veles-content/strategies/legacy/legacy_rakdos_reanimator/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

Rakdos Reanimator is a Legacy graveyard-combo deck built to exchange cards and life for speed, then put a game-ending creature onto the battlefield before the opponent can stabilize. The registered shell uses black as the operational color for Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Dark Ritual, Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, and Collective Brutality, with red primarily for Faithless Looting and sideboard artifact interaction through Meltdown and Abrade.

The active format is Legacy, and the submitted registration passes the active validation contract at 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards. Main-deck count is exactly 60; sideboard count is exactly 15; the listed main/sideboard split is legal under the stated contract. Runtime decisions must still respect the rules engine, current legal actions, public zones, visible board state, revealed information, and actual prompts before applying any strategic shortcut.

The strategy tags are combo, reanimator, and graveyard, with a secondary disruptive-combo identity from Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality. The deck should be piloted as a proactive combo deck first, a discard-control deck only when the hand already contains a credible delayed reanimation path, and a fair creature deck only in emergency or sideboarded Dauthi Voidwalker games.

The stock status is hybrid: the core is recognizable Legacy Reanimator with Faithless Looting, Unmask, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and Archon of Cruelty, but the exact threat suite and sideboard are customized. Koma, World-Eater, Ashen Rider, and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers create matchup-specific payload decisions that should not be flattened into generic Griselbrand-only play patterns. Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, and Dauthi Voidwalker also mean post-board games may pivot away from pure graveyard reliance when hate is visible or strongly implied.

The mana role is fast but fragile: Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual enable explosive starts, while Badlands, Swamp, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, Raucous Theater, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, and Verdant Catacombs provide a small land base that must be sequenced around discard, Faithless Looting, and post-board blue or red requirements. Keep hands should normally prove both a discard outlet or self-mill route and a reanimation spell, or enough disruption plus mana to assemble that route quickly. Hands with only large creatures and no enabler are not functional simply because the threats are powerful.

The main legality concern is not deck construction but tactical legality at runtime: the pilot must never assume a creature can be reanimated, a target can be chosen, a discard spell can legally take a card, or a spell can be paid for unless Veles presents the action. The guide may prefer Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers in different contexts, but the actual legal target list from Forge controls every selection.

The opponent information status is unknown by default unless a match profile, revealed hand, public decklist, graveyard, exile, battlefield, or logged decision history exposes it. Do not invent opponent interaction, hidden cards, sideboard choices, or matchup identity from archetype labels alone. Use discard results, visible mana, revealed cards, companion status if any, public graveyard contents, and current legal responses to update the plan.

Thesis

Rakdos Reanimator assembles a fast graveyard threat plus a reanimation spell, then uses discard and explosive mana to force that threat through before the opponent’s normal game plan matters. The core route is to put Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers into the graveyard with Faithless Looting, Cabal Therapy, Collective Brutality, or hand-size/forced discard lines when legal, then resolve Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave with protection from Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality.

The deck wins by converting one successful creature entry into an overwhelming resource, attack, or disruption swing. Griselbrand is the default engine threat when life total and rules-engine actions allow draw activation lines; Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the stabilizing reload threat when a fresh hand and multiple card types matter; Archon of Cruelty is the pressure-and-disruption payload when the opponent has creatures, cards in hand, or a fragile life total; Ashen Rider is the answer payload for a visible permanent that must leave; Koma, World-Eater and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers require card text checks before the agent treats them as matchup-specific payloads rather than generic large creatures.

The deck is not trying to play fair Legacy midrange. Do not preserve resources for abstract long-game value when a protected, legal reanimation line is available and the opponent’s visible pressure or revealed interaction makes waiting worse. Do not spend discard only to trade one-for-one indefinitely unless the hand already contains a credible reanimation setup or sideboard pivot. Do not assume large creatures can be hard-cast from the main deck just because Dark Ritual and Lotus Petal are present; main-deck mana is built for black bursts, red loot access, and reanimation spells, not routine seven- or eight-mana casting.

Prioritize a complete line over a powerful fragment. A hand with mana, enabler, reanimation, and either a threat or discard protection is usually closer to the deck’s purpose than a hand with multiple huge creatures and no way to move them. Use visible legal actions first, then decide whether the current turn is a commit turn, a sculpt turn with Faithless Looting or discard, or a protection turn where Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality must clear the path before exposing the graveyard plan.

Post-board, the thesis widens but stays proactive. Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit can bypass graveyard hate when their legal action text and the opponent’s revealed/visible context support the pivot; Dauthi Voidwalker can create a disruptive creature plan or graveyard-pressure plan; Meltdown and Abrade answer visible artifacts. The sideboard does not make the deck a slow control deck: it gives alternative commitment routes when graveyard dependence is punished.

Role Package

• Threats: Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers are the main payloads. Prefer the threat whose visible impact solves the current problem: cards and life permitting for Griselbrand, reload and stabilization for Atraxa, Grand Unifier, board/hand pressure for Archon of Cruelty, permanent removal pressure for Ashen Rider, and conditional use for Koma, World-Eater or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers after card text check.

• Payoffs: Reanimate, Animate Dead, and Shallow Grave are the primary payoff spells, and each asks a different commitment question. Reanimate is fastest but life-sensitive; Animate Dead is persistent but exposes the creature to enchantment/permanent interaction; Shallow Grave is temporary and favors immediate attack, immediate activated ability, or same-turn resource conversion when the target and timing make that legal.

• Engines: Griselbrand and Atraxa, Grand Unifier are the primary resource engines once they enter. Griselbrand turns life into more attempts, protection, or follow-up threats when activation is legal and life total supports it. Atraxa, Grand Unifier refills across card types and is often better when the first creature must stabilize through removal, discard attrition, or a failed initial exchange.

• Velocity: Faithless Looting is the cleanest main-deck sculpting card because it can both find missing pieces and put creatures into the graveyard. Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, fetch lands, and the low land count make early sequencing matter: choose lines that convert the current hand into a legal threat quickly rather than holding cantrips or mana for speculative future value.

• Interaction: Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality are proactive interaction, not generic attrition tools. Use them to verify whether the commit turn is safe, remove a known blocker to the combo, create a discard outlet, or protect a reanimation spell from visible or revealed disruption. Cabal Therapy naming should respect revealed information; do not invent hidden cards.

• Protection: Unmask is the strongest zero-mana protection when another black card can be paid and the legal action exists. Thoughtseize is the precise protection spell when black mana is available. Cabal Therapy becomes high value after a reveal, after a known card from prior public information, or when sacrificing/flashback lines are actually legal. Collective Brutality can combine disruption and discard when the rules engine presents the relevant modes and costs.

• Recursion: Reanimate, Animate Dead, and Shallow Grave define the recursion module, with each target choice controlled by legal graveyard contents. Do not choose a target because the guide prefers it if Forge offers a different target set, if the target is not in a graveyard, or if timing restrictions make the line unavailable.

• Mana: Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual are burst resources for turn-one and turn-two commitment turns. Badlands, Swamp, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, Raucous Theater, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, and Verdant Catacombs support black first, red for Faithless Looting and sideboard artifact answers, and blue only when post-board Show and Tell plans or land access make it relevant.

• Sideboard modules: Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit are anti-hate or speed-pivot threats-to-battlefield routes; Dauthi Voidwalker is a disruptive graveyard creature plan; Thoughtseize and Cabal Therapy increase discard density; Meltdown and Abrade answer visible artifacts. Sideboard use should preserve the deck’s proactive clock while adapting to graveyard hate, artifact pressure, creature density, and opponent interaction.

Primary Win Conditions

• Griselbrand reanimation is the default engine-kill path when life total can support Reanimate or legal draw activations. Setup requires Griselbrand in a graveyard, black mana or burst mana, and a legal Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave action; execution should normally clear interaction first with Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality when that protection is available. Prioritize this path when a fast resource reload beats waiting, when the opponent is not presenting lethal pressure, and when drawing cards can find more discard, mana, or another reanimation spell.

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier reanimation is the best stabilizing reload path when the first creature must rebuild a depleted hand or survive an attrition exchange. Setup is the same graveyard-plus-reanimation shell, but execution values persistence: Animate Dead and Reanimate are usually more attractive than temporary Shallow Grave if the board requires a lasting blocker or source of pressure. Prioritize Atraxa, Grand Unifier when life is too low for aggressive Griselbrand draw lines, when the hand is missing follow-up protection, or when a broad card refill is more important than immediate lethal pressure.

• Archon of Cruelty reanimation is the preferred pressure-disruption path against visible creatures, low hand size, or a race where one attack or trigger can swing board, cards, and life. Setup should favor a protected commit turn because Archon of Cruelty is strongest when it enters before the opponent stabilizes. Prioritize this path when the opponent has a single important creature, when their hand is small enough that forced discard matters, or when the life swing helps offset Reanimate costs and early fetch/shock pressure.

• Ashen Rider reanimation is the answer-payload path when a visible permanent is preventing the combo from winning or surviving. Setup should not spend Ashen Rider merely as a large attacker if Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty would already win; execution should target the permanent the rules engine exposes as legal and strategically urgent. Prioritize this path against resolved hate, lock pieces, planeswalkers, or battlefield threats that make any normal creature plan fail.

• Shallow Grave burst turns are win paths only when the temporary creature immediately converts into damage, cards, disruption, or a decisive board change. Use Shallow Grave more aggressively with Griselbrand when legal draw activation lines can chain into another payoff, and use it cautiously with creatures that need to remain on the battlefield. Do not assume Shallow Grave is equivalent to Animate Dead or Reanimate in games where the first payload must block, persist, or survive into the next turn.

• Koma, World-Eater and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers are conditional payload paths until card text is verified. Card text check required before treating either as a deterministic lock, combo, or protection engine. Use them as legal large-creature reanimation targets only when visible context says the known-text payloads are unavailable or worse.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Hard pressure from reanimated creatures is the main backup when the first resource explosion does not immediately end the game. A single Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers can win through combat if the opponent cannot remove it, so continue attacking when legal unless blocking is needed to survive a visible lethal swing.

• Repeated reanimation attempts are the main recursion fallback after removal or discard trades. Preserve additional Reanimate, Animate Dead, and Shallow Grave when one payoff already resolves, but spend the next payoff quickly if the opponent’s clock or revealed interaction makes waiting worse. Faithless Looting can rebuild after the first attempt by finding another creature or payoff while putting redundant large creatures into the graveyard.

• Discard-lock pressure is a secondary plan when the hand contains disruption but the graveyard setup is incomplete. Use Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality to buy time, clear the way, and create information for later Cabal Therapy decisions; do not use them as a pure attrition plan if doing so leaves no path to place a creature into the graveyard or cast a payoff.

• Post-board battlefield pivots are secondary win paths when graveyard hate is visible or expected. Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit can put a payload onto the battlefield without relying on Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave, but both require commitment reasoning around the opponent’s visible board, known hand information, and possible opposing creature or permanent outcomes. Dauthi Voidwalker can pressure life totals and disrupt graveyard plans, but it should support the combo rather than replace it unless the game state demands a creature-pressure plan.

• Small damage and discard modes from Collective Brutality are emergency reach, not the deck’s normal kill. Use them to finish a low-life opponent, remove a small blocker or threat, or discard a creature while taking an interactive spell only when those modes are legal and the combined mode choice advances the current line.

Emergency Lines

• Behind on life: avoid Reanimate on high-mana-value creatures if the life payment risks immediate death, and prefer Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Atraxa, Grand Unifier stabilization, or Archon of Cruelty life-swing pressure when legal. Griselbrand draw activations become conditional; do not spend life for cards unless the visible board and legal follow-up actions justify it.

• Behind on board: prioritize payloads that affect the battlefield immediately. Archon of Cruelty is strong against creature pressure, Ashen Rider answers a single critical permanent, and Atraxa, Grand Unifier can stabilize while refilling. Do not spend a turn on Faithless Looting or extra discard if a legal reanimation line is required to survive.

• Behind on cards: use Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Griselbrand as the refill target if life and legal actions permit. Faithless Looting should sculpt toward a complete line, not discard the only payoff without a replacement. Cabal Therapy flashback or additional discard should be used only when the engine exposes a legal sacrifice/flashback line and the information is worth the cost.

• Behind on mana: convert Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual into a decisive commit turn rather than hoarding them for perfect sequencing. Fetch lands should find colors that match the current legal line, usually black for discard and reanimation or red for Faithless Looting, with blue sources relevant mainly for Show and Tell pivots.

• Graveyard plan blocked: pivot to Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker pressure, or artifact-hate answers such as Meltdown and Abrade when sideboarded and legal. Do not keep casting graveyard payoffs into visible hate unless Ashen Rider, discard, Abrade, or Meltdown can remove or neutralize the obstacle first.

• Win conditions removed: chain remaining payloads rather than conceding strategic initiative. If Griselbrand is gone, Atraxa, Grand Unifier can reload; if the reload threats are gone, Archon of Cruelty and Ashen Rider can still win through repeated combat and disruption. If all premium creatures are inaccessible, preserve discard and Faithless Looting to locate any remaining legal payload and use sideboard creature or battlefield-pivot plans when available.

Resource Model

• Life is a spendable combo resource until the opponent can present visible lethal or near-lethal pressure. Reanimate and Griselbrand convert life into battlefield presence or cards, so take large life payments only when the resulting creature, draw, or follow-up action can stabilize, force a win, or beat known interaction. Against fast pressure, prefer Animate Dead or Shallow Grave lines when legal, and avoid speculative Griselbrand activations that leave the player dead to visible attackers or known burn.

• Hand cards are fuel, protection, and payload storage, not a generic attrition resource. Faithless Looting turns excess creatures, redundant lands, or dead disruption into graveyard setup; Unmask turns a black card into immediate information and permission clearing; Cabal Therapy and Thoughtseize turn known or likely interaction into safer commitment windows. Do not spend the last reanimation spell, the only discard outlet, or the only payoff creature unless the legal line already completes the combo or prevents a worse loss.

• Mana is burst-oriented and should be converted into decisive turns. Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual are strongest when they compress discard plus reanimation into the same turn, pay for a post-board pivot, or allow a second attempt after the first action is answered. Preserve them when the hand lacks a payload or discard outlet, but spend them aggressively when waiting gives the opponent draw steps to find graveyard hate or interaction.

• Graveyard access is the central engine, so protect creature placement and reanimation timing. Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers are resources once they are in the graveyard, but they are liabilities in hand without Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Unmask, or a legal discard choice. If graveyard hate is visible, stop treating the graveyard as reliable until discard, Ashen Rider, Abrade, Meltdown, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, or Dauthi Voidwalker lines create a different route.

• Board presence is usually a payoff, not a setup resource. A resolved premium creature should attack, block, draw, or disrupt according to visible legal actions; do not risk it for Cabal Therapy flashback unless the sacrifice is legal and the named-card information is worth losing the creature. Dauthi Voidwalker after sideboarding can be both pressure and disruption, but it should not delay a clean reanimation or Show and Tell commitment without a concrete reason.

• Exile is mostly a cost and denial zone. Unmask exiles black cards from hand, so choose the least essential black card only after checking whether it is needed as a reanimation spell, discard outlet, or payload. Dauthi Voidwalker can make exiled opponent cards tactically relevant if the rules engine exposes legal actions, but do not assume hidden or future exile value.

• Information is a commitment resource. Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality should create safe go-now windows by exposing counters, removal, graveyard hate, or racing threats. Use revealed information to choose exact Cabal Therapy names only when known; otherwise treat Cabal Therapy as higher risk unless the hand context or matchup makes a narrow call necessary.

• Sideboard bullets change which resource is primary. Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit reduce graveyard dependence, Dauthi Voidwalker contests graveyards while attacking, Meltdown and Abrade answer artifacts, and the extra Thoughtseize and Cabal Therapy increase information density before commitment.

Mana Guide

• Prioritize black mana because the deck’s most important actions are Unmask support, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Dark Ritual, Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, and Collective Brutality. A keepable hand usually needs black mana, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, or a fetch land that can produce black through Badlands, Swamp, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, or Raucous Theater when legal.

• Red mana is required for Faithless Looting and some sideboard or removal lines. Badlands, Raucous Theater, Lotus Petal, and appropriate fetch lands support red; do not fetch only Swamp if the current hand needs Faithless Looting to place Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers into the graveyard.

• Blue mana matters mainly for Show and Tell after sideboarding. Underground Sea and Undercity Sewers are the named blue sources, with Lotus Petal as temporary fixing; protect access to blue when the hand’s graveyard plan is weak and Show and Tell is the intended pivot.

• Fetch sequencing should match the current legal line before generic fixing. Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, and Verdant Catacombs should fetch the color pair or basic Swamp that casts the hand’s first required spell while respecting visible life pressure. Use Swamp when life, opposing mana denial, or nonred lines matter; use Badlands when Faithless Looting or red sideboard cards are needed; use Underground Sea or Undercity Sewers when Show and Tell is live.

• Tapped lands are setup tools, not default turn-one plays in fast hands. Raucous Theater and Undercity Sewers may provide useful color fixing and card selection if the engine exposes the appropriate triggered choice, but they can cost a full turn. Play them early only when the hand cannot execute immediately, when the color need is specific, or when the slower line is still safer than spending Lotus Petal or Dark Ritual prematurely.

• Play land before draw when mana from that land is needed for a known legal action this turn. Hold land until after Faithless Looting, Griselbrand draw, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier selection only when the current mana already casts the draw spell and the extra card information could change the fetch target, land choice, or whether a land should be discarded.

• Keep/mulligan mana rules are strict. Keep hands that combine mana plus a discard outlet or direct creature placement plus Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave, especially with protection from Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality. Mulligan hands with payload creatures but no way to discard or deploy them, hands with reanimation spells but no creature access, and hands whose only mana is a tapped land with no meaningful turn-two line.

• Spend Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual on commitment turns. Use them to cast discard before reanimation, to double-spell through interaction, or to enable a post-board Show and Tell or Stronghold Gambit line. Do not spend Lotus Petal just to cast a low-impact Faithless Looting if waiting one turn with a real land preserves the only colored source needed for the payoff.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: keep hands that can put Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers into the graveyard and reanimate immediately or with protection. Examples include black mana plus Faithless Looting plus Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave; or Lotus Petal/Dark Ritual plus Unmask or Thoughtseize plus a reanimation spell and a payload.

• Medium keep: keep slower hands with mana, disruption, and a clear turn-two setup if they contain a real route to a creature. Faithless Looting plus land plus Reanimate is acceptable even without protection; Thoughtseize plus Cabal Therapy plus Animate Dead is acceptable if the hand can use draw steps or discard to find a payload, but it is weaker on the draw against visible fast pressure.

• Risky keep: keep no-payload hands only when they have Faithless Looting, multiple looks, and enough mana to cast the first draw spell without spending the only future reanimation source. A hand with Badlands, Faithless Looting, Lotus Petal, Reanimate, Shallow Grave, Thoughtseize, and Dark Ritual can be kept because it sees cards and interacts, but it may fail if Faithless Looting misses a creature.

• Automatic ship: mulligan hands with only payload creatures and no discard outlet, no Show and Tell post-board, and no way to cast them. Also ship hands with Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave but no creature access, hands whose only mana is Raucous Theater or Undercity Sewers with no turn-two plan, and hands that require Lotus Petal to do a low-impact action while lacking the second mana source for the payoff.

• Matchup-dependent keep: keep heavy discard hands against blue interaction or fast combo when they still contain a payoff route. Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality are premium only if they buy time for a known reanimation, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, or Dauthi Voidwalker line; they are not a keep by themselves.

• Play/draw adjustment: on the play, favor turn-one protected commitment because the opponent has fewer visible resources and fewer draw steps. On the draw, raise the bar for hands that pass the first turn, and prefer Thoughtseize or Unmask before committing into open mana or visible graveyard hate.

• Trap hand: do not keep double Griselbrand plus Atraxa, Grand Unifier plus Animate Dead with no discard outlet just because the payoff quality is high. Do not keep Dark Ritual plus Lotus Petal plus discard spells if there is no Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Unmask self-discard line, or reanimation spell that converts the burst mana into a win attempt.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1 priority: execute a protected reanimation line when the legal actions show mana, a discard outlet or creature already in graveyard, a reanimation spell, and protection. Preferred lines are discard/probe first with Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality, then place Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty into the graveyard, then cast Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave if the rules engine confirms legality.

• Turn 1 deviation: cast Faithless Looting before commitment when the hand needs to find or discard a creature, and choose discards that preserve the current reanimation spell and mana. Use Lotus Petal or Dark Ritual only when it creates a same-turn payoff, a protected setup, or a post-board Show and Tell or Stronghold Gambit attempt; otherwise preserve burst mana for the go turn.

• Turn 2 priority: convert a turn-one setup into a creature before the opponent’s hate or pressure grows. If Faithless Looting placed a payload in the graveyard, prefer the legal reanimation spell that leaves the most follow-up resources; if Shallow Grave is involved, confirm the intended creature is the top creature card of the graveyard before selecting it.

• Turn 2 deviation: spend discard before reanimation when the opponent has untapped mana, known interaction, or a revealed hate card. If the graveyard route is contested, shift toward hard information plus sideboard pivots when available: Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker, Abrade, or Meltdown.

• Turn 3 priority: make the second serious attempt if the first was stopped. Use flashback or second copies carefully; Cabal Therapy can be strong with known cards, but do not sacrifice a resolved premium creature unless the visible board and known hand make that exchange necessary to protect the win.

• Turns 4-5 priority: stabilize with the first resolved threat and stop overcommitting into visible sweepers, exile effects, or graveyard hate. Griselbrand should usually convert life into cards only when life total and board pressure permit; Atraxa, Grand Unifier should guide the next protected attempt; Archon of Cruelty and Ashen Rider should attack the opponent’s resources when the engine exposes legal triggers or targets.

• Late game priority: treat every draw step as either a reanimation setup, a protection spell, or a pivot plan. Rebuild with Faithless Looting, discard dead payloads when legal, preserve exact colors for Show and Tell or red sideboard removal, and avoid passing with a legal winning line unless visible interaction or known information makes waiting safer.

Card Roles

• Faithless Looting is the cleanest setup card because it both sees new cards and places payload creatures into the graveyard. Cast it early when the hand needs a creature or discard outlet, but hold it when the hand already has a protected Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave line and spending red mana would weaken the commitment turn. Discard Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers before discarding protection or the only reanimation spell. Flashback is a rebuild tool after disruption, not a reason to waste Lotus Petal early.

• Reanimate is the fastest permanent reanimation spell and should be prioritized when life total can absorb the target’s mana value. Use it for turn-one Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier when protected, but respect visible pressure because the life payment can make racing dangerous. Target opposing graveyard creatures only when rules-engine legal text and visible board state make that better than your own payload, such as after discard or opposing self-mill.

• Animate Dead is the slower permanent reanimation spell that asks for two mana but avoids Reanimate’s life loss. Prefer it when life total is pressured, when Dark Ritual enables a protected same-turn line, or when the intended creature does not need haste. Remember that the returned creature depends on the Aura staying attached; do not ignore visible enchantment removal, bounce, or effects that can break the creature after commitment.

• Shallow Grave is the instant-speed burst reanimation spell and requires careful graveyard ordering because it returns the top creature card of the graveyard. Use it to give Griselbrand immediate card draw, to attack or trigger with Archon of Cruelty if legal, or to exploit an end-step window before untapping. Do not select Shallow Grave when a worse creature is above the intended payload unless another legal action can fix the graveyard first.

• Griselbrand is the highest-ceiling primary payload because it can convert a resolved reanimation into enough cards to chain protection, mana, and another threat. Reanimate on Griselbrand is powerful but dangerous at low life; with Shallow Grave, draw decisions must account for exile at end step and whether the fresh cards create a same-turn follow-up. Avoid drawing seven automatically against lethal pressure or burn-visible boards.

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the best stabilizing payload when the deck needs resources instead of immediate life-risk. Its entry trigger can refill with lands, creatures, sorceries, instants, artifacts, enchantments, and sideboard pivots depending on revealed cards. Choose Atraxa, Grand Unifier over Griselbrand when life total is low, when the opponent is attacking on board, or when a slower protected second wave matters more than maximum cards now.

• Archon of Cruelty is the best attrition payload against creature decks, small hands, and boards where forcing sacrifice plus discard changes the race. Reanimate or Animate Dead it when the opponent’s visible board has one important creature or planeswalker, and prefer it over pure card-draw threats when stabilizing matters. Do not assume the sacrifice hits the desired permanent if the opponent controls expendable creatures.

• Ashen Rider is the precision-answer payload for problematic permanents, lock pieces, and boards where one exile effect matters more than raw cards. Use it when visible hate, a planeswalker, a large threat, or a permanent-based lock must be removed before the normal combo can function. It is a one-copy tool, so discard it intentionally only when the line needs the exile trigger or when the hand already has enough redundant payload quality.

• Koma, World-Eater is a resilient threat for grindy games and blue interaction spots, but its exact use should follow visible legal text because some value comes over upkeep cycles. Reanimate it when a durable board presence is better than a one-shot trigger, especially if the opponent is low on exile-based answers. Card text check required for any detailed activated-ability or trigger timing beyond rules-engine output.

• Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers is a one-copy specialty payload and should be treated as conditional until card text is verified. Card text check required. Use it only when legal action text and visible board state show why its current effect beats Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, or Koma, World-Eater.

• Unmask is free protection, disruption, and sometimes a self-discard outlet. Target the opponent before committing when the hand has a creature plus reanimation spell and can afford pitching a black card; target yourself only when the legal action cleanly puts a payload into the graveyard and the remaining hand still reanimates it. Do not exile the only black card needed for Dark Ritual sequencing or the only payoff unless the resulting line is immediate and legal.

• Thoughtseize is the most reliable one-mana information spell and should usually precede a graveyard commitment into open mana. Take interaction, graveyard hate, fast combo pieces, or the card that stops the current legal line. Target yourself only in rare hands where putting a payload into the graveyard is stronger than disrupting the opponent and the life loss does not endanger Reanimate math.

• Cabal Therapy rewards known information and punishes guessing. Use it after Unmask, Thoughtseize, Collective Brutality, a revealed hand, or an opponent action that identifies the card to name. Flashback is powerful with disposable creatures or temporary Shallow Grave creatures, but do not sacrifice Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty unless stripping a known answer is necessary to preserve the win.

• Collective Brutality is a flexible discard outlet and interaction spell. Escalate by discarding payload creatures when the modes matter, especially to clear instant or sorcery interaction, kill a small creature, or drain in a race. Do not treat it as a generic setup spell if the hand cannot use the discarded creature immediately or if the opponent’s visible deck makes the chosen modes low impact.

• Dark Ritual is the explosive black mana card for protected turn-one or turn-two commitments. Use it to cast discard plus Animate Dead, multiple discard spells plus Reanimate, or post-board pressure when black mana is the bottleneck. Avoid spending it on a line that leaves a payload in the graveyard but no reanimation spell cast unless waiting risks a worse outcome.

• Lotus Petal is the color fixer and tempo bridge for black, red, and blue sideboard pivots. Spend it when it enables same-turn Faithless Looting plus reanimation, Unmask/Thoughtseize plus payoff, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, or red sideboard interaction. Preserve it when the only benefit is casting a cantrip-like setup spell one turn earlier without a payoff.

• Badlands, Swamp, Underground Sea, Raucous Theater, and Undercity Sewers define the colored mana texture. Prioritize untapped black for discard and reanimation, red for Faithless Looting and sideboard removal, and blue mainly for Show and Tell after sideboarding. Treat surveil lands and tapped lands as setup choices only when the hand is not executing immediately.

• Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, and Verdant Catacombs are color-selection tools as much as lands. Fetch black first when the hand contains discard, Dark Ritual, Reanimate, or Animate Dead; fetch red access when Faithless Looting or sideboard removal is needed; fetch blue access post-board only when Show and Tell is part of the visible plan.

Interaction Priorities

• Strip the card that stops the current legal reanimation line first. With Unmask, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality, prioritize visible or known interaction that counters, exiles, bounces, steals, or prevents the exact action about to be taken; take graveyard hate before generic card advantage, and take fast combo pieces only when the opponent can win before the next protected attempt.

• Use discard as protection before commitment, not as decoration. Cast Thoughtseize or Unmask before putting a payload into the graveyard when the opponent has open mana or an unknown hand; use Cabal Therapy after known information from earlier discard, revealed cards, or opponent actions. Do not blind-name unless waiting is worse and the matchup has a narrow, clearly expected answer.

• Bait with replaceable setup before exposing the only payoff. Lead with Faithless Looting, extra discard, or a lower-stakes reanimation spell when the hand has redundancy; protect Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers when it is the only payload or the only one matching the board. Do not use Unmask by exiling the only black card that makes Dark Ritual or Reanimate legal unless the same turn wins or stabilizes.

• Answer permanent hate with the narrowest registered tool that actually works. Use Ashen Rider as the premium exile plan for a visible hate permanent, lock piece, planeswalker, or single must-remove threat when reanimating it is legal. Use Abrade for an artifact or small creature only when the target blocks the combo or race; use Meltdown when multiple opposing artifacts matter more than preserving tempo. Card text and legal-target checks from Forge control all removal choices.

• Change discard targets by archetype and clock. Against blue tempo or control, take counterspells, bounce, graveyard hate, and the card that buys a full turn before taking card draw. Against fast combo, take the deterministic enabler or payoff that wins first, then reanimate the fastest clock. Against fair creature decks, take exile removal, sacrifice effects, or hate permanents before ordinary attackers unless life total is already in lethal range.

• Ignore cards that do not beat the current resolved threat. Once Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, or Koma, World-Eater is already attacking or generating cards, do not spend discard on slow cantrips, redundant lands, or creatures too small to race unless they enable a known answer. Preserve Collective Brutality and sideboard removal for cards that change combat math, shut off the graveyard, or kill Dauthi Voidwalker.

• Respect sideboard pivots when graveyard interaction is visible. When the opponent’s public actions show graveyard hate or heavy graveyard-sideboard posture, value Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, and Dauthi Voidwalker more highly and value all-in graveyard exposure lower. Stronghold Gambit requires hand and battlefield context; do not choose it into known opposing creatures unless the legal line still advances the plan.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack with reanimated payloads when combat advances the clock or trigger plan. Griselbrand attacks to gain life and reopen Reanimate plus draw-seven windows; Archon of Cruelty attacks to repeat pressure and resource loss; Atraxa, Grand Unifier attacks when vigilance or board text shown by Forge makes racing safe. Do not attack a key creature into visible lethal blocks unless the trigger, lifelink, or follow-up line is worth losing it.

• Protect the engine creature over marginal damage. Keep Griselbrand alive when its activated ability or lifelink is the path to more cards, keep Atraxa, Grand Unifier when its body stabilizes the board, and keep Archon of Cruelty when repeated attacks will lock the opponent out. Sacrifice a creature to Cabal Therapy only when the named known card is more dangerous than losing the creature.

• Use Shallow Grave creatures as temporary resources. Attack with a Shallow Grave creature when haste, lifelink, damage, or an attack trigger is legal and relevant, because it will not remain normally through the turn. Use it for Cabal Therapy flashback only when stripping a known answer or combo card beats the combat damage and any trigger value.

• Treat life total as a combo resource with hard danger bands. Above 14 life, Griselbrand and Reanimate life payments can be aggressive if they find immediate protection or another threat. At 8 to 13 life, draw-seven or large Reanimate payments require visible survival through the opponent’s next turn. At 7 or lower, prefer Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Animate Dead, Show and Tell, or removal lines unless Griselbrand lifelink or same-turn victory is clearly legal.

• Block only to preserve the combo turn, the life-payment window, or the match clock. Trade Dauthi Voidwalker or a temporary creature when doing so prevents lethal, protects a future Reanimate payment, or buys the turn needed for Show and Tell or Animate Dead. Avoid chump blocking with a payload that is already winning unless the opponent’s return attack or known burn range makes survival the only priority.

• Sequence combat around protection windows. Before attacking into open mana, use legal discard if it can clear bounce, exile, sacrifice, or combat trick interaction. After blockers, consider Griselbrand card draw only if the new cards can be used before damage or before the next lethal window; do not assume hidden interaction is absent.

• Adapt combat by opponent archetype. Against tempo, value life gain and protected attacks over maximum speed because bounce can undo a fragile race. Against combo, attack for the fastest lethal clock and spend blockers only if they disrupt the opponent’s kill. Against creature decks, Archon of Cruelty and Atraxa, Grand Unifier are stabilizers first and damage sources second; choose blocks that keep the stabilizer alive when legal.

• Use Koma, World-Eater and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers only according to visible rules output. Card text check required for detailed combat or activated-ability assumptions. If Forge presents legal combat-adjacent actions from either card, choose them only when the visible action text protects the threat, prevents lethal, or creates a faster deterministic clock than ordinary attacking.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Assemble a three-part hand before chasing surplus value. Prioritize a payload creature, a graveyard entry point, and a reanimation effect; treat Faithless Looting, discard spells, fetchlands, Lotus Petal, and Dark Ritual as selection tools only insofar as they produce that exact line. Do not spend the only enabler to improve a hand that already has a protected same-turn reanimation line.

• Use Faithless Looting to put the correct creature into the graveyard, not merely to see more cards. Discard Griselbrand when life total and stack context support drawing cards or lifelink, Atraxa, Grand Unifier when the hand needs a stabilizing body plus card selection, Archon of Cruelty when repeated attack triggers or immediate resource pressure matter, and Ashen Rider when a visible permanent must be removed. Discard Koma, World-Eater or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers only when Forge-visible card text and the current matchup make that payload better than the standard threats; Card text check required for detailed use.

• Choose Faithless Looting discards by preserving the next legal action. Keep at least one reanimation spell when possible, keep the mana source that makes it castable, and keep protection when the opponent has unknown cards or open interaction. Discard extra copies of Animate Dead, Reanimate, or Shallow Grave only when another legal reanimation spell remains or when digging is mandatory to avoid losing.

• Let Griselbrand selection depend on life and available mana. Activate Griselbrand only when the seven cards can be used before the opponent’s next relevant window or when lifelink has made the life payment survivable. Do not activate into a known lethal board or known damage range unless the current legal actions include a same-turn reanimation, discard, removal, or winning line.

• Treat Atraxa, Grand Unifier choices as role completion. When Forge presents card-type picks, choose the card that completes the missing role first: reanimation spell, mana, protection discard, payload redundancy, then sideboard pivot card. Do not take a speculative extra threat over the spell or mana that makes the next turn’s action legal.

• Use fetchlands as mana selection, not deck-thinning decoration. Crack Marsh Flats, Verdant Catacombs, or Polluted Delta for the land that casts the current line: Badlands or Raucous Theater for red plus black needs, Swamp for stable black against pressure or mana denial, Underground Sea or Undercity Sewers only when the legal action or sideboard plan needs that color. Preserve an uncracked fetchland when no mana is needed and public information suggests waiting could clarify the correct land.

• Use discard-reveal information to upgrade later selection. After Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality reveals a hand, choose future Faithless Looting discards, reanimation targets, and sideboard-pivot actions around the specific answer seen. Do not assume a card remains in hand after hidden-zone changes unless Veles still marks it as known.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Act in the earliest safe window when the hand is all-in and exposed. If the only payload is already in the graveyard and the opponent may untap into graveyard hate, cast Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave while priority and mana are available unless a visible discard action can first remove interaction. Waiting is correct only when the current state gives a concrete protection, mana, or payload upgrade.

• Cast protection before commitment when interaction is plausible. Use Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality before reanimation when the opponent has unknown cards, open mana, or visible sideboard posture. Use Cabal Therapy with known information; blind naming is a last resort when no other legal protection exists and passing risks losing.

• Respect the different timing profiles of reanimation spells. Use Reanimate for immediate permanent pressure when life payment is survivable, Animate Dead when a lasting creature is worth accepting enchantment vulnerability shown by Forge, and Shallow Grave when haste, lifelink, an attack trigger, or a same-turn sacrifice/flashback line matters. Do not choose Shallow Grave for a long-game plan unless the temporary creature’s visible value is the point.

• Respond to graveyard interaction by changing zones or threats when legal. If a spell or ability targets the graveyard card needed for Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave, respond with the reanimation spell only if timing and target legality are shown by Forge. If the stack cannot be beaten, preserve remaining resources and move toward Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker, or discard-based rebuilding after sideboard.

• Let opposing cantrips and setup resolve when they do not change the current kill. Spend discard or stack interaction only on cards that stop the combo, win before the reanimated threat attacks, or remove the resolved threat. Do not burn Unmask or Thoughtseize on low-impact card selection after the opponent is already under a lethal or near-lethal clock.

• Use Collective Brutality modes according to visible stack and board needs. Choose discard mode against interaction or combo pieces, removal mode against a creature that blocks the combo or race, and drain mode when life total changes unlock Griselbrand or Reanimate math. Card text and legal-mode output from Forge override assumptions.

• Manage optional payments and alternate costs as commitment decisions. Use Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual to force through a same-turn protected line; do not spend them on a lower-impact action if they are the only way to cast reanimation after discard. Use Unmask’s alternate cost only when the exiled black card is less important than clearing the named threat or enabling the immediate kill.

• Use combat and end-step priority to exploit temporary threats. With Shallow Grave creatures, take legal attacks, Griselbrand activations, Cabal Therapy flashback, or other visible actions before the creature leaves if those actions matter more than preserving hidden information. After combat, pass only when no legal action improves survival, protection, or the next combo turn.

Sideboard Map

• Use the sideboard to change the attack surface, not to become a fair deck. Keep the deck centered on fast discard plus a payload, then choose whether the post-board game should emphasize graveyard reanimation, battlefield deployment through Show and Tell, hand-size pressure through Stronghold Gambit, permanent pressure through Dauthi Voidwalker, or narrow cleanup through Meltdown and Abrade.

• Add Show and Tell when graveyard hate is likely or already visible. Show and Tell gives Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Griselbrand, Archon of Cruelty, Ashen Rider, Koma, World-Eater, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers a non-graveyard entry path. Prefer it when opponents can attack the graveyard before Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave resolves, when discard has seen hate pieces, or when the hand naturally has a payload but no discard outlet. Low value: reduce emphasis on Show and Tell against decks with bigger battlefield entries, many opposing permanents that punish symmetrical deployment, or hands that cannot reliably reach three mana without sacrificing protection.

• Add Stronghold Gambit against low-creature or creature-light opponents after discard confirms the path. Stronghold Gambit is strongest when Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality reveals no creature or a hand that can be stripped below the relevant creature count. Treat it as a protected combo action, not a blind turn-one habit, unless the matchup profile and visible information show the opponent is extremely unlikely to reveal a creature. Low value: reduce emphasis against creature-dense tempo, creature-combo, and battlefield decks where Stronghold Gambit can put the opponent’s creature onto the battlefield or fail to advance the combo.

• Add Dauthi Voidwalker when the matchup needs graveyard containment, a hard-castable threat, or a post-board pivot that ignores some graveyard hate. Dauthi Voidwalker pressures combo decks, punishes opposing graveyard lines, carries damage when the opponent overloads on hate, and can convert exiled cards into a high-impact spell if Forge exposes a legal activation. Low value: reduce emphasis when the opponent is racing on board with creatures that make a two-mana creature too slow, when the hand cannot support black-black sequencing, or when the game plan must stay maximally explosive.

• Add the sideboard Thoughtseize when the matchup is about clearing one specific answer or stopping a faster combo. Thoughtseize improves protected commitment turns for Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Show and Tell, and Stronghold Gambit. Low value: reduce emphasis against burn-heavy or creature-pressure decks when the life loss and tempo cost make Thoughtseize worse than Collective Brutality, Dauthi Voidwalker, or a faster payload line.

• Add the sideboard Cabal Therapy when discard density and known-information naming matter. Cabal Therapy is best beside Thoughtseize, Unmask, Collective Brutality, or revealed hands, and it gains value with expendable temporary creatures from Shallow Grave or redundant resolved creatures. Low value: reduce emphasis when the opponent’s hand is unknown, the matchup has too many distinct answers to name confidently, or sacrificing a creature would weaken the only winning clock.

• Add Meltdown against artifact-heavy boards where one red spell changes the race or clears lock pieces. Meltdown is narrow but high-impact when opposing artifacts are the reason reanimation cannot resolve, attacks cannot matter, or the opponent can accelerate past discard. Low value: reduce emphasis when the opponent has few visible artifacts, when red mana is unreliable, or when the game must be won before spending mana on a non-payload action.

• Add Abrade when a flexible answer to an artifact or creature is worth a sideboard slot. Abrade is preferred over Meltdown when the opponent presents one crucial artifact, a creature that blocks or races, or a mixed board where either mode may matter. Low value: reduce emphasis against decks with no meaningful artifacts or creatures, and do not bring it in merely because it is castable if it does not protect a combo turn or buy a decisive attack.

Graveyard-Hate Pivot Plan Role cards: 4 Show and Tell; 3 Stronghold Gambit; 1 Thoughtseize Trim roles: 4 Shallow Grave; 2 Collective Brutality; 1 Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers; 1 Koma, World-Eater

• Use this plan when post-board games are likely to revolve around graveyard denial rather than racing. Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit give the deck eight non-graveyard ways to deploy Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Griselbrand, Archon of Cruelty, or Ashen Rider, while the extra Thoughtseize increases the chance of clearing the single card that matters. Reducing Shallow Grave lowers exposure to graveyard exile and temporary-threat timing, while reducing the least proven payloads keeps the deck focused on creatures that are strong from hand or graveyard. Card text check required for Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers and Koma, World-Eater before overriding this default.

Creature-Light Combo Plan Role cards: 3 Stronghold Gambit; 1 Thoughtseize; 1 Cabal Therapy; 4 Dauthi Voidwalker Trim roles: 4 Animate Dead; 2 Collective Brutality; 1 Ashen Rider; 1 Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers; 1 Koma, World-Eater

• Use this plan against decks where speed, discard density, and opposing graveyard pressure matter more than a long Animate Dead game. Stronghold Gambit is a real threat only when discard can verify that the opponent cannot reveal a better creature, so prioritize Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality information before committing when possible. Dauthi Voidwalker adds a disruptive clock and graveyard pressure without needing a payload in the graveyard. Reduce emphasis on slower enchantment reanimation and high-uncertainty one-of payloads when the game is about acting before the opponent’s combo turn.

Artifact-Pressure Plan Role cards: 1 Meltdown; 1 Abrade; 1 Thoughtseize Trim roles: 1 Ashen Rider; 1 Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers; 1 Koma, World-Eater

• Use this plan when visible artifacts or expected artifact density can stop the combo, race the deck, or blank attacks. Meltdown handles wide artifact battlefields, Abrade answers a single artifact or creature, and Thoughtseize protects the decisive turn. Keep the core graveyard engine intact unless artifact pressure is paired with graveyard hate; if both are present, start from the Graveyard-Hate Pivot Plan and add Meltdown or Abrade only when the mana and matchup demand it.

Creature-Pressure Stabilization Plan Role cards: 4 Dauthi Voidwalker; 1 Abrade; 1 Thoughtseize Trim roles: 2 Cabal Therapy; 1 Ashen Rider; 1 Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers; 1 Koma, World-Eater; 1 Animate Dead

• Use this plan when the opponent pressures life total while still requiring disruption. Dauthi Voidwalker can block some lines, attack through many boards if its text permits, and provide non-graveyard pressure while Abrade answers a creature or artifact that changes combat math. Keep Reanimate life payments under stricter scrutiny, prefer Griselbrand only when lifelink or immediate cards stabilize, and value Archon of Cruelty or Atraxa, Grand Unifier when they create immediate battlefield or resource recovery.

• Add role cards by archetype rather than by habit. Against fast combo, add Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Dauthi Voidwalker, and sometimes Stronghold Gambit if the opposing creature count is low. Against graveyard hate, add Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit before adding narrow answers unless a visible permanent specifically requires Abrade or Meltdown. Against artifact decks, add Meltdown and Abrade only when they interact with the opponent’s actual plan. Against creature-heavy decks, add Abrade and Dauthi Voidwalker more often than Stronghold Gambit.

• Reduce main-deck emphasis according to what the opponent attacks. Reduce Shallow Grave when graveyard exile and instant-speed graveyard interaction are the central problem. Reduce Animate Dead when enchantment vulnerability or slow timing matters more than permanent pressure. Reduce Collective Brutality when the modes do not hit the opponent’s interaction or creatures. Reduce high-uncertainty one-of payloads before reducing Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty unless visible card text or matchup specifics make the one-of payload decisive.

Explicit Sideboard Repair Plans

These balanced plans are legal Veles candidates built from the registered sideboard and main deck. Use them as baseline sideboarding options only when the matchup role fits; keep the role guidance above as the strategic source of truth.

Legal repair plan 1 Side in: 4 Show and Tell Cut: 4 Faithless Looting

Legal repair plan 2 Side in: 3 Show and Tell; Thoughtseize Cut: 3 Faithless Looting; Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Legal repair plan 3 Side in: 2 Show and Tell; Thoughtseize; Cabal Therapy Cut: 2 Faithless Looting; 2 Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Legal repair plan 4 Side in: Show and Tell; Thoughtseize; Cabal Therapy; Stronghold Gambit Cut: Faithless Looting; 3 Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: win before the second combat wave or reanimate a stabilizer that changes life, cards, or blockers immediately. Keep fast hands with Faithless Looting plus Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave when they can present Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty before the opponent’s board becomes lethal. Prefer Collective Brutality when it can remove a small creature, take a relevant instant or sorcery, or offset Reanimate life loss. Add role cards: Dauthi Voidwalker, Abrade, and the sideboard Thoughtseize when disruption is still needed. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cabal Therapy when names are uncertain, slow one-of payloads, and Reanimate lines that put the pilot inside burn or attack range without lifelink or immediate recovery.

• Control: do not commit the only reanimation spell into open interaction unless discard has cleared the exact answer or waiting makes the game worse. Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality should prepare the turn for Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Show and Tell, or Stronghold Gambit. Value Griselbrand when immediate cards can find more discard and another threat, and value Atraxa, Grand Unifier when a resolved body plus selection reloads through one answer. Add role cards: Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Thoughtseize, and Cabal Therapy when graveyard hate and counterplay are expected. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Collective Brutality if its discard mode misses too often, and temporary Shallow Grave lines when the opponent can survive the single attack and answer afterward.

• Combo: race with discard-backed speed, not with slow attrition. Unmask and Thoughtseize should prioritize the card that enables the opponent’s kill or stops the pilot’s immediate kill, and Cabal Therapy becomes stronger after a revealed hand or after the first discard spell identifies the bottleneck. Keep Lotus Petal and Dark Ritual hands that can produce turn-one or turn-two payloads with protection. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Dauthi Voidwalker, and Stronghold Gambit against creature-light combo after hand information confirms the route. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Animate Dead when the game is about one-turn speed, Collective Brutality when it does not hit the opposing combo pieces, and high-uncertainty one-of payloads before reducing Griselbrand or Atraxa, Grand Unifier.

• Tempo: force the opponent to answer multiple distinct axes rather than exposing a single spell to mana-efficient disruption. Lead with discard before spending Dark Ritual or Lotus Petal when possible, and sequence Faithless Looting so the deck can rebuild if the first graveyard plan is stopped. Shallow Grave is valuable when it converts a narrow window into an immediate attack or Griselbrand activation, but do not assume a temporary creature survives combat or removal. Add role cards: Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Thoughtseize, and sometimes Abrade when a creature or artifact materially changes the race. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cabal Therapy without hand knowledge and Reanimate lines whose life payment turns a tempo clock into lethal damage.

• Midrange: trade discard for the specific hate or removal that invalidates the current line, then deploy a threat that generates resources immediately. Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Griselbrand are preferred when the opponent can answer one body but not the follow-up cards. Archon of Cruelty is strong when its trigger changes both hand and battlefield, but avoid assuming it wins through every board. Add role cards: Show and Tell against graveyard hate, Dauthi Voidwalker against graveyard or attrition pressure, and Abrade when a creature or artifact is the visible roadblock. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in Shallow Grave when the opponent’s life total and blockers make one attack insufficient.

• Big mana: kill quickly or discard the payoff that makes their mana matter. Prioritize hands that combine Faithless Looting or a payload already in graveyard with Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Dark Ritual, or Lotus Petal. Thoughtseize and Unmask should take the card that either stops the pilot this turn or creates a near-irreversible board next turn. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy when hand information is reliable, and Show and Tell only when the opponent is unlikely to put in a more decisive permanent. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow discard loops and conditional removal unless the visible board demands Abrade or Meltdown.

• Graveyard decks: apply pressure while denying their graveyard without weakening the pilot’s own kill unnecessarily. Dauthi Voidwalker is the cleanest sideboard role card when its visible text and board state matter, and discard should check whether the opponent can win before the pilot’s reanimation line. Stronghold Gambit and Show and Tell give non-graveyard deployment when opposing graveyard hate is also expected. Add role cards: Dauthi Voidwalker, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Thoughtseize, and Cabal Therapy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Shallow Grave first when exile effects are likely, then Animate Dead if permanent graveyard targeting is exposed.

• Artifact/enchantment decks: distinguish hate pieces from mere permanents before spending a turn on answers. Meltdown is for wide artifact boards or artifact locks, while Abrade is for one artifact or creature that materially blocks a combo turn or race. Ashen Rider may be a payload when a permanent must be removed, but Card text check required before relying on exact trigger timing. Add role cards: Meltdown, Abrade, Thoughtseize, Show and Tell if graveyard hate is enchantment-based and hard to remove. Reduce main-deck emphasis: uncertain one-of payloads and slower lines that lose to the visible permanent already on board.

• Go-wide decks: prioritize lifelink, card reload, or sacrifice/edict-style battlefield impact over a single fragile attacker. Griselbrand can stabilize if life total permits activation or combat, Atraxa, Grand Unifier can reload into removal or another reanimation spell, and Archon of Cruelty can swing resources if the opponent has a relevant creature or hand. Collective Brutality and Abrade matter when they remove a creature that changes the clock. Add role cards: Dauthi Voidwalker, Abrade, and Meltdown only when artifacts are part of the go-wide plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Cabal Therapy when the opponent’s threats are redundant and names are low confidence.

• Single-threat decks: trade discard and removal for the one threat or answer that matters, then deploy the largest safe payload. Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, Collective Brutality, and Abrade should be aimed at the card that changes the current race, not at marginal resource exchanges. Reanimate and Animate Dead are acceptable if the resulting creature dominates the visible threat; Shallow Grave is acceptable when immediate damage, lifelink, or a trigger changes the game this turn. Add role cards: Abrade, Thoughtseize, and Dauthi Voidwalker when graveyards matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Meltdown unless artifacts are the single-threat engine.

• Burn: treat life total as a primary resource constraint, not as a cosmetic cost. Reanimate on Griselbrand can be correct when lifelink or immediate cards stabilize, but Reanimate on Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Archon of Cruelty must be checked against visible and likely damage. Collective Brutality is high value because its modes can drain, discard a burn spell, and enable the graveyard. Add role cards: Dauthi Voidwalker if it blocks or clocks meaningfully, Thoughtseize only when the specific card taken is worth the life, and Abrade only for a visible creature or artifact. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Thoughtseize, Unmask card disadvantage, and Reanimate lines that create lethal exposure.

• Removal-heavy decks: make removal answer the wrong object or come too late. Prefer payloads that generate value immediately, especially Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and Archon of Cruelty, and do not spend the only discard spell on a low-impact card when a removal spell or graveyard hate card is the true bottleneck. Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit can punish graveyard-focused removal plans, but Stronghold Gambit requires hand information because opposing creatures can change the result. Add role cards: Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Thoughtseize, and Cabal Therapy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: temporary Shallow Grave attacks when the opponent can remove the creature before damage or survive the attack.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only note: revealed cards override assumptions. Use visible hand information, public permanents, graveyards, life totals, and legal action text before applying these notes; do not force a matchup plan when Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or Collective Brutality reveals a different role.

• Blue permission shells: protect the first decisive reanimation spell before protecting the payload. Priority targets are counterspell effects, graveyard hate, and instant-speed removal that stops Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, or Koma, World-Eater from mattering. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Show and Tell, and sometimes Stronghold Gambit when hand information confirms the opponent cannot put in a better creature. Reduce main-deck emphasis: blind Cabal Therapy and fragile Shallow Grave lines that lose to one open interaction spell.

• Fast creature decks: reanimate a stabilizer before maximizing card count. Griselbrand is preferred when lifelink or cards can reverse the race, Archon of Cruelty is preferred when the trigger changes battlefield and hand, and Atraxa, Grand Unifier is preferred when finding the second wave matters. Add role cards: Abrade when a visible creature blocks the combo turn or race, Dauthi Voidwalker when it blocks and pressures, and Meltdown only against artifact-heavy boards. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Reanimate on high-cost payloads when life payment creates lethal exposure.

• Graveyard hate decks: pivot deployment method before spending all resources fighting the hate. Priority targets are visible or revealed graveyard-exile effects, lock permanents, and discard that breaks the pilot’s only enabler-plus-reanimation pair. Add role cards: Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Abrade, and Meltdown according to the visible hate type. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Animate Dead and Shallow Grave when graveyard targeting is exposed and no discard can clear the obstacle.

• Combo mirrors: become the faster discard-combo deck unless Dauthi Voidwalker changes the exchange. Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality should take the card that wins before the pilot’s next action, not the card that merely generates future value. Add role cards: Dauthi Voidwalker, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Show and Tell, and Stronghold Gambit when non-graveyard deployment is safer. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Faithless Looting rebuilds when a legal kill is available now.

• Permanent-heavy prison or artifact boards: answer the permanent only when it changes legality or the clock. Meltdown is for wide artifact pressure or artifact locks; Abrade is for one artifact or creature that blocks a current line. Ashen Rider may be a payload for a permanent problem, but Card text check required before relying on exact trigger timing. Add role cards: Meltdown, Abrade, Show and Tell, and Thoughtseize. Reduce main-deck emphasis: speculative discard after the lock is already public and must be answered on board.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: keep hands that actually cast the line. Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Badlands, Swamp, Raucous Theater, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, and Verdant Catacombs must be evaluated against the exact colors and timing of Faithless Looting, Animate Dead, Reanimate, Shallow Grave, discard, and sideboard spells; do not assume a fetchland finds every required color.

• Matchup risk: sideboard pivots can dilute the core engine. Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker, Meltdown, Abrade, Thoughtseize, and Cabal Therapy are role cards, not permission to remove too much discard, payload density, or reanimation density.

• Draw risk: payload-heavy hands can fail without a discard outlet or reanimation spell. Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Koma, World-Eater, Ashen Rider, and Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers need Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or a legal discard route before they become graveyard resources.

• Graveyard risk: the first graveyard line may be the bait, not the plan. When graveyard hate is visible or revealed, prioritize discard, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, or a delayed rebuild over spending Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave into a known failure.

• Sweeper/removal risk: temporary and aura-based threats are fragile. Shallow Grave creates a narrow window, Animate Dead can expose the threat to permanent interaction, and single-payload plans can lose to one answer unless Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Archon of Cruelty generates immediate value.

• Closer risk: not every large creature ends the game the same way. Griselbrand can reload or stabilize, Atraxa, Grand Unifier can reload, Archon of Cruelty can swing resources, Koma, World-Eater may dominate if it survives, and Ashen Rider or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers require Card text check required before assuming exact closing function.

• Sequencing risk: discard must match the intended combo turn. Use Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality before committing when interaction is likely, but do not spend the turn stripping low-impact cards if a legal reanimation line wins or stabilizes immediately.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Result driver: Record whether each game was decided by speed, disruption, graveyard access, mana, life total pressure, sideboard pivot, or a resolved threat; tie the finding to the exact turn where Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Show and Tell, or Stronghold Gambit became legal or failed to become legal.

• Mulligans: Note whether the opening hand had a payload, a graveyard enabler, a reanimation spell, and mana; flag hands with Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Koma, World-Eater, Ashen Rider, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers that lacked Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or a clear legal discard route.

• Mana: Track whether Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Badlands, Swamp, Underground Sea, Undercity Sewers, Raucous Theater, Marsh Flats, Polluted Delta, and Verdant Catacombs produced the colors needed on the critical turn; mark any loss where a fetchland or tapped land delayed Faithless Looting, Thoughtseize, Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Abrade, or Meltdown.

• Velocity: Check whether Faithless Looting and Collective Brutality improved the hand or consumed the turn without creating a live graveyard line; identify games where drawing cards with Griselbrand or selecting cards from Atraxa, Grand Unifier converted into a second wave.

• Disruption: Evaluate whether Thoughtseize, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, and Collective Brutality took the card that actually blocked the planned line; flag blind Cabal Therapy misses and any discard spell spent on a low-impact card while a visible or revealed obstacle remained.

• Engine execution: Record whether the winning line used Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, or Dauthi Voidwalker; note whether the chosen path respected visible graveyard hate, revealed interaction, board pressure, and life-total exposure.

• Threat performance: Identify which payload mattered most: Griselbrand for cards or lifelink, Atraxa, Grand Unifier for rebuilding, Archon of Cruelty for resource swing, Koma, World-Eater for board dominance, Ashen Rider for permanent pressure, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers only after Card text check required.

• Removal and hate answers: Record when Abrade or Meltdown answered a visible artifact or creature that changed the legal line; flag games where these cards were stranded, too slow, or unnecessary compared with discard or a non-graveyard deployment plan.

• Sideboard role: Track whether Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker, Thoughtseize, Cabal Therapy, Abrade, and Meltdown addressed the actual opposing plan; flag games where sideboard cards diluted payload, discard, reanimation density, or mana consistency.

• Closing: Note whether the first threat ended the game, stabilized but required a second threat, or failed after temporary Shallow Grave pressure; record missed attacks, missed draws, unnecessary life payments, and pass choices that let the opponent recover.

• Mistakes: Mark any action that ignored legal action text, visible board state, known hand information, public graveyards, stack contents, life totals, or rules-engine output; separate pilot mistakes from plausible losses caused by matchup pressure.

• Stranded cards: List every stranded copy of Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Faithless Looting, Show and Tell, Stronghold Gambit, Dauthi Voidwalker, Abrade, and Meltdown with the reason it failed to matter.

First Tuning Questions

• Core speed question: Are four Faithless Looting, four Dark Ritual, four Lotus Petal, four Reanimate, four Animate Dead, and four Shallow Grave producing enough turn-one or turn-two decisive lines, or are too many hands missing one of enabler, payload, reanimation, or mana?

• Payload mix question: Are three Griselbrand, three Atraxa, Grand Unifier, two Archon of Cruelty, one Koma, World-Eater, one Ashen Rider, and one Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers the right threat spread, or are some payloads repeatedly worse than drawing another enabler, discard spell, or mana source?

• Life-total question: Does Reanimate on Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, or Koma, World-Eater lose too many games to aggro pressure, making Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, or Show and Tell more important in those pairings?

• Mana-base question: Do Raucous Theater and Undercity Sewers create unacceptable timing losses, or do they provide enough color access to justify entering tapped in a deck that often needs immediate black or red mana?

• Disruption-density question: Are four Unmask, three Thoughtseize, two Cabal Therapy, and two Collective Brutality enough protection, or does the deck need more hand interaction after sideboarding through the additional Thoughtseize and Cabal Therapy?

• Graveyard-hate question: Against opponents with visible graveyard pressure, is the deck winning more through Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit, or does it still need more ways for Abrade, Meltdown, discard, and Dauthi Voidwalker to clear or bypass the obstacle?

• Sideboard-slot question: Are four Dauthi Voidwalker performing as disruption, pressure, and mirror technology, or are those slots conflicting with the primary reanimation and non-graveyard deployment plans?

• Aggro-plan question: Does the deck stabilize creature pressure reliably with Griselbrand, Archon of Cruelty, Collective Brutality, Abrade, and Dauthi Voidwalker, or are fast matchups exposing too many pain points from Reanimate and Thoughtseize?

• Control-plan question: Are Show and Tell and Stronghold Gambit actually improving counterspell and graveyard-hate games, or are they creating role conflict by requiring mana and timing that the discard suite cannot consistently protect?

• Closer question: When the first threat is answered, does Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Griselbrand rebuild often enough, or should tuning prioritize more redundancy over specialized one-of payloads with Card text check required concerns?

• Role-conflict question: After sideboarding, is the deck still a fast reanimator deck with a protected pivot, or does it become a slower midrange-disruption deck without enough pressure to punish the opponent?

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Opening Hand Combo Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mulligan
• Cards: Faithless Looting; Reanimate; Animate Dead; Shallow Grave; Dark Ritual; Lotus Petal; Unmask; Thoughtseize; Cabal Therapy; Collective Brutality; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider; Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
• Phase windows: pregame, opening hand, mulligan decisions
• Runtime cues: hand has payload plus graveyard route plus reanimation route plus mana, or lacks one required role
• Use when: deciding keep or mulligan from visible opening hand and known matchup context.
• Avoid when: rules-engine output offers no mulligan action or hand contents are not visible.
• Instructions: Keep hands that can put a registered payload into the graveyard and cast Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave quickly with protection or redundancy. Mulligan hands that contain only payloads and mana without Faithless Looting, Collective Brutality, Unmask, Cabal Therapy, or another legal discard route. Treat Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers as conditional until Card text check required is resolved.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Enabler Setup

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; selection; mana
• Cards: Faithless Looting; Collective Brutality; Unmask; Cabal Therapy
• Phase windows: main phase, early turns, priority with empty stack
• Runtime cues: legal actions include a discard or loot effect and hand contains Griselbrand, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Archon of Cruelty, Koma, World-Eater, Ashen Rider, or Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
• Use when: selecting the first spell that creates a live graveyard threat.
• Avoid when: opponent has visible graveyard hate already active and a non-graveyard sideboard path is legal.
• Instructions: Prioritize the enabler that also protects the line if disruption is visible or known. Use Faithless Looting when card velocity and payload placement matter more than stripping the opponent. Use Collective Brutality when discard, life buffer, or a removal mode matters.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Combo Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; interaction; mana
• Cards: Reanimate; Animate Dead; Shallow Grave; Dark Ritual; Lotus Petal; Unmask; Thoughtseize; Cabal Therapy
• Phase windows: main phase, priority before reanimation, post-discard windows
• Runtime cues: legal actions include Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave targeting a payload card in a graveyard
• Use when: deciding whether to start the reanimation line this priority window.
• Avoid when: the chosen target is not visible in a graveyard or the reanimation spell is not legal.
• Instructions: Go now when waiting risks losing the payload, missing mana, or dying to board pressure. Delay when discard can first clear a revealed answer, when life total makes Reanimate lethal to self, or when Shallow Grave would produce only temporary pressure without a follow-up.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Reanimate Exact Target After Commitment

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; selection
• Cards: Reanimate; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider
• Phase windows: target-selection prompt for Reanimate
• Runtime cues: action:target Griselbrand Reanimate; action:target Atraxa, Grand Unifier Reanimate; action:target Archon of Cruelty Reanimate; action:target Koma, World-Eater Reanimate; action:target Ashen Rider Reanimate
• Use when: exactly one legal Reanimate target is visible in a graveyard and the prior selected line is to cast Reanimate.
• Avoid when: two or more payload targets are legal, life payment could matter, or opponent graveyard targets are also legal.
• Instructions: Choose the single visible payload target named by the legal action text. Do not infer hidden targets or assume life safety beyond engine-provided legality.
• Pilot skill floor: low
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Shallow Grave Timing Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; combat; mana
• Cards: Shallow Grave; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider
• Phase windows: main phase, combat setup, end-step pressure windows
• Runtime cues: legal action includes Shallow Grave and a payload card is the relevant graveyard creature by rules-engine output
• Use when: deciding whether temporary reanimation is enough this turn.
• Avoid when: the rules engine does not expose the target/order context or another permanent reanimation line is clearly legal and safer.
• Instructions: Favor Shallow Grave when haste, lifelink, card draw, attack trigger pressure, or immediate removal of a permanent can decide the turn. Avoid spending it into a board where the creature cannot attack and no immediate ability or trigger is visible.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Animate Dead Permanent Line

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; selection; interaction
• Cards: Animate Dead; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider
• Phase windows: main phase, target-selection prompt, post-discard window
• Runtime cues: legal actions include Animate Dead targeting a visible graveyard creature
• Use when: choosing a durable reanimation target or deciding whether to expose Animate Dead.
• Avoid when: visible enchantment removal risk is known from revealed hand and Reanimate or Show and Tell avoids it.
• Instructions: Use Animate Dead when permanence matters more than speed or life preservation. Prefer threats that stabilize against visible board pressure, rebuild resources, or immediately pressure opponent resources.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Mana Burst Sequencing

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana; priority
• Cards: Dark Ritual; Lotus Petal; Badlands; Swamp; Underground Sea; Raucous Theater; Undercity Sewers
• Phase windows: main phase, casting-cost payment prompts, pre-combo priority
• Runtime cues: legal actions include Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal activation/sacrifice, or land mana abilities before a combo spell
• Use when: selecting mana sources for a planned spell sequence this turn.
• Avoid when: no spell sequence has been selected or exact payment is forced by the engine.
• Instructions: Preserve black mana for Reanimate, Animate Dead, Shallow Grave, discard, and Dark Ritual chains. Spend Lotus Petal when it unlocks the current turn or fixes red for Faithless Looting. Avoid sacrificing flexible mana before confirming the next legal spell.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Exact Mandatory Mana Payment

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: mana
• Cards: Dark Ritual; Lotus Petal; Badlands; Swamp; Underground Sea; Raucous Theater; Undercity Sewers
• Phase windows: mana-payment prompt
• Runtime cues: action:pay; action:activate mana ability
• Use when: exactly one legal payment or mana action is offered by the rules engine.
• Avoid when: two or more payment plans, colors, or mana-source choices are legal.
• Instructions: Select the only legal payment action shown. Do not reorder sources or invent floating mana uses.
• Pilot skill floor: low
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Self-Discard Target Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection; interaction
• Cards: Unmask; Cabal Therapy; Collective Brutality; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider; Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
• Phase windows: target and discard-choice prompts
• Runtime cues: action:target self Unmask; action:target self Cabal Therapy; discard-choice prompt with payload card in hand
• Use when: self-targeting or discarding to create the graveyard half of the combo.
• Avoid when: opponent has a revealed card that must be stripped before combo commitment or no reanimation spell is available.
• Instructions: Self-target only when it materially turns on Reanimate, Animate Dead, or Shallow Grave and another enabler is unavailable or slower. Prefer discarding the payload that matches the current reanimation spell and life-total constraints.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Opponent Discard Targeting

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction; selection
• Cards: Thoughtseize; Unmask; Cabal Therapy; Collective Brutality
• Phase windows: pre-combo main phase, opponent hand reveal prompts
• Runtime cues: legal actions include opponent-targeting discard or selecting a revealed opponent hand card
• Use when: choosing protection before committing a reanimation, Show and Tell, or Stronghold Gambit line.
• Avoid when: no opponent hand information is visible and the action asks for a blind card name without matchup reason.
• Instructions: Take the card that stops the selected line, not the card that is strongest in isolation. Prioritize visible counterplay, graveyard hate, removal that answers the chosen payload, or a faster kill. Use Cabal Therapy naming only from revealed information or matchup-specific certainty.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Griselbrand Activation Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; selection
• Cards: Griselbrand
• Phase windows: after Griselbrand enters, combat damage windows, end step
• Runtime cues: legal action includes Griselbrand draw activation
• Use when: deciding whether to pay life for cards.
• Avoid when: life payment would put the pilot dead to visible attackers, stack damage, or known burn-like pressure from revealed information.
• Instructions: Draw when cards are needed to chain protection, find another reanimation spell, or win before the opponent untaps. Decline when the board is stabilized, life is low, and the current hand already contains a protected follow-up.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Atraxa Selection Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection
• Cards: Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• Phase windows: Atraxa, Grand Unifier resolution selection prompts
• Runtime cues: selection prompt from Atraxa, Grand Unifier with visible candidate cards
• Use when: choosing cards from visible revealed candidates.
• Avoid when: card types or candidates are not visible in engine output.
• Instructions: Select cards that rebuild the next wave first: reanimation, discard protection, mana, then payload. Respect one-card-per-type constraints if the engine exposes them. Do not assume hidden library order beyond revealed candidates.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Show And Tell Pivot Commitment

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; sideboard; selection
• Cards: Show and Tell; Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider
• Phase windows: post-sideboard main phase, graveyard-hate games
• Runtime cues: legal action includes Show and Tell and hand contains a payload
• Use when: choosing whether to bypass graveyard interaction through Show and Tell.
• Avoid when: opponent has a revealed permanent that punishes Show and Tell or the hand lacks a payload to put in.
• Instructions: Commit to Show and Tell when graveyard lines are blocked or too exposed and discard has reduced visible opposition. Choose the payload that stabilizes the visible board or produces the strongest immediate resource swing.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Stronghold Gambit Pivot Commitment

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; sideboard; interaction
• Cards: Stronghold Gambit; Thoughtseize; Unmask; Cabal Therapy; Collective Brutality
• Phase windows: post-sideboard main phase after discard
• Runtime cues: legal action includes Stronghold Gambit
• Use when: opponent hand information is visible or discard has cleared creatures according to engine-visible information.
• Avoid when: opponent may still have a creature card in hand and the engine does not reveal enough information to justify the risk.
• Instructions: Use Stronghold Gambit as a protected pivot, not as a blind gamble unless the clock demands it. Pair it with discard when possible and reassess after every revealed hand change.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Dauthi Voidwalker Pressure And Hate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; combat; interaction; sideboard
• Cards: Dauthi Voidwalker
• Phase windows: post-sideboard early turns, combat, graveyard interaction windows
• Runtime cues: legal actions include casting Dauthi Voidwalker or activating/using an exiled-card permission from it
• Use when: a slower disruptive plan is needed or opponent graveyard usage matters.
• Avoid when: the current hand has a protected fast combo and Dauthi Voidwalker delays it without stopping visible pressure.
• Instructions: Cast Dauthi Voidwalker to disrupt graveyard opponents, pressure control, or bridge games where graveyard reanimation is contested. Treat any permission to cast exiled cards as light-model because card identity and timing matter.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Artifact Answer Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction; sideboard; priority
• Cards: Abrade; Meltdown
• Phase windows: post-sideboard main phase, priority before combo, artifact-hate board states
• Runtime cues: legal action includes Abrade or Meltdown targeting or affecting visible artifacts
• Use when: a visible artifact prevents the selected line, pressures lethal, or blocks mana/combat development.
• Avoid when: the artifact does not affect the current line and spending the answer delays a protected combo.
• Instructions: Use Abrade for a specific visible artifact or creature that changes the turn. Use Meltdown when multiple visible artifacts matter and mana supports the sweep. Do not fire artifact answers for generic cleanup before checking combo legality.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Combat With Reanimated Threats

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Griselbrand; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Archon of Cruelty; Koma, World-Eater; Ashen Rider; Dauthi Voidwalker; Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers
• Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, postcombat
• Runtime cues: legal combat actions with one or more registered creatures on battlefield
• Use when: deciding attacks, blocks, or whether to hold a creature back.
• Avoid when: exactly one legal attack or block action exists and the engine forces it.
• Instructions: Attack when lifelink, trigger pressure, or lethal clock advances the selected plan without exposing survival. Hold back when visible crack-back damage or losing the only stabilizer matters. Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers requires Card text check required before relying on any ability.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection

• Priority: High
• Decision families: sideboard; pregame
• Cards: Show and Tell; Stronghold Gambit; Dauthi Voidwalker; Thoughtseize; Cabal Therapy; Abrade; Meltdown; Reanimate; Animate Dead; Shallow Grave; Faithless Looting; Collective Brutality; Dark Ritual; Lotus Petal
• Phase windows: between games, sideboard submission
• Runtime cues: sideboard decision request with matchup label, previous-game public log, and legal swap candidates
• Use when: selecting post-board configuration.
• Avoid when: exact sideboard plan is already locked by the manifest or legal swap validation fails.
• Instructions: Add non-graveyard pivots against graveyard hate, extra discard against stack interaction, Dauthi Voidwalker against graveyard mirrors, and Abrade or Meltdown only for visible or expected artifact pressure. Preserve enough payload, mana, discard, and reanimation density to remain a combo deck.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes