Ninjas is a Historic Dimir tempo deck built around evasive one-mana bodies, ninjutsu-style pressure, cheap interaction, and soft permission. The registered list is 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards, and the supplied format-aware validation result says the deck passes the active Historic contract. Runtime decisions must still treat the rules engine as authoritative for legal actions, because individual card availability, modified Arena text, zone timing, and replacement effects can change what is actually selectable.
- Identity: The deck is best classified as hybrid-stock rather than fully stock or rogue. The core plan of `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` is recognizable as Dimir Ninjas tempo, but the exact Historic configuration with `Hydroponics Architect`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Snuff Out`, `Lórien Revealed`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` should be piloted from the registered-card context rather than from generic format memory.
- Tags: The active archetype/mechanic tags are `tempo, tempo`, so the pilot should bias toward early damage plus card-flow while using disruption to preserve initiative. This does not mean every game is a race; the deck may pivot into a resource game with `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Lórien Revealed`, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, and repeated evasive attacks when the visible board rewards patience.
- Mana validation: The main deck contains 20 lands: `Island`, `Swamp`, `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Prismatic Vista`, `Otawara, Soaring City`, and `Gloomlake Verge`. The mana base is lean for a tempo deck and must support early black interaction, early blue card-flow and permission, and double-spell turns; hands with only colorless-equivalent access are not acceptable because every spell in the deck needs blue, black, or an alternate-cost condition.
- Role concern: The deck is not a pure aggro deck despite 16 evasive or enabling creatures at one mana. It needs an enabling creature to connect, a payoff or pressure piece to convert that connection, and enough interaction to stop the opponent from stabilizing; hands with only attackers and no payoff can stall, while hands with only payoff and no early body can be too slow.
- Legality concern: `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Hydroponics Architect`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` are exact registered names and must not be normalized to paper versions or similar-looking cards. Card text check required for all Arena-modified or less familiar cards before assuming exact triggers, costs, token behavior, or combat impact.
- Interaction concern: `Fatal Push`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Snuff Out`, and sideboard `Thoughtseize`, `Dismember`, `Toxic Deluge`, `Damping Sphere`, `Leyline of the Void`, and `Barrowgoyf` define the deck's posturing after Game 1. The pilot must not name or plan around absent staples; every proactive or defensive line should be grounded in this exact 75-card registration.
- Opponent information status: No specific opponent deck, matchup, metagame field, or testing concern was supplied. Matchup guidance should therefore be archetype-facing and conditional: use visible permanents, revealed cards, graveyards, mana, life totals, and legal action text to infer role, and avoid assuming hidden cards or exact opponent configuration unless the game log has exposed them.
Ninjas assembles an early evasive body, a ninjutsu-style payoff, and just enough disruption to keep the first successful attack from becoming a one-shot exchange. `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, and `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` supply the low-cost entry points; `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` turn those entries into cards, damage, discounts, or scaling pressure; `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Force of Negation`, and `Sink into Stupor` buy the tempo needed for those hits to matter.
The deck wins by connecting repeatedly while denying the opponent clean stabilization windows. Prioritize a hand and line that produces a legal attacker before the opponent can clog combat, then convert that attacker into either a payoff attack or a protected board. One evasive creature plus one payoff plus one piece of interaction is often stronger than a hand with more raw cards but no early connection.
The deck is not trying to become a hard-control deck, a pure all-in aggro deck, or a graveyard/combo deck in Game 1. Do not spend early turns only sculpting unless the visible matchup punishes creature deployment; do not trade away evasive bodies casually when they are needed to enable `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`; and do not hold interaction forever if using it now preserves an attack trigger or prevents a blocker from invalidating the tempo plan.
The highest priority is maintaining initiative: preserve an evasive attacker, make mana-efficient payoff deployments, and use free or cheap interaction to protect the turn where the deck first pulls ahead. Runtime legality overrides all heuristic plans, especially for Arena-specific cards: Card text check required for `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Hydroponics Architect`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` before assuming exact modified text, token creation, trigger timing, or cost reduction.
- Threats: `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `Hydroponics Architect`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` are the cards that create pressure or convert board presence into a clock. Keep the first evasive body alive when it is the only legal entry point for payoff attacks, and avoid using it as a disposable blocker unless survival or a planeswalker-defense line clearly matters more than future connections.
- Payoffs: `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` are the main reasons to play low-power evasive creatures instead of ordinary threats. Favor lines that put a payoff into combat while the opponent is still behind on mana or blockers; once a payoff is active, use interaction to keep attacks flowing rather than chasing marginal value elsewhere.
- Engines: `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `Lórien Revealed`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` are the registered sources most likely to help the deck recover cards or sustain pressure. `Hydroponics Architect` may also function as an engine or setup permanent depending on exact legal text; Card text check required, and choose lines from the visible action text rather than from assumptions.
- Velocity: `Lórien Revealed`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, and payoff attacks provide the deck's card-flow. Use velocity to find interaction or a second wave, but do not let a draw-focused line delay the first relevant attack unless the visible board makes attacking impossible or unsafe.
- Interaction: `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, and `Force of Negation` are the main-deck tools for preventing blockers, combo turns, sweepers, or must-answer permanents from resetting the game. Spend removal aggressively on creatures that stop evasive pressure or race faster than the current clock; hold permission more carefully for noncreature plays that invalidate the board, but act when waiting would lose the tempo advantage.
- Protection: `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Snuff Out`, and sometimes `Fatal Push` protect the attack engine by answering the card or creature that would break it. Protection here means preserving initiative, not shielding every permanent; accept losses of redundant one-drops when the payoff and next attack remain intact.
- Recursion: The registered main deck has no dedicated recursion module. Do not plan around returning used creatures, replaying spent interaction, or recurring threats unless the rules engine exposes a legal action from a visible card or effect.
- Mana: `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Prismatic Vista`, `Island`, `Swamp`, `Otawara, Soaring City`, and `Gloomlake Verge` must support early black removal, early blue payoffs or permission, and double-spell turns. Treat one-land hands as risky unless they contain a legal velocity or setup path, and value untapped Dimir access highly in the first two turns.
- Sideboard modules: `Thoughtseize` adds proactive disruption against combo, control, and sweepers; `Damping Sphere` attacks spell-chain or mana-engine opponents; `Leyline of the Void` is graveyard pressure; `Toxic Deluge` is a reset button against creature boards; `Dismember` is extra cheap removal; `Barrowgoyf` is a backup threat or grind card. Sideboard plans should preserve enough evasive bodies and payoffs to remain a tempo deck after interaction density changes.
- Evasive payoff chain: Build around `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` connecting early, then convert the unblocked attacker into `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` pressure when the rules engine shows a legal attack or ninjutsu-style action. Prioritize this path in most openers because it turns low-resource creatures into card flow, damage, and tempo before the opponent can establish blockers. Use `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Force of Negation` to remove the blocker, answer the stabilizing spell, or protect the first payoff turn rather than saving interaction for abstract future value.
- Repeated `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` pressure: Treat the first successful `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` connection as a core snowball line, especially when the hand needs more lands, disruption, or a second payoff. Set it up with the cheapest evasive attacker, execute by attacking while the opponent is light on reach or removal, and spend removal on creatures that can block or race the Hacker clock. Prioritize this line when the hand has one payoff and multiple interaction pieces, because drawing into more cheap threats often matters more than deploying every creature immediately.
-`A-Silver-Fur Master` tempo clock: Use `A-Silver-Fur Master` to increase the damage output of otherwise small evasive bodies and to make later Ninja deployments more mana-efficient when legal text confirms the available discount or combat effect. Set up by keeping at least one evasive creature available, execute by attacking across multiple bodies, and protect the board from sweepers or large blockers with `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, or removal. Prioritize this line when the opponent is under pressure but not yet dead to single-card value, or when double-spelling with a discounted payoff lets the deck keep mana open.
-`Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` high-impact attacks: Prioritize `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` when a legal attack can connect and the opponent is unlikely to immediately stabilize through visible blockers, life gain, or removal. Set up with `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or another evasive body; execute by converting the unblocked creature into Yuriko pressure; and use `Lórien Revealed`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Snuff Out`, `Force of Negation`, and other higher-mana cards as real deck contents without assuming any top-card identity before it is revealed. Protect Yuriko attacks more aggressively when life totals make triggered damage plus combat damage a short clock.
-`Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` sustained advantage: Use `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` as the main planeswalker-style finisher or stabilizing engine when the board already contains a creature that can pressure, defend, or enable future attacks. Card text check required for exact abilities, but tactically prioritize Kaito when the opponent has spent removal on early Ninjas, when the game is shifting from tempo to grind, or when a visible legal ability creates a body, cards, or pressure without exposing the whole hand to one answer.
- Backup evasive combat: Win with repeated attacks from `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `Ornithopter` enhanced by `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and any legal tokens or modified bodies shown by the engine when payoff cards are delayed. This line is slower, so spend `Fatal Push` and `Snuff Out` on blockers that actually stop damage or create a faster counter-clock, and avoid trading evasive creatures for marginal damage if they are needed to turn on future payoff actions.
- Value-control pivot: Pivot into a light control role when early attacks are answered but the hand contains `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Lórien Revealed`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`. The goal is not to answer everything; the goal is to trade cheaply, reload once, and re-establish one evasive threat plus one payoff. Prioritize this line against visible high-impact noncreature plays, sweepers, or combo pieces where one protected threat is enough if the opponent's reset spell is denied.
- Tempo bounce or channel pressure: Use `Sink into Stupor` and `Otawara, Soaring City` as tempo tools when the visible board shows one blocker, one large threat, one lock piece, or one stack/permanent exchange that prevents attacks. Do not treat bounce as permanent removal; prioritize it when the returned card costs enough mana that replaying it opens a clear attack, planeswalker window, or double-spell turn.
- Hard-cast and free-interaction race: Use `Snuff Out` and `Force of Negation` through whatever legal cost options the engine exposes to maintain pressure while tapped low. Pay life or exile cards only when the resulting attack, protected payoff, or prevented opponent spell is worth the resource loss. If life is already under heavy pressure, prefer mana-paid interaction or blocking lines when legal unless the free spell prevents immediate defeat or preserves lethal pressure.
- Behind on life: Stabilize the race by killing the fastest visible attacker with `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, or `Dismember` only after sideboarding, then resume evasive pressure once attacks are no longer losing the race. Avoid life-payment lines from `Snuff Out` or shock-land sequencing with `Watery Grave` unless the legal play prevents more damage than it costs or creates a near-term kill.
- Behind on board: Use cheap interaction to reopen one attack lane instead of trying to clear every creature. If the opponent controls multiple blockers or wide pressure, preserve `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` only when it can produce immediate material or survive; otherwise, prioritize removal, bounce, or post-sideboard `Toxic Deluge` lines before redeploying fragile payoffs.
- Behind on cards: Use `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `Lórien Revealed`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` as the recovery tools, but choose the one that matches current legality and mana. Do not spend the last evasive creature as a blocker unless survival requires it, because the cleanest card-recovery line often starts with one unblocked attacker.
- Behind on mana: Favor one-spell turns that preserve future attacks, use `Prismatic Vista` and untapped Dimir lands to fix colors, and treat `Lórien Revealed` land-search or spell modes according to visible legal action text. If only one color is available, choose lines that keep `Fatal Push` or a blue payoff online based on the immediate threat.
- Engines removed or payoff creatures answered: Rebuild with any remaining `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `Hydroponics Architect`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` rather than waiting for the exact first plan to return. The deck has no main-deck recursion lock, burn finish, or graveyard engine, so recovery depends on fresh threats, card draw, and tempo exchanges shown by legal actions.
- Facing combo or graveyard recursion: Shift from damage maximization to disruption timing when visible cards or public graveyards show an imminent engine. Use `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, and post-sideboard `Thoughtseize`, `Damping Sphere`, or `Leyline of the Void` according to legal availability; keep attacking, but do not tap out for a marginal extra threat if holding interaction is the only visible way to stop the next decisive turn.
- Life is a spendable tempo resource, not a buffer to waste. Pay life for `Watery Grave`, `Snuff Out`, sideboard `Thoughtseize`, sideboard `Dismember`, or sideboard `Toxic Deluge` only when the legal line protects an evasive clock, prevents a larger damage swing, clears a blocker for a payoff attack, or stops a decisive opposing spell; avoid stacked life payments when visible attackers already put the deck on a short clock.
- Hand size converts into pressure through cheap bodies plus payoff density. Preserve at least one evasive creature or Ninja enabler when possible, because `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` are stronger when the board already contains a body; pitch or spend extra cards for `Force of Negation` only when the protected exchange is worth losing a future threat or reload piece.
- Mana converts into multiple small actions rather than one oversized turn. Prioritize turns that deploy `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `Hydroponics Architect`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, or `A-Silver-Fur Master` while still representing `Fatal Push`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Snuff Out` if legal; do not tap out for a marginal body when the visible opponent line demands stack or removal interaction.
- Board presence is the deck's main engine. One evasive attacker is often more important than one extra card in hand, so protect `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, and legal evasive `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` lines when they enable payoff attacks; trade creatures only when survival, a planeswalker defense, or preventing lethal pressure is more important than future Ninja triggers.
- Graveyard value is mostly public information and opposing-engine context. This deck has no main-deck graveyard recursion plan, so use public graveyards to size opposing threats, enable visible `Fatal Push` revolt-like rules only if the engine presents that legality, and sideboard `Leyline of the Void` when graveyard denial matters more than an extra tempo threat.
- Exile is a real cost because `Force of Negation` can consume blue cards and sideboard `Leyline of the Void` changes graveyard texture. Exile expendable duplicates only when the countered spell matters more than future pressure, and never assume exiled cards can be recovered unless the rules engine exposes a legal action.
- Lands are both color sources and spell-like resources. `Prismatic Vista` fixes basics and may enable shuffle or landfall-adjacent public events only when legal output shows relevance; `Otawara, Soaring City` and `Sink into Stupor` can function as interaction or mana depending on visible pressure, so avoid spending them as lands when the hand already has stable mana and the opponent presents a high-value permanent.
- Sacrifice fodder has no default deck role. Do not preserve `Ornithopter` or small creatures for sacrifice unless the current legal action explicitly asks for a sacrifice; their normal job is enabling attacks, payoffs, and combat pressure.
- Information converts into timing discipline. Use revealed hands from sideboard `Thoughtseize`, public stack contents, graveyards, known removal, and visible mana to decide whether to commit `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, or a second payoff, and avoid assuming unknown cards beyond archetype guidance.
- Sideboard bullets convert narrow resources into matchup leverage. `Thoughtseize` trades life and a card for certainty, `Damping Sphere` trades speed for constraint, `Barrowgoyf` adds a sturdier threat, `Dismember` expands removal, `Toxic Deluge` resets wide boards at a life cost, and `Leyline of the Void` attacks graveyard engines before tempo pressure begins.
- Keep hands that produce early black or blue action with at least one enabler. A strong opener usually has one to three lands, an evasive creature such as `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, and access to blue or black for payoff or interaction; mulligan hands that cannot cast any meaningful first two turns unless the rules engine shows an exceptional free-spell line.
- Prioritize untapped Dimir mana early. `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Gloomlake Verge`, `Island`, `Swamp`, and `Prismatic Vista` should be sequenced to cast the current hand, with black prioritized for `Fatal Push`, `Changeling Outcast`, `Snuff Out` alternatives, and sideboard discard/removal, and blue prioritized for `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Lórien Revealed`, and many payoff turns.
- Use `Watery Grave` life payment only when the untapped mana changes the turn. Shock it in to cast an early threat, hold up `Fatal Push`, enable a payoff, or protect a key window; let it enter tapped when the hand already has a legal untapped play and life total matters against visible pressure.
- Use `Prismatic Vista` to fix the missing color before optimizing later turns. Fetch `Island` when blue payoff or `Force of Negation` timing is the bottleneck, fetch `Swamp` when black removal or discard is the bottleneck, and consider waiting only when the current turn has no color requirement and hidden information is not improved by acting now.
- Treat modal lands and spell-lands as decisions, not defaults. Play `Sink into Stupor` as mana when missing land drops would strand multiple spells; preserve it as interaction when the board has one key blocker, threat, or permanent that tempo-bounce can punish. Use `Otawara, Soaring City` as a land when mana development is failing, but preserve it when the visible game suggests a high-impact channel or bounce window.
- Play lands before combat when mana affects legal attacks, ninjutsu-style actions, removal, or protection. Delay the land until after draw or selection only when a visible `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Lórien Revealed`, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, or other legal draw/selection action could change which land is correct and no precombat mana is needed.
- Sequence double-spell turns around colored bottlenecks. Cast zero- or one-mana enablers first when they do not reveal new choices, preserve blue for payoff or `Force of Negation` if the opponent can act, and preserve black for `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out` alternatives, or sideboard removal when a blocker or lethal attacker must be answered.
- Strong keep: keep one to three lands plus an immediate enabler and payoff, such as `Darkslick Shores`, `Watery Grave`, `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, and `Fatal Push`. This hand starts pressure, enables legal Ninja-style follow-up actions if the engine presents them, and still interacts with the first blocker or threat.
- Strong keep: keep `Prismatic Vista`, a blue source plan, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Force of Negation`, and any second early body when the hand can act by turn 1 or turn 2. The hand is strongest on the draw or against combo/control because it develops while preserving stack interaction.
- Medium keep: keep two lands, `Hydroponics Architect`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Fatal Push`, and `Snuff Out` only when the visible matchup rewards removal-heavy tempo and at least one early creature is already present or likely castable. Card text check required for `Hydroponics Architect`; use it only according to legal actions exposed by the engine.
- Risky keep: keep one-land hands only with `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast` or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, a castable payoff, and meaningful free or cheap interaction such as `Force of Negation` or `Snuff Out`. Ship one-land hands that need the second land immediately for multiple spells and do not have a legal turn-1 board.
- Automatic ship: mulligan hands with no land, five or more lands, no first-two-turn play, or only reactive cards such as `Fatal Push`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Snuff Out`, and `Lórien Revealed`. This deck cannot win by answering forever without an evasive body or payoff.
- Matchup-dependent keep: keep `Force of Negation` plus blue-card density more often against visible spell-combo, graveyard-combo, or control shells, but downgrade it against low-curve creature decks unless the hand also has `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, or a fast clock.
- Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prefer `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` into `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` or `A-Silver-Fur Master`; on the draw, accept slightly slower hands with `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, or `Force of Negation` because the opponent may expose the first target or key spell first.
- Trap hand: ship hands that look powerful but start with `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, `Lórien Revealed`, `Sink into Stupor`, and lands but no early attacker. These cards become pressure only after the deck has a body or a stable board.
- Turn 1 priority: deploy `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or legal `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` lines before holding up marginal interaction. Use `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Prismatic Vista`, `Island`, or `Swamp` to produce the color the hand actually needs; hold `Fatal Push` only when the opponent's visible first threat would block, race, or enable a faster kill.
- Turn 1 deviation: hold `Force of Negation` instead of committing a second low-impact card when the opponent is representing a decisive noncreature spell and the hand already has an attacker. Do not exile a key payoff unless the spell on stack materially changes the game.
- Turn 2 priority: convert an unblocked or likely evasive body into pressure with `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, or another legal payoff action shown by the engine. If a blocker prevents the attack or payoff, use `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Otawara, Soaring City` only when the tempo gained is worth the card or life.
- Turn 2 deviation: play `Hydroponics Architect` only when the engine presents a useful legal role and the line does not strand a better attack or interaction window. Card text check required; do not assume it fixes, ramps, pumps, or enables Ninjas unless legal output shows that function.
- Turn 3 priority: widen pressure while preserving interaction, usually by pairing `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` with one-mana removal or free protection. Commit `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` only when an attacker connects or the legal action text confirms the relevant deployment mode.
- Turn 3 deviation: cast or hold `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` based on board safety. Deploy it when it will survive visible attacks or immediately generate value through legal actions; wait when the opponent can attack it down and a cheaper Ninja or removal line advances the tempo plan better.
- Turns 4-5 priority: press the opponent with stacked evasive damage, repeated `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` value when legal, and selective interaction. Use `Sink into Stupor` or `Otawara, Soaring City` to clear one high-impact permanent for a decisive attack, not as generic tempo when the opponent can simply replay a low-cost card.
- Turns 4-5 deviation: use `Lórien Revealed` when the hand is running out of pressure or lands and the board is not demanding immediate removal. Avoid spending the turn on card flow if the opponent has lethal pressure, a must-answer permanent, or a stack window where `Force of Negation` matters.
- Late-game priority: preserve reach through evasive bodies, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, `Lórien Revealed`, modal interaction, and any legal high-impact Ninja triggers. Trade resources only to protect a winning board, stop lethal, or force through the next two attacks.
- Late-game deviation: stop adding fragile creatures into visible sweepers or public mass-removal pressure when one threat already wins quickly. Hold extra `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, or payoff copies until the opponent spends removal or the engine presents a safer post-combat or post-sweeper window.
-`Ornithopter`: treat `Ornithopter` as the cleanest zero-mana evasive enabler, not as a meaningful attacker by itself. Deploy it early when it turns on a legal follow-up from `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`; hold extra copies when a single evasive body already enables pressure and the opponent is likely to punish overextension. Its best synergy is mana efficiency: it lets the deck commit a body while keeping `Fatal Push`, `Force of Negation`, `Snuff Out`, or a tapped/shock land decision available. Do not chump block with it casually if it is the only body that can carry the next Ninja-style action.
-`Changeling Outcast`: use `Changeling Outcast` as the most reliable one-mana combat connector because it cannot be blocked. It is a premium opening play against creature decks, planeswalkers, and removal-light opponents because it keeps payoff actions live even through stalled boards. Its inability to block matters: do not keep hands that rely on it to stabilize, and do not race with it alone when visible opposing attackers are already faster. It pairs especially well with `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` because it pressures life totals while making combat math predictable.
-`A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`: use `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` first as an evasive blue one-drop when the hand needs a connector, then as a higher-impact payoff only when the engine presents legal text that justifies waiting. Card text check required for the Alchemy version; do not assume exact original-card timing, copy behavior, or cost reduction unless the rules engine exposes it. Cast it early against combo or control when a fast clock plus `Force of Negation` matters, but consider holding it against removal-heavy decks if another enabler is already present and the legal later action has higher ceiling. Its blue card type also matters for `Force of Negation` pitch decisions, so avoid spending the last blue card on a low-impact board when stack interaction is likely to decide the game.
-`Hydroponics Architect`: treat `Hydroponics Architect` as a conditional role-player until card text is confirmed by legal engine output. Card text check required. If it appears as a cheap creature or enabling permanent, cast it when it improves the next attack, protects a payoff turn, or produces a visible legal action that advances the tempo plan. Do not prioritize it above a guaranteed evasive enabler plus payoff sequence unless the visible action text shows immediate value. In sideboarded games, downgrade it when the opponent is racing with pressure and upgrade it only if its exposed abilities help produce mana, bodies, selection, or resilience in that exact board state.
-`A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`: make `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` the default early payoff when an evasive creature can connect and the legal action text supports the card-flow line. Card text check required for the Alchemy version; use the engine’s legal action wording for whether it draws, loots, modifies, or otherwise generates value. Deploy it early against midrange and control to keep resources flowing, but do not walk it into a removal window if waiting one turn lets `Force of Negation`, `Fatal Push`, or `Snuff Out` protect the connection. A common mistake is casting it as an ordinary body when a later Ninja-style action would convert `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` into immediate pressure and value.
-`A-Silver-Fur Master`: use `A-Silver-Fur Master` as both a pressure multiplier and a sequencing engine when legal actions show cost or stat benefits. Card text check required for the Alchemy version; do not assume exact buffs or discounts without engine confirmation. It is strongest when at least one evasive attacker is already on the battlefield and a second payoff can follow in the same turn or next turn. Against creature decks, prioritize it when the extra damage changes the race or lets small attackers trade up; against removal-heavy decks, avoid exposing it before combat if losing it would make the attack poor. It is often worse than `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` when the hand needs cards, and better when the board already has multiple evasive creatures.
-`Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`: reserve `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` for high-impact connection turns rather than treating it as a routine creature. Card text check required for exact Historic legality and engine action wording; when the rules engine presents a legal deployment or trigger line, prefer it if an unblocked attacker is available and the opponent is not representing a visible answer that makes the exchange disastrous. Its synergy with `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, and `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` is central because those cards make the first hit plausible. Do not keep slow hands simply because they contain `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`; it is a payoff, not the enabler.
-`Fatal Push`: use `Fatal Push` to remove blockers, fast attackers, and creatures that enable the opponent’s engine. Prioritize it before combat when killing a blocker unlocks a payoff connection, and after combat or on the opponent’s turn when the blocker is irrelevant and preserving information matters. Its synergy with `Prismatic Vista` and ordinary combat deaths can matter if the engine exposes revolt-relevant legality, but do not assume a larger target is legal unless the action list confirms it. Against creature-light decks, hold `Fatal Push` for the first creature that changes the clock or shields the opponent from attacks.
-`Force of Negation`: treat `Force of Negation` as protection for the tempo lead and as insurance against decisive noncreature spells, not as permission for every medium spell. Pitch decisions should protect the winning line: spare redundant `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, extra `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, or late `Lórien Revealed` before exiling the only enabler, only payoff, or critical blue card for a future turn. Tap out more freely when `Force of Negation` can still cover the opponent’s turn, but respect that it may not answer creature-based pressure. Against aggro, it is often a tempo liability unless it stops a sweeper, combo piece, or removal spell that would break the only winning board.
-`Sink into Stupor`: use `Sink into Stupor` as flexible tempo interaction or mana smoothing according to the legal face/action the engine exposes. Card text check required for exact mode and land/spell behavior. Cast the interaction side when bouncing or disrupting a permanent clears a lethal race, removes a blocker for a payoff hit, saves a key threat, or delays a high-cost permanent the opponent cannot easily redeploy. Use it as mana only when the hand needs land development more than a future tempo answer. A common mistake is spending it on a cheap permanent that the opponent can replay while the deck is short on cards.
-`Snuff Out`: use `Snuff Out` as a free tempo swing when life total permits and a black creature or target restriction is legally satisfied by the engine. Card text check required for exact Historic implementation and target legality. It is best when it clears a blocker while preserving mana for a payoff, or stops an attacker without delaying development. Count life carefully: paying life is acceptable to protect a winning tempo lead, but dangerous against red, go-wide, or evasive pressure. Do not hold it forever for a perfect target if removing the current creature enables multiple Ninja hits.
-`Lórien Revealed`: use `Lórien Revealed` as late-game card flow or early mana fixing only when the legal action text supports that role. Card text check required for exact landcycling/search behavior in the runtime. In opening hands, it can make land-light blue hands more keepable if it reliably finds mana; in developed games, cast it when the board is stable and the deck needs more threats or interaction. Do not spend a critical tempo turn on it while behind to visible attackers or while a payoff attack can be enabled by removal instead.
-`Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`: treat `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` as a grindy finisher and value engine, not as a substitute for early pressure. Card text check required for exact planeswalker/card behavior and legal activation modes. Deploy it when the board can defend it, when its immediate legal action changes the game, or when the opponent has exhausted clean attacks. Against control and midrange, it can punish removal-heavy games where creatures trade off; against fast creature decks, cast it only if it stabilizes immediately or follows removal that protects it. Do not tap out for it when the opponent can attack it down for free and the hand contains cheaper pressure plus interaction.
-`Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Prismatic Vista`, `Island`, `Swamp`, `Otawara, Soaring City`, and `Gloomlake Verge`: use lands to preserve the deck’s first two turns before optimizing late utility. Prioritize untapped blue or black according to the hand’s immediate legal actions: blue for `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, and `Lórien Revealed`; black for `Changeling Outcast`, `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out` alternatives, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` if applicable. Use `Prismatic Vista` to fix, enable shuffle/revolt-relevant lines only when legal, and protect life total when shocks are unnecessary. Treat `Otawara, Soaring City` as a land first in land-light hands and as a late tempo tool only when bouncing a specific visible permanent unlocks damage, protects a threat, or prevents defeat.
- Remove blockers before attackers when a cleared path produces a payoff hit with `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`. Use `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Otawara, Soaring City` on the creature that turns an evasive attack from medium damage into card advantage or lethal pressure.
- Remove attackers first when life total is the limiting resource. Against fast creature decks, spend `Fatal Push` and `Snuff Out` on the largest immediate damage source, a haste/evasion threat, or a creature enabling multiple attackers; do not save removal for a theoretical blocker if the visible race is already losing.
- Counter decisive noncreature spells with `Force of Negation`, not every playable spell. Prioritize sweepers, combo engines, planeswalkers, prison pieces, removal aimed at the only payoff creature, and spells that undo the tempo lead; ignore medium card draw or setup when the Ninjas board is already pressuring and the opponent is not about to stabilize.
- Pitch blue cards to `Force of Negation` only when the protected exchange is worth a real card. Prefer pitching redundant `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, extra `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, extra `A-Silver-Fur Master`, or late `Lórien Revealed`; avoid pitching the only enabler, only payoff, or only card that creates next-turn pressure unless the counter prevents immediate loss.
- Use `Sink into Stupor` and `Otawara, Soaring City` as tempo answers for permanents that are expensive, timing-sensitive, or blocking a crucial connection. Avoid bouncing cheap creatures the opponent can replay profitably unless the bounce creates lethal damage, protects `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, or opens a payoff attack this turn.
- Treat `Snuff Out` life payment as a tempo investment, not free value. Pay life when the removed creature protects a Ninja hit, stops a large attack, or lets mana remain open for development; avoid life payment against burn-like pressure or wide combat boards unless the alternative line loses the race.
- Use post-board `Thoughtseize` before committing fragile payoffs when interaction is likely. Discard the card that beats the current plan: sweeper against a wide evasive board, removal against a single payoff, combo payoff against noncombat decks, or graveyard/enabler piece only when `Leyline of the Void` is absent or insufficient.
- Use post-board exile pressure from `Leyline of the Void` only against graveyard-dependent plans. Do not overvalue it against ordinary fair decks where drawing another attacker, `Fatal Push`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, or `A-Silver-Fur Master` advances the tempo plan more.
- Bait removal with redundant enablers before exposing unique payoff cards. Lead with extra `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, or `Hydroponics Architect` when the hand contains multiple bodies; protect `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` for turns where they immediately generate value or are covered by interaction.
- Ignore creatures that neither race nor block the relevant attacker. A ground creature that cannot stop `Changeling Outcast`, a small creature that cannot attack profitably, or a utility body with no visible activation can be bypassed while removal is saved for blockers, larger clocks, or engine pieces.
- Attack to connect before attacking to trade. The deck wins by turning evasive bodies into Ninja pressure, so prioritize attacks with `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, and other hard-to-block creatures when they enable `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or planeswalker pressure from `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`.
- Preserve at least one evasive enabler when the hand contains a payoff. Do not trade away the only `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` for small damage if next turn’s legal actions can convert that creature into a draw trigger, Ninja hit, or stronger board.
- Trade creatures when the opponent’s clock beats the payoff plan. Against aggro, blocking with a redundant enabler or nonessential body is correct when it saves enough life to keep `Snuff Out` usable, protects `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, or buys the turn needed for `Fatal Push` plus a payoff attack.
- Avoid blocks that expose the engine for low impact. Do not block with `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or a protected attacker unless the block prevents lethal, stops a decisive attack on `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, or trades for a creature that would otherwise dominate combat.
- Use removal before blocks when it improves both combat and the next attack. Killing a blocker or attacker with `Fatal Push` or `Snuff Out` is better than trading a creature if the surviving attacker will connect next turn.
- Race control and combo unless visible legal actions demand respect. Against low-creature decks, attack aggressively, commit enough threats to punish stumbles, and hold `Force of Negation` for stabilizing spells; do not leave damage back on defense without a visible opposing combat threat.
- Stabilize first against wide creature decks. Against board-heavy opponents, value `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, and `Toxic Deluge` lines that reduce incoming damage, then rebuild with evasive one-drops and card-flow payoffs once life is no longer under immediate pressure.
- Protect life thresholds for paid interaction. Treat single-digit life as dangerous when `Snuff Out`, shock-land choices from `Watery Grave`, or post-board `Toxic Deluge` may require life; at low life, block more readily and stop paying life unless the action prevents a worse loss.
- Pressure planeswalkers only when the damage changes control of the game. Send evasive attackers at an opposing planeswalker if it will die or lose a decisive activation; otherwise keep attacking the opponent when the clock plus `Force of Negation` is the clearer route.
- Reassess every ninjutsu-like or return-attacker prompt from legal text. Card text check required for exact `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` action wording; choose the line only when returning the attacker does not waste the only blocker, only enabler, or only lethal damage source.
- Treat this deck as pseudo-selection, not tutoring. There are no true card-search engines for creatures or interaction, so runtime choices should convert visible legal actions into mana stability, evasive pressure, and the highest-impact tempo exchange rather than waiting for a specific hidden card.
- Use `Lórien Revealed` as a land-finding spell when the opening hand is short on functional mana. Prefer cycling or otherwise converting it into an `Island` source before missing an early land drop; keep it as an expensive draw spell only when mana is already stable, the hand has early enabler plus payoff, and the game is likely to reach a slower exchange.
- Sequence `Prismatic Vista` around color needs and landfall-like removal constraints. Fetch `Island` when the hand needs blue for `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Force of Negation`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Lórien Revealed`; fetch `Swamp` when black removal or black payoffs are the bottleneck. Delay cracking only when visible legal actions show a reason to preserve an unspent fetch, such as improving `Fatal Push` timing or concealing exact colors for one more decision.
- Make the land drop before selection when the current turn needs mana certainty. Play `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Gloomlake Verge`, `Island`, or `Swamp` before attacks if the post-combat line may require `Fatal Push`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Force of Negation`, or `Sink into Stupor`; hold a land only when hand size, discard pressure, or `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` filtering makes the extra card tactically useful.
- Use `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` card flow to keep pressure plus interaction hands. Card text check required for exact Historic wording, but if the legal action produces a draw-and-discard style choice, keep cheap evasive attackers, active interaction, and the next land needed for double-spell turns; discard redundant lands after the third or fourth source, extra legendary or expensive cards, or interaction with no visible target class.
- Value `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` selection by board protection first. Card text check required for exact abilities; choose card-advantage or filtering actions only when the visible board can defend Kaito or when immediate removal/disruption from another action is not needed to survive.
- Treat `Sink into Stupor` and `Otawara, Soaring City` as modal selection between land-equivalent development and tempo interaction. Use the land side or land-like mode when the hand otherwise misses an early spell curve; use the bounce mode when returning a blocker, engine permanent, or stack-adjacent threat creates a connection, protects a payoff, or prevents a decisive attack.
- Bottom or discard low-impact duplicates before unique engine pieces. When a scry, surveil, loot, or discard prompt appears, preserve one evasive enabler, one payoff path, enough lands to act, and the best visible interaction; reduce extra `Ornithopter`, excess lands, redundant `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, or dead removal only after checking the current board and opponent archetype.
- Spend priority to protect connection windows. Before combat damage, use `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Otawara, Soaring City` when a visible blocker or removal spell would stop a Ninja hit that draws a card, triggers `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, grows pressure through `A-Silver-Fur Master`, or keeps `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` protected.
- Hold priority resources when the opponent’s spell does not change the race. Let setup spells, medium card draw, or replaceable creatures resolve if the current board already presents evasive damage and the hand needs `Force of Negation`, `Fatal Push`, or `Snuff Out` for a sweeper, combo piece, large blocker, or lethal attack.
- Use `Force of Negation` on the stack only for high-leverage noncreature exchanges. Counter sweepers, planeswalkers, combo engines, prison pieces, graveyard enablers when `Leyline of the Void` is absent, or removal aimed at the only payoff; avoid pitching a blue card for a spell that the board can ignore.
- Pass with mana open when interaction changes the opponent’s best line. Holding `Fatal Push`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Force of Negation`, or `Otawara, Soaring City` is stronger than adding a small threat if the opponent can visibly stabilize, remove the only payoff, or attack for a dangerous amount.
- Use `Snuff Out` during the cheapest decisive window. Pay life to kill a creature before blocks, before combat damage, or in response to a pump/equipment-style commitment when that exchange saves more life or preserves a connection; avoid life payment when the same target can be answered with mana without losing the turn.
- Resolve ninjutsu-like and return-attacker prompts from visible legal text. Card text check required for exact `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` wording; choose the action only when the returned attacker is replaceable, the payoff connects or immediately improves the board, and the line does not remove a needed blocker against lethal pressure.
- Time `Fatal Push` around revolt when visible actions allow it. Use `Prismatic Vista`, bounce/return sequences, or combat deaths to enable a larger target only when the legal engine output confirms the removal action is available; do not assume revolt or target legality without the rules engine.
- Use post-board stack interaction according to role. Cast `Thoughtseize` before exposing `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`; deploy `Damping Sphere` before the opponent’s explosive mana turn when possible; cast `Toxic Deluge` only after choosing a life total that clears the needed creatures while preserving survival; use `Dismember` when one creature matters more than life total.
- Respect graveyard timing with `Leyline of the Void`. If it begins on the battlefield or is legally deployable before graveyard actions matter, prioritize it against graveyard decks; once an opposing graveyard spell or trigger is already on the stack, rely only on legal actions currently exposed by Veles rather than assuming late exile will undo it.
- Decline optional payments or triggers that consume the next interaction window. If a legal action asks for extra mana, life, or a discretionary trigger, take it only when it advances lethal, protects a payoff, or uses otherwise idle resources; preserve mana and life for `Force of Negation`, `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Dismember`, or `Toxic Deluge` when those cards are the visible safety valve.
- Add `Thoughtseize` when the opponent’s most important cards are noncreature engines, sweepers, planeswalkers, combo pieces, or removal that can break the first Ninja connection. Use it before committing `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, and prioritize the card that stops the next two-turn pressure plan rather than the card with the highest abstract power. `Thoughtseize` is weaker against low-curve creature decks, burn-heavy starts, and boards where paying 2 life makes `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, or `Toxic Deluge` unsafe.
- Add `Damping Sphere` against decks that rely on repeated spells in one turn or lands that generate unusual bursts of mana. Deploy it before the opponent’s key development turn if the Ninja board already has pressure, and accept that it may slow this deck’s own double-spell turns. `Damping Sphere` is bad when the opponent wins through ordinary creatures, one spell per turn, or permanent-based pressure that must be answered by removal instead.
- Add `Barrowgoyf` when the matchup becomes attritional and the opponent is prepared for small evasive creatures. Use it as a sturdier threat that can pressure planeswalkers, hold the ground, and punish opponents who trade one-for-one with `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, or `A-Silver-Fur Master`. Card text check required for exact Historic wording; keep its use conditional on Veles showing a legal cast and visible graveyard context that makes it meaningful. It is bad when speed, evasion, or holding up stack interaction matters more than adding a ground creature.
- Add `Dismember` when a single creature is likely to decide combat or block all Ninja attacks. Use it for cheap tempo against large blockers, creature-combo pieces, or threats that must die while blue mana stays open for `Force of Negation`. Its life payment is dangerous against burn, wide attacks, and matchups where `Snuff Out` plus shock lands already pressure the life total.
- Add `Toxic Deluge` against wide creature boards, recursive creature pressure, or token-style starts that make one-for-one removal too slow. Choose the smallest life payment that clears the necessary creatures while leaving enough life to survive the next visible attack and any known reach. `Toxic Deluge` is bad when this deck is ahead with multiple Ninjas, when the opponent has only one must-kill creature, or when life total is already too low to pay safely.
- Add `Leyline of the Void` against graveyard-centric decks, recursive creature plans, graveyard combo, escape-like value, or strategies where the opponent’s graveyard is a visible resource. Prioritize opening-hand deployment when Veles exposes it; after the game has started, treat hard-casting it as a tempo decision that must beat adding pressure or holding interaction. `Leyline of the Void` is bad when the opponent does not use the graveyard materially, when the hand needs every card to connect early, or when drawing it late does not answer the visible board.
Graveyard combo or recursive graveyard engine
Side in: 4 Leyline of the Void; 4 Thoughtseize
Cut: 2 Snuff Out; 2 Sink into Stupor; 2 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; 2 Lórien Revealed
- Role plan: become a disruption-tempo deck that opens with graveyard denial, takes the card that answers `Leyline of the Void` or enables the combo, then wins with the fastest evasive clock. Preserve `Force of Negation` for noncreature enablers, sweepers, or anti-hate spells; do not spend it on low-impact setup if `Leyline of the Void` already covers the graveyard axis. Keep enough one-mana enablers so `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` can still turn disruption into a clock.
- Role plan: become a fast clock with stack and hand disruption, not a midrange deck. Lead with `Thoughtseize` when it protects the first payoff or takes the engine card, then place `Damping Sphere` before the opponent’s explosive turn if the tempo loss is acceptable. Keep `Force of Negation` for the spell that actually wins, unlocks mana, or clears hate; do not overvalue creature removal unless the visible list of legal targets shows a creature engine.
Wide creature aggro
Side in: 2 Toxic Deluge; 1 Dismember
Cut: 2 Force of Negation; 1 Lórien Revealed
- Role plan: survive the first combat wave, then rebuild with cheap evasive pressure. Use `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, and `Dismember` to preserve life or force a connection, and keep `Toxic Deluge` for boards where single-target removal cannot prevent the next attack. Reduce reliance on pitch counters and slow card selection because life total and board presence matter more than answering noncreature haymakers.
Removal-heavy midrange or control
Side in: 4 Thoughtseize; 2 Barrowgoyf
Cut: 4 Fatal Push; 2 Snuff Out
- Role plan: protect the first meaningful threat and diversify away from only small attackers. `Thoughtseize` should take sweepers, planeswalkers, or the removal spell that cleanly answers the current payoff; `Barrowgoyf` gives a pressure source that does not require the same connection setup. Keep `Force of Negation` live for sweepers and expensive noncreature stabilizers, and keep `Sink into Stupor` when bouncing a blocker or permanent reopens attacks.
Creature-combo or single-large-threat decks
Side in: 4 Thoughtseize; 1 Dismember; 2 Toxic Deluge
Cut: 2 Lórien Revealed; 2 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; 2 Sink into Stupor; 1 Force of Negation
- Role plan: disrupt the first decisive creature sequence, then win before the opponent reloads. `Thoughtseize` takes the enabler when removal cannot answer it cleanly, while `Dismember`, `Fatal Push`, and `Snuff Out` answer visible creatures. Use `Toxic Deluge` only when the opponent’s board has become too broad for one-for-one removal or when a small life payment clears multiple blockers and enables lethal pressure.
- Add role cards: against graveyard strategies, prioritize `Leyline of the Void` first, then `Thoughtseize` if they have hate removal or combo redundancy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card-flow pieces and life-cost removal become less important than opening with hate plus a clock.
- Add role cards: against spell engines and big mana, prioritize `Thoughtseize`, `Damping Sphere`, and `Force of Negation` as a layered disruption package. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal loses value unless the opponent’s engine creature is visible or known from public game actions.
- Add role cards: against creature swarms, prioritize `Toxic Deluge`, `Dismember`, `Fatal Push`, and `Snuff Out` as board control that buys Ninja connection turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow selection and expensive threat development should yield to survival and clean attacks.
- Add role cards: against attrition decks, prioritize `Thoughtseize` and `Barrowgoyf` to trade resources while maintaining pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal that has few visible targets should give way to threat density and proactive disruption.
- Keep sideboard discipline tied to the starting role. Do not add every powerful sideboard card just because it is legal; preserve the core of `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` so the deck still converts disruption into damage.
- Reassess life-payment density after sideboarding. Combining `Thoughtseize`, `Dismember`, `Snuff Out`, `Watery Grave`, and `Toxic Deluge` can make technically strong hands lose races, so prefer configurations where life payments buy either a protected connection, a stopped combo, or a cleared lethal attack.
- Aggro: take the control-tempo role for the first two turns, then become the evasive clock once the board is contained. Keep hands with `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` more often than slow hands built around `Lórien Revealed` or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`. Use removal to stop the creature that changes the race fastest, not automatically the first creature shown. Add role cards: `Toxic Deluge`; `Dismember` when a single creature must die. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Force of Negation` when the opponent is mostly creatures and the counter cannot protect a crucial tempo lead.
- Go-wide: preserve life total until `Toxic Deluge` or multiple spot-removal actions can reset the attack math. Do not overcommit small Ninjas into a board where the opponent’s next attack already threatens lethal; one evasive attacker plus `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` is enough if interaction keeps the race stable. Use `Sink into Stupor` as a tempo reset when bouncing a large blocker or attack amplifier opens a safe connection. Add role cards: `Toxic Deluge`; `Dismember`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card-flow actions and expensive planeswalker development.
- Burn: treat every life payment as a spell the opponent did not have to draw. Shock lands, `Thoughtseize`, `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, and `Toxic Deluge` must each buy immediate survival, a protected Ninja hit, or the removal of a visible lethal clock. Prefer untapped black only when it enables `Fatal Push` or a decisive pressure sequence. `Force of Negation` should be held for noncreature damage, sweepers, or a card that invalidates the race; do not pitch a key blue card to counter a low-impact spell while behind on board. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize` only when knowing and taking the highest-impact card matters more than two life; `Dismember` only for must-kill creatures. Reduce main-deck emphasis: life-cost removal when cheaper answers are visible.
- Control: become a low-curve threat-plus-disruption deck and make the opponent answer one pressure source at a time. Lead with `Changeling Outcast`, `Ornithopter`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` when they enable early ninjutsu; hold extra bodies if the opponent is representing a sweeper. Use `Thoughtseize` to clear the way for `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`. `Force of Negation` should protect against sweepers, planeswalkers, and expensive stabilizers, not routine card selection. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Barrowgoyf`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal with no visible targets.
- Removal-heavy decks: diversify threats and avoid making one removal spell undo the whole turn. Prefer sequencing where an evasive one-drop connects before committing `A-Silver-Fur Master`, unless the cost reduction or pressure boost immediately changes the clock. `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` is strongest when it replaces the resource spent to deploy it; avoid exposing it when the only payoff is a low-impact attack into open removal. `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` can matter as a resilient source if the board is not under immediate pressure. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Barrowgoyf`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Snuff Out` and `Fatal Push` when opposing creatures are sparse.
- Midrange: fight for tempo first, then for cards. Use `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, and `Sink into Stupor` to keep blockers from stopping Ninja connections, because connecting with `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` is how the deck pulls ahead. Do not trade evasive enablers in combat unless the trade prevents a much faster clock. `A-Silver-Fur Master` should be protected when it makes multiple creatures lethal or enables cheaper follow-up Ninjas; otherwise deploy pressure in smaller waves. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Barrowgoyf`; `Dismember` for oversized threats. Reduce main-deck emphasis: counters that do not answer the visible battlefield.
- Tempo mirrors: respect mana efficiency and do not tap low without a reason. The best turns often combine a cheap enabler, one Ninja payoff, and protection from `Force of Negation` or interaction. `Sink into Stupor` is valuable when it wins a race by bouncing a blocker, threat, or tempo-positive permanent; avoid spending it on a target that does not change the next combat. Protect `A-Silver-Fur Master` only when its cost reduction or damage boost matters immediately. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize` when the opponent’s hand interaction determines the race; `Dismember` for a threat that spot removal otherwise misses. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow setup.
- Combo: become the fastest disruptive clock available. Mulligan away hands that only attack slowly without `Thoughtseize`, `Force of Negation`, or a quick Ninja engine unless the hand has a clear turn-one and turn-two pressure plan. `Thoughtseize` should take the enabler, payoff, or protection card identified by public information and visible hand reveal, while `Force of Negation` should be reserved for the spell that starts or completes the decisive sequence. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Damping Sphere` against spell-count or mana-engine combo; `Leyline of the Void` against graveyard combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal unless the combo uses a visible creature.
- Big mana: pressure must start before disruption loses value. Prioritize hands with one-mana evasive creatures, a Ninja payoff, and either `Thoughtseize`, `Force of Negation`, or `Damping Sphere`. Deploy `Damping Sphere` before the opponent’s explosive turn when it does not forfeit the only pressure source; a lock piece without a clock may only delay the loss. `Sink into Stupor` is a tempo answer to a stabilizing permanent, but it should not replace early pressure unless the target immediately blocks a win. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Damping Sphere`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: `Fatal Push` and `Snuff Out` without visible targets.
- Graveyard decks: decide whether the matchup is graveyard-combo, graveyard-value, or graveyard-recursive aggro before spending resources. Opening `Leyline of the Void` is the cleanest high-impact plan when the graveyard is central; after the game starts, hard-casting it must beat adding pressure or holding interaction. `Thoughtseize` should take anti-hate, the enabler, or the payoff revealed by visible information. Keep the Ninja core intact so the opponent cannot simply wait through hate. Add role cards: `Leyline of the Void`; `Thoughtseize`. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow top-end and life-cost removal when the graveyard axis matters more than combat.
- Artifact/enchantment decks: identify whether the artifact or enchantment is the engine, the payoff, or just a support piece before spending interaction. This registered deck has limited direct permanent removal, so plan to win through tempo, discard, counters, and bounce rather than expecting clean answers after resolution. `Force of Negation` should prioritize noncreature engines before they resolve; `Thoughtseize` should take the permanent that the deck cannot beat on board. `Damping Sphere` matters only if the opponent’s artifact/enchantment shell also relies on burst mana or repeated spell chains. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Damping Sphere` when the visible engine matches it. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal when the battlefield is not the axis.
- Single-threat decks: answer the threat or make it irrelevant for exactly one decisive attack cycle. `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, and `Sink into Stupor` should be saved for the creature or permanent that stops attacks or ends the race fastest. If the single threat is protected by spells, use `Thoughtseize` first when possible and keep `Force of Negation` for the protection or follow-up stabilizer. `Toxic Deluge` is acceptable only when the life payment clears the threat and leaves the race survivable. Add role cards: `Thoughtseize`; `Dismember`; `Toxic Deluge` only when scalable removal is required. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card draw while behind.
- General/archetype-only: revealed cards, public zones, and current legal actions override every archetype assumption here. Use these notes to rank visible choices, not to infer hidden cards or force an illegal line.
- Creature aggro: likely sideboarding is `Toxic Deluge`, `Dismember`, and sometimes `Thoughtseize` if the opponent has high-impact noncreature payoffs. Priority targets are the creature that blocks Ninja connections, the creature that creates the shortest lethal clock, and any visible effect that makes `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` unable to connect. Preserve life carefully when choosing `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, or `Toxic Deluge`; this deck can win at low life, but only if the next attack step remains favorable.
- Removal-heavy midrange or control: likely sideboarding is `Thoughtseize` plus `Barrowgoyf`, with `Dismember` only for creatures that `Fatal Push` and `Snuff Out` do not answer cleanly. Priority targets are sweepers, planeswalkers, hard-to-race threats, and removal that breaks up the first `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` or `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` connection. Avoid overcommitting `A-Silver-Fur Master` into open removal unless its cost reduction or power boost changes the current turn.
- Combo: likely sideboarding is `Thoughtseize`, `Damping Sphere` when the opponent depends on spell chains or mana scaling, and `Leyline of the Void` only when the graveyard is a visible core resource. Priority targets are the revealed enabler, payoff, protection spell, or engine piece that makes the opponent’s next turn decisive. Keep the fastest evasive clock possible; disruption without `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or repeated evasive attacks may give the opponent too many draw steps.
- Big mana: likely sideboarding is `Thoughtseize` and `Damping Sphere`, while creature removal should stay only when visible blockers or creature payoffs matter. Priority targets are acceleration, stabilizing permanents, sweepers, and high-impact noncreature spells. Deploy `Damping Sphere` before the explosive turn when possible, but do not keep a hand that only delays the opponent and cannot pressure.
- Graveyard decks: likely sideboarding is `Leyline of the Void` and `Thoughtseize`; add `Toxic Deluge` or `Dismember` only when the graveyard deck also presents a creature battlefield that must be answered. Priority targets are anti-hate, the graveyard enabler, and the payoff visible from reveal effects or public zones. Do not let graveyard hate replace the Ninja plan entirely; the deck still needs evasive pressure to convert hate into a win.
- Tempo mirrors: likely sideboarding is `Thoughtseize` and `Dismember`, with `Barrowgoyf` when games slow down and removal trades are common. Priority targets are the opposing threat that races best, the interaction spell that stops your Ninja connection, and any card that wins a stack fight over `Force of Negation`. Spend `Sink into Stupor` only when the bounce effect changes the next combat, removes a key blocker, or protects a decisive threat.
- Mana risk: the deck needs early blue and black while also using `Prismatic Vista`, `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Gloomlake Verge`, `Island`, `Swamp`, and `Otawara, Soaring City`. Do not keep a hand that cannot cast its first enabler or first interaction on time unless the legal mulligan choice is worse by visible card quality.
- Draw risk: hands with only evasive creatures and no payoff can flood the battlefield without generating cards. Prioritize keeping or finding `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` when the matchup is likely to trade resources.
- Matchup risk: creature-light combo and control can make `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, and `Dismember` poor draws. Convert those matchups into discard, counter, clock, and resilient-threat games rather than spending removal on low-impact targets.
- Over-sideboarding risk: removing too many enablers or Ninja payoffs makes `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `A-Silver-Fur Master`, and `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` weaker. Sideboard role cards should supplement the tempo plan, not turn the deck into slow Dimir control.
- Graveyard risk: `Leyline of the Void` is powerful only when the opponent’s graveyard matters enough to justify the slot. Do not keep a weak seven-card hand solely because it contains `Leyline of the Void` unless the matchup is known graveyard-centric and the rest of the hand has mana plus pressure or interaction.
- Sweeper/removal risk: committing every cheap creature can lose to one sweeper or clustered removal turn. Sequence enough pressure to force action, then hold redundant `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` when the opponent’s mana and revealed information suggest a reset.
- Closer risk: `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, and repeated Ninja combat are the main ways to end stalled games. Protect a closer when it is the only path through blockers or removal; otherwise preserve tempo and avoid spending `Force of Negation` on low-impact exchanges.
- Interaction risk: `Force of Negation` can defend a lead or stop a decisive noncreature spell, but pitching the wrong blue card can strand the deck without pressure. Use it for cards that change the game immediately, not for spells that merely trade evenly.
- Sequencing risk: attacking before deciding ninjutsu, removal, bounce, or discard can lock the turn into a weaker line. Review legal actions around combat carefully, especially when `A-Silver-Fur Master` changes costs, `Sink into Stupor` can clear a blocker, or `Thoughtseize` can expose the safest path.
- Deciding factor: Did the game turn on the first successful Ninja connection, a protected `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, a high-impact `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` attack, a `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` board state, or a disruption exchange involving `Force of Negation`, `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, or `Sink into Stupor`?
- Mulligans: Did the kept hand contain a castable enabler such as `Ornithopter`, `Changeling Outcast`, or `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`, plus either payoff, interaction, or a clear mana plan? Record any keep that lacked pressure, lacked black mana, lacked blue mana, or relied on a single fragile card.
- Mana: Did `Watery Grave`, `Darkslick Shores`, `Prismatic Vista`, `Island`, `Swamp`, `Gloomlake Verge`, or `Otawara, Soaring City` produce the colors needed on the critical turn? Flag any turn where `Lórien Revealed`, `Sink into Stupor`, or `Force of Negation` was stranded by sequencing or color constraints.
- Velocity: Did `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, `Lórien Revealed`, or `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` convert early damage into enough cards to keep interaction flowing? Note whether the deck ran out of action after trading one-for-one.
- Engine pressure: Did `A-Silver-Fur Master` change the turn by improving attack damage, enabling cheaper Ninja deployment, or making multiple plays possible? Card text check required for `Hydroponics Architect`; log whether its visible role advanced the Ninja plan or felt disconnected.
- Removal quality: Did `Fatal Push`, `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, or `Toxic Deluge` answer the creature that mattered most, or were they spent on low-impact blockers? Record life paid to `Snuff Out`, `Dismember`, and `Toxic Deluge` when that life changed the race.
- Counter/discard quality: Did `Force of Negation` or `Thoughtseize` stop the opponent's decisive noncreature spell, protection, sweeper, combo piece, or stabilizer? Mark any use that traded for a spell the deck could have ignored while continuing pressure.
- Sideboard effect: Did `Thoughtseize`, `Damping Sphere`, `Barrowgoyf`, `Dismember`, `Toxic Deluge`, or `Leyline of the Void` materially change the matchup, or did sideboarding dilute evasive pressure? Track every sideboard card drawn and whether it improved the actual board or stack.
- Closing: Did the deck finish quickly after establishing advantage, or did the opponent get extra draw steps because the pilot protected resources instead of attacking? Record stalled games where `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`, or repeated Ninja attacks were unavailable or mis-sequenced.
- Role and mistakes: Did the pilot correctly identify when to be the aggressor, when to conserve interaction, and when to race? List concrete mistakes: missed attack, wrong ninjutsu timing, unnecessary shock, premature `Force of Negation`, poor `Sink into Stupor` target, or overextension into a public sweeper window.
- Stranded and swing cards: Which cards were stranded, overperformed, or underperformed? Track `Hydroponics Architect`, `Lórien Revealed`, `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`, `Snuff Out`, `Sink into Stupor`, `Barrowgoyf`, `Damping Sphere`, and `Leyline of the Void` separately by matchup.
- Quantity question: Are 4 `Hydroponics Architect` justified after card text verification and game logs, or does that slot need more interaction, more threat density, or a different pressure card that better supports `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` and `A-Silver-Fur Master`?
- Payoff question: Are 2 `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow` and 2 `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` enough closers, or do stalled games show that the deck needs more high-impact threats rather than more cheap enablers?
- Enabler question: Do 4 `Ornithopter`, 4 `Changeling Outcast`, and 4 `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow` create enough reliable first attacks, or are too many hands pressure-only without payoff? Compare games where enablers were removed before connecting against games where payoff was absent.
- Interaction mix question: Are 4 `Fatal Push`, 2 `Snuff Out`, 2 `Sink into Stupor`, and 4 `Force of Negation` balanced for the tested field, or is the deck losing because removal is dead against combo/control or because interaction is too painful against aggro?
- Mana question: Does the 18-land structure with 4 `Prismatic Vista`, 4 `Watery Grave`, 4 `Darkslick Shores`, 2 `Island`, 2 `Swamp`, 1 `Otawara, Soaring City`, and 1 `Gloomlake Verge` support early double-spell turns? Flag whether `Lórien Revealed` is smoothing mana often enough to justify its slots.
- Aggro plan question: Are `Dismember` and `Toxic Deluge` enough after sideboard, or does the deck need a cleaner plan that preserves life while clearing blockers and short clocks? Watch whether `Snuff Out` remains playable when life totals are pressured.
- Control plan question: Are `Thoughtseize`, `Barrowgoyf`, `Force of Negation`, and `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` enough against removal-heavy decks, or does the deck need more resilient threats or card advantage? Check whether `A-Silver-Fur Master` dies before changing combat.
- Combo and graveyard plan question: Does `Damping Sphere` or `Leyline of the Void` buy enough time while the deck attacks, or are slow hands keeping hate without pressure? Do not increase hate unless logs show losses after fast pressure plus relevant hate.
- Role-conflict question: Does sideboarding turn the deck into underpowered Dimir control by reducing enablers or payoffs too heavily? Preserve the evasive-Ninja core unless logs show the opponent consistently invalidates combat.
- Slot-pressure question: Which sideboard card is least tied to actual losses: `Damping Sphere`, `Barrowgoyf`, `Dismember`, `Toxic Deluge`, `Leyline of the Void`, or `Thoughtseize`? Use matchup logs, not theoretical coverage, before reallocating sideboard slots.
## Veles Tactical Policy
### Policy: Opening Hand Pressure Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: mulligan
- Cards: Ornithopter; Changeling Outcast; A-Thousand-Faced Shadow; A-Moon-Circuit Hacker; A-Silver-Fur Master; Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow; Fatal Push; Force of Negation
- Use when: deciding whether a seven-, six-, or five-card hand can create early evasive pressure plus a payoff or disruption.
- Avoid when: Forge exposes only forced keep or forced mulligan actions.
- Instructions: Keep hands with castable early enabler, functional blue or black mana, and either Ninja payoff, removal, or `Force of Negation`; mulligan hands with no creature pressure, no colored mana path, or only reactive spells without a clock.
- Use when: selecting the first creature that enables a Ninja attack on the next combat.
- Avoid when: opponent has visible battlefield punishment that makes attacking impossible or when mana must be held for a decisive interactive action.
- Instructions: Lead with the cheapest evasive or unblockable enabler that preserves next-turn blue/black sequencing; prefer `Ornithopter` when mana must remain open, and prefer `Changeling Outcast` when a reliable damage source is needed.
- Use when: choosing lands for early pressure, ninjutsu, removal, or interaction.
- Avoid when: only one legal land play exists.
- Instructions: Preserve untapped blue for Ninja and `Force of Negation` turns, preserve black for `Fatal Push`, and pay life for `Watery Grave` only when the current or next turn needs untapped colors.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Prismatic Vista Basic Choice
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: mana
- Cards: Prismatic Vista; Island; Swamp
- Phase windows: search resolution after `Prismatic Vista` activation.
- Use when: resolving `Prismatic Vista` and the visible hand contains a same-turn blue spell with no other blue source or a same-turn black spell with no other black source.
- Avoid when: both colors are already available or future sequencing depends on multiple possible lines.
- Instructions: Choose the missing basic color required by the visible same-turn legal spell; if both colors are available, route to light-model sequencing.
- Use when: deciding whether to return an attacker and put a Ninja onto the battlefield attacking.
- Avoid when: the action is forced or the returned creature is needed as the only blocker against visible lethal damage.
- Instructions: Commit to ninjutsu when the connecting Ninja meaningfully improves cards, damage, or pressure and the returned enabler can be redeployed; hold when the exchange exposes the only threat to visible removal or loses essential defense.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Moon-Circuit Card Flow
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat; selection
- Cards: A-Moon-Circuit Hacker
- Phase windows: combat damage triggers and post-combat selection prompts.
- Use when: `A-Moon-Circuit Hacker` connects and Forge asks for its visible follow-up choices.
- Avoid when: prompt text indicates a mandatory deterministic action with only one legal choice.
- Instructions: Use the trigger to keep pressure plus interaction flowing; discard redundant lands after colors are set, extra expensive cards under pressure, or dead removal in noncreature matchups.
- Use when: deciding whether to deploy `A-Silver-Fur Master` before attacks or hold mana.
- Avoid when: visible opponent mana and known interaction make tapping out likely to lose the only pressure line.
- Instructions: Cast before combat when the visible buff or cost reduction changes attacks or enables multiple Ninja actions; delay when protecting a live Ninja connection or holding removal/countermagic is more important.
- Use when: Forge exposes a target choice created by `A-Thousand-Faced Shadow`.
- Avoid when: only one legal target exists and action text exactly names that target.
- Instructions: Card text check required; prefer targets that preserve the deck's current combat plan, such as card-flow Ninjas, damage-amplifying Ninjas, or high-impact attackers, using only visible legal targets.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Yuriko Damage Reveal Handling
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: combat; selection
- Cards: Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow; Force of Negation; Sink into Stupor; Lórien Revealed; Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
- Phase windows: combat damage triggers from `Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow`.
- Use when: Forge asks for ordering or reveal-related choices after a Ninja combat damage trigger.
- Avoid when: Forge has already resolved the trigger with no legal choice.
- Instructions: Follow legal engine output; do not assume hidden top cards, and preserve future pressure after the reveal rather than taking speculative lines.
- Use when: deciding whether to spend removal on a visible creature or permanent.
- Avoid when: target text is absent, costs are unclear, or life payment risks visible lethal damage.
- Instructions: Spend removal on blockers that stop a key Ninja hit, threats that race faster than the deck can connect, or engines that will snowball before counterplay; conserve it against low-impact creatures that can be ignored.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Fatal Push Exact Target After Choice
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: interaction
- Cards: Fatal Push
- Phase windows: target selection for `Fatal Push`.
- Runtime cues: action:target Fatal Push
- Use when: exactly one legal target action for `Fatal Push` is present in the legal action list.
- Avoid when: two or more legal target actions for `Fatal Push` are present.
- Instructions: Submit the sole visible `Fatal Push` target action.
- Pilot skill floor: deterministic.
- No-API allowed: yes
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Force Of Negation Commitment Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: interaction; priority
- Cards: Force of Negation
- Phase windows: stack response windows, especially opponent noncreature spells.
- Runtime cues: action:cast Force of Negation; stack contains opponent spell.
- Use when: deciding whether to counter a visible stack spell.
- Avoid when: legal action text does not identify the spell being countered or alternate-cost payment is ambiguous.
- Instructions: Use `Force of Negation` for sweepers, combo pieces, prison effects, card-advantage engines, or removal that breaks the only pressure line; pass on spells the board can race or answer with cheaper interaction.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Blue Pitch Selection
- Priority: Medium
- Decision families: selection; interaction
- Cards: Force of Negation; A-Thousand-Faced Shadow; A-Moon-Circuit Hacker; A-Silver-Fur Master; Sink into Stupor; Lórien Revealed; Kaito, Bane of Nightmares; Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow
- Phase windows: alternate-cost and exile-card prompts for `Force of Negation`.
- Runtime cues: prompt contains Force of Negation; action:exile.
- Use when: paying a visible alternate cost for `Force of Negation`.
- Avoid when: hard-casting is legal and better sequencing requires mana reasoning.
- Instructions: Exile the least essential blue card for the current visible plan; protect active payoff creatures and avoid pitching the only card-advantage source unless the counter target is decisive.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Kaito Tap-Out Gate
- Priority: High
- Decision families: priority
- Cards: Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
- Phase windows: main phases with enough mana to cast `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares`.
- Runtime cues: action:cast Kaito, Bane of Nightmares.
- Use when: deciding whether to commit `Kaito, Bane of Nightmares` instead of holding interaction or adding Ninja pressure.
- Avoid when: the opponent has visible lethal next turn and Kaito does not change that board state.
- Instructions: Cast Kaito when the board can protect it or when a durable card-advantage threat is needed after removal trades; delay when tapping out loses a live counter/removal window against a decisive stack or combat threat.
- Use when: choosing attacks or blocks with multiple legal combat configurations.
- Avoid when: exactly one forced combat action exists.
- Instructions: Attack to enable Ninja triggers and maintain tempo unless visible crack-back damage or losing a critical creature changes the race; block only when preventing lethal, preserving Kaito, or trading a low-value body for a higher-impact attacker.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Hydroponics Architect Verification
- Priority: Low
- Decision families: priority; combat; selection
- Cards: Hydroponics Architect
- Phase windows: any visible legal action involving `Hydroponics Architect`.
- Use when: Forge exposes a cast, attack, block, trigger, or selection action for `Hydroponics Architect`.
- Avoid when: another high-priority policy covers lethal, survival, or permission.
- Instructions: Card text check required; treat decisions as board-state dependent, preserve Ninja pressure, and do not assume synergy beyond legal action text and visible effects.
- Pilot skill floor: light model.
- No-API allowed: no
- Light-model allowed: yes
### Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection
- Priority: High
- Decision families: sideboard
- Cards: Thoughtseize; Damping Sphere; Barrowgoyf; Dismember; Toxic Deluge; Leyline of the Void; Fatal Push; Snuff Out; Force of Negation; Hydroponics Architect; Lórien Revealed
- Phase windows: between games sideboarding.
- Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; matchup label; game number; previous game public result.
- Use when: choosing a legal sideboard plan or validating generated swaps.
- Avoid when: sideboarding is locked or no legal sideboard action exists.
- Instructions: Add `Thoughtseize` for combo/control, `Damping Sphere` for spell-chain or big-mana engines, `Leyline of the Void` for graveyard reliance, `Toxic Deluge` and `Dismember` for creature boards, and `Barrowgoyf` for attrition; preserve enough enablers and Ninjas to remain a tempo deck.
