# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

- Deck: Mono-Black Gardens. Format: Pauper. Registered main deck count is 60 cards and registered sideboard count is 15 cards, so the list is structurally valid for Veles deck registration before any card-legality or engine-card-data checks.

- Archetype: black-based midrange-control with artifact sacrifice, expendable creature tokens, graveyard pressure, and attrition draw engines. Current tags are midrange, control, artifact, sacrifice, and graveyard; duplicate tag entries should be normalized by tooling without changing strategic identity.

- Stock status: hybrid/rogue Pauper Gardens shell. The deck borrows recognizable black Gardens patterns around Khalni Garden, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Tithing Blade, Cast Down, Defile, Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and Crypt Rats, but the exact mix with Campfire, Lembas, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, and land-destruction sideboard plans should be treated as list-specific rather than a generic stock template.

- Mana identity: primary black with a light green pressure and sideboard component. The registered lands are 11 Swamp, 4 Khalni Garden, 2 Bojuka Bog, 1 Haunted Mire, and 1 Witch's Cottage; decisions should respect that untapped black mana is the main operating constraint, while Khalni Garden and Haunted Mire can create green access or sacrifice material when the rules engine exposes those legal lines.

- Role concern: the deck is not a pure removal pile and not a pure artifact engine. It must convert disposable permanents into cards through Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight while using Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Drown in Sorrow, Fungal Infection, Crypt Rats, Nihil Spellbomb, and Bojuka Bog to keep opposing threats or graveyard engines from invalidating the slower resource plan.

- Legality concern: Veles must defer actual legality, card implementation, targets, costs, and timing to the rules engine and local deck validation. This guide assumes the registered names are exact deck inputs, but the pilot must choose only legal runtime actions and must not infer legality for cards such as Troll of Khazad-dûm, Campfire, Sagu Wildling, Troublemaker Ouphe, Weather the Storm, Faerie Macabre, Rancid Earth, or Icequake unless Veles exposes the action.

- Sideboard identity: the sideboard is a narrow matchup package, not a transformational plan. Troublemaker Ouphe and Weather the Storm point toward artifact and burn/race matchups, Faerie Macabre and the second Drown in Sorrow reinforce graveyard and creature-swarm interaction, and Rancid Earth plus Icequake create a mana-denial plan against decks that rely on key lands, high costs, or greedy development.

- Opponent information status: opponent data is archetype-level unless the current Veles match context, revealed cards, public zones, sideboard logs, or prior games in the same match provide more. The pilot may reason from visible battlefield, graveyards, exile, revealed cards, known matchup labels, and public game history, but must not act as though hidden hand or library contents are known.

- Runtime discipline: this specification is guidance for legal action selection, not a replacement for Forge or Veles output. When the current prompt, visible state, or legal-action list conflicts with a heuristic in this guide, select from the legal actions using the visible facts and explain the uncertainty rather than inventing a missing play.

## Thesis

- Assemble a slow resource engine before the opponent converts tempo into an irreversible board. Mono-Black Gardens wants expendable permanents from Khalni Garden, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Tithing Blade, Campfire, and Nihil Spellbomb to become cards, life-buffering time, or edict pressure through Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and normal attrition exchanges.

- Win by exhausting the opponent's relevant threats while drawing enough replacement material to stick a finisher. The normal finishers are Troll of Khazad-dûm, Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, Crypt Rats sweeps that leave the opponent low on resources, and repeated chip damage from artifact value bodies or token pressure after the board is cleared.

- Prioritize board containment over raw card draw when under pressure. Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, and Crypt Rats should be spent on threats that shorten the clock, break through blockers, or invalidate the sacrifice engine; do not sacrifice material for cards if the visible board says the next combat step is the problem.

- Prioritize card conversion when the battlefield is stable or the opponent is resource-light. Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight are strongest when sacrificing Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Tithing Blade after it has produced value, Nihil Spellbomb after graveyard pressure is low, Khalni Garden tokens, or other low-future-value permanents exposed by legal actions.

- Treat graveyard pressure as both disruption and insurance, not as incidental text. Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and Faerie Macabre should be pointed at visible graveyard plans, recursion windows, delve or reanimation setup, and matchups where denying the graveyard buys more time than drawing one extra card immediately.

- Do not play this deck like a fast combo deck or pure tap-out ramp deck. The list is not trying to race with early creature damage, dump all artifacts without a sacrifice plan, or spend removal on the first legal target merely to use mana; it is trying to make each permanent answer two questions before the game ends.

- Respect runtime uncertainty for unusual singletons and sideboard roles. Card text check required for Sagu Wildling and Campfire; use them according to legal Veles actions and visible text, and keep tactical claims conditional when their exact mode, timing, or replacement effect matters.

## Role Package

- Threats: Troll of Khazad-dûm, Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, Crypt Rats, Khalni Garden tokens, and occasional Tithing Blade pressure are the cards that close games after resources trade down. Deploy threats when the opponent's visible board is contained, when holding removal no longer changes the next turn cycle, or when forcing the opponent to answer a single permanent is better than extending the engine.

- Payoffs: Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight are the main payoffs for disposable artifacts and creatures. Prefer sacrificing Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, spent Tithing Blade, Khalni Garden tokens, or low-impact permanents when the action is legal; avoid sacrificing a blocker, mana-enabling permanent, or graveyard-hate piece while that object still answers a visible problem.

- Engines: Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Tithing Blade, Nihil Spellbomb, Campfire, Khalni Garden, and Witch's Cottage create repeated small advantages that make one-for-one removal profitable. Sequence engines so at least one future sacrifice, recursion, or graveyard-control use remains available instead of converting every object at the first possible priority window.

- Velocity: Troll of Khazad-dûm, Lembas, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Nihil Spellbomb, and Campfire provide card access, smoothing, or redraw pressure. Use velocity to hit land drops, find removal, or reload after a sweep; do not use it ahead of removal when the visible board already demands an answer.

- Interaction: Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, Crypt Rats, Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, Faerie Macabre, Rancid Earth, and Icequake form the disruption suite. Match the answer to the problem: spot removal for single high-impact creatures, edicts for protected or singular threats, sweepers for small boards, graveyard hate for recursive engines, and land destruction for mana-dependent opponents.

- Protection: Weather the Storm, Fungal Infection, Crypt Rats used defensively, Khalni Garden tokens, Campfire, and removal held through combat are the survival tools. Prioritize these when the opponent's visible clock is short, when life total is the limiting resource, or when preserving a blocker keeps Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight from becoming forced desperation plays.

- Recursion: Witch's Cottage and any legal Campfire recursion or recovery mode are the main recursion-oriented resources, with graveyard contents treated as public planning material. Set up recursion only when the named target is visible, legal, and meaningfully changes the next turn cycle; do not assume a graveyard card can be recovered unless Veles exposes the action.

- Mana: Swamp, Haunted Mire, Bojuka Bog, Khalni Garden, Witch's Cottage, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Rancid Earth, and Icequake define the mana module. Preserve untapped black for Cast Down, Defile, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Crypt Rats, and Chainer's Edict; preserve green access only when sideboard cards or visible legal actions make it relevant.

- Sideboard modules: Troublemaker Ouphe targets artifact-centric opponents, Weather the Storm targets burn and racing pressure, Faerie Macabre reinforces graveyard disruption, Drown in Sorrow adds another sweeper, and Rancid Earth plus Icequake create a land-denial plan. Use sideboard cards as matchup-specific tools rather than generic upgrades; each one should answer a visible axis the maindeck cannot cover efficiently.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Resource-exhaustion finish: use Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb, Tithing Blade, Khalni Garden tokens, Fanatical Offering, and Eviscerator's Insight to turn low-value permanents into enough cards that every opposing threat is answered. Set up by making land drops, keeping a sacrifice object available, and preserving black interaction; execute by trading Cast Down, Defile, Chainer's Edict, Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, and Crypt Rats for the opponent's meaningful creatures while drawing into the next answer. Prioritize this path against fair creature decks, removal-heavy decks, and any opponent whose visible board can be reduced to one threat at a time. Disruption to respect: exile effects on graveyards, artifact removal pointed at sacrifice fodder before it is cashed in, and fast pressure that makes draw spells too slow.

- Troll of Khazad-dûm closer: use Troll of Khazad-dûm first as mana smoothing when land drops or Swamp access matter, then as a late creature when the battlefield is stable enough for a large body to end the game. Set up by cycling only when mana is constrained or early interaction is missing; execute by casting Troll of Khazad-dûm after removal has cleared blockers or after the opponent has spent answers on Avenging Hunter, Crypt Rats, or value permanents. Prioritize this path when both players are low on cards, when life totals are not forcing a Crypt Rats line, or when a single large attacker dominates visible combat. Disruption to respect: exile removal, edicts when Khalni Garden tokens are unavailable, bounce tempo, and counterspells when tapping out would lose the next turn cycle.

- Avenging Hunter initiative pressure: deploy Avenging Hunter when taking or keeping the initiative is likely to matter more than holding up another reactive spell. Set up by reducing the opponent's board so they cannot easily steal the initiative back; execute by attacking, blocking conservatively, and using Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, or Crypt Rats to keep the initiative from becoming an opponent engine. Prioritize this path against slower decks, stalled battlefields, and opponents low on visible creatures. Disruption to respect: haste pressure, go-wide attacks, removal before combat, and any board where Avenging Hunter enters but immediately gives the initiative away.

- Crypt Rats endgame: use Crypt Rats as a sweeper first and a damage finisher only when life totals and black mana make the exchange favorable. Set up by preserving life, counting visible lethal ranges honestly, and keeping spare creatures or artifacts out of the blast only if they still matter; execute by activating for the smallest legal value that clears threats, stabilizes combat, or ends the game. Prioritize this path when the opponent has multiple small creatures, when normal spot removal cannot catch up, or when both players are low enough that direct damage is decisive. Disruption to respect: instant-speed removal before activation, prevention effects, life gain, and killing yourself or losing your last stabilizing body unnecessarily.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Khalni Garden token pressure wins slow games after the opponent is empty. Set up by using Plant tokens as edict shields and sacrifice fuel before attacking with them; execute pressure only after removal and sweepers have made the battlefield safe. Prioritize token damage when the opponent has no profitable blocks and your hand contains enough interaction to punish their next creature.

- Tithing Blade pressure can become a real fallback when its front-side edict has already traded for a creature and Veles exposes legal follow-up actions from the permanent. Use Tithing Blade first to break singular threats, protection-light boards, or edict-vulnerable finishers; convert it into pressure only when the legal action is visible and the sacrifice artifact is no longer needed for Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight. Card text check required for any transformed-side tactical claim beyond visible legal actions.

- Sagu Wildling is a secondary body or value piece only according to visible legal text. Card text check required; prioritize it when Veles shows it as a legal play that develops a relevant blocker, attacker, or resource line without exposing the deck to a worse next combat step.

- Campfire supports fallback stabilization when its visible legal action gains life, recovers material, or smooths a turn that would otherwise waste mana. Card text check required; use Campfire as a win-condition assistant, not as the main plan, and avoid sacrificing it if its visible future mode is more valuable than one extra card.

- Graveyard denial wins by cutting off the opponent's engine rather than by dealing damage directly. Use Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and post-board Faerie Macabre to remove visible graveyard resources when that denies recursion, delve, reanimation, flashback, or threshold-like payoffs; preserve the cantrip or sacrifice value only when the opposing graveyard is not currently a threat.

## Emergency Lines

- Behind on life: stop spending turns on pure card flow unless it finds or enables survival. Prioritize Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, Crypt Rats, Khalni Garden blockers, Campfire if its visible mode gains life, and post-board Weather the Storm over slow sacrifice value.

- Behind on board: convert the game into a reset or edict sequence. Use Drown in Sorrow and Crypt Rats for multiple small creatures, Tithing Blade and Chainer's Edict for singular protected threats, and spot removal for the creature most responsible for the next combat step.

- Behind on cards: sacrifice spent artifacts and expendable tokens, not stabilizing permanents. Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight should cash in Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, used Tithing Blade, Nihil Spellbomb when graveyard pressure is low, or Khalni Garden tokens that are not needed to block.

- Behind on mana: use Troll of Khazad-dûm as a fixer before treating it as a finisher. Keep land drops over speculative plays, prioritize untapped black, and do not hold expensive threats if cycling or cheaper interaction keeps the game alive.

- Opponent has graveyard recursion: shift from value maximization to denial timing. Fire Bojuka Bog, Nihil Spellbomb, or Faerie Macabre when the visible graveyard window matters, even if waiting might draw an extra card later.

- Win conditions removed: win by decking the opponent's resources, then attacking with whatever remains. Preserve any legal creature, token, transformed Tithing Blade line, or Crypt Rats damage line after the board is empty; avoid sacrificing the last pressure source unless the replacement cards are necessary for survival.

## Resource Model

- Life is a stabilizing resource before it is a finishing resource. Spend life only when the legal line prevents more damage than it costs, unlocks a decisive Crypt Rats reset, or buys time for Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Drown in Sorrow, Fungal Infection, Khalni Garden blockers, Campfire, or post-board Weather the Storm to matter.

- Hand size is fuel for finding the correct answer, not permission to durdle. Use Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight to reload when the sacrifice object is expendable, but choose interaction over card flow when the visible battlefield threatens a short clock or a permanent that will snowball before the drawn cards can be used.

- Mana converts directly into survival, cards, and inevitability. Preserve black mana for Cast Down, Defile, Crypt Rats, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and Nihil Spellbomb decisions; treat green as conditional for Khalni Garden, Haunted Mire, Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, Troublemaker Ouphe, and Weather the Storm only when Veles shows those cards or payments as legal.

- Board material is best when it is either blocking, pressuring, or being cashed in. Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb, Tithing Blade after its immediate job, Campfire when its visible future mode is lower value, and Khalni Garden Plant tokens are preferred sacrifice fodder over creatures that are holding back lethal or carrying the initiative plan.

- Graveyards are public pressure points. Use Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and Faerie Macabre when the opponent's visible graveyard enables recursion, delve, flashback, reanimation, or other graveyard-dependent legal actions; preserve cantrip or sacrifice value only when the graveyard is not currently changing the next turn cycle.

- Exile is the cleanest answer zone and should be valued when graveyard recursion matters. If a legal action moves a key opposing card from graveyard to exile, prefer that timing over a marginal card-flow line when the opponent can otherwise reuse the card soon.

- Lands are resources beyond mana production. Khalni Garden supplies sacrifice and edict protection, Bojuka Bog supplies graveyard timing, Witch's Cottage supplies conditional recursion if Veles exposes it, Haunted Mire may affect color or tapped sequencing, and Swamp count matters for black-heavy turns and Defile scaling.

- Tempo matters most when behind. Choose the play that changes the opponent's next combat or engine turn before choosing the play that maximizes eventual cards; Mono-Black Gardens wins long games only after it survives the short one.

- Information is a resource for restraint. Use revealed hands, public graveyards, visible stack objects, known sideboard cards, and previous game actions, but do not assume hidden cards; if uncertainty is high, choose lines that remain acceptable against the widest visible range.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow matchups into answer density. Weather the Storm buys time against burn or fast damage, Faerie Macabre adds graveyard denial, Drown in Sorrow adds sweeper density, Troublemaker Ouphe pressures artifacts if its text and legal actions support that role, and Rancid Earth or Icequake attack mana only when the matchup rewards land disruption more than normal removal and draw.

## Mana Guide

- Keep hands that cast early black interaction or develop a sacrifice engine on time. A functional opener usually has at least two lands or a clear Troll of Khazad-dûm smoothing line, one black source, and a first two-turn plan involving Tithing Blade, Nihil Spellbomb, Lembas, Ichor Wellspring, Cast Down, Defile, or Khalni Garden plus draw.

- Mulligan hands that cannot produce black mana before interaction is needed. A hand with only tapped or utility lands is keepable only when the opponent is slow, the hand has early legal plays, and the next draw steps are not required to hit both mana and action.

- Lead with untapped Swamp when holding one-mana or two-mana black interaction. Bojuka Bog and Haunted Mire are stronger when their tapped timing or utility does not cost a needed Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Nihil Spellbomb activation, or sacrifice-draw turn.

- Play Khalni Garden early when the Plant token is needed for edict protection, sacrifice fodder, or blocking. Delay Khalni Garden when untapped black is required this turn and the token does not change visible combat or sacrifice sequencing.

- Hold Bojuka Bog when the opponent's graveyard is likely to matter soon and you can still spend mana efficiently. Play Bojuka Bog as a land drop when missing mana would cost a critical spell, but avoid wasting its graveyard trigger into an empty or irrelevant graveyard unless tempo demands it.

- Sequence Witch's Cottage for its visible recursion value only when the land condition and target are shown by Veles. If Witch's Cottage would enter tapped or fail to produce a meaningful legal recursion action, treat it as a black land and prioritize current mana needs.

- Use Troll of Khazad-dûm as mana smoothing before finisher planning when land drops are missing. If cycling or another legal search action finds the needed Swamp or land access, take that line over holding Troll of Khazad-dûm in a hand that cannot otherwise cast removal or draw spells on curve.

- Play land before draw when the current hand already contains the land you want to use this turn or when a legal spell requires the mana immediately. Draw first with Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Lembas, Ichor Wellspring, or Nihil Spellbomb only when the land drop is undecided and no current legal action depends on using the land first.

- Preserve black pips for Crypt Rats turns. Count available black mana, life totals, and damage ranges before tapping lands; do not spend the black source needed for a stabilizing Crypt Rats activation unless another legal action prevents more damage immediately.

- Post-board green mana is matchup-dependent. When Troublemaker Ouphe or Weather the Storm is in the deck and visible, protect access to Khalni Garden, Haunted Mire, or other legal green sources; when no green card is relevant, sequence green lands for token or tapped-land value rather than color fear.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: Keep two or three lands including Swamp plus at least one early stabilizer and one engine piece, such as Swamp, Khalni Garden, Cast Down, Defile, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, and Eviscerator's Insight. This hand has removal, sacrifice material, and draw without needing hidden topdecks.

- Strong keep: Keep a one-land hand only when that land is Swamp, Troll of Khazad-dûm has a legal smoothing line, and the rest of the hand contains cheap actions such as Nihil Spellbomb, Defile, Tithing Blade, or Lembas. Treat Troll of Khazad-dûm as mana access before treating it as a threat.

- Medium keep: Keep two lands plus mostly card flow when the opponent is not presenting a known fast clock, such as Swamp, Bojuka Bog, Nihil Spellbomb, Lembas, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, and Campfire. This hand needs time, so mulligan it more often against fast red, go-wide, or explosive combo starts.

- Medium keep: Keep interaction-heavy hands with weak engines on the draw if they answer the first threats, such as Swamp, Swamp, Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Tithing Blade, and Crypt Rats. The draw step can find Ichor Wellspring or Eviscerator's Insight while the hand prevents early collapse.

- Risky keep: Treat hands with Khalni Garden, Bojuka Bog, Haunted Mire, and no untapped Swamp as slow unless the remaining cards are cheap and the matchup is slow. Tapped lands are acceptable only when the first lost turn does not expose life total or engine timing.

- Automatic ship: Mulligan any hand with no land, no Troll of Khazad-dûm smoothing, or no black source path. Also ship hands that cannot cast any relevant spell before turn 3 against an unknown opponent.

- Automatic ship: Mulligan expensive clusters such as Crypt Rats, Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Eviscerator's Insight, and too few lands unless Troll of Khazad-dûm can immediately fix mana and early interaction exists.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Keep Nihil Spellbomb plus Bojuka Bog hands higher against graveyard, delve, recursion, or reanimation strategies, but downgrade them against creature-pressure decks when they lack Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Tithing Blade, Drown in Sorrow, or Crypt Rats.

- Play/draw rule: On the play, prefer hands that make turn-1 or turn-2 board impact through Swamp, Khalni Garden, Tithing Blade, Nihil Spellbomb, Lembas, or Ichor Wellspring. On the draw, removal-heavy hands improve because Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, and Chainer's Edict can answer the opponent's first commitment.

- Trap hand: Do not keep a hand just because it has Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight if it lacks safe sacrifice material. A hand with draw spells but no Khalni Garden, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb, Tithing Blade, Campfire, or expendable creature may spend early turns doing nothing.

- Trap hand: Do not keep a hand that relies on Crypt Rats as the only stabilizer when life total, black mana count, or opposing pressure could make the activation unusable. Crypt Rats is a plan only when mana and life allow the visible damage line.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: Prefer Swamp into Nihil Spellbomb, Defile availability, or a held interaction posture when the opponent can present a fast threat. Choose Khalni Garden early when the Plant token creates sacrifice fodder, edict protection, or a blocker without costing needed black mana.

- Turn 1 deviation: Play Bojuka Bog early only when missing the land drop would be worse than saving graveyard hate, or when the opposing graveyard already matters. Do not spend Bojuka Bog into an empty graveyard merely for convenience if another land supports the turn.

- Turn 2: Prefer stabilizing or engine setup based on visible pressure. Cast Tithing Blade, Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Lembas, Ichor Wellspring, or Nihil Spellbomb activation only when the legal action changes the next combat, protects life total, or builds sacrifice material.

- Turn 2 deviation: Use Fanatical Offering only when sacrificing Khalni Garden's Plant, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb, Tithing Blade, Campfire, or another expendable object does not weaken survival. Hold it when the only sacrifice would remove a needed blocker or threat.

- Turn 3: Prefer Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, Chainer's Edict, Tithing Blade, or layered removal when behind on board. Prefer Ichor Wellspring plus Fanatical Offering, Lembas, or Eviscerator's Insight when stable and the opponent's next turn is not threatening a decisive attack or engine.

- Turn 3 deviation: Cycle or otherwise use Troll of Khazad-dûm for mana development when land drops are missing. Holding Troll of Khazad-dûm as a finisher is lower priority than casting removal, draw, and sweepers on schedule.

- Turns 4-5: Turn the corner only after survival is covered. Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Crypt Rats pressure, or repeated sacrifice draw should follow a stabilized battlefield, not replace the answer to a lethal or snowballing board.

- Turns 4-5 deviation: Fire Crypt Rats or Drown in Sorrow before drawing cards when the visible board threatens a short clock. Draw first only when the sweeper decision depends on finding land, life buffer, or a better legal answer.

- Late game: Convert disposable permanents into cards while preserving the answer that matters most. Use Eviscerator's Insight, Fanatical Offering, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, Nihil Spellbomb, and Witch's Cottage recursion lines when Veles shows legal value and the battlefield is not demanding immediate removal.

- Late game deviation: Prioritize inevitability denial over extra cards when graveyards or recursion are public threats. Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, Faerie Macabre post-board, and removal timing should stop the opponent's next meaningful line before Mono-Black Gardens spends mana on optional card flow.

## Card Roles

- Tithing Blade: Treat Tithing Blade as an early edict plus a later sacrifice object, not as a generic two-mana play. Cast it when the opponent has one relevant creature, when a Plant token can absorb the backside tempo cost later, or when the battlefield needs an edict effect that Cast Down and Defile cannot cover. Avoid firing it into a disposable token if a visible higher-impact creature is likely to be isolated by first using Fungal Infection, Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, or combat. Against Bogles, heroic, protection, hexproof, or single-threat decks, preserve Tithing Blade for the point where the opponent cannot choose a harmless sacrifice. Against go-wide decks, it is often sacrifice fodder after entry unless the legal action removes a real attacker.

- Fanatical Offering: Use Fanatical Offering as instant-speed card velocity when the sacrificed artifact or creature is already replaceable. Best sacrifice materials are Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb after graveyard value is gone, Khalni Garden's Plant, Tithing Blade after its edict, Campfire after its role is spent, and creatures that would die anyway in combat or to removal. Hold Fanatical Offering when the only sacrifice is a needed blocker, Avenging Hunter, Sagu Wildling, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or a permanent that still answers the matchup. Against removal-heavy decks, casting Fanatical Offering in response to removal on an expendable creature can convert a doomed body into cards. Against fast pressure, do not spend the turn drawing if the legal board requires Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, Crypt Rats, or Chainer's Edict first.

- Eviscerator's Insight: Use Eviscerator's Insight as the deeper attrition engine once a safe sacrifice permanent is visible and mana is not needed for survival. The flashback or later-use value makes it stronger in long games than a one-shot draw spell, but it still carries the same sacrifice discipline as Fanatical Offering. Prefer sacrificing Ichor Wellspring when both are legal because the combined draw turns one artifact into a large resource swing. Avoid sacrificing Nihil Spellbomb before the opponent's graveyard plan is answered unless the graveyard is irrelevant in the visible matchup. Against blue decks, try to cast Eviscerator's Insight when the opponent is tapped low or after forcing them to answer board pressure; against aggro, treat it as a recovery spell after stabilizing.

- Ichor Wellspring: Deploy Ichor Wellspring early when the hand needs material, sacrifice fodder, or a low-risk artifact to cash in later. It is one of the deck's cleanest bridges between setup and payoff because Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight can turn it into multiple cards without losing board presence. Do not sacrifice Ichor Wellspring before considering whether Lembas, Tithing Blade, Campfire, Nihil Spellbomb, or a Plant would preserve more future value. Against artifact hate or tempo decks, getting the entry card immediately matters; against control, Wellspring is a durable engine piece that makes discard and counter trades less punishing.

- Nihil Spellbomb: Cast Nihil Spellbomb early when holding up graveyard interaction matters or when the deck needs cheap artifact material. Activate it when the opponent's graveyard is about to enable a visible delve spell, recursion, reanimation, flashback, threshold-like payoff, or known graveyard engine; do not crack it just because mana is unused. If black mana is available and the action text includes drawing a card, value the replacement card highly, but do not let the draw clause delay graveyard exile past the critical window. Against graveyard-light aggro, Nihil Spellbomb can become sacrifice fodder once public graveyard pressure is low. Against Terror, Affinity recursion, Gardens mirrors, or combo graveyards, preserve it more aggressively than generic artifacts.

- Lembas: Use Lembas as stabilizing card flow and artifact fodder, with exact text-dependent choices conditional on Veles legal actions. Card text check required for every mode, trigger, and shuffle detail before relying on a specific outcome. Cast it when the hand needs smoothing, when the life gain or food-like role is visible through legal actions, or when Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight need a low-cost artifact. Avoid spending Lembas for marginal life if the same object is needed to enable a draw spell or if removal mana must stay open. Against burn and fast red, its life-related actions rise sharply; against slow control, its main role is a recursive or sticky engine object if the rules engine confirms that line.

- Campfire: Treat Campfire as a flexible artifact support card only through legal actions shown by Veles. Card text check required for exact activated abilities, costs, graveyard interaction, life gain, and recursion timing. Use it when its visible action either buys life against a short clock, recovers a key card in a long game, or supplies sacrifice material without weakening the battlefield. Do not prioritize Campfire over early removal unless the legal action directly prevents the opponent's next damage window. Post-board, Campfire can be less important when Weather the Storm handles life total or when land destruction pressure requires mana efficiency.

- Cast Down: Save Cast Down for creatures that matter more than the opponent's replaceable bodies. Use it before combat to prevent damage when life is under pressure, after attacks when the opponent commits a trick poorly, or in response to pump, sacrifice, or equipment lines when the target remains legal. Do not spend Cast Down on a creature Defile or Fungal Infection can answer unless mana constraints, toughness, or timing make the cheaper spell worse. Against large threats, initiative creatures, Terror-style finishers, and Affinity attackers, Cast Down is premium. Against token swarms, combine it with sweepers rather than trading one-for-one too early.

- Defile: Use Defile as the efficient black-mana removal spell whose ceiling depends on Swamp count and land names visible to the engine. Check the current reduction amount before targeting; do not assume it kills a creature if the legal action text or state does not confirm enough Swamps. Sequence Swamp and Witch's Cottage with Defile in mind when the next turn may require killing a larger creature. Defile is excellent for preserving tempo while developing Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, or Tithing Blade, but it can be weak with too many Khalni Garden, Bojuka Bog, and Haunted Mire draws. Against small creature decks, use Defile early; against large threats, hold it until Swamp count supports the kill.

- Fungal Infection: Use Fungal Infection to kill one-toughness creatures, shrink combat damage, create sacrifice material, or set up a better edict. The token matters because Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight turn it into cards, and because Tithing Blade mirrors or opposing edicts punish empty boards. In combat, prefer lines where the -1/-1 changes survival, trade math, or lethal damage, not just cosmetic damage. Against Faeries, red one-drops, small utility creatures, and go-wide starts, it is a high-impact early spell. Against large-creature decks, it is often a setup card for blocking, Crypt Rats math, or sacrifice value.

- Crypt Rats: Treat Crypt Rats as a sweeper, deterrent, and late finisher only when life total and black mana make the activation real. Cast it when the opponent must respect an activation or when the deck can untap and control the board; activate it when the visible board, life totals, and legal damage amount favor you. Do not expose Crypt Rats as a creature if it will die before generating value and no immediate activation is available. Against go-wide, Elves-like, Faeries, red swarms, and tokens, it is one of the best stabilizers. Against burn or large single threats, be careful because the self-damage can lose races or fail to kill the relevant creature.

- Drown in Sorrow: Use Drown in Sorrow as the clean small-creature sweeper when the opponent has multiple creatures in range or when scry-like card selection improves the next turn. Card text check required for exact scry handling if the engine presents selection choices. Do not cast it into one minor creature unless the next attack is dangerous or the hand lacks other plays. It is especially important against go-wide, Faeries, small red creatures, and token boards. Protect your own Plant tokens only when they matter more than clearing the opponent's pressure.

- Chainer's Edict: Use Chainer's Edict as a non-targeting answer for single large, protected, or hard-to-kill creatures. Time it after removing expendable creatures when possible, and remember that flashback-style value is conditional on legal actions and available mana. Against hexproof, Terror, initiative threats, and creature-light control, edict timing is decisive. Against token decks, it is low-value unless setup removal first narrows the board.

- Troll of Khazad-dûm: Use Troll of Khazad-dûm primarily as mana smoothing early and as a finisher only after the deck can survive. Card text check required for exact combat abilities beyond the land-search action shown by Veles. If a hand is short on black mana or land drops, take the legal land-search line rather than greedily holding a large creature. In late games, cast Troll of Khazad-dûm when removal has been taxed, when the opponent lacks visible edict insulation, or when a big body closes the game faster than more card draw. Do not sacrifice it to draw spells unless it is clearly expendable or doomed.

- Avenging Hunter: Treat Avenging Hunter as a stabilizing top-end threat and initiative-style payoff only when the battlefield can protect the advantage it creates. Card text check required for exact initiative, dungeon, and trigger handling if Veles exposes choices. Cast it after clearing attackers or when its body can block profitably; avoid tapping out into a board that immediately steals the advantage back. Against slow decks, it pressures resources; against fast decks, it is too late unless removal has already stabilized.

- Sagu Wildling: Use Sagu Wildling only according to visible legal text because exact role and abilities need confirmation. Card text check required before assuming its body size, morph/disguise behavior, recursion, or combat abilities. If Veles presents it as a creature deployment, compare it against holding interaction and against casting Avenging Hunter or Troll of Khazad-dûm. Its likely role is a resilient or flexible threat, so do not trade it down unless survival requires the block.

- Khalni Garden: Prioritize Khalni Garden when the Plant token enables sacrifice draw, edict protection, or early blocking without costing a necessary untapped Swamp turn. Its token is not free if tapped-land timing prevents Defile, Cast Down, Tithing Blade, or Nihil Spellbomb from mattering on curve. Against sacrifice and edict mirrors, the token protects important creatures. Against fast decks, the blocker can buy a full turn.

- Bojuka Bog: Save Bojuka Bog when the opponent's graveyard is a public resource, but play it early when missing a land drop would break the hand. It is strongest when paired with Nihil Spellbomb or Faerie Macabre post-board to cover multiple graveyard windows. Against graveyard-light decks, treat it as a tapped black land with minor upside.

- Witch's Cottage: Sequence Witch's Cottage as a late recursion land when Swamp count and graveyard contents make the legal action valuable. Do not play it early tapped if another land preserves curve and the recursion text could matter later. Against attrition decks, it can rebuy Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Crypt Rats, or a removal creature if legal; against aggro, curve stability may matter more.

- Haunted Mire and Swamp: Use Swamp as the default mana foundation because Defile, Crypt Rats, and black-heavy interaction scale with black sources. Use Haunted Mire as tapped fixing and late utility only when the tempo loss is acceptable or sideboard green cards require it. Do not overvalue green access game 1 unless Veles shows a legal green requirement.

## Interaction Priorities

- Removal first: kill the threat that changes the next combat step or engine turn, not the largest creature by habit. Use Cast Down for creatures Defile cannot currently kill, use Defile when Swamp count makes it efficient, and use Fungal Infection when -1/-1 kills a utility creature, wins combat, or creates a sacrifice body.

- Edict first: use Tithing Blade or Chainer's Edict when the opponent has one meaningful creature, a protected creature, or a threat that targeted removal cannot answer. Before casting an edict into a wide board, remove or ignore expendable creatures only if doing so leaves the edict aimed at the real threat.

- Sweeper first: use Crypt Rats or Drown in Sorrow against multiple small creatures, token pressure, Faeries-style boards, or red swarm starts. Activate Crypt Rats only when the chosen damage amount is legal and the life-total exchange leaves you alive or decisively ahead. Card text check required for exact Drown in Sorrow selection handling if Veles exposes follow-up choices.

- Graveyard exile first: use Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and post-board Faerie Macabre on public graveyard windows that enable the opponent's next threat, recursion, delve-style cost, flashback line, or combo step. Do not spend graveyard hate just because it is legal when the opponent's graveyard has no visible payoff pressure and your current plan needs card draw or board control more.

- Land interaction first: post-board Rancid Earth and Icequake are for mana-greedy, Tron-style, bounce-land, or color-constrained opponents when the legal target visibly constricts their next turns. Do not fire land destruction at a redundant land if a creature, graveyard, or life-total problem is already deciding the game.

- Artifact pressure first: post-board Troublemaker Ouphe should be used only according to visible legal actions and confirmed text. Card text check required before assuming exact artifact destruction, trigger timing, or combat value; when legal text confirms artifact interaction, prioritize artifacts that produce mana, cards, combo function, or lethal pressure.

- Counter, discard, and bounce discipline: this registered deck has no normal counterspell, hand-discard spell, or bounce spell, so do not invent those roles. If Veles presents such an action from a copied, stolen, or unusual effect, choose targets by visible impact: lethal enabler first, engine payoff second, mana bottleneck third, low-impact creature last.

- Bait cards: use Lembas, Ichor Wellspring, Tithing Blade, spare Nihil Spellbomb, Campfire, and Plant tokens to draw out removal, artifact hate, or counterplay before committing Avenging Hunter, Crypt Rats, or Troll of Khazad-dûm. Do not bait with the only sacrifice permanent if Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight is your best current card-flow line.

- Cards to ignore: ignore small creatures that cannot profitably attack, graveyard cards without visible payoff, redundant artifacts after their main value is spent, and tapped lands that do not affect the next turn cycle. Against burn, ignore marginal board value when Weather the Storm or life-preserving removal is needed; against control, ignore chip damage when protecting card engines matters more.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack conservatively: attack when damage pressures the opponent without exposing a needed blocker, sacrifice body, or Crypt Rats deterrent. Plant tokens from Khalni Garden are usually better as blockers, edict insulation, or fodder for Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight than as one-point attackers.

- Block for time: block early against fast red, go-wide, Faeries, and token decks when preserving life buys a turn for Cast Down, Defile, Drown in Sorrow, or Crypt Rats. A Plant token trading for damage prevention is successful when it keeps you above a burn or Crypt Rats self-damage threshold.

- Trade with purpose: trade expendable creatures when the trade protects life, clears an edict path, turns on sacrifice draw, or prevents an opposing snowball. Do not trade Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Crypt Rats, or Sagu Wildling down unless survival or a decisive follow-up requires it. Card text check required before assuming Sagu Wildling combat abilities.

- Preserve engines: keep Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb, Campfire, Tithing Blade, and tokens available when sacrifice draw is the plan. Before blocking or sacrificing, compare the creature's combat value against the cards from Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight and the need for edict protection.

- Protect Crypt Rats math: avoid attacks or blocks that lower your life total below a useful Crypt Rats activation unless the current combat would otherwise be worse. When Crypt Rats is in play, the threat of activation can make passing combat correct even when an attack is legal.

- Life thresholds matter: above roughly 12 life, you can spend some life to set up card advantage or a later Crypt Rats sweep; from 6-10 life, prioritize preventing damage and holding instant-speed removal; at 5 or less, treat every attack, untapped red mana source, and self-damage line as survival-critical.

- Archetype shifts: against graveyard decks, trade less aggressively if Nihil Spellbomb or Bojuka Bog already controls the graveyard and the battlefield is stable. Against big-mana control, attack more with Troll of Khazad-dûm or Avenging Hunter once protected because slow pressure matters. Against artifact decks, preserve bodies that pressure planes of resource exchange while post-board Troublemaker Ouphe, Rancid Earth, or Icequake attack infrastructure only when legal text and targets support it.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Tutor first for mana stability: use Troll of Khazad-dûm landcycling when the hand needs a black source, a third land, or a specific Swamp-typed land before casting spells matters more than keeping Troll of Khazad-dûm as a late threat. Choose the legal Swamp card that best fixes the next two turns; do not assume Witch's Cottage recursion is enabled unless Veles shows the required public conditions.

- Preserve Troll of Khazad-dûm as a finisher when mana is already stable and the matchup is about closing through removal or big-mana inevitability. Cycling it for a marginal land is worse when the visible game needs a large body later and you already have Cast Down, Defile, Nihil Spellbomb, or sacrifice draw to spend mana.

- Sequence Lembas before blind draw when the top-card choice matters, because scry-like selection is strongest before Eviscerator's Insight, Fanatical Offering, Ichor Wellspring death triggers, or normal draw steps. Card text check required for exact Lembas resolution if Forge exposes separate scry and draw prompts; keep lands on top when land drops unlock multiple spells, and bottom low-impact artifacts when board survival is urgent.

- Use Ichor Wellspring as pseudo-selection by turning sacrifice effects into redraws, not by expecting it to fix exact card types. Cast Ichor Wellspring before Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight when the extra artifact body enables card flow, edict insulation, or a future sacrifice line.

- Sacrifice disposable permanents first when drawing cards: Plant tokens from Khalni Garden, spent Ichor Wellspring, spent Tithing Blade, spare Nihil Spellbomb, and low-impact Lembas are normal fodder. Do not sacrifice the only graveyard hate, only blocker, or only artifact needed for a follow-up unless the visible draw line is necessary for survival or a decisive turn.

- Time Bojuka Bog as graveyard selection, not as a generic tapped land, when the opponent's public graveyard is part of their next legal threat. If the graveyard is empty or low-impact and the hand needs mana, playing Bojuka Bog for development is acceptable, but do not waste its exile window against graveyard, recursion, or delve-style pressure.

- Treat Witch's Cottage as conditional top-deck selection only when Veles confirms the legal recursion trigger or prompt. Put back Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Crypt Rats, or a matchup-critical creature only when the next draw or shuffle pattern makes that card matter before the opponent can invalidate it.

- Use Nihil Spellbomb draw timing carefully: crack it for card flow when graveyard pressure is absent, but hold it when the opponent can use a visible graveyard payoff before your next priority. If both exile and draw are legal choices, prioritize exile against active graveyard engines and card draw against empty graveyards or attrition mirrors.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Pass priority when no legal action changes the next meaningful exchange, especially with only low-impact sacrifice or graveyard actions available. Explain the pass by naming what is being preserved: Cast Down, Defile, Nihil Spellbomb activation, Crypt Rats activation, or sacrifice fodder.

- Use instant-speed removal before damage when combat math would otherwise cost too much life, remove a needed blocker, or let a threat trigger. Cast Down and Defile should answer the creature that decides the current attack, block, or lethal window; do not spend them on a replaceable creature when Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, Tithing Blade, or Chainer's Edict can answer the board more cleanly later.

- Activate Nihil Spellbomb or use Faerie Macabre at the last safe public graveyard window before the opponent gains value. Do not wait through a legal cast, flashback, recursion, or cost-reduction window if Veles shows the graveyard card and the opponent has the mana or action to use it.

- Commit Crypt Rats activation only after checking life totals, damage prevention, creatures that survive, and whether your own life remains above zero. Choose the smallest legal damage amount that solves the visible problem; larger activations are for lethal, full sweeps, or preventing an immediate counterattack.

- Let harmless spells resolve when interaction is scarce and the spell does not change pressure, mana, graveyard access, or card advantage enough to matter. This deck wins by spending removal on battlefield threats and timing graveyard hate, not by reacting to every legal stack object.

- Cast Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight at instant speed when the sacrificed permanent is about to die, become blank, or convert into cards before a critical draw step. Avoid sacrificing a blocker before combat damage unless the life total and board state make the cards more valuable than the prevented damage.

- Pay optional costs only when they advance the visible plan. If Veles exposes bargain, sacrifice, life, or other optional payment prompts from Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, or unusual copied effects, accept only when the permanent or resource paid is lower value than the card, tempo, or survival gained.

- Use Tithing Blade and Chainer's Edict during main phases when the opponent has one meaningful creature or when prior removal can clear fodder first. Avoid firing an edict into multiple expendable bodies unless the visible board state makes any sacrifice acceptable or survival requires action now.

- Respect stack uncertainty for sideboard cards: Troublemaker Ouphe, Weather the Storm, Rancid Earth, and Icequake should follow exact legal action text and visible targets. Card text check required before assuming trigger counts, artifact timing, land restrictions, or life-gain size beyond what Veles exposes.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboard by role first: add Weather the Storm against fast burn, spell-chain aggro, and decks where life total is the main resource; add Faerie Macabre against graveyard plans where instant-speed exile matters; add Drown in Sorrow against small-creature boards; add Troublemaker Ouphe against artifact infrastructure when green mana and legal targets are reliable; add Rancid Earth and Icequake against Tron, bounceland, greedy mana, and slow decks whose key turns depend on specific lands.

- Weather the Storm role: use it as survival padding that buys time for Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Crypt Rats, and sacrifice draw to stabilize. It is bad when the opponent wins through board inevitability, graveyard recursion, or large singular threats instead of damage racing. Its role changes post-board from emergency life gain to tempo protection: preserve green access and avoid spending sacrifice draw in ways that leave you unable to cast a legal Weather the Storm before a burn-heavy turn.

- Faerie Macabre role: use it as zero-mana graveyard interaction when the opponent can use public graveyard cards before Nihil Spellbomb or Bojuka Bog can safely answer them. It is bad against decks with no meaningful graveyard resource or where a 2/2 flying body is too slow. Its role changes against graveyard combo and Terror-style decks: hold it for the exact public cards that enable the next threat, recursion line, or cost reduction rather than cycling it into a generic creature plan.

- Drown in Sorrow role: add the extra copy when the opponent presents many one- and two-toughness creatures, token boards, faeries, elves, or fast go-wide pressure. It is bad against large creatures, sparse creature decks, and matchups where your own Plant tokens and small creatures matter more than sweeping. Its role changes after sideboarding into a reset button: use single-target removal to manage the first threat, then let Drown in Sorrow reclaim boards that would make one-for-one removal inefficient.

- Troublemaker Ouphe role: add it against Affinity, artifact engines, artifact mana, and decks whose permanents make Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight races unfavorable. Card text check required for exact triggered or activated artifact interaction; choose it only when Veles shows legal green mana and artifact-relevant text or targets. It is bad when artifact targets are absent, when green access is unreliable, or when a creature body dies before affecting the exchange.

- Rancid Earth role: add it against Tron, bounceland decks, slow control, Gates, and decks whose mana development is more dangerous than their early creatures. Card text check required for exact threshold or damage text; treat it primarily as land interaction unless Veles exposes additional legal effects. It is bad against low-curve aggro, burn when life is pressured, and decks with redundant basics where spending a turn on land destruction fails to affect the next combat or stack exchange.

- Icequake role: add it as additional land pressure against Tron, greedy mana, bounceland reliance, and control decks that need specific colors or high mana counts. Card text check required for exact snow-land rider; select targets from visible lands only and prefer the land that blocks the opponent's next public high-impact turn. It is bad against fast creature decks and matchups where tapping three mana sorcery speed exposes you to lethal pressure.

- Balanced anti-burn plan: use this when the opponent is a fast red damage deck or spell-chain aggro deck and Veles history shows life total pressure is the main loss axis.
Side in: 4 Weather the Storm
Cut: 3 Nihil Spellbomb, 1 Chainer's Edict

- Balanced anti-Tron or big-mana plan: use this when the opponent relies on assembling specific lands, bouncelands, or high mana before their threats dominate.
Side in: 4 Rancid Earth, 2 Icequake
Cut: 2 Fungal Infection, 1 Drown in Sorrow, 1 Chainer's Edict, 2 Nihil Spellbomb

- Balanced anti-graveyard plan: use this when public graveyards enable recursive creatures, delve-style threats, reanimation, flashback, or combo timing.
Side in: 2 Faerie Macabre
Cut: 2 Fungal Infection

- Balanced anti-small-creature plan: use this when the opponent floods the board with small creatures and your spot removal cannot keep pace.
Side in: 1 Drown in Sorrow
Cut: 1 Nihil Spellbomb

- Balanced anti-artifact plan: use this when the opponent depends on artifact permanents and green mana is realistic from Khalni Garden or Haunted Mire.
Side in: 2 Troublemaker Ouphe
Cut: 1 Chainer's Edict, 1 Drown in Sorrow

- Artifact archetype rule: Add role cards: Troublemaker Ouphe, Rancid Earth, and Icequake when artifact lands, artifact mana, or affinity infrastructure are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow edicts and graveyard-only pressure when the public graveyard is not central.

- Graveyard archetype rule: Add role cards: Faerie Macabre while keeping Nihil Spellbomb and Bojuka Bog valuable. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection and slow creature-only interaction when the opponent's key turn comes from the graveyard rather than combat.

- Aggro archetype rule: Add role cards: Weather the Storm and Drown in Sorrow according to whether damage comes from spells or creatures. Reduce main-deck emphasis: land destruction, slow artifact disruption, and graveyard cards that do not affect the next two turns.

- Control archetype rule: Add role cards: Rancid Earth and Icequake when mana denial can delay sweepers, monarch threats, or expensive answers. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess small-creature removal when the opponent presents few targets.

- Sideboarding safety rule: keep exact plans balanced and legal, and do not weaken the deck's sacrifice engine below function. Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring, Khalni Garden, and Lembas are the card-flow shell; alter support cards before breaking the engine unless a matchup makes card draw too slow to survive.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: prioritize survival over engine volume until the first creature wave is contained. Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Tithing Blade, Crypt Rats, and Drown in Sorrow are the stabilizing cards; Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight become strong once Khalni Garden, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, or Campfire can be sacrificed without exposing life total. Add role cards: Weather the Storm against spell-heavy pressure and Drown in Sorrow against small-creature pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Nihil Spellbomb and Chainer's Edict when graveyards and single large threats are not central.

- Burn: protect life total as the matchup's primary resource and treat every tapped green source as part of a future Weather the Storm plan. Keep hands with early black interaction only when they also buy enough time for Lembas, Campfire, or Weather the Storm to matter. Do not spend Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight into a dangerous life-payment or tempo gap unless the draw is needed to find Weather the Storm, Cast Down, Defile, or Crypt Rats. Add role cards: Weather the Storm. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Nihil Spellbomb, Chainer's Edict, and slow graveyard pressure.

- Go-wide creature decks: preserve sweepers and avoid spending Crypt Rats or Drown in Sorrow on boards that one Cast Down, Defile, or Fungal Infection can bridge. Use Khalni Garden Plant tokens as time-buying bodies, then convert them with Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight after combat pressure is reduced. Tithing Blade is weaker when the opponent has expendable creatures, so use it before token shields grow or save it for a post-sweeper single threat. Add role cards: Drown in Sorrow and Weather the Storm if damage also arrives through spell chains. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Rancid Earth-style land pressure plans and graveyard-only cards.

- Tempo: trade mana efficiently and do not let a cheap evasive threat deal repeated damage while you build an artifact-draw loop. Defile is often the cleanest answer when Swamp count supports it; Cast Down covers larger non-engine creatures; Fungal Infection can punish one-toughness attackers or protect against chip damage when legal targets exist. Prefer Lembas and Ichor Wellspring when they advance through soft permission or removal, but do not sacrifice a stabilizing permanent if the next turn needs a blocker. Add role cards: Drown in Sorrow against faeries or one-toughness boards and Faerie Macabre when graveyard cost reduction is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow land destruction unless the tempo deck relies on bouncelands or fragile colors.

- Control: turn every expendable permanent into cards, pressure their mana when legal, and avoid overcommitting creatures into known sweepers. Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, and Witch's Cottage help win long exchanges by making removal less decisive. Troll of Khazad-dûm and Avenging Hunter are commitment threats; deploy them when the opponent's visible mana and recent actions make waiting worse or when you need to force an answer. Add role cards: Rancid Earth and Icequake against slow mana, bouncelands, Gates, or high-cost control. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, and excess creature-only removal when targets are sparse.

- Removal-heavy decks: diversify threats and preserve sacrifice value so their one-for-one answers do not strand Eviscerator's Insight or Fanatical Offering. Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, Nihil Spellbomb, and Khalni Garden are important because they make removal awkward and keep action flowing. Do not expose Avenging Hunter or Sagu Wildling purely to spend mana if the board can be improved with artifacts, card draw, or graveyard pressure instead. Add role cards: Rancid Earth and Icequake if the opponent's answers are expensive or color-sensitive. Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact Fungal Infection and Drown in Sorrow when the opponent has few small creatures.

- Midrange: win the attrition mirror by answering the card that changes board texture, not the first legal creature. Cast Down and Defile should cover creatures that dominate combat; Tithing Blade and Chainer's Edict are strongest when the opponent has one meaningful body; Crypt Rats can reset stalled boards if life total permits. Use Nihil Spellbomb and Bojuka Bog to shrink recursive value when public graveyards matter, but do not spend graveyard hate before it denies an actual visible resource. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre for recursive graveyard midrange and Rancid Earth or Icequake for greedy mana. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection against large bodies and Drown in Sorrow against resilient creatures.

- Big mana: attack mana development before their payoff turns overtake your card engine. Rancid Earth and Icequake are role cards for Tron, bouncelands, Gates, and slow multi-color mana; target visible lands that unlock the next high-impact turn rather than lands that merely reduce total mana. Keep pressure through Troll of Khazad-dûm, Avenging Hunter, and sacrifice draw, but do not ignore a window to slow them by a full turn. Add role cards: Rancid Earth and Icequake. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, and creature removal that lacks visible targets.

- Combo: identify the public resource the combo needs, then hold interaction for the first legally meaningful choke point. Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and Faerie Macabre matter against graveyard combo; Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, or Crypt Rats matter only if the combo uses creatures that can legally be answered. Do not tap low for Eviscerator's Insight or Fanatical Offering if visible mana, graveyard contents, or stack texture imply the opponent can win before your next action. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre against graveyard combo, Rancid Earth and Icequake against mana-combo shells, Weather the Storm against storm-like damage chains. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow creature removal when the combo does not need creatures.

- Graveyard decks: preserve layered hate and force them to commit public graveyard resources before spending the cleanest answer. Nihil Spellbomb is a repeatable decision pressure point when mana is available; Bojuka Bog is strongest when played at a moment that exiles known cards rather than as an untapped-mana substitute; Faerie Macabre is best when zero-mana timing beats stack or priority constraints. Troll of Khazad-dûm can also shape graveyards through its own legal actions, so consider whether your line helps opposing graveyard payoffs. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection and Drown in Sorrow unless small creatures also create the clock.

- Artifact and enchantment decks: treat artifact infrastructure as a resource engine and decide whether disruption or removal matters more this turn. Troublemaker Ouphe is the dedicated artifact role card, but card text check required for exact interaction; select it only when legal green mana and artifact-relevant text or targets are visible. Against Affinity-style artifact boards, Cast Down, Defile, Crypt Rats, Tithing Blade, and Chainer's Edict must answer threats while Rancid Earth and Icequake can pressure artifact lands or mana if legal. The registered sideboard has no dedicated enchantment removal; against enchantment engines, pressure life total, mana, and creatures while avoiding imaginary answers. Add role cards: Troublemaker Ouphe, Rancid Earth, and Icequake when artifacts or mana lands are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: graveyard hate when the artifact plan does not use graveyards.

- Single-threat decks: make Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Cast Down, and Defile line up with the actual threat rather than a decoy. If the opponent protects one creature with counters, auras, or recursion, sequence discard-like edicts and spot removal so the least flexible answer is not stranded. Crypt Rats can finish damaged threats or clear support creatures before an edict, but do not spend it into lethal self-damage unless survival requires it. Add role cards: Rancid Earth and Icequake if the threat is expensive, Faerie Macabre if recursion is the protection axis. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Drown in Sorrow and Fungal Infection when one large body is the main problem.

## Specific Matchup Notes

- Red Rally notes are archetype-only; revealed cards override assumptions. Prioritize life total and board containment over slow card flow, because this deck can lose before Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, and Campfire convert enough material. Add role cards: Weather the Storm for burst life, Drown in Sorrow for small-creature boards, and Faerie Macabre only if public graveyard resources are enabling the rally plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow land destruction and low-impact Nihil Spellbomb activations when graveyard text is not visible.

- Dimir Faeries / Terror notes are archetype-only; revealed cards override assumptions. Preserve Cast Down, Defile, Chainer's Edict, and Tithing Blade for threats that shorten the clock or dodge one answer type, and use Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, or Faerie Macabre when public graveyard size matters for Terror-style threats. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre, Drown in Sorrow, Rancid Earth, and Icequake when graveyard pressure, small flyers, or fragile mana are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection if opposing bodies are too large, and excess Crypt Rats if life total is under heavy pressure.

- Tron / Big-Mana Control notes are archetype-only; revealed cards override assumptions. Attack mana with Rancid Earth and Icequake when legal targets delay a payoff turn, while using Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight to maintain pressure through interaction. Add role cards: Rancid Earth and Icequake. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fungal Infection, Drown in Sorrow, and creature removal without visible targets; keep enough Cast Down or Defile only when revealed threats justify them.

- Grixis Affinity notes are archetype-only; revealed cards override assumptions. Treat artifact mana and large artifact creatures as separate problems, using Troublemaker Ouphe only when its exact legal text and green mana are relevant; Card text check required for Troublemaker Ouphe. Add role cards: Troublemaker Ouphe, Rancid Earth, Icequake, and Drown in Sorrow if the board includes small creatures. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Nihil Spellbomb use unless graveyard recursion or affinity-adjacent graveyard value is public.

- Food Gardens mirror notes are archetype-only; revealed cards override assumptions. Win the exchange by preserving sacrifice fodder, graveyard timing, and closers, not by firing removal into expendable Khalni Garden tokens. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre for Witch's Cottage or graveyard recursion, Rancid Earth and Icequake for utility lands, and Troublemaker Ouphe only if artifact engines are visible and its text is confirmed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Drown in Sorrow and Fungal Infection unless tokens or small creatures define combat.

- Spy notes are archetype-only; revealed cards override assumptions. Hold Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and Faerie Macabre for the first visible graveyard-dependent choke point rather than spending them for generic value, and avoid tapping out for slow Eviscerator's Insight if the opponent is close to a combo turn. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre, Rancid Earth, Icequake, and Weather the Storm if storm-like damage or life pressure is revealed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal unless a legal creature target is central to the combo.

## Risk Summary

- Mana risk: Khalni Garden, Bojuka Bog, Haunted Mire, and Witch's Cottage can enter tapped or be timing-sensitive, so do not keep hands that cannot cast early black interaction unless the visible matchup gives time. Sideboard green cards create additional pressure; Weather the Storm and Troublemaker Ouphe require real green access before they can be treated as active plans.

- Matchup risk: Mono-Black Gardens can beat fair games but may be too slow against fast combo, wide aggro, or big mana if it spends early turns cycling artifacts without affecting the opponent. Choose Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight only when the current board permits a card-flow turn.

- Draw risk: Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, Nihil Spellbomb, Fanatical Offering, and Eviscerator's Insight can create many legal draw actions that look productive while the opponent advances a lethal clock. Under pressure, prefer Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, or Fungal Infection when those actions materially change combat.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Do not dilute the sacrifice-and-card engine by adding Rancid Earth, Icequake, Weather the Storm, Faerie Macabre, Troublemaker Ouphe, and Drown in Sorrow all at once without visible roles. Each sideboard card should answer a public axis: mana, life race, graveyard, artifacts, or small creatures.

- Graveyard risk: Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, Faerie Macabre, and Witch's Cottage all care about graveyard timing, and premature use can either miss opposing resources or weaken your own recursion. Spend graveyard hate when it denies a visible payoff or prevents a near-term legal line.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Crypt Rats and Drown in Sorrow can stabilize boards but may kill your Khalni Garden token, reduce sacrifice material, or cost too much life. Cast Down and Defile can be stranded against illegal targets, so verify engine-provided legality before treating either as removal.

- Closer risk: Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and Sagu Wildling are commitment threats, not automatic curve plays. Card text check required for Sagu Wildling before relying on exact combat or value text; deploy closers when removal shields, opponent mana, and your life total make waiting worse.

- Sequencing risk: Playing Bojuka Bog, Witch's Cottage, Tithing Blade, or Khalni Garden at the wrong time can waste their tactical value. Prefer lines that preserve a future sacrifice permanent, a known recursion window, or a graveyard exile window unless immediate survival requires otherwise.

## Test Feedback Checklist

- Deciding factor: Identify the turn cycle that most changed win equity, then name whether it was survival, card velocity, graveyard timing, mana denial, sideboard impact, or a closing threat.

- Mulligan result: Record whether the opener had early black mana, a two-turn plan, and either interaction or engine material; flag hands that kept Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, or Nihil Spellbomb without enough time to use them.

- Mana performance: Check whether Swamp count, Khalni Garden timing, Bojuka Bog timing, Haunted Mire, and Witch's Cottage created castable early plays or stranded Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Fanatical Offering, or Eviscerator's Insight.

- Velocity performance: Note whether Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight converted expendable permanents into real resources, or whether draw actions delayed needed Cast Down, Defile, Chainer's Edict, Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, or Fungal Infection.

- Engine performance: Track whether Khalni Garden tokens, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, Tithing Blade, and Nihil Spellbomb produced useful sacrifice material, or whether the deck ran out of fodder before its draw spells mattered.

- Removal performance: Record the exact opposing threats answered by Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Chainer's Edict, Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, and Fungal Infection, and flag removal stranded by target restrictions or low toughness relevance.

- Graveyard performance: Record whether Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, Faerie Macabre, and Witch's Cottage were timed around visible graveyard resources, or whether early graveyard actions missed later payoff windows.

- Sideboard performance: For Troublemaker Ouphe, Weather the Storm, Faerie Macabre, Drown in Sorrow, Rancid Earth, and Icequake, record the public axis each card addressed and whether it changed a turn cycle; Card text check required for Troublemaker Ouphe.

- Closing performance: Note whether Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Sagu Wildling, Crypt Rats, or incremental attacks ended the game, and whether waiting or committing earlier would have improved the clock; Card text check required for Sagu Wildling.

- Role accuracy: Record whether the pilot correctly identified stabilize, grind, mana-denial, graveyard-control, or pressure mode, especially when legal draw actions competed with immediate board interaction.

- Mistake review: Flag passes under pressure, low-impact Nihil Spellbomb activations, unnecessary sacrifice of key blockers, late Bojuka Bog use, and removal spent on expendable creatures while a larger public threat remained.

- Stranded-card review: List cards left unusable in hand at game end, including Weather the Storm or Troublemaker Ouphe without green access, Rancid Earth or Icequake without useful land targets, and Cast Down or Defile without legal targets.

- Overperformer and underperformer review: Name cards that repeatedly decided games or failed to affect them, separating main-deck roles from sideboard roles so one matchup does not distort the whole tuning picture.

## First Tuning Questions

- Card quantities: Is 4 Nihil Spellbomb correct when graveyard pressure is not always public, or should some graveyard control become more flexible interaction, engine material, or threats?

- Card quantities: Are 4 Fanatical Offering and 4 Eviscerator's Insight producing enough velocity, or do they create too many draw spells that need expendable permanents before stabilizing?

- Card quantities: Does 3 Tithing Blade plus 1 Chainer's Edict give enough edict coverage against protected or oversized threats, or is edict density still low in the matchups that matter?

- Mana base: Do 4 Khalni Garden, 2 Bojuka Bog, Haunted Mire, and Witch's Cottage slow early black interaction too often, or are their tactical enters-the-battlefield roles worth the tempo cost?

- Mana base: Can the deck reliably cast Weather the Storm and Troublemaker Ouphe after sideboarding, or do green sideboard plans require more green access or fewer green commitments?

- Aggro plan: Are Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, Fungal Infection, Weather the Storm, and early edicts enough against wide or fast starts, or does the deck need more cheap stabilization?

- Control plan: Against Tron / Big-Mana Control and slow mirrors, do Rancid Earth and Icequake create enough pressure, or does the deck need a stronger closer than Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, and Sagu Wildling?

- Graveyard plan: Are Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, and Faerie Macabre overlapping too heavily, or does the metagame justify multiple graveyard angles because each operates on different timing windows?

- Artifact plan: Does Troublemaker Ouphe solve the Affinity and artifact-engine problem when its text is confirmed, or is the sideboard relying on a card that is hard to cast or too narrow?

- Role conflicts: Does the deck lose games by trying to be sacrifice-engine midrange, graveyard control, life-gain stabilizer, and land-denial deck in the same post-board configuration?

- Closer question: When games stabilize but do not end, should more slots support Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, or another closing plan, rather than more card draw or conditional answers?

- Sideboard slots: Are 4 Weather the Storm, 4 Rancid Earth, and 2 Icequake the right allocation, or are those packages crowding out flexible answers for creature boards, graveyard decks, or artifact strategies?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Opening Keep Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan
- Cards: Swamp, Khalni Garden, Bojuka Bog, Haunted Mire, Witch's Cottage, Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb
- Phase windows: Pregame mulligan decisions.
- Runtime cues: opening hand, london mulligan prompt, visible matchup label.
- Use when: deciding keep, take a mulligan, or bottom cards.
- Avoid when: the engine has already moved beyond mulligans.
- Instructions: Keep hands with black mana and a two-turn plan that either answers pressure or establishes expendable material plus card flow; reject hands that need multiple unknown draws to cast black interaction. Bottom excess slow artifacts or redundant graveyard pieces before cutting black mana or the only removal spell against creature pressure.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model compares matchup speed, mana, and first two turns.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Early Black Mana And Garden Setup
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: mana, priority
- Cards: Swamp, Khalni Garden, Bojuka Bog, Haunted Mire, Witch's Cottage, Tithing Blade, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Nihil Spellbomb
- Phase windows: Turns 1-3 main phases.
- Runtime cues: legal land play, legal cheap permanent, hand contains black removal or sacrifice draw.
- Use when: choosing the first land or first enabling permanent.
- Avoid when: immediate lethal or a must-answer threat requires different mana.
- Instructions: Lead on untapped black when Cast Down, Defile, Tithing Blade, Fanatical Offering, or Eviscerator's Insight must be available soon; use Khalni Garden early when the token will enable sacrifice draw or block. Delay Bojuka Bog or Witch's Cottage when their enters-the-battlefield text has visible future value and tempo is not urgent.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model reasons about next-turn casts and sacrifice fodder.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sacrifice Engine Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority, selection
- Cards: Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring, Lembas, Campfire, Nihil Spellbomb, Khalni Garden, Tithing Blade
- Phase windows: Main phases, end steps, response windows with legal sacrifice draw.
- Runtime cues: legal cast or activate action for Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight.
- Use when: deciding whether to convert a permanent into cards or wait.
- Avoid when: the sacrificed permanent is the only relevant blocker, the only graveyard hate, or a needed artifact for a later action.
- Instructions: Spend expendable permanents when the cards will find interaction, hit land drops, or pull ahead before the opponent's next turn. Preserve blockers and hate pieces when visible pressure or graveyard threats make the permanent more valuable in play than in the graveyard.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model evaluates board pressure and resource conversion.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Sacrifice Of Ichor Wellspring
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: selection
- Cards: Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight
- Phase windows: Any prompt asking for sacrifice material after a draw spell is already selected.
- Runtime cues: action:sacrifice Ichor Wellspring
- Use when: Ichor Wellspring is a visible legal sacrifice choice and the selected spell or ability requires one sacrifice choice now.
- Avoid when: multiple sacrifice choices include a permanent whose exact text creates required immediate survival or mana.
- Instructions: Choose Ichor Wellspring as the sacrifice object after the draw-spell line is already committed, because it is registered as expendable engine material and its identity is visible in the legal action text.
- Pilot skill floor: No API can execute exact visible action text.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Spot Removal Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Chainer's Edict, Tithing Blade
- Phase windows: Opponent combat, end step, your main phase, stack windows with legal removal.
- Runtime cues: legal action includes Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Chainer's Edict, or Tithing Blade; visible opposing creature or protected threat.
- Use when: choosing whether to spend single-target, edict, or small-removal interaction.
- Avoid when: the target is low-impact and a larger public threat or imminent lethal line is visible.
- Instructions: Use removal on threats that change the next turn cycle: lethal attackers, engines, evasive clocks, or creatures blocking a stabilizing attack. Prefer edicts against single protected or oversized creatures; prefer Cast Down and Defile when the target restriction and toughness math are clearly satisfied by engine output.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model compares threats and timing.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sweeper And Life-Payment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow
- Phase windows: Main phases, combat windows when legal activated abilities are offered.
- Runtime cues: legal action for Crypt Rats activation or Drown in Sorrow; visible wide board; current life totals.
- Use when: deciding whether a sweeper stabilizes or causes self-lethal risk.
- Avoid when: own life total, protected opposing creatures, or post-sweeper crackback makes the line fail visibly.
- Instructions: Fire Drown in Sorrow or Crypt Rats when it removes multiple relevant creatures or prevents lethal pressure. Treat Crypt Rats activation as a survival and clock calculation, not automatic mana spending, because your life total and surviving board matter.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model checks damage, deaths, and follow-up board.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Graveyard Hate Timing Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Nihil Spellbomb, Bojuka Bog, Faerie Macabre
- Phase windows: Land play decisions, priority windows, opponent graveyard-action windows.
- Runtime cues: visible opposing graveyard, legal Bojuka Bog land play, legal Nihil Spellbomb activation, legal Faerie Macabre action.
- Use when: deciding whether to exile graveyards now or preserve the effect.
- Avoid when: the opposing graveyard has no visible resource that matters before the next decision.
- Instructions: Use graveyard hate when public cards enable recursion, delve, flashback, reanimation, or graveyard-cost pressure before you expect another chance. Hold hate when the opponent has not committed the relevant resource and the hate card can later stop a stronger window.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model identifies public graveyard payoffs.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Nihil Spellbomb Opponent Target
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: interaction, selection
- Cards: Nihil Spellbomb
- Phase windows: Target-selection prompt after Nihil Spellbomb activation is already chosen.
- Runtime cues: action:target opponent Nihil Spellbomb
- Use when: the legal action text offers target opponent for Nihil Spellbomb and the opponent graveyard contains one or more visible cards.
- Avoid when: the selected line is not Nihil Spellbomb or legal actions include multiple opponent-equivalent target objects with different visible graveyards.
- Instructions: Choose target opponent for Nihil Spellbomb after the graveyard-hate line is committed, because the deck's hate plan is to attack opposing graveyard resources.
- Pilot skill floor: No API can match exact target text.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Witch's Cottage Recursion Target
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection, mana
- Cards: Witch's Cottage, Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Crypt Rats, Sagu Wildling
- Phase windows: Land play resolution or recursion target prompt.
- Runtime cues: legal Witch's Cottage play or target prompt; visible graveyard creatures.
- Use when: choosing whether to play Witch's Cottage for recursion or which creature to put on top.
- Avoid when: entering tapped or delayed draw would cost immediate survival.
- Instructions: Route the target choice through light-model because the best visible creature depends on board role: Avenging Hunter for initiative pressure, Crypt Rats for reset access, Troll of Khazad-dûm or Sagu Wildling for closing. Card text check required for Sagu Wildling before relying on exact text.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model chooses role-specific recursion.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Landcycling Setup
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: mana, selection
- Cards: Troll of Khazad-dûm, Swamp, Haunted Mire
- Phase windows: Early turns or end steps with legal landcycling.
- Runtime cues: legal landcycling action for Troll of Khazad-dûm; hand is short on lands or colors.
- Use when: deciding whether Troll of Khazad-dûm is a mana fixer or future threat.
- Avoid when: mana is already sufficient and a large creature is needed soon.
- Instructions: Landcycle Troll of Khazad-dûm when missing land drops or green/black access matters more than holding a slow closer. Preserve Troll of Khazad-dûm when mana is stable and the matchup needs a body to end the game.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model evaluates mana versus threat need.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat With Tokens And Closers
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat
- Cards: Khalni Garden, Avenging Hunter, Troll of Khazad-dûm, Sagu Wildling, Crypt Rats
- Phase windows: Declare attackers, declare blockers, combat trick windows.
- Runtime cues: legal attack or block actions; visible power/toughness and tapped status.
- Use when: choosing attacks, blocks, or preserving bodies.
- Avoid when: exactly one forced block or forced attack is supplied by the rules engine.
- Instructions: Keep Khalni Garden tokens and small bodies back when they prevent more damage than they deal or enable sacrifice draw next turn. Attack with closers when the damage meaningfully shortens the clock and does not expose a needed stabilizer; Card text check required for Sagu Wildling before relying on exact combat abilities.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model evaluates race and resource bodies.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Pass With Interaction Available
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority, interaction
- Cards: Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Nihil Spellbomb, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Crypt Rats
- Phase windows: Opponent turn, end step, combat, stack priority.
- Runtime cues: legal pass plus legal instant-speed action or activated ability.
- Use when: deciding whether to act now or hold a response.
- Avoid when: passing allows visible lethal, a graveyard payoff, or an engine trigger to resolve unchecked.
- Instructions: Pass only when holding interaction improves timing or conceals commitment without losing a concrete public window. Act before damage, recursion, or stack resolution when waiting removes the chance to answer the current threat.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model reasons about stack and next priority.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Card-Draw Versus Stabilization
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: priority, selection
- Cards: Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Lembas, Campfire, Ichor Wellspring, Cast Down, Defile, Drown in Sorrow, Crypt Rats
- Phase windows: Main phases and end steps.
- Runtime cues: legal draw/filter action and legal removal or sweeper action in the same decision frame.
- Use when: choosing between velocity and board control.
- Avoid when: only one legal non-pass action exists.
- Instructions: Stabilize first when visible attackers threaten a short clock; draw first when current board is contained and additional cards are needed to find land, hate, or a closer. Treat Campfire and Lembas as slower support unless their visible action directly changes survival or card access.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model compares clock to resource gain.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Troublemaker Ouphe, Weather the Storm, Faerie Macabre, Drown in Sorrow, Rancid Earth, Icequake, Nihil Spellbomb, Cast Down, Defile, Fungal Infection, Crypt Rats
- Phase windows: Between games sideboard prompt.
- Runtime cues: matchup label, game number, observed public cards, legal sideboard plan candidates.
- Use when: selecting a sideboard plan or validating generated swaps.
- Avoid when: no registered sideboard action is pending.
- Instructions: Add Weather the Storm against fast red or storm-like pressure, Faerie Macabre against graveyard reliance, Drown in Sorrow against wide small creatures, Troublemaker Ouphe against artifact boards after card text check, and Rancid Earth or Icequake against mana-dependent slow decks. Preserve enough black interaction and sacrifice material so the deck still functions after boarding.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model maps opponent axis to balanced plan.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Land Denial Commitment Gate
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: interaction, priority, sideboard
- Cards: Rancid Earth, Icequake
- Phase windows: Post-board main phases with legal land destruction.
- Runtime cues: legal cast action for Rancid Earth or Icequake; visible opponent lands and colors.
- Use when: deciding whether to spend a turn attacking mana.
- Avoid when: visible creatures or stack pressure require removal now.
- Instructions: Cast land denial when it cuts off a public color, delays a high-cost deck, or protects a closing window better than developing cards. Do not spend the turn on land denial while dying to board pressure unless it prevents the opponent's immediate winning line.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model evaluates tempo versus survival.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Weather The Storm Survival Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Weather the Storm
- Phase windows: Post-board priority windows with legal Weather the Storm.
- Runtime cues: legal cast action for Weather the Storm; visible life total, storm count if exposed, incoming damage risk.
- Use when: deciding whether lifegain changes survival over the next turn cycle.
- Avoid when: green mana or legal action is absent, or removal prevents more damage than lifegain.
- Instructions: Cast Weather the Storm when life gain prevents likely lethal or buys the turn needed for Crypt Rats, Drown in Sorrow, or removal to stabilize. Hold it when the opponent can add more spells first and waiting does not risk death before the next priority window.
- Pilot skill floor: Light model estimates survival window.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deterministic Game-Ending Crypt Rats Activation
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction, priority
- Cards: Crypt Rats
- Phase windows: Priority window with legal Crypt Rats activation.
- Runtime cues: action:activate Crypt Rats
- Use when: the legal action text shows an activation amount that reduces the opponent life total to 0 or less and your life total remains 1 or more from visible life totals.
- Avoid when: prevention, replacement, or damage modification is visible in the current engine prompt or the action text does not expose the activation amount.
- Instructions: Execute the visible lethal Crypt Rats activation only when the legal action text and visible life totals determine the result without target or damage-choice judgment.
- Pilot skill floor: No API can execute exact visible lethal action.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes
