veles-content/strategies/alchemy/alchemy_rakdos_lizards/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

• Strategy name: Rakdos Lizards.
• Format: Alchemy.
• Registered size validation: 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards; the supplied format-aware validation contract says the list passes the active Alchemy deck-count and sideboard-size rules.
• Archetype tags: aggro, tribal. Treat the duplicate supplied tag string aggro, tribal, aggro,tribal as one aggressive tribal identity, not as separate roles.
• Stock status: hybrid/rogue. The deck is a recognizable black-red Lizard tribal aggression shell built around high creature density, cheap reach, and sideboard role shifts, but the exact configuration is not a pure stock list because it uses several one-copy tactical cards such as Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, and Collective Inferno.
• Core creature identity: Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Gev, Scaled Scorch are the main repeated tribal pressure package and should be treated as the deck’s default proactive plan unless runtime legal actions or visible danger force a defensive line.
• Supporting creature identity: Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, and Valley Flamecaller provide the deck’s secondary texture; use them as context-sensitive pressure, card-flow, ambush, anthem, or late-game role cards only when the rules engine exposes legal actions and visible board state supports that use.
• Interaction identity: Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, and Collective Inferno are the main-deck noncreature tools. Do not assume exact modes, damage, discard scope, or targeting legality from name alone; choose among engine-enumerated actions and prefer lines that protect the aggressive clock, clear blockers, or convert stalled boards into reach.
• Sideboard identity: the sideboard expands discard, removal, recursive pressure, and larger threats through Duress, Death in the Family, Fireglass Mentor, Strategic Betrayal, Unbury, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, Coalstoke Gearhulk, and Bloodline Bidding. Sideboard use should preserve the Rakdos aggressive posture unless the matchup visibly demands more disruption, resilience, or top-end.
• Mana validation concern: the deck is black-red with Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Secluded Courtyard, Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Multiversal Passage, Mountain, and Swamp. Prioritize keeping hands that can cast early creatures and at least one relevant interaction spell; do not assume Secluded Courtyard, Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, or Multiversal Passage can pay every noncreature cost unless Veles reports the mana action as legal.
• Role concern: the default role is beatdown, but the deck can shift into tempo-control when visible blockers, lifegain, sweepers, or faster opposing pressure make pure racing poor. The pilot should still value damage conversion highly because the list has many low-cost threats and limited space for long-game card advantage.
• Legality concern: all runtime choices must respect Veles legal action IDs, visible zones, public logs, and current prompt text. Never infer hidden cards, unlisted sideboard cards, or exact opponent hand contents from matchup archetype alone.
• Opponent information status: no specific opponent deck, matchup, play/draw status, or metagame table is supplied in this batch. Treat matchup guidance later in the guide as conditional archetype policy, and treat this section as deck registration plus role orientation rather than a promise about any exact opposing card.

Thesis

Rakdos Lizards assembles early black-red tribal pressure, repeated damage conversion, and enough removal/discard to keep attacks connecting. The deck wants to lead with Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Gev, Scaled Scorch, then use Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, or Collective Inferno only when Veles shows a legal action that improves the clock, clears a blocker, prevents a race loss, or punishes a tapped-out opponent.

The deck wins by making the opponent’s life total the scarce resource before they stabilize. Prioritize hands and lines that produce a turn-one or turn-two creature, add a second pressure source quickly, and preserve red or black mana for the first relevant interactive turn. Treat Gev, Scaled Scorch and the repeated Lizard body count as the main snowball plan; treat Burst Lightning and other interaction as reach or tempo tools rather than as a full control package.

The deck is not trying to trade one-for-one forever, hold up mana without pressure, or wait for a single irreplaceable finisher. Avoid lines that spend early turns on non-damage setup unless the visible hand or board shows that setup is the only way to cast spells, break through blockers, or survive a faster battlefield. Do not assume any one-copy card will appear; Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, and Collective Inferno are tactical bonuses, not the core plan.

Prioritize visible legality over archetype instinct at runtime. If the rules engine does not expose an attack, target, mana payment, discard choice, or damage assignment as legal, the pilot must not infer that the line exists. If a card’s exact Oracle or Alchemy text matters for a choice, use the legal action labels and visible prompt text; when the prompt is ambiguous, mark the line as conditional rather than inventing text.

Role Package

• Threats: Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Dazzling Flameweaver, and Valley Flamecaller are the registered creature pressure suite. Favor early curves with multiple threats over hands that contain only interaction, because the deck’s removal is strongest when it converts blockers into damage.

• Payoffs: Gev, Scaled Scorch is the most important named tribal payoff and should bias sequencing toward deploying Lizards before spending turns on slower utility. Marshland Hordemaster, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, and sideboard Bloodline Bidding may also function as payoff or scaling cards, but exact tactical use is conditional on Veles action text; Card text check required for any mode-specific claim.

• Engines: Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Fireglass Mentor, and Obsessive Pursuit are the likely card-flow, pressure-extension, or resource-conversion pieces. Use them to keep pressure after the first wave only when the board does not demand immediate removal, lethal setup, or defensive blocking.

• Velocity: Flamecache Gecko, Fireglass Mentor, Obsessive Pursuit, and Multiversal Passage are the cards most likely to affect early smoothing or continued spell access. Keep velocity attached to aggression: a slower card-selection line is acceptable when the hand needs a land, a second color, or reach, but poor when a legal creature or attack would materially shorten the clock.

• Interaction: Burst Lightning is the default flexible reach/removal card; Death in the Family is the main repeated black interaction piece; Duress and sideboard Duress are for noncreature disruption when legal targets are exposed by the rules engine. Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, Collective Inferno, Strategic Betrayal, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, Coalstoke Gearhulk, and Unbury need prompt-aware handling; Card text check required before assuming exact targets or modes.

• Protection: The main deck has no obvious dedicated protection package by registration name alone. Protect the clock through sequencing, discard, removal, and combat discipline rather than assuming shield effects; if a legal action from Intimidation Tactics, Death in the Family, or another card offers protection-like play, evaluate it from the visible prompt.

• Recursion: Unbury and Bloodline Bidding are sideboard recursion or recovery tools by role name, while Death in the Family may be removal or value depending on prompt text. Use recursion plans when the opponent is answering creatures efficiently or sweeping the board; do not dilute the deck into slow attrition when early pressure is still likely to win.

• Mana: Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Secluded Courtyard, Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Multiversal Passage, Mountain, and Swamp form the black-red base. Prioritize untapped early red/black access for creature deployment and Burst Lightning or Death in the Family, and do not assume tribal lands cast noncreature spells unless Veles reports the payment as legal.

• Sideboard modules: Duress and Strategic Betrayal increase disruption; Death in the Family increases removal density; Fireglass Mentor adds grind or velocity; Hearthborn Battler and Screaming Nemesis add matchup-specific pressure; Unbury and Bloodline Bidding add recovery; Coalstoke Gearhulk adds top-end. Sideboard changes should preserve enough early Lizards to remain an aggro deck.

Primary Win Conditions

• Lizard curve pressure is the default win path: use Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Gev, Scaled Scorch to create early damage before the opponent can stabilize. Setup requires a hand that casts at least one early creature and has black-red access or legal tribal mana; execution is to keep adding bodies while using Burst Lightning or Death in the Family only when a blocker, planeswalker, or life-total race makes the damage conversion better than another threat. Prioritize this path in Game 1, on the play, against slow starts, or whenever Veles shows attacks that keep multiple creatures alive or push the opponent into burn range.

• Gev, Scaled Scorch snowball pressure is the main named payoff path: deploy Gev, Scaled Scorch when it can immediately increase the value of existing or follow-up Lizards, but do not delay all pressure waiting for it. Setup is a battlefield or hand with multiple Lizard creatures and enough mana to keep curving; execution is to sequence cheap Lizards before expensive or uncertain one-copy cards unless the legal prompt shows a removal or discard play that protects the payoff turn. Disruption to respect includes visible removal mana, sweepers telegraphed by opponent actions, and combat trades that shrink the Lizard count; prioritize this path when the opponent is not already forcing defensive blocks.

• Reach through damage and drain closes games after combat stalls: preserve Burst Lightning, Collective Inferno, and any legal damage trigger from Iridescent Vinelasher, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, or Gastal Thrillseeker for final life-total compression when attacks become low-value. Card text check required for exact trigger, mode, and target rules on Iridescent Vinelasher, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Collective Inferno; use only Veles-exposed legal targets and damage labels. Prioritize reach when the opponent is at a low visible life total, has stabilized the ground, or is representing a next-turn swing that makes waiting worse.

• Removal-backed combat wins by turning one blocker into several damage points: use Death in the Family, Burst Lightning, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, or Collective Inferno when the visible legal action clears the blocker that matters most or prevents a race-losing crackback. Card text check required for Intimidation Tactics and Obsessive Pursuit, so treat them as prompt-dependent interaction rather than guaranteed removal. Prioritize this path when the board is wide enough that one cleared blocker unlocks lethal or near-lethal attacks.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Value pressure wins longer games by rebuilding after trades: Fireglass Mentor, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, and sideboard Fireglass Mentor can become the way to keep cards and bodies flowing after the first wave dies. Card text check required for exact value text on each of these cards; choose the line only when Veles shows legal actions that add material board presence, cards, or damage rather than spending a turn without pressure. Prioritize this path against visible removal-heavy play patterns or when the opening attack plan has already traded down.

• Sideboard threat upgrades can replace fragile low-impact pressure in hostile matchups: Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, Coalstoke Gearhulk, Unbury, and Bloodline Bidding are backup win tools after sideboarding, not assumptions for Game 1. Card text check required for exact effects, but their tactical role is to add resilience, heavier damage, or recovery when the opponent has enough removal or blockers to blunt small Lizards. Prioritize these lines only after legal sideboarding and only when they do not remove too much early creature density.

• Discard-assisted tempo wins by clearing the single noncreature answer that beats the current board: Duress and sideboard Duress support lethal development when a visible hand-reveal prompt exposes removal, sweeper, counter, or stabilizer options. Choose the card that most directly stops the next two-turn damage plan, not the generically strongest card, and never infer hidden cards after the reveal window closes. Prioritize discard when the hand already has pressure and the opponent’s revealed noncreature card can break that pressure.

Emergency Lines

• When behind on life, become a tempo deck before becoming a burn deck: use Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Collective Inferno, or legal Intimidation Tactics / Obsessive Pursuit actions to remove attacking creatures or force trades if the visible clock kills you before your reach does. Keep attacking only when the race math remains favorable from public life totals and visible attackers; otherwise preserve Hired Claw, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, or Marshland Hordemaster as blockers long enough to reopen attacks.

• When behind on board, spend interaction on the creature that changes combat math most: the priority target is the blocker or attacker that stops multiple Lizards, enables lethal against you, or invalidates Gev, Scaled Scorch pressure. Do not fire Burst Lightning at the opponent just because it is legal if a visible creature will erase the race on the next combat.

• When behind on cards, favor repeatable or card-flow prompts over one-shot chip damage unless lethal is visible: Fireglass Mentor, Flamecache Gecko, Obsessive Pursuit, Marshland Hordemaster, Bloodline Bidding, and Unbury are the likely recovery cards, with exact use conditional on prompt text. If the opponent has traded resources and both boards are small, rebuild with creatures before spending reach.

• When behind on mana or colors, choose legal land and mana actions that unlock two-spell turns over cosmetic curve perfection: Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Secluded Courtyard, Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Multiversal Passage, Mountain, and Swamp must be evaluated by Veles payment legality. Do not assume Secluded Courtyard casts Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, or Collective Inferno unless the engine offers that payment.

• When facing recursion, combo, or removed win conditions, race first and disrupt only the visible choke point: the registered list has no clearly named graveyard hate, so use Duress, Death in the Family, Burst Lightning, Strategic Betrayal, or pressure to stop exposed enablers rather than pretending to lock the graveyard. If Gev, Scaled Scorch or early Lizards are removed, shift to sideboard recovery, larger threats, and burn reach while preserving any remaining creature density.

Resource Model

• Life is a spendable clock resource only while Rakdos Lizards remains ahead on board: accept Blood Crypt pain or race damage when it enables Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Gev, Scaled Scorch on curve. Stop spending life aggressively when the opponent’s visible attackers plus known reach can win before your next attack step.

• Hand size converts into pressure, not long-game inevitability: prioritize hands that deploy multiple early Lizards and one interaction spell over hands full of expensive or conditional cards. Fireglass Mentor, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Obsessive Pursuit, Bloodline Bidding, and Unbury are the likely card-flow or recovery tools, but card text check required; choose their prompts when the board needs replenishment more than immediate damage.

• Mana converts most efficiently through two-spell turns after the first threat: a turn that casts a Lizard plus Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, or Obsessive Pursuit is often stronger than a single larger spell. Do not hold cheap creatures in hand for theoretical Gev, Scaled Scorch value if the opponent is developing blockers or racing.

• Board presence is the deck’s primary resource: Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, and Gilded Ambusher should usually become visible permanents before speculative one-card value lines. Preserve creatures as blockers only when public combat math shows that attacking loses the race or exposes lethal crackback.

• Graveyard resources matter only after trades or removal make recursion legal: Bloodline Bidding and Unbury are sideboard recovery bullets, and Death in the Family may care about death events or creatures depending on exact text. Card text check required; treat graveyard use as prompt-dependent and never assume a card is returnable unless Veles lists it.

• Exile is mostly a public-information and permission zone for this list unless a legal action explicitly references it. Do not plan around exiled cards returning, being castable, or triggering effects unless the rules engine exposes that action.

• Lands are both color sources and tempo costs: Secluded Courtyard likely supports creature-heavy Lizard sequencing, while Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Mountain, Swamp, Multiversal Passage, Rockface Village, and Realm of Koh must be sequenced by the colors and tapped status Veles exposes. Card text check required for Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Multiversal Passage, and Blazemire Verge utility details.

• Sacrifice fodder is not free unless a legal prompt pays it off: small Lizards can be traded or sacrificed only when the visible result advances lethal, protects life total, enables Death in the Family, or supports sideboard recovery. Do not sacrifice Gev, Scaled Scorch or the only attacker enabling pressure for minor value without a clear legal payoff.

• Tempo is the default tiebreaker: spend Burst Lightning and Death in the Family to clear the blocker or attacker that changes the next combat, not the creature with the highest abstract value. Use Duress as tempo protection when a revealed noncreature answer would break the current attack plan.

• Information is temporary and must be treated literally: Duress and sideboard Duress can guide sequencing only during the reveal window and from logged public information afterward. Never infer hidden removal, lands, or sweepers beyond opponent archetype guidance and visible actions.

• Sideboard bullets convert matchup pressure into a different resource axis: add Duress and Strategic Betrayal for exposed noncreature dependence, Death in the Family for creature fights, Fireglass Mentor for attrition, Hearthborn Battler and Screaming Nemesis for heavier pressure, and Coalstoke Gearhulk, Unbury, or Bloodline Bidding for grindy recovery, all subject to exact sideboard plans and card text checks.

Mana Guide

• Keep mana bases that cast an early creature and a black-red interaction path: a strong opener has at least two lands, at least one early Lizard, and access to the colors needed for its first two turns. Mulligan one-land hands unless Veles-visible costs and lands show multiple one-mana plays plus a high chance to function; mulligan color-mismatched hands that cannot cast creatures before turn two.

• Sequence lands to unlock creature pressure first and noncreature interaction second: use Secluded Courtyard for Lizards when it legally casts Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, or Gilded Ambusher. Do not rely on Secluded Courtyard for Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, or Collective Inferno unless Veles offers that mana payment.

• Prioritize untapped red or black based on the actual first spell: red-heavy starts want Mountain, Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, or other legal red sources for Hired Claw, Flamecache Gecko, Burst Lightning, and Collective Inferno; black starts want Swamp, Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, or other legal black sources for Iridescent Vinelasher, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, and Obsessive Pursuit. Card text check required for exact costs on Alchemy cards.

• Play tapped or conditional lands when the turn has no one-mana legal action or when preserving Blood Crypt life is more important than immediate pressure. If the choice is between tapped setup and casting the first creature, cast the creature unless public race math or known interaction makes the life loss unacceptable.

• Delay the land drop before draw, selection, or reveal effects when no current legal action requires land first and the spell could change the best land choice. Play land before the spell when Veles shows the spell cannot be paid without that land, when a two-spell turn is already planned from visible actions, or when a landfall-like or utility prompt explicitly rewards the land action; card text check required for any such reward in this list.

• Preserve colored flexibility for combat and priority windows: avoid using the only red source before Burst Lightning or Collective Inferno matters, and avoid using the only black source before Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, or Obsessive Pursuit matters. If Veles exposes exact mana-source choices, choose the payment that leaves the widest visible set of legal follow-up actions.

• Use utility lands only after core colors are secured: Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, and Multiversal Passage should not delay a turn-one or turn-two creature unless their visible legal action directly improves the curve. If their text is unclear in the prompt, treat them as mana-fixing or tapped-status decisions rather than strategic engines.

• Plan sideboard mana before accepting slower hands: Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, Coalstoke Gearhulk, Bloodline Bidding, Unbury, Strategic Betrayal, Fireglass Mentor, extra Duress, and extra Death in the Family may shift color and curve needs after sideboarding. Keep post-board hands that cast their sideboard card on time only if they still present early pressure or interaction.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: keep two or three lands plus Hired Claw or Iridescent Vinelasher, a second Lizard such as Flamecache Gecko or Gastal Thrillseeker, and either Gev, Scaled Scorch or Burst Lightning. This hand presents pressure, enables tribal payoffs, and can remove the first blocker without waiting for a perfect curve.

• Strong keep: keep Blood Crypt or Blazemire Verge plus Secluded Courtyard when the hand casts two early creatures and one interaction spell from visible mana. Secluded Courtyard should be treated as creature mana first; do not count it for Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, or Collective Inferno unless Veles exposes that payment.

• Medium keep: keep two lands, one early creature, Gev, Scaled Scorch, and a slower card such as Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Fireglass Mentor, or Dazzling Flameweaver when the first creature is castable. This hand needs the first draw step to fill pressure, so prefer it on the draw or against slower visible matchup plans.

• Risky keep: keep one land only when that land casts Hired Claw or Iridescent Vinelasher and the hand has multiple one-mana legal plays plus Burst Lightning or Duress. Ship most one-land hands with Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Collective Inferno, or several unclear Alchemy-cost cards; card text check required.

• Automatic ship: mulligan zero-land hands, five-plus-land hands without a one- or two-card pressure engine, and hands that cannot cast a creature before turn three. Also ship hands where Secluded Courtyard is the only colored source and the hand depends on noncreature spells.

• Matchup-dependent keep: keep Duress-heavy hands only against opponents whose public deck plan or Game 1 reveals show important noncreature interaction. Against creature pressure, a hand of Duress, Obsessive Pursuit, lands, and no early Lizard is a trap because it spends early turns without changing combat.

• Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prioritize Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, and Gastal Thrillseeker over reactive hands. On the draw, accept one more medium hand with Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, or Duress if it still has a castable early creature.

• Trap hand: do not keep expensive-looking payoff piles with Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Valley Flamecaller, Collective Inferno, and lands but no first-turn or second-turn creature. This deck wins by making every early mana point matter, not by waiting for a large single spell.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1 priority: cast Hired Claw or Iridescent Vinelasher when legal, choosing the land that preserves the widest turn-two creature plus interaction line. If no creature is legal, use Duress only when the opponent is likely to have a key noncreature answer; otherwise play the best untapped setup land and avoid spending Burst Lightning on an irrelevant target.

• Turn 1 deviation: lead Secluded Courtyard naming the creature type only when it casts the current or next creature. Lead Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Mountain, or Swamp when noncreature interaction is needed immediately or when Secluded Courtyard would strand Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, or Obsessive Pursuit.

• Turn 2 priority: add Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Gev, Scaled Scorch if Veles shows a legal curve. Prefer Gev, Scaled Scorch when the board already has a Lizard and the opponent cannot punish the tempo loss from not using removal.

• Turn 2 deviation: cast Burst Lightning or Death in the Family before the second creature only when a visible blocker or attacker changes the race. Use Duress before committing Gev, Scaled Scorch when revealed or likely noncreature interaction would otherwise break the attack plan; do not assume hidden cards beyond public information.

• Turn 3 priority: build the widest threatening board with another Lizard plus interaction, or land Marshland Hordemaster or Gilded Ambusher when the visible board rewards a larger body or engine. Card text check required for exact payoff timing, so choose only legal Veles actions and prefer lines that keep attacking pressure intact.

• Turn 3 deviation: use Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, or Valley Flamecaller only when their legal action text addresses the current board or hand texture better than another attacker. If the text is unclear, treat them as conditional value cards and avoid delaying lethal pressure for speculative value.

• Turns 4-5 priority: convert the board into damage with attacks, Burst Lightning reach, and selective removal on the creature that blocks or races best. Collective Inferno is a commitment spell; cast it when visible targets and mana make the result decisive, and do not fire it into uncertain board states without a clear legal payoff.

• Turns 4-5 deviation: protect a winning board from known interaction by using Duress before tapping out, or hold Burst Lightning for end-step or combat math when Veles shows priority windows. Trade small Lizards when the trade preserves life total, enables a legal death payoff, or clears the way for Gev, Scaled Scorch pressure.

• Late game priority: treat every draw as either immediate damage, a board rebuild, or a way to force through the last attacks. Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, Fireglass Mentor, Valley Flamecaller, and sideboard recovery cards can matter after removal, but do not pass with legal pressure unless public combat math shows attacking loses the game.

• Late game deviation: when behind, spend removal defensively and preserve enough creatures to block while searching for Burst Lightning, Collective Inferno, or a legal recursion/rebuild prompt. When ahead, force the opponent to answer visible lethal and avoid low-impact actions that give them another draw step.

Card Roles

• Hired Claw: use Hired Claw as the preferred first-turn pressure creature whenever Veles shows it is legal and the mana sequence still supports turn-two plays. It is a four-copy early Lizard, so it should usually enter before reactive spells unless a visible opposing creature must be removed immediately. Preserve Hired Claw in combat when Gev, Scaled Scorch or other tribal payoff pressure makes one extra Lizard more valuable than a small trade; trade it when the exchange clears a blocker, protects life against faster aggro, or enables a legal death-matters line. Card text check required for exact triggered or activated abilities, so do not infer hidden damage math beyond visible action text.

• Iridescent Vinelasher: treat Iridescent Vinelasher as the other premium one-mana start and a key body for making Secluded Courtyard, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, and tribal pressure better. Cast it before Duress in most unknown Game 1 spots because the deck needs board presence to make later removal and reach matter. If visible text offers a landfall, drain, or similar trigger, sequence land drops only through legal Veles actions and prefer the line that adds immediate pressure without stranding Burst Lightning or Death in the Family. Do not keep it back as a speculative trick unless combat math shows attacking loses a crucial body.

• Flamecache Gecko: cast Flamecache Gecko as an early curve Lizard that turns the deck from one threat into a real tribal board. It should often be the turn-two play over one-shot interaction when the opponent has no visible blocker or must-answer creature. Card text check required for exact resource or exile effects; if Veles exposes a generated card, mana, or selection prompt from Flamecache Gecko, choose the option that maintains pressure this turn or next turn rather than a slow value line. Avoid using it as disposable combat material when it is the only second creature enabling Gev, Scaled Scorch pressure.

• Gastal Thrillseeker: use Gastal Thrillseeker as a four-copy curve threat whose main job is to keep attacks profitable and punish opponents who stumble. Cast it on curve when it increases total attacking power or gives the board a new combat texture; hold it only when a known sweeper, open interaction, or better postcombat line is visible from previous information. Card text check required for exact attack, death, or pump text. In creature mirrors, compare its visible combat stats to the opponent’s board before attacking; this deck can race, but throwing away a meaningful Lizard can turn Gev, Scaled Scorch and later payoffs into underpowered plays.

• Gev, Scaled Scorch: treat Gev, Scaled Scorch as the deck’s central payoff and a commitment creature, not as a random two-drop. Cast Gev, Scaled Scorch early when at least one other Lizard is already present or the opponent is unlikely to punish a tapped-out payoff turn. If the opponent has known removal from Duress, public reveal, or prior game logs, consider casting another cheap Lizard first or using Duress before Gev, Scaled Scorch. Card text check required for exact counters, damage, or scaling conditions; when Veles exposes choices involving Gev, Scaled Scorch, favor lines that convert existing creatures into immediate damage pressure.

• Marshland Hordemaster: use Marshland Hordemaster as the midgame tribal stabilizer and rebuild card when the first wave needs help. Because there are only two copies, do not treat it as guaranteed; when drawn, cast it when the visible board benefits from a larger Lizard presence or when removal has made raw creature count important. Card text check required for exact token, buff, or death text. In removal matchups, it can be worth delaying a one-drop after turn three if Marshland Hordemaster’s visible legal action rewards casting or attacking with multiple Lizards in the same turn.

• Gilded Ambusher: use Gilded Ambusher as a two-copy tactical body rather than an automatic curve play. Cast it when its visible stats or legal text improve attacks, blocks, or a post-removal board more than another cheap creature. Card text check required; if the runtime shows disguise, flash, ambush, treasure, or combat-related text, follow the legal prompt and use it where it changes combat or mana this turn. Avoid spending the turn on Gilded Ambusher into an empty board if Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, or Gastal Thrillseeker plus interaction creates more damage.

• Burst Lightning: use Burst Lightning as the cleanest flexible interaction and reach spell. Kill blockers that prevent a high-damage attack, remove creatures that threaten to race faster than the Lizard board, or point it at the opponent only when visible life totals and known follow-up damage make that line pressure lethal or near lethal. If Veles shows kicker or alternate payment text, pay extra only when the added damage changes the result; do not consume mana needed for another creature unless the burn line is decisive. Preserve Burst Lightning against creature-light control as end-step reach or protection from planeswalker-like threats only if they are actually visible.

• Death in the Family: use Death in the Family as conditional removal or death-synergy interaction, with exact text checked at runtime. Cast it over Burst Lightning when the visible target is better answered by its legal text, when a creature death trigger matters, or when saving Burst Lightning for reach is important. Do not fire it at a low-impact creature just because mana is available; this deck wins by matching removal to the creature that stops attacks or threatens the race. Sideboard copies make this role stronger against creature decks, but the main-deck copies should still be rationed around combat.

• Duress: use Duress as the main-deck information and disruption spell against noncreature-heavy opponents, especially before committing Gev, Scaled Scorch or a large turn. Cast it early when the opponent’s deck is known to contain removal, sweepers, combo pieces, or expensive noncreature engines; delay it when adding a one-drop creature is more important and the opponent has not shown relevant targets. If Veles reveals a hand, choose the card that most directly stops this board’s next two turns, not the scariest card in abstraction. Against creature aggro, Duress is often a low-tempo draw unless it has a visible target that changes survival.

• Intimidation Tactics: use Intimidation Tactics as a one-copy tactical spell that must justify its slot by changing a specific combat, discard, or removal exchange. Card text check required. Do not cast it just to spend mana; wait for Veles action text showing it will remove a blocker, force damage through, strip a key card, or protect a race. Because it is singleton, do not build a hand’s whole plan around drawing it, but when present it can be the bridge from a stalled Lizard board to a winning attack.

• Obsessive Pursuit: use Obsessive Pursuit as a one-copy selection, card-advantage, or removal-adjacent spell only when its legal text advances the immediate game. Card text check required. If it digs or draws, cast it when the hand is short on pressure, removal, or land and the board is not demanding an attack-first combat trick. If it interacts with a creature or graveyard, choose the visible target that changes combat or reach. Do not prioritize it over developing Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, or Gastal Thrillseeker in the opening turns.

• Collective Inferno: treat Collective Inferno as the main-deck high-impact burn or sweeper commitment spell. Card text check required before assuming target count or damage distribution. Cast it when visible legal targets make the result decisive: clearing multiple blockers, finishing the opponent, or stabilizing against a creature board that would otherwise win. Avoid casting it into your own winning board unless the legal action text and combat math show that the damage race improves. Because it is a singleton, it is a payoff for reaching the midgame, not a reason to keep slow opening hands.

• Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, and Valley Flamecaller: treat these singleton creatures as specialized payoff or value cards whose exact use depends on visible text. Card text check required for each. Cast Fireglass Mentor when the hand or board needs its specific legal effect more than another attacker; sideboard copies can increase this role in grindy matchups. Cast Dazzling Flameweaver or Valley Flamecaller when their visible effect turns cheap spells, creature count, or damage triggers into immediate advantage. Do not delay lethal pressure to chase speculative synergy from a singleton.

• Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Swamp, Mountain, Multiversal Passage, Secluded Courtyard, Rockface Village, and Realm of Koh: use lands as role cards because mana errors lose aggressive games. Prioritize untapped black-red access for early creatures plus Burst Lightning or Death in the Family. Use Secluded Courtyard mainly to cast Lizards; do not count it for noncreature spells unless Veles confirms the payment. Card text check required for Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Blazemire Verge, and Multiversal Passage, so choose land abilities by visible legal output and preserve the ability to double-spell whenever possible.

Interaction Priorities

• Removal priority: spend Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, or Collective Inferno on the visible creature that most changes the next combat. Kill blockers that stop multiple Lizard attackers, creatures with lifegain or racing pressure, and engines that will outscale Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Gev, Scaled Scorch if they untap.

• Reach priority: point Burst Lightning at the opponent only when visible life totals, board damage, and legal follow-up actions make the burn line lethal or force a survival block next turn. Do not use Burst Lightning as face damage while a single blocker or racing attacker is preventing more total damage.

• Conditional removal priority: use Death in the Family when its visible legal text answers a target Burst Lightning cannot efficiently answer or when a creature death matters this turn. Card text check required; if the runtime text depends on a death, sacrifice, combat, or creature size condition, wait until the condition is visible rather than assuming it works.

• High-impact burn priority: cast Collective Inferno only after checking exact legal targets and damage assignment. Card text check required; use it to clear multiple blockers, stabilize against a wider creature board, or finish the opponent, but avoid damaging away your own winning battlefield unless Veles combat math and legal text make that exchange decisive.

• Discard priority: with Duress, take the revealed noncreature card that most directly stops this board’s next two turns. Rank opposing sweepers, cheap removal for Gev, Scaled Scorch or Marshland Hordemaster, combo pieces, and stabilizing card-advantage spells above expensive cards that do not affect the current race.

• Tactical disruption priority: cast Intimidation Tactics only when its visible action text changes a specific exchange. Card text check required; use it for a blocker, discard, protection, or damage-through role shown by Veles, and ignore it when the legal text does not improve this turn’s attack or next turn’s survival.

• Bait priority: lead expendable pressure into likely interaction before committing the most important payoff when the hand can still apply pressure. Hired Claw, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or an extra Iridescent Vinelasher can draw removal; Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, and Fireglass Mentor should be preserved when their visible text is the higher-value engine.

• Cards to ignore: do not spend premium removal on tapped, low-power, or irrelevant creatures that are not blocking, racing, enabling synergy, or threatening a lethal swing. Against slow decks, ignore defensive creatures that cannot block profitably after a go-wide attack; against aggro, ignore value creatures when a larger attacker is deciding the life race.

• Archetype shift: against creature aggro, removal is tempo and survival before reach. Against control or combo, Duress and fast pressure matter more than killing incidental creatures. Against midrange, save one interactive spell for the first blocker or stabilizer that turns off profitable attacks.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack priority: attack whenever the visible board lets the Lizard team convert pressure without losing the engine creature that makes future attacks stronger. Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, and Gastal Thrillseeker are the default pressure creatures; Gev, Scaled Scorch and Marshland Hordemaster deserve more preservation if their visible text improves future combat.

• Damage-race rule: prefer attacks that put the opponent under a two-turn clock or force bad blocks, even if one small Lizard dies. Decline low-damage attacks when the opponent’s crack-back is larger and the blocked creature is needed for Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, or Valley Flamecaller synergy.

• Trade rule: trade expendable Lizards for blockers when the trade opens attacks for multiple remaining creatures or protects life total against aggro. Do not trade a key payoff creature for a generic blocker unless the board already has redundancy or the trade prevents lethal damage.

• Block rule: race first against slow decks and block first against faster creature decks. Block with the least important creature that prevents the most damage, preserves a payoff, or sets up Death in the Family if the legal text visibly rewards a death.

• Engine preservation rule: preserve Gev, Scaled Scorch when its visible text is adding damage, counters, or team scaling, and preserve Marshland Hordemaster when it is rebuilding or improving wide boards. Card text check required for exact effects, but do not expose these cards to avoidable combat death if smaller Lizards can attack or block instead.

• Ambush rule: treat Gilded Ambusher as a combat-specific resource when Veles shows flash, disguise, treasure, or combat text. Card text check required; deploy it to change an attack, block, or mana turn, not merely as a body when a cheaper Lizard plus interaction creates better pressure.

• Life-threshold rule: above roughly 12 life, keep maximizing pressure unless the opponent has visible lethal setup. At 8 to 12 life, compare the crack-back before every attack. At 7 or less, preserve blockers unless the attack plus Burst Lightning, Collective Inferno, or visible triggered damage threatens lethal first.

• Protection rule: use removal before combat when it removes the blocker that would eat the best attacker, and use removal after blocks when the opponent has committed a block that can be punished. Do not hold mana representing counterspells, bounce, or protection tricks that are not in the registered deck unless Veles shows a legal action from a registered card.

• Archetype combat shift: against control, keep attacking with every safe point of damage and make them answer the board. Against aggro, trade early and keep life high enough for burn to become reach. Against midrange, force double-blocks and use Burst Lightning or Death in the Family to turn creature parity into tempo.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Selection baseline: this main deck has no confirmed true tutor chain, so treat most selection as pseudo-selection from opening hands, draw timing, revealed information, and legal action text from Fireglass Mentor, Obsessive Pursuit, Intimidation Tactics, Duress, and any runtime prompt from Flamecache Gecko or Gilded Ambusher. Card text check required for every selection action that is not fully described by Veles legal actions.

• Opening-hand selection: keep hands that already contain an early creature plus lands that cast Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Gev, Scaled Scorch on time. Do not keep a hand only because it contains Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, Collective Inferno, or Obsessive Pursuit unless the first two turns are already functional.

• Land-drop timing: use Blood Crypt, Blazemire Verge, Secluded Courtyard, Multiversal Passage, Swamp, Mountain, Rockface Village, and Realm of Koh to unlock the current turn’s legal play before planning later color needs. Choose a tribal or color mode from Secluded Courtyard only when Veles exposes the legal choice; prioritize casting Lizards first, then black interaction, then red reach, unless the current hand shows a different bottleneck.

• Pseudo-selection from Duress: cast Duress before committing a fragile payoff when the opponent’s revealed hand can change sequencing this turn. Use the revealed information to decide whether Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, or Valley Flamecaller can safely enter the battlefield, and take the noncreature card that most directly stops pressure, removal, or a visible lethal plan.

• Draw/filter timing: cast Fireglass Mentor or Obsessive Pursuit when the board can spare mana without missing an attack, removal window, or key creature deployment. Card text check required; if the legal text offers cards, selection, plotting, exiling, or delayed access, prefer options that produce immediate pressure, missing land drops, Burst Lightning reach, or interaction for the next combat.

• Bottom-or-decline logic: bottom expensive or redundant cards when the current hand lacks a castable creature, land, or removal spell for the next turn. Keep Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Duress, Intimidation Tactics, or Collective Inferno only when the visible board or revealed hand shows a specific use; otherwise prioritize bodies that increase damage output.

• Hidden-information discipline: never assume the opponent has a sweeper, blocker, counterspell, or removal spell unless Veles has shown it through public information, a reveal, or legal stack action. Use archetype expectations only as tie-breakers after legal actions, visible board, current life totals, and known cards are evaluated.

• Sideboard-card selection awareness: when post-board games contain Strategic Betrayal, Unbury, Bloodline Bidding, Coalstoke Gearhulk, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, extra Duress, extra Death in the Family, or Fireglass Mentor, follow visible legal text rather than assuming their exact role. Card text check required; treat them as specialized tools until Veles exposes a concrete action.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Priority baseline: pass priority when there is no legal action that changes combat damage, protects a key permanent, disrupts a revealed threat, or creates lethal pressure before the opponent acts. Do not spend Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, or Collective Inferno merely because mana is available.

• Main-phase commitment: cast creatures before passing with unused mana when the legal board state rewards pressure and no instant-speed interaction is needed. Prioritize Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Gev, Scaled Scorch early; delay Marshland Hordemaster, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, and Valley Flamecaller if open mana plus the opponent’s known cards makes waiting clearly safer.

• Response timing: respond to removal on Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, or Fireglass Mentor only if Veles shows a legal action that preserves value or converts the threat into damage. If the only legal action is irrelevant burn to face or low-impact selection, let the spell resolve and preserve resources.

• Burn timing: use Burst Lightning on the stack or before combat only when it removes a blocker, kills a racing attacker before damage, answers a creature whose trigger or attack matters now, or completes lethal damage. Hold Burst Lightning when the same card can become reach after attacks or can punish a block with clearer information.

• Conditional removal timing: cast Death in the Family only when its current legal text and target list are visible. Card text check required; if it depends on a creature dying, a sacrifice, or a family/creature-type condition, wait until Veles confirms the condition rather than assuming the spell is enabled.

• Combat trick window: use Intimidation Tactics, Death in the Family, Burst Lightning, Gilded Ambusher, or Collective Inferno during combat only when the legal action changes a declared attack, declared block, survival calculation, or lethal line. Card text check required for Intimidation Tactics, Gilded Ambusher, and Collective Inferno; do not treat them as tricks unless Veles exposes combat-relevant text.

• Trigger and optional-payment discipline: accept optional triggers or payments from Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, or other permanents only when the visible cost and effect improve this turn’s damage, board, card access, or survival. Decline optional payments that consume mana needed for Burst Lightning, Death in the Family, or a key post-combat creature.

• Let-resolve rule: let opposing card draw, setup, or noncombat actions resolve when your only response would reduce damage output without stopping a visible payoff. Interrupt spells that remove your board, create blockers before combat, gain enough life to break the burn plan, or present lethal pressure.

• Graveyard and recursion timing: in post-board games, cast or respond with Unbury, Bloodline Bidding, or Coalstoke Gearhulk only from visible legal action text. Card text check required; do not assume a target, recursion window, or artifact/creature interaction unless Veles shows it as legal.

Sideboard Map

• Sideboard purpose: preserve Rakdos Lizards as a pressure deck while changing the mix of hand disruption, removal, resilient threats, recursion, and late-game cards for the opponent’s visible plan. Do not transform into a slow control deck unless the opponent’s removal density and life-total pressure make creature attrition the only realistic path.

• Extra Duress role: bring 2 Duress against control, combo, spell-heavy midrange, sweepers, planeswalker-style engines, and decks where a single noncreature card can reset the battlefield or stop lethal. Duress is bad against creature-dense aggro when the opponent’s hand is mostly battlefield pressure; in those games it should not displace early Lizards unless a revealed card proves it is needed.

• Extra Death in the Family role: bring 2 Death in the Family against creature decks, creature-combo boards, recursive small threats, and matchups where combat hinges on killing one blocker or attacker at exact timing. Card text check required; if the legal text depends on a death, sacrifice, family condition, or target restriction, use it only when Veles exposes the legal target and current condition.

• Fireglass Mentor role: bring 1 Fireglass Mentor for grindy creature mirrors, removal-heavy black decks, and games where one extra card-access threat can keep pressure flowing after the first wave. Fireglass Mentor is bad when the opponent is faster than the Mentor turn, when the hand already has expensive cards, or when mana must stay available for Burst Lightning or Death in the Family every turn.

• Strategic Betrayal role: bring 1 Strategic Betrayal only when its visible legal text attacks the opponent’s central plan, such as a creature-heavy board, a key permanent, or a hand/board resource the opponent is relying on. Card text check required; treat it as a specialized tactical answer, not a default threat, until Veles shows targets and outcomes.

• Unbury role: bring 1 Unbury against removal-heavy decks and midrange attrition where returning Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, or a sideboard threat changes the race. Card text check required; if Veles exposes a graveyard target choice, choose the creature that restores lethal pressure, engine damage, or the current board requirement.

• Hearthborn Battler role: bring 3 Hearthborn Battler when the matchup needs more bodies, more pressure through removal, or a different combat profile than the smallest Lizards. Card text check required; if its text rewards attacking, damage, or Lizard synergies, treat it as a pressure card, but avoid adding all copies against decks where mana efficiency and low curve matter more than threat size.

• Screaming Nemesis role: bring 3 Screaming Nemesis against lifegain, damage races, creature combat, and opponents that stabilize by gaining life or blanking small attackers. Screaming Nemesis is bad when the opponent can ignore creatures, exile threats cleanly, or win before a three-mana threat changes the board; reduce main-deck emphasis on slower singletons before weakening the one- and two-drop Lizard density.

• Coalstoke Gearhulk role: bring 1 Coalstoke Gearhulk for matchups where the game regularly reaches late turns and a single high-impact card can recover from removal or stalled boards. Card text check required; do not add it against fast aggro, low-land hands, or opponents that punish expensive cards before Veles confirms enough mana and time.

• Bloodline Bidding role: bring 1 Bloodline Bidding for attrition, sweepers, creature mirrors, and games where many Lizards are expected to trade or die. Card text check required; if Veles exposes creature-type, graveyard, or recursion choices, favor lines that return the largest immediate Lizard battlefield and avoid helping the opponent more than the visible board permits.

Anti-Control / Sweepers / Spell Combo Side in: 2 Duress; 1 Fireglass Mentor; 1 Unbury; 1 Bloodline Bidding Cut: 2 Death in the Family; 1 Collective Inferno; 1 Intimidation Tactics; 1 Dazzling Flameweaver

• Anti-control plan: protect the early pressure with Duress and reload with Fireglass Mentor, Unbury, and Bloodline Bidding after removal. Keep Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Gev, Scaled Scorch density high because the plan still needs a clock.

Anti-Aggro / Creature Race Side in: 2 Death in the Family; 3 Screaming Nemesis Cut: 1 Duress; 1 Obsessive Pursuit; 1 Fireglass Mentor; 1 Dazzling Flameweaver; 1 Collective Inferno

• Anti-aggro plan: increase cheap interaction and race-stabilizing threats while reducing slow card access and narrow noncreature disruption. Keep Burst Lightning because it is both removal and reach, and keep creature density high enough that Gev, Scaled Scorch and tribal lands remain functional.

Lifegain / Damage Prevention / Stabilizing Midrange Side in: 3 Screaming Nemesis; 1 Strategic Betrayal; 1 Fireglass Mentor Cut: 1 Duress; 1 Intimidation Tactics; 1 Obsessive Pursuit; 1 Dazzling Flameweaver; 1 Collective Inferno

• Lifegain plan: use Screaming Nemesis and sustained Lizard pressure to keep damage relevant through stabilizing life swings. Strategic Betrayal is included only because this plan assumes Veles reveals legal text that answers a stabilizing permanent, creature, or resource; if not, prefer the balanced anti-control or anti-aggro plan instead.

Removal-Heavy Midrange / Attrition Side in: 1 Fireglass Mentor; 1 Unbury; 1 Bloodline Bidding; 2 Duress Cut: 1 Collective Inferno; 1 Intimidation Tactics; 1 Obsessive Pursuit; 1 Dazzling Flameweaver; 1 Valley Flamecaller

• Attrition plan: keep forcing the opponent to answer cheap Lizards, then use discard and recursion to prevent a single removal chain from ending the offense. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slow or conditional singletons when they do not immediately add damage, cards, or a resilient board.

Large-Creature / Board-Stall Midrange Side in: 2 Death in the Family; 3 Hearthborn Battler; 1 Coalstoke Gearhulk Cut: 1 Duress; 1 Intimidation Tactics; 1 Obsessive Pursuit; 1 Fireglass Mentor; 1 Dazzling Flameweaver; 1 Valley Flamecaller

• Board-stall plan: add creatures and removal that can matter after the opponent presents larger blockers. Coalstoke Gearhulk is only for games where land count and speed support it; in very fast games, use Hearthborn Battler and Death in the Family as the main adjustments.

• Archetype rule for low-creature opponents: Add role cards: Duress, Fireglass Mentor, Unbury, Bloodline Bidding. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Death in the Family, Intimidation Tactics, Collective Inferno, and other cards whose legal use depends on creature combat unless Veles shows relevant targets.

• Archetype rule for high-creature opponents: Add role cards: Death in the Family, Screaming Nemesis, Hearthborn Battler. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress, Obsessive Pursuit, Fireglass Mentor, and slow singletons when the first three turns require board presence or removal.

• Archetype rule for graveyard or recursion games: Add role cards: Unbury and Bloodline Bidding when your own creatures are dying and the opponent is not clearly better at using graveyards. Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive or conditional cards that do not rebuild after removal.

• Archetype rule for unknown Game 2: use the opponent’s Game 1 public information rather than guessing from format reputation. If the opponent showed mostly creatures, follow the anti-aggro structure; if the opponent showed sweepers, draw engines, or combo setup, follow the anti-control structure; if both appeared, prefer the attrition plan and keep the curve low.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: become the cleaner damage deck by trading only when the exchange preserves a stronger next attack or prevents lethal pressure. Keep Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Gev, Scaled Scorch as the core curve; use Burst Lightning and Death in the Family to break tempo parity, remove blockers before attacks, or stop a counterattack that would force chump blocks. Add role cards: Death in the Family and Screaming Nemesis. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress, Obsessive Pursuit, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, and Collective Inferno when they do not affect the first combat cycles. Card text check required for Screaming Nemesis, but treat it as a race and lifegain-pressure card when Veles exposes relevant combat or damage text.

• Control: make every early turn add damage, then use discard and recursion to punish sweepers or spot-removal chains. Prioritize one- and two-drop Lizard density over speculative late-game cards; sequence Duress before committing the most important follow-up threat when legal and mana-efficient, especially if the opponent has shown sweepers, counters, or expensive draw engines. Add role cards: Duress, Fireglass Mentor, Unbury, and Bloodline Bidding. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Death in the Family, Intimidation Tactics, Collective Inferno, and Dazzling Flameweaver when the opponent has few legal creature targets. Card text check required for Bloodline Bidding and Unbury; use them only when visible graveyards and legal actions show they rebuild pressure.

• Combo: treat the matchup as a clock plus disruption race, not a value game. Mulligan hands that are slow, removal-heavy, or dependent on unanswered expensive cards; keep hands with Hired Claw or Iridescent Vinelasher into Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Gev, Scaled Scorch plus Duress or Burst Lightning reach. Add role cards: Duress, Fireglass Mentor, and Strategic Betrayal if Veles shows text or targets that interact with the combo’s public setup. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Death in the Family and Collective Inferno unless the combo uses creatures that must be removed. Card text check required for Strategic Betrayal; do not assume it answers a combo permanent unless legal targets and action text confirm it.

• Tempo: keep the curve low and make the opponent answer multiple cheap threats rather than one expensive threat. Lead with redundant pressure when possible, avoid walking a single key creature into open interaction if another similar Lizard advances the board, and use Burst Lightning on blockers or evasive attackers that would let the opponent race while holding up protection. Add role cards: Duress and Hearthborn Battler when the opponent uses counters, bounce, or small blockers. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Coalstoke Gearhulk, Collective Inferno, and slow singletons unless the game has already slowed. Card text check required for Hearthborn Battler; treat it as additional pressure only after Veles confirms its combat profile.

• Midrange: pressure life total first, then shift into attrition only after the opponent has spent removal or presented larger blockers. Keep Gev, Scaled Scorch and Marshland Hordemaster highly valued because they are the deck’s best route to making small Lizards matter beyond the opening turns. Use Death in the Family and Burst Lightning to clear blockers that change combat math, not merely the first creature available. Add role cards: Fireglass Mentor, Unbury, Bloodline Bidding, Duress, Hearthborn Battler, and Screaming Nemesis depending on whether the opponent’s midrange plan is removal, lifegain, or larger creatures. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, and Collective Inferno when their legal text is not immediately relevant.

• Big mana: force them to answer lethal pressure before their expensive plays dominate the battlefield. Keep aggressive one- and two-land hands only when Veles shows castable early threats and the mana can produce black-red or relevant creature colors; avoid slow hands that spend early turns fixing with no damage. Use Duress on ramp payoff, sweeper, or stabilizing interaction when visible from the legal discard choice, and use Burst Lightning as reach rather than low-value removal unless an early mana creature or key blocker is exposed. Add role cards: Duress, Fireglass Mentor, Strategic Betrayal, and Coalstoke Gearhulk only if games are visibly reaching late turns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Death in the Family when there are few targets and small combat tricks when the opponent is not blocking early.

• Graveyard: separate opponent graveyard decks from your own attrition plan before adding recursion. If the opponent benefits more from stocked graveyards than Rakdos Lizards does, do not overcommit to Bloodline Bidding or Unbury without visible evidence that the legal action favors your battlefield. If the opponent is simply removal-heavy, use Unbury and Bloodline Bidding to restore Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Gilded Ambusher, or a sideboard threat. Add role cards: Duress against graveyard setup spells and Strategic Betrayal only if its legal text disrupts a public graveyard resource. Reduce main-deck emphasis: cards that do not add pressure, disrupt setup, or rebuild after removal.

• Artifact/enchantment: stay aggressive while using only verified answers. Burst Lightning and Death in the Family remain creature interaction, not artifact or enchantment answers, unless Veles shows legal text that says otherwise. Add role cards: Strategic Betrayal if legal targets show it can remove, steal, disable, or otherwise punish the specific artifact or enchantment plan; Duress if the opponent’s important noncreature cards are still in hand. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal when the opponent presents few creatures. Card text check required for Strategic Betrayal; never assume it handles an artifact or enchantment from name alone.

• Go-wide: preserve board presence and avoid trades that leave Gev, Scaled Scorch or Marshland Hordemaster without enough creatures to convert pressure. Use Burst Lightning and Death in the Family on anthem creatures, token payoffs, or blockers that create a decisive attack, and use Intimidation Tactics only when legal text and visible combat show it changes a race or pushes damage. Add role cards: Death in the Family, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, and Bloodline Bidding if many creatures are dying. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress and slow card access when the opponent’s plan is mostly battlefield volume.

• Single-threat: identify whether the opponent’s plan is one protected creature, one planeswalker-like permanent, or one large blocker, then spend interaction only on the object that matters. Burst Lightning should answer early utility creatures or finish the opponent; Death in the Family should be saved for the threat Veles shows as legal and strategically central. Add role cards: Death in the Family, Duress, Strategic Betrayal, and Screaming Nemesis if the threat races through life gain or combat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: go-wide-only cards and expensive recovery cards when the game hinges on answering one public permanent.

• Burn: race carefully and avoid unnecessary Blood Crypt life payments when another land sequence casts the same spells. Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, and Gastal Thrillseeker are still required for pressure, but defensive trades become acceptable when they deny multiple points of incoming damage. Use Burst Lightning as removal on repeat damage creatures or as lethal reach; do not spend it on low-impact targets if the opponent is near burn range. Add role cards: Screaming Nemesis, Death in the Family, and Hearthborn Battler if they improve racing or blocking. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress on the draw if hand disruption is too slow, plus Obsessive Pursuit and high-cost singletons.

• Removal-heavy decks: diversify threats and force the opponent to answer creatures in sequence instead of exposing the whole hand to a sweeper. Hold a redundant creature when the current board already threatens enough damage, but commit more pressure when waiting lets the opponent stabilize with card advantage. Add role cards: Fireglass Mentor, Unbury, Bloodline Bidding, Duress, Hearthborn Battler, and Screaming Nemesis. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Collective Inferno, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, Dazzling Flameweaver, and Valley Flamecaller when they are slower than simply rebuilding the battlefield. Card text check required for Coalstoke Gearhulk; add it only when public game pace shows enough mana and time for a late stabilizing threat.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only note: exact opponents are not supplied, so revealed cards, legal actions, public zones, and rules-engine prompts override every matchup assumption here. Use these notes to rank pressure, interaction, and sideboard roles, not to infer hidden cards or guarantee card text.

• Versus fast creature aggro: stabilize by trading early only when the trade preserves a future attack or prevents more damage than the creature would deal back. Priority targets are haste threats, anthem effects, repeat damage engines, and blockers that stop Gev, Scaled Scorch or Marshland Hordemaster from converting small Lizards into lethal pressure. Add role cards: Death in the Family, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, and possibly Fireglass Mentor if the game becomes attritional. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress, Obsessive Pursuit, and slower singletons when they do not affect the battlefield immediately.

• Versus control or removal-heavy midrange: sequence threats in waves and keep one reload card or extra creature when the board already demands an answer. Priority targets for Duress are sweepers, efficient removal, card-advantage engines, and stabilizing finishers when Veles exposes them in hand. Add role cards: Duress, Fireglass Mentor, Unbury, Bloodline Bidding, Hearthborn Battler, and Screaming Nemesis. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Death in the Family when targets are scarce, plus Intimidation Tactics and Collective Inferno if their visible legal text is too narrow or slow.

• Versus big mana and late-game decks: commit early damage before they can invalidate small creatures, then reserve Burst Lightning for reach unless a public mana creature or must-kill blocker is blocking the clock. Priority targets for Duress are ramp payoff, sweepers, lifegain, and removal that breaks the first lethal attack. Add role cards: Duress, Strategic Betrayal if its verified legal text hits the opponent’s plan, Fireglass Mentor, and Coalstoke Gearhulk only when games visibly reach enough mana. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal and combat tricks when the opponent presents few blockers.

• Versus graveyard or recursion decks: separate their graveyard payoff from Rakdos Lizards’ own recovery plan before valuing Unbury or Bloodline Bidding. Priority targets are public graveyard enablers, recursion engines, sacrifice payoffs, and creatures whose death immediately improves the opponent’s next turn. Add role cards: Duress and Strategic Betrayal only if legal text shows disruption, plus Death in the Family when creatures matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Bloodline Bidding or Unbury when returning creatures helps the opponent’s battlefield plan less than adding pressure.

• Versus lifegain or damage prevention: treat reach and durable pressure as more important than small chip attacks. Priority targets are lifegain creatures, prevention engines, and blockers that turn off Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, or Gastal Thrillseeker attacks. Add role cards: Screaming Nemesis, Duress, Strategic Betrayal if verified relevant, and additional Death in the Family. Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact card access that does not increase damage before the opponent stabilizes.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: black-red pressure fails when opening hands cannot cast early creatures or when Blood Crypt life loss matters in a race. Prefer land sequences that cast Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, and Gev, Scaled Scorch on time while avoiding unnecessary shock damage.

• Matchup risk: small tribal creatures can be blanked by larger blockers, sweepers, or lifegain if the deck spends removal too early. Save Burst Lightning and Death in the Family for blockers, engines, or lethal reach unless visible board state demands immediate survival.

• Draw risk: hands with too many singletons or sideboard cards can lose the deck’s core pressure curve. Mulligan or sequence away from hands that lack early threats, colored mana, or a clear damage plan.

• Over-sideboarding risk: adding too many Fireglass Mentor, Strategic Betrayal, Unbury, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, Coalstoke Gearhulk, or Bloodline Bidding can dilute the Lizard curve. Sideboard for the opponent’s visible axis while preserving enough early creatures to make Gev, Scaled Scorch and Marshland Hordemaster matter.

• Graveyard risk: Unbury and Bloodline Bidding are recovery tools, not automatic value buttons. Use them only when public graveyards and legal targets rebuild pressure without handing tempo to an opponent whose graveyard plan is stronger.

• Sweeper/removal risk: committing every creature can lose to one public or suspected mass answer, but holding too much can give control time. Add pressure until the opponent must answer, then keep a rebuild line when the current battlefield already threatens meaningful damage.

• Closer risk: the deck may stall if Burst Lightning is spent on low-impact creatures and combat trades shrink the board. Preserve reach, prioritize attacks that keep lethal pressure alive, and use sideboard threats only when their verified text closes the game.

• Interaction risk: Duress and Strategic Betrayal are poor when they do not hit the opponent’s active plan. Card text check required for Strategic Betrayal; choose it only from legal prompts that show a relevant target or effect.

• Sequencing risk: playing support creatures before establishing attackers can waste tempo. Lead with castable pressure, then add Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, or Gilded Ambusher when their legal text and visible board improve damage, cards, or combat.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: identify whether the game was decided by early creature density, colored mana, removal timing, sideboard card impact, or failure to close after the first strong attack. Record the exact turn where Rakdos Lizards stopped gaining damage or where the opponent stabilized.

• Mulligans: ask whether the opener had a castable early threat, two functional colors, and a realistic curve into Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, or multiple Lizards. Flag any keep with no Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, or Burst Lightning unless the hand had a clear sideboard-disruption plan.

• Mana: record whether Blood Crypt life loss mattered, whether Secluded Courtyard named the correct creature type for the current hand, and whether Blazemire Verge, Multiversal Passage, Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Swamp, or Mountain delayed a key spell. Note any stranded black card or red card by exact name.

• Velocity: check whether the deck used its first three turns to add pressure or spent too many actions on Duress, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, Death in the Family, or other noncreature setup. A lost game with unused mana and cards in hand should be reviewed for curve and sequencing failures.

• Engines: record whether Gev, Scaled Scorch, Marshland Hordemaster, Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, Valley Flamecaller, and Gilded Ambusher produced immediate damage, cards, combat leverage, or tempo. Card text check required for any engine whose logged legal actions do not show the expected role clearly.

• Removal: ask whether Burst Lightning and Death in the Family killed the highest-impact visible target or were spent on creatures that did not change the clock. Track whether removal should have been saved for blockers, lifegain pieces, engines, or lethal reach.

• Sideboard: record which sideboard cards appeared and whether Duress, Death in the Family, Fireglass Mentor, Strategic Betrayal, Unbury, Hearthborn Battler, Screaming Nemesis, Coalstoke Gearhulk, or Bloodline Bidding advanced the matchup plan. Card text check required for Strategic Betrayal and Coalstoke Gearhulk before drawing strategic conclusions from their results.

• Closing: ask whether lethal or near-lethal lines were missed through conservative attacks, unnecessary trades, or spending Burst Lightning before it could finish the opponent. Review any game where the opponent survived at low life after Rakdos Lizards had multiple attackers.

• Role: record whether the deck correctly played as beatdown, tempo-pressure, or post-board attrition. A role mistake occurs when the deck holds back threats without a visible sweeper reason, races while behind on board, or overvalues recovery cards before establishing pressure.

• Mistakes: identify any legal-action choice that ignored visible blockers, open mana, stack pressure, known revealed cards, or public graveyard/exile information. Do not mark a mistake unless the logged state shows the alternative action was legal.

• Stranded cards: list exact cards stuck in hand and why, especially Collective Inferno, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, Duress, Death in the Family, Coalstoke Gearhulk, Bloodline Bidding, and Unbury. Separate mana problems from matchup irrelevance and timing errors.

• Overperformers and underperformers: count which cards directly created wins, prevented losses, or failed to affect the board. Give special attention to repeated draws of Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, Gastal Thrillseeker, Gev, Scaled Scorch, Burst Lightning, and sideboard threats.

First Tuning Questions

• Creature density: does the main deck need more reliable early Lizards if openers without Hired Claw, Iridescent Vinelasher, Flamecache Gecko, or Gastal Thrillseeker lose too often? If yes, question the lowest-impact singletons before changing the core tribal count.

• Three-drop and support balance: are Fireglass Mentor, Dazzling Flameweaver, Gilded Ambusher, Valley Flamecaller, and Marshland Hordemaster improving damage fast enough, or is the deck drawing too many support cards without enough attackers? Tune quantities only after separating card-text uncertainty from real tempo loss.

• Removal quantity: are 4 Burst Lightning and 2 Death in the Family enough against creature decks, or do losses show repeated blockers and engines surviving? If creature pressure is the main failure, evaluate whether the sideboard Death in the Family copies deserve more frequent matchup allocation.

• Disruption quantity: is 1 main-deck Duress too low against control, combo, or big-mana hands, or does Duress reduce pressure too much in Game 1? Use logs with revealed targets, not archetype assumptions, to decide whether main-deck discard should increase.

• Mana base: do Blood Crypt, Secluded Courtyard, Blazemire Verge, Multiversal Passage, Rockface Village, Realm of Koh, Swamp, and Mountain consistently cast one- and two-mana plays on time? If color failures recur, ask whether utility lands are costing more games than they win.

• Life total pressure: does Blood Crypt create avoidable race losses against fast aggro? If yes, test whether land sequencing can solve it before changing card quantities.

• Closer package: do Collective Inferno, Screaming Nemesis, Hearthborn Battler, Coalstoke Gearhulk, and Bloodline Bidding actually close stalled games, or are they stranded while the opponent stabilizes? Card text check required for Coalstoke Gearhulk before assigning it a late-game role.

• Sideboard slots: are Strategic Betrayal, Unbury, Bloodline Bidding, and Coalstoke Gearhulk narrow enough that additional Duress, Death in the Family, Hearthborn Battler, or Screaming Nemesis would improve more matchups? Keep this question tied to logged use, legal targets, and game pace.

• Aggro versus attrition conflict: does post-board Rakdos Lizards add too many slow cards and lose the Gev, Scaled Scorch pressure plan? If so, preserve early creature count first and treat recovery cards as matchup-specific, not automatic.

• Reach versus board control: should Burst Lightning be aimed more often at the opponent or at creatures? Use losses at low opponent life and losses to unanswered blockers as opposite signals.

• Recovery plan: are Unbury and Bloodline Bidding winning after removal-heavy games, or are they dead before a relevant graveyard exists? Tune only after checking public graveyard size, mana availability, and whether returned creatures immediately changed combat.

• Role clarity: does the decision agent need stronger instructions for when to attack, trade, hold removal, or rebuild after a sweeper? If repeated losses show the same role mistake, update policy before changing the 75.

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Pregame Role Assignment

Priority: Medium Decision families: pregame; mulligan Cards: Hired Claw; Iridescent Vinelasher; Flamecache Gecko; Gastal Thrillseeker; Gev, Scaled Scorch; Burst Lightning Phase windows: opening hand, pregame, first turn Runtime cues: opening-hand-summary; matchup-context; play-draw-choice Use when: a game begins and Veles asks for play/draw or initial hand evaluation. Avoid when: legal actions do not include a pregame or mulligan decision. Instructions: choose the role that preserves early damage first; prefer hands that can deploy a one- or two-mana Lizard and interact or add another threat by turn two. Treat slow single-spell hands as suspect even when lands are correct. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Aggro Mulligan Floor

Priority: High Decision families: mulligan Cards: Hired Claw; Iridescent Vinelasher; Flamecache Gecko; Gastal Thrillseeker; Gev, Scaled Scorch; Burst Lightning; Death in the Family; Duress Phase windows: opening hand, mulligan decisions, London bottom choices Runtime cues: action:keep; action:mulligan; hand-size; visible-hand Use when: keep or mulligan is legal and the hand must be evaluated from visible hand, lands, curve, and matchup role. Avoid when: the engine is resolving mandatory bottoms after the keep decision has already been made. Instructions: keep hands with two or three lands, at least one early creature, and castable red pressure. Mulligan hands with no early creature, one-land hands without multiple one-mana plays, or hands built around Duress and removal without a clock. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: London Bottom Damage Preservation

Priority: Medium Decision families: mulligan; selection Cards: Hired Claw; Iridescent Vinelasher; Flamecache Gecko; Gastal Thrillseeker; Gev, Scaled Scorch; Marshland Hordemaster; Gilded Ambusher; Collective Inferno; Intimidation Tactics; Obsessive Pursuit Phase windows: London mulligan bottom prompt Runtime cues: action:bottom Use when: bottom choices are legal after a mulligan and card identities are visible. Avoid when: bottom action text does not identify the specific card or cards being bottomed. Instructions: protect the first two castable threats and enough lands to curve out. Bottom expensive, matchup-narrow, duplicate support, or card-text-uncertain singletons before cutting the first threat unless the hand cannot cast its spells. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Creature Setup

Priority: Medium Decision families: priority; mana Cards: Hired Claw; Iridescent Vinelasher; Flamecache Gecko; Gastal Thrillseeker Phase windows: main phase with priority, turns one through three Runtime cues: action:cast Hired Claw; action:cast Iridescent Vinelasher; action:cast Flamecache Gecko; action:cast Gastal Thrillseeker Use when: a legal cast action for an early creature is available and mana can be paid. Avoid when: a lethal action, required interaction, or known revealed sweeper pressure changes the turn plan. Instructions: deploy the earliest castable Lizard before speculative noncreature actions. Prefer adding pressure over holding mana open unless a visible opposing permanent or known hand card demands Burst Lightning or Death in the Family immediately. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Tribal Payoff Commitment Gate

Priority: High Decision families: priority; combat Cards: Gev, Scaled Scorch; Marshland Hordemaster; Fireglass Mentor; Dazzling Flameweaver; Valley Flamecaller; Gilded Ambusher Phase windows: main phase before combat, postcombat main phase Runtime cues: action:cast Gev, Scaled Scorch; action:cast Marshland Hordemaster; action:cast Fireglass Mentor; action:cast Dazzling Flameweaver; action:cast Valley Flamecaller; action:cast Gilded Ambusher Use when: a payoff or support creature can be cast and the board already contains, or can soon contain, attacking Lizards. Avoid when: visible interaction, mana shortage, or required removal makes tapping out likely to lose the race. Instructions: commit Gev, Scaled Scorch and other payoff creatures when they increase immediate or next-combat pressure. Delay fragile engines only when the visible board demands interaction first or the hand has a stronger curve use. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Mana Color And Utility Land Sequencing

Priority: Medium Decision families: mana Cards: Blood Crypt; Secluded Courtyard; Blazemire Verge; Rockface Village; Realm of Koh; Multiversal Passage; Swamp; Mountain Phase windows: land play step, mana payment prompts, main phases Runtime cues: action:play; action:pay; available-mana; land-play-available Use when: legal land or mana payment choices affect casting black, red, or Lizard spells this turn. Avoid when: only one legal mana payment exists and it preserves all visible colors equally. Instructions: sequence lands to cast early red creatures and Burst Lightning while keeping black available for Duress, Death in the Family, Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, and sideboard cards. Preserve tribal-color sources for Lizard-heavy hands. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Deterministic Single Mana Payment

Priority: Low Decision families: mana Cards: Blood Crypt; Secluded Courtyard; Blazemire Verge; Rockface Village; Realm of Koh; Multiversal Passage; Swamp; Mountain Phase windows: mana payment prompt Runtime cues: action:pay Use when: exactly one legal pay action is present and the action text pays the full requested cost. Avoid when: multiple legal pay actions exist, a land or source choice changes future colors, or optional payments are offered. Instructions: submit the single visible pay action so Forge can continue resolving the selected spell or ability. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Burn As Reach Or Removal Gate

Priority: High Decision families: interaction; priority Cards: Burst Lightning; Collective Inferno Phase windows: opponent main phase, combat, end step, own main phase for lethal Runtime cues: action:cast Burst Lightning; action:cast Collective Inferno; target-options; opponent-life Use when: burn can target a player, planeswalker, battle, or creature and the choice affects lethal damage, survival, or the next combat. Avoid when: card text, targets, or damage mode is unclear; Card text check required for Collective Inferno. Instructions: point burn at the opponent only when it creates lethal, near-lethal pressure, or prevents stabilization better than killing a blocker. Kill creatures when they block multiple attackers, race faster, enable lifegain, or threaten a high-impact engine. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Target Opponent Lethal Burn

Priority: High Decision families: interaction Cards: Burst Lightning Phase windows: any priority window where legal Runtime cues: action:target opponent Burst Lightning Use when: the legal action text targets the opponent with Burst Lightning and visible opponent life is less than or equal to the damage shown by the legal action or pending spell text. Avoid when: damage amount is not visible, prevention or tax is pending, or multiple target choices are required. Instructions: choose the opponent target when the visible legal action directly completes lethal damage with Burst Lightning. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Removal Target Gate

Priority: Medium Decision families: interaction; priority Cards: Death in the Family; Burst Lightning; Intimidation Tactics; Obsessive Pursuit; Strategic Betrayal Phase windows: combat, opponent main phase, own main phase before attacks Runtime cues: action:cast Death in the Family; action:cast Intimidation Tactics; action:cast Obsessive Pursuit; action:cast Strategic Betrayal; target-options Use when: a removal, discard, or disruption action requires choosing whether to spend it and what visible object or player to affect. Avoid when: legal action text does not reveal enough target identity; Card text check required for Intimidation Tactics, Obsessive Pursuit, and Strategic Betrayal. Instructions: spend interaction on blockers, engines, lifegain pieces, or combo enablers that materially change the race. Do not fire disruption just to use mana when adding or attacking with creatures advances damage more. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Discard Commitment Gate

Priority: Medium Decision families: interaction; selection Cards: Duress; Intimidation Tactics Phase windows: precombat main phase, opponent hand reveal prompts Runtime cues: action:cast Duress; action:choose; revealed-hand Use when: discard is legal before committing threats or when the opponent's revealed hand is available for a choice. Avoid when: the matchup is creature tempo and casting discard would skip a critical early attacker. Instructions: cast Duress when it can clear interaction, sweepers, combo pieces, or stabilizers before committing Gev, Scaled Scorch or a wide board. Choose the revealed card that most disrupts the next two turns, respecting only legal candidates. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Combat Attack Gate

Priority: High Decision families: combat Cards: Hired Claw; Iridescent Vinelasher; Flamecache Gecko; Gastal Thrillseeker; Gev, Scaled Scorch; Marshland Hordemaster; Gilded Ambusher; Screaming Nemesis; Hearthborn Battler Phase windows: declare attackers, beginning of combat, precombat main phase Runtime cues: action:attack; attackers; blockers; opponent-life Use when: attacker declarations are legal and visible blockers, life totals, and combat tricks must be considered. Avoid when: exactly one legal no-attack action exists or combat is procedurally forced. Instructions: attack when damage, trades, or forced blocks favor the race. Hold back creatures only when they are needed to block lethal, preserve a payoff, or avoid a visible bad trade that loses more damage than it gains. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Combat Block Gate

Priority: High Decision families: combat Cards: Hired Claw; Iridescent Vinelasher; Flamecache Gecko; Gastal Thrillseeker; Gev, Scaled Scorch; Marshland Hordemaster; Gilded Ambusher; Screaming Nemesis; Hearthborn Battler Phase windows: declare blockers, combat damage setup Runtime cues: action:block; incoming-attackers; life-total Use when: blockers can be declared and the visible attack threatens a race swing or lethal. Avoid when: no legal blockers exist or the only legal action is no blocks. Instructions: block to prevent lethal or preserve a winning crack-back. Trade small creatures for larger pressure when the board is behind, but protect key payoff creatures if other blocks keep life stable. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Priority Pass Discipline

Priority: Medium Decision families: priority Cards: Burst Lightning; Death in the Family; Duress; Unbury; Bloodline Bidding; Coalstoke Gearhulk Phase windows: all priority windows, opponent end step, combat trick windows Runtime cues: action:pass; legal-actions; stack; open-mana Use when: pass is legal alongside cast or activate actions. Avoid when: a lethal, survival, or required target action is legal. Instructions: pass with an empty stack when available actions do not improve pressure, protect survival, or use mana efficiently. Reconsider passing if instant-speed interaction can remove a blocker before damage, stop lethal, or finish the opponent. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Recovery And Recursion Gate

Priority: Medium Decision families: selection; priority Cards: Unbury; Bloodline Bidding; Coalstoke Gearhulk Phase windows: postcombat main phase, late game, graveyard selection prompts Runtime cues: action:cast Unbury; action:cast Bloodline Bidding; action:cast Coalstoke Gearhulk; graveyard; target-options Use when: a recovery card is legal and public graveyard or hand context shows what can be returned or cast. Avoid when: Card text check required prevents knowing the effect, or using the card skips lethal pressure. Instructions: use recovery after removal-heavy exchanges when it immediately restores attackers, reach, or a payoff. Do not prioritize recursion before establishing pressure unless the board is empty and the hand lacks castable threats. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Role Selection

Priority: Medium Decision families: sideboard Cards: Duress; Death in the Family; Fireglass Mentor; Strategic Betrayal; Unbury; Hearthborn Battler; Screaming Nemesis; Coalstoke Gearhulk; Bloodline Bidding Phase windows: sideboarding after game one or game two Runtime cues: sideboard-options; matchup-label; previous-game-summary Use when: legal sideboard candidate plans or generated swaps are being evaluated. Avoid when: the request asks for exact sideboard execution outside the validated sideboard route. Instructions: add discard for spell-heavy or combo opponents, extra Death in the Family for creature boards, resilient threats for removal-heavy games, and recovery cards for attrition. Keep enough early creatures so the deck remains proactive. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Exact Plan Submission

Priority: Low Decision families: sideboard Cards: Duress; Death in the Family; Fireglass Mentor; Strategic Betrayal; Unbury; Hearthborn Battler; Screaming Nemesis; Coalstoke Gearhulk; Bloodline Bidding Phase windows: sideboard lock prompt Runtime cues: action:submit sideboard plan Use when: Veles presents exactly one validated sideboard plan action and the action text reports registered-75 preservation. Avoid when: multiple sideboard plans are legal, validation warnings are present, or card counts are hidden. Instructions: submit the single validated sideboard plan action shown by the engine. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes