop sweepers or engines, and counter must-answer threats over replaceable value spells. Preserve free interaction when tapping out creates lethal or planeswalker vulnerability.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Target Opponent For Information Spells
Priority: Low
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Thoughtseize; Gitaxian Probe; Duress
Phase windows: main phase; target-selection prompt
Runtime cues: action:target opponent Thoughtseize; action:target opponent Gitaxian Probe; action:target opponent Duress
Use when: the legal action text names target opponent for Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, or Duress in a two-player game.
Avoid when: multiple opponent-like targets appear or the prompt is choosing a card from hand.
Instructions: Choose target opponent. Route the revealed-card selection that follows through light-model reasoning using the visible hand.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Hand Disruption Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Thoughtseize; Duress; Vendilion Clique; Gitaxian Probe
Phase windows: main phase; draw step flash windows; revealed-hand prompts
Runtime cues: revealed hand; action:choose card; action:put
Use when: choosing what card to take, bottom, or plan around after legal reveal information.
Avoid when: no revealed hand data is available.
Instructions: Take the card that beats the current role: removal for protected pressure, combo piece for fast opponents, sweeper against creature pressure, or permission before a decisive spell. Do not invent hidden cards after the reveal window closes.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Removal And Bounce Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Fatal Push; Cut Down; Swords to Plowshares; Prismatic Ending; Dismember; Sheoldred's Edict; Solitude; Skyclave Apparition; Swift Reconfiguration; Parallax Wave; Otawara, Soaring City; Brazen Borrower; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
Phase windows: main phases; combat; end step; stack windows
Runtime cues: action:target; action:cast; visible attackers; visible blockers
Use when: selecting whether and where to use removal or bounce.
Avoid when: legal targets are hidden or card text check is required for the effect.
Instructions: Answer threats that change the clock, disable commanders, or protect an opposing engine before spending removal on small replaceable attackers. Prefer exile or edict effects against recursion when visible text supports it. Respect ward, taxes, and protection shown by the engine.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Pressure And Blocks
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat
Cards: Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful; Raffine, Scheming Seer; Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; Svyelun of Sea and Sky; Barrowgoyf; Orcish Bowmasters; Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd; Skyclave Apparition; Solitude
Phase windows: declare attackers; declare blockers; combat damage
Runtime cues: action:attack; action:block; visible power; visible toughness; life totals
Use when: choosing attacks, blocks, or trades from legal combat actions.
Avoid when: combat math requires card text that is not present in visible state.
Instructions: Attack when pressure advances the clock without exposing the only stabilizer. Block to preserve life against short clocks, but avoid trading a key engine for a replaceable attacker unless survival or planeswalker protection demands it.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat Trick And Protection Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: combat; interaction; priority
Cards: Reverent Mantra; Solitude; Subtlety; Daze; Force of Negation; Spell Pierce; Mana Tithe; Stifle; Tale's End; Tishana's Tidebinder; Ertai Resurrected
Phase windows: after attackers; after blockers; before damage; end of combat
Runtime cues: stack; action:cast; action:target; combat state
Use when: deciding whether to intervene during combat or protect a threat.
Avoid when: no visible combat swing, lethal risk, or protected permanent is at stake.
Instructions: Use interaction in combat when it preserves lethal pressure, prevents lethal damage, or converts a block into a major tempo swing. Do not spend protection on a creature that is no longer central to the current clock or engine.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Card-Advantage Engine Commitment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Skullclamp; Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; Raffine, Scheming Seer; Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel; Psychic Frog; Minas Tirith; Rivendell; Sygg, Wanderwine Wisdom; Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
Phase windows: main phase; combat; end step; selection prompts
Runtime cues: action:activate; action:cast; action:choose; hand size
Use when: choosing whether to spend mana or material on card flow.
Avoid when: immediate board pressure requires removal, blocking, or permission.
Instructions: Convert resources into cards when stable or when digging for interaction is the only route back. Card text check required for unfamiliar engines before discarding, sacrificing, or tapping a key permanent.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Tap-Out Finisher Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse; Teferi, Time Raveler; Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; Parallax Wave; Flowering of the White Tree; Cloud, Midgar Mercenary; Requiting Hex
Phase windows: main phase; post-combat main phase
Runtime cues: action:cast; available mana; opponent untapped mana; known hand
Use when: considering a high-impact permanent or expensive spell that reduces interaction availability.
Avoid when: opponent has a visible lethal attack or known answer that must be covered first.
Instructions: Tap out only when the spell stabilizes, threatens a fast close, or the alternative line loses tempo. Keep up permission or removal when passing with mana is stronger against the visible stack or board.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Pass On Empty Stack
Priority: Low
Decision families: priority
Cards: none
Phase windows: opponent end step; own upkeep; low-impact priority windows
Runtime cues: action:pass priority
Use when: the stack is empty, no legal non-pass action is listed, and the only legal action text is pass priority.
Avoid when: any legal action besides pass priority is present.
Instructions: Submit pass priority. Do not infer strategic passing when other legal actions exist.
Pilot skill floor: no-api
No-API allowed: yes
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard
Cards: Rest in Peace; Dovin's Veto; Grafdigger's Cage; Pithing Needle; Disenchant; Kaya's Guile; Supreme Verdict; Duress; Dauthi Voidwalker; Stony Silence
Phase windows: between games
Runtime cues: sideboard prompt; revealed opponent archetype; Game 1 log; Game 2 log; public zones; opponent commander identity
Use when: choosing sideboard configuration after a completed game.
Avoid when: the prior game did not reveal the opponent's primary resource axis and the main deck already has flexible answers.
Instructions: Select the smallest role package that answers the opponent's proven axis while preserving Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful pressure, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept artifact value, cheap interaction, and the Commander-family singleton texture. Prioritize Supreme Verdict and Kaya's Guile against battlefield pressure, Duress and Dovin's Veto against noncreature engines, Rest in Peace or Grafdigger's Cage against graveyard reliance, Stony Silence against activated artifact clusters, Disenchant against specific artifact or enchantment permanents, Pithing Needle against known activated abilities, and Dauthi Voidwalker when pressure plus denial is better than a pure hate permanent.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Lock Submission
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard; validation
Cards: Rest in Peace; Dovin's Veto; Grafdigger's Cage; Pithing Needle; Disenchant; Kaya's Guile; Supreme Verdict; Duress; Dauthi Voidwalker; Stony Silence; Silas Renn, Seeker Adept; Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
Phase windows: between games; sideboard lock
Runtime cues: sideboard lock prompt; registered deck validation; selected swaps; post-board game number
Use when: submitting the final sideboard configuration to Veles after plan selection.
Avoid when: any proposed incoming card is absent from the registered sideboard or any proposed outgoing card is absent from the registered main deck.
Instructions: Submit only exact registered card names and preserve the 100-card main-deck plus 10-card sideboard contract. If generated swaps fail validation, fall back to the closest concrete Sideboard Map plan that matches the opponent's revealed axis. Do not replace core command-zone pressure or cheap interaction without a matchup reason tied to public information.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Narrow Hate Deployment
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; naming; permanent deployment
Cards: Rest in Peace; Grafdigger's Cage; Pithing Needle; Stony Silence; Disenchant; Dauthi Voidwalker
Phase windows: main phase; opponent end step; stack interaction window; naming prompt
Runtime cues: action:cast Rest in Peace; action:cast Grafdigger's Cage; action:cast Pithing Needle; action:cast Stony Silence; action:cast Disenchant; action:cast Dauthi Voidwalker; action:choose card name; visible activated ability; public graveyard; artifact count
Use when: a narrow sideboard card has a clear public target or blocks a demonstrated engine.
Avoid when: the hate card mostly damages your own Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Skullclamp, Pre-War Formalwear, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Emperor of Bones, or Barrowgoyf plan and the opponent's matching resource is only incidental.
Instructions: Deploy narrow hate only when its text changes legal actions or likely next-turn outcomes. For Pithing Needle, choose a name that is known from public zones, revealed information, commander identity, or a strongly implied engine; otherwise prefer a flexible action. For Rest in Peace and Grafdigger's Cage, verify the opponent depends on graveyard or library access enough to outweigh self-conflict. For Stony Silence, confirm activated artifact reliance rather than static artifact presence. Use Disenchant on the permanent that converts into cards, mana, combat inevitability, or a lock.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Post-Board Self-Conflict Check
Priority: Medium
Decision families: sideboard; priority; sequencing
Cards: Rest in Peace; Grafdigger's Cage; Stony Silence; Silas Renn, Seeker Adept; Unearth; Pre-War Formalwear; Skullclamp; Takenuma, Abandoned Mire; Emperor of Bones; Barrowgoyf; Kaya's Guile
Phase windows: between games; opening hand; main phase
Runtime cues: sideboarded hate in hand; graveyard plan available; artifact recursion line available; opponent graveyard engine; opponent artifact engine
Use when: deciding whether to keep, deploy, tutor for, or delay a sideboard hate card that conflicts with your own engine.
Avoid when: the opponent's engine is immediately lethal or decisive and the self-conflict is secondary.
Instructions: Before locking sideboard swaps or casting hate, compare the opponent's resource dependence to your own active plan. Broad graveyard hate can be correct even through self-conflict against graveyard combo or recursive inevitability, but it should be delayed or omitted against incidental graveyard value when Silas Renn, Seeker Adept, Unearth, Pre-War Formalwear, Takenuma, Abandoned Mire, Emperor of Bones, or Barrowgoyf is your best recovery path. Stony Silence should be reserved for artifact engines strong enough to outweigh Skullclamp and Silas Renn, Seeker Adept artifact value.
Pilot skill floor: light model
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes
