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

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

Selesnya Depths is a Legacy Selesnya land-combo midrange deck registered as 61 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards. The active validation contract passes for Legacy because the main deck is at least 60 cards and the sideboard is at most 15 cards; this guide should still treat 61 cards as a consistency cost when evaluating marginal keeps, sideboard cuts, and tutor density.

Use the tags combo and midrange as the active archetype labels, with the duplicated input tags normalized to those two strategic roles. The deck is a hybrid build: the core Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Green Sun's Zenith, Mox Diamond, Wasteland, and Swords to Plowshares package resembles established Legacy Selesnya Depths shells, while Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Erode, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, Six, Echoing Deeps, Talon Gates of Madara, and Lush Portico make this exact registration a deck-specific or partially rogue configuration rather than a purely stock list.

Treat the primary identity as proactive land-combo pressure backed by a creature toolbox and disruptive lands. The agent should understand the deck as a Dark Depths deck first, a Knight of the Reliquary and Elvish Reclaimer toolbox deck second, and a fair Selesnya creature deck third; fair combat plans matter, but they should not override a clean, legal, protected Dark Depths line when visible information supports going for it.

Respect the runtime engine before all strategic labels. The guide gives tactical preferences, but Veles must choose only from legal actions exposed by the rules engine, must use visible board state and public information, and must avoid assuming hidden removal, hidden countermagic, unknown hand contents, or unverified rules outcomes unless those cards or effects are revealed or otherwise represented in engine output.

Flag card-text uncertainty before relying on unfamiliar registered cards. Card text check required for Badgermole Cub, Erode, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, Scythecat Cub, Six, Talon Gates of Madara, and sideboard Icetill Explorer before making exact trigger, target, timing, stat, or replacement-effect claims; until checked, use them through legal action text and visible engine metadata rather than assumed oracle text.

Monitor mana stability as a real deckbuilding concern. The mana base is powerful but tight: Mox Diamond can accelerate or fix only when an extra land is available, Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, Blast Zone, Bojuka Bog, Karakas, Sejiri Steppe, Talon Gates of Madara, and Echoing Deeps can create awkward colored-mana sequences, and early green access is critical for Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, and Knight of the Reliquary development.

Treat opponent information as unspecified at guide-import time. No exact opponent decklist, matchup, hand, battlefield, graveyard, exile, or sideboard plan is known from this batch; matchup-specific sections may later discuss broad Legacy archetypes, but runtime decisions must prioritize the actual visible opponent cards and logged public actions over metagame guesses.

Preserve exact registered names in all tactical and sideboard decisions. Legal Cut: names are only the registered main-deck cards, and legal Side in: names are only Collector Ouphe, Disruptor Flute, Doorkeeper Thrull, Endurance, Force of Vigor, Gaddock Teeg, Icetill Explorer, Mindbreak Trap, Outland Liberator, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale; absent staples or generic format cards must not be treated as available tools.

Thesis

Selesnya Depths assembles a land-based kill with Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage, then protects or forces through the resulting threat with tutor density, land utility, and cheap interaction. The deck should prioritize early green access, a credible path to Dark Depths, and enough protection or disruption to make the combo turn survive visible opposing interaction.

The deck wins by converting lands into inevitability instead of trying to play a long generic creature curve. Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary find the exact land needed; Green Sun's Zenith increases access to creature engines; Mox Diamond turns land-heavy hands into faster setup; and Wasteland, Karakas, Bojuka Bog, Blast Zone, Sejiri Steppe, and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth give the land package real tactical texture.

Prioritize protected combo pressure over fair damage when both lines are legal and visible information favors commitment. A fast Dark Depths line is the cleanest plan, but the agent should not blindly sacrifice stability: keep enough mana, land count, or tutor redundancy to recover if the first land line is answered, and delay commitment when visible public information shows an immediate answer that can be played around.

Use the creature plan as pressure, tutoring infrastructure, and recovery rather than as a default beatdown identity. Knight of the Reliquary, Elvish Reclaimer, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Six, Sylvan Safekeeper, and Dryad Arbor can occupy the board, pressure life totals, or enable land decisions, but the deck is not trying to win by ignoring the Dark Depths package and simply attacking with small creatures.

Respect card-text uncertainty for unusual registered cards. Card text check required for Badgermole Cub, Erode, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, Scythecat Cub, Six, Talon Gates of Madara, and Icetill Explorer; until runtime text or engine output confirms details, treat them by visible legal actions, costs, targets, and resulting engine metadata rather than assumed abilities.

Role Package

• Threats: Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage is the primary threat package, while Knight of the Reliquary, Elvish Reclaimer, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Dryad Arbor, and Six provide board presence when the combo is delayed or when fair pressure is the safer visible line.

• Payoffs: Dark Depths is the defining payoff, and Knight of the Reliquary is the main fair payoff because it turns land density into both size and land selection. Scythecat Cub and Badgermole Cub may be payoff or pressure pieces, but card text check required before assigning exact trigger-based or combat-based priorities.

• Engines: Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, Mox Diamond, and Six form the repeatable setup core. Use these cards to convert excess lands, graveyard access, or creature tutoring into the exact board state needed for combo, disruption, or recovery; card text check required before relying on exact Six recursion lines.

• Velocity: Green Sun's Zenith is creature access, Crop Rotation is instant-speed land access, Mox Diamond is acceleration when the hand contains expendable lands, and fetchlands such as Windswept Heath support fixing and graveyard fuel. Do not treat velocity as pure speed if it empties the hand into a visibly fragile combo attempt.

• Interaction: Swords to Plowshares handles opposing creatures, Wasteland attacks opposing mana or utility lands, Karakas answers legal legendary-creature pressure when applicable, Bojuka Bog pressures graveyards, Blast Zone can answer board clusters, and Erode is interaction only as confirmed by card text or legal action text.

• Protection: Sylvan Safekeeper, Sejiri Steppe, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, and Talon Gates of Madara are the registered protection module, but card text check required for Legolas's Quick Reflexes and Talon Gates of Madara. Protect the combo threat when the engine exposes a legal protective action and visible information says protection matters more than developing another resource.

• Recursion: Six and Echoing Deeps are the apparent recursion or land-reuse module, but card text check required before treating either as guaranteed recovery. Use recursion to rebuild after Wasteland exchanges, sacrificed lands, or answered combo pieces only when runtime legality confirms the line.

• Mana: Savannah, Forest, Plains, Lush Portico, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Windswept Heath, Mox Diamond, Dryad Arbor, Flagstones of Trokair, and utility lands must be sequenced to preserve early green. Avoid hands where Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, or other colorless utility lands prevent casting the setup cards that make those lands powerful.

• Sideboard modules: Collector Ouphe, Force of Vigor, and Outland Liberator address artifact or enchantment pressure; Endurance and Bojuka Bog style effects cover graveyard pressure; Mindbreak Trap, Gaddock Teeg, and Disruptor Flute are anti-combo or spell-axis tools; Doorkeeper Thrull is a hate piece whose exact use requires confirmed text; The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale pressures creature-heavy boards; and Icetill Explorer requires card text check before strategic assignment.

Primary Win Conditions

• Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage is the primary kill, and the setup is to put both lands into play with enough mana and protection to survive the opponent's visible answer window. Use natural land drops, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary to assemble the pair; use Mox Diamond only when the discarded land does not strand the combo or remove needed colored mana.

• Execute the Dark Depths line when the engine presents the legal activation or land-search sequence and the visible board does not demand a defensive detour. The normal commitment pattern is to find the missing land, activate Thespian's Stage copying Dark Depths, let the rules engine create the resulting threat, then preserve attack access with Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, or Talon Gates of Madara only when legal action text confirms the relevant protection; card text check required for Legolas's Quick Reflexes and Talon Gates of Madara.

• Prioritize the fast combo when the opponent is low on visible mana, tapped low, under graveyard or land pressure, or presenting a faster deterministic clock. Delay the combo when visible public information shows an immediate answer that can be played around by waiting for Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, an extra land-search effect, or Wasteland pressure.

• Protect the combo by choosing land tutors for the missing protection land when the combo is already assembled or nearly assembled. Crop Rotation and Knight of the Reliquary can find Sejiri Steppe, Karakas, Bojuka Bog, Blast Zone, Wasteland, or Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth as needed, but do not spend the last tutor on utility if that leaves no route to Dark Depths or Thespian's Stage.

• Use Knight of the Reliquary as both a threat and a combo engine when the game slows down. A resolved Knight of the Reliquary can pressure life totals, turn excess lands into exact utility, and threaten the combo every turn; prioritize keeping it alive when it is the only active way to find Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, or protective lands.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Win fair games with oversized land-synergy creatures when the combo is delayed, disrupted, or visibly unsafe. Knight of the Reliquary is the main fair attacker, while Elvish Reclaimer, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Dryad Arbor, and Six can create a board that forces blocks or shortens the clock; card text check required before relying on exact combat triggers from Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, or Six.

• Use Green Sun's Zenith as the flexible creature plan rather than as a generic value spell. Find Dryad Arbor when the hand needs acceleration or a body, find Sylvan Safekeeper when protection matters, find Elvish Reclaimer when land access matters, and find larger creature pressure such as Knight of the Reliquary only when the mana and board state support a fair-game pivot.

• Use disruption to convert modest pressure into a win when the combo cannot be forced immediately. Swords to Plowshares clears blockers or lethal attackers, Wasteland constrains opposing mana, Bojuka Bog disrupts graveyard engines, Karakas checks legal legendary-creature threats, and Blast Zone can answer clusters that block attacks or threaten the board.

• Treat Erode as conditional interaction until card text is confirmed. If the rules engine exposes a legal Erode action against a visible permanent or spell, evaluate it as a tempo or protection play; do not assume it answers a specific card type without legal action text or confirmed card text.

• Use recursion or land reuse as a fallback engine only when runtime legality confirms it. Six and Echoing Deeps may help recover sacrificed or destroyed lands, but card text check required; if the engine offers a legal recovery action for Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, Sejiri Steppe, or Bojuka Bog, prioritize the land that restores either a combo kill or survival.

Emergency Lines

• When behind on life, stabilize before committing to a fragile combo if the visible board can kill before the token attacks. Use Swords to Plowshares, Blast Zone, Karakas, Bojuka Bog, Wasteland, or legal blockers from Dryad Arbor, Elvish Reclaimer, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Knight of the Reliquary, and Six according to the exact attack math shown by the engine.

• When behind on board, choose the line that either produces the fastest protected Dark Depths kill or removes the highest-impact visible threat. Do not use Crop Rotation or Knight of the Reliquary for small utility if the only realistic recovery is assembling Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage before the next combat step.

• When behind on cards, preserve repeatable engines and avoid sacrificing unique resources without a concrete payoff. Keep Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Six, or Green Sun's Zenith lines that rebuild access to lands, and avoid discarding the only colored source to Mox Diamond unless the resulting play immediately stabilizes or threatens the combo.

• When behind on mana, prioritize green access and functional land drops over speculative utility. Windswept Heath, Savannah, Forest, Lush Portico, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Mox Diamond, and Dryad Arbor are the recovery tools; colorless lands such as Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, and Blast Zone are powerful only after setup spells remain castable.

• When a combo piece is removed, pivot through redundancy before conceding the plan. Search for the remaining Dark Depths or Thespian's Stage, look for recovery via Echoing Deeps or Six only if legal action text supports it, and use Knight of the Reliquary pressure plus Wasteland disruption while rebuilding.

• When graveyard recursion or opposing combo is the emergency, use the exact visible hate line. Bojuka Bog is the main-deck graveyard reset, Wasteland can attack land-based engines, Karakas can answer legal legendary-creature lines, and Swords to Plowshares should be saved for the creature that actually wins or unlocks the opponent's current board.

Resource Model

• Life is a timing resource, not the primary win condition. Accept early damage when it preserves Crop Rotation, Green Sun's Zenith, Knight of the Reliquary, or the missing Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage piece, but use Swords to Plowshares, blockers, or a faster combo line when visible attack power can kill before the token attacks.

• Hand quality matters more than raw card count because many cards are specialized lands or tutors. Keep hands that convert cards into either green mana plus land access or immediate disruption, and avoid spending Mox Diamond, Crop Rotation, or Knight of the Reliquary activations in ways that trade the last useful land card for only marginal tempo.

• Mana is converted into inevitability by repeatedly turning lands into exact lands. Elvish Reclaimer, Crop Rotation, Knight of the Reliquary, and Green Sun's Zenith should be treated as access to Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Sejiri Steppe, Wasteland, Bojuka Bog, Karakas, Blast Zone, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, or Dryad Arbor according to the current visible problem.

• Board presence is both pressure and infrastructure. Protect Elvish Reclaimer and Knight of the Reliquary when they are the only active land engines, attack with Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Dryad Arbor, Six, and Knight of the Reliquary when damage shortens the combo clock, and do not expose a critical creature to combat if it is needed to find a combo or protection land.

• Graveyard resources are meaningful but conditional. Lands in the graveyard can increase Knight of the Reliquary pressure and may enable Six or Echoing Deeps if the engine exposes legal recovery actions; card text check required before relying on exact recursion timing from Six or Echoing Deeps.

• Exile is mostly a denial zone and should not be planned as a recoverable resource. Use Swords to Plowshares, Bojuka Bog, and sideboard Endurance lines according to legal action text and visible targets, but do not assume exiled own combo pieces can be recovered.

• Lands are spell-equivalents in this deck. Treat Wasteland as disruption, Sejiri Steppe as protection, Karakas as a legal legendary-creature answer, Bojuka Bog as graveyard interaction, Blast Zone as board control, Talon Gates of Madara as conditional utility with card text check required, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale as a sideboard battlefield-pressure bullet when legal and relevant.

• Sacrifice fodder should be selected from replaceable lands first. For Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary, prefer sacrificing excess fetchlands, redundant colored sources, or lands already made redundant by Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth; avoid sacrificing the only green source, the only white source, or an assembled combo piece unless the chosen action wins, prevents lethal, or is engine-forced.

• Tempo comes from making the opponent answer two axes at once. Combine fair pressure from Knight of the Reliquary, Badgermole Cub, and Scythecat Cub with the threat of instant land tutoring, and use Wasteland, Swords to Plowshares, Erode, or Blast Zone to buy the one turn needed for the combo; card text check required for exact Erode use.

• Information should gate commitment. If public information shows open interaction or known answers, prefer a protected line with Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, or redundant tutor access; if the opponent is tapped low or constrained by Wasteland, the cost of waiting often rises.

• Sideboard bullets convert narrow cards into high-impact roles. Collector Ouphe, Force of Vigor, Outland Liberator, Disruptor Flute, Doorkeeper Thrull, Gaddock Teeg, Mindbreak Trap, Endurance, Icetill Explorer, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale should be valued only when their visible matchup function outweighs reducing main-deck combo density.

Mana Guide

• Prioritize green mana in almost every opener. Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Sylvan Safekeeper, Six, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Erode, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, and most sideboard creature/bullet plans require green access or become much slower without it.

• Preserve white mana when interaction or Knight of the Reliquary matters. Savannah, Plains, Lush Portico, Flagstones of Trokair, and fetch access through Windswept Heath support Swords to Plowshares, Knight of the Reliquary, Doorkeeper Thrull, Gaddock Teeg, and some sideboard plans.

• Sequence colorless utility lands after functional colors unless the utility land is the current plan. Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, Blast Zone, Karakas, Bojuka Bog, Echoing Deeps, Sejiri Steppe, and Talon Gates of Madara can win or solve games, but an opener with only utility lands often cannot cast the spells that find the missing pieces.

• Use Mox Diamond for acceleration only when the discarded land is truly expendable. A strong Mox Diamond line enables turn-one Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith for Dryad Arbor, fast Knight of the Reliquary, or protected interaction; a weak line discards the only combo piece, only colored source, or only sacrifice land without creating a decisive board.

• Fetch sequencing should preserve options until the engine asks for a choice. Use Windswept Heath to secure the missing color, leave fetchlands uncracked when landfall-style, graveyard, or shuffle value may matter, and crack before draw only when life, mana, or known top-card information makes the timing clearly better; card text check required before relying on exact triggers from Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, or Six.

• Play lands before draw only when mana is required immediately or the action is forced by visible legality. When holding Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary, delaying the land drop can preserve information and tutor flexibility; play first when Mox Diamond, Swords to Plowshares, sideboard interaction, or a same-turn combo activation needs exact mana now.

• Keep mana hands that produce green plus either a tutor or pressure. A keepable hand often has Windswept Heath, Savannah, Forest, Lush Portico, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Mox Diamond, or Green Sun's Zenith into Dryad Arbor; mulligan hands that cannot cast green spells and do not already contain an immediate legal Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage route.

• Treat tapped or timing-sensitive lands as plan-specific. Lush Portico, Bojuka Bog, Sejiri Steppe, and any land entering tapped or carrying a one-shot trigger should be deployed when their color, graveyard reset, protection trigger, or utility is needed, not merely because they are available.

• Use Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth to unlock awkward draws. It can make utility-heavy hands function, help Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage produce green, and reduce pressure on Savannah or Forest; still account for opponent-visible benefits and do not play it before using Wasteland if that gives the opponent a meaningful green-mana window.

• Float or preserve mana before sacrificing lands when the rules engine permits it. Before Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary, check whether the land being sacrificed can produce needed mana for Swords to Plowshares, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, Sylvan Safekeeper, Erode, or sideboard interaction after the tutor resolves.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: keep green mana plus a one-mana setup spell or land-tutor axis. Windswept Heath or Savannah with Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, or Mox Diamond is a functional opener when it also contains either pressure, interaction, or one Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage piece.

• Strong keep: keep fast protected combo hands when mana is real. Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, green access, and either Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Sylvan Safekeeper, Sejiri Steppe, or Legolas's Quick Reflexes can justify a keep even without much fair pressure.

• Medium keep: keep fair hands that cast Knight of the Reliquary on time and interact. Two lands, green-white access, Swords to Plowshares, and either Green Sun's Zenith, Elvish Reclaimer, Badgermole Cub, or Scythecat Cub is acceptable when the hand can develop while threatening later land tutoring.

• Risky keep: keep utility-heavy hands only when Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth or Mox Diamond fixes the colors. Hands with Wasteland, Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Bojuka Bog, Blast Zone, or Karakas but no castable green spell should usually mulligan unless they already present a near-term legal combo or matchup-specific disruption.

• Automatic ship: ship hands with no green source and no immediate executable combo. A hand full of Knight of the Reliquary, Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, and Elvish Reclaimer is not a hand if it cannot cast them.

• Automatic ship: ship hands that rely on sacrificing the only functional land to Crop Rotation without a payoff. Do not keep a one-land hand because it has Crop Rotation unless that land plus the rest of the hand clearly produces a legal, protected, or urgently necessary line.

• Matchup-dependent keep: value Swords to Plowshares, Bojuka Bog, Karakas, Wasteland, Erode, and sideboard cards according to visible or known pairing pressure. Against creature pressure, a slower Knight of the Reliquary hand with Swords to Plowshares is better; against graveyard pressure, early Bojuka Bog access matters; against artifact/enchantment pressure, Erode is conditional and card text check required.

• Play/draw rule: keep slightly faster hands on the play and slightly more interactive hands on the draw. On the play, Mox Diamond into Elvish Reclaimer or Green Sun's Zenith for Dryad Arbor can seize initiative; on the draw, prefer hands that survive an opposing start with Swords to Plowshares, stable colors, or a fast Crop Rotation route.

• Trap hand: do not keep double Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, Blast Zone, and spells with no colored mana. The hand looks close to combo but often fails to cast Crop Rotation, Green Sun's Zenith, Swords to Plowshares, or Knight of the Reliquary before the opponent develops.

• Trap hand: do not overvalue Mox Diamond when the land count is too low. Mox Diamond plus one land and several three-mana spells is fragile unless it creates an immediate Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, or Knight of the Reliquary curve with a discardable land.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1: establish green mana and a tutor body before exposing utility lands. Preferred starts are Windswept Heath for a green source into Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith for Dryad Arbor, or Mox Diamond acceleration into the same; deviate for Swords to Plowshares only when an opposing threat must be answered immediately.

• Turn 1: deploy Dark Depths or Thespian's Stage early only when the hand supports the missing piece or protects the line. If the hand needs colored spells first, lead on Savannah, Forest, Lush Portico, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, or fetch access instead.

• Turn 2: decide whether the game is combo-first or board-first. Use Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or accelerated Knight of the Reliquary to find the missing combo/utility land when the opponent is constrained; cast Swords to Plowshares, develop Badgermole Cub or Scythecat Cub, or hold protection when racing is unsafe.

• Turn 2: use Wasteland as tempo when it delays the opponent more than it delays your own colored mana. Avoid firing Wasteland if it prevents casting Knight of the Reliquary, Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, Erode, or protection on the next turn.

• Turn 3: pressure the opponent with Knight of the Reliquary or convert tutoring into a concrete land plan. Preferred lines are protected Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage assembly, Sejiri Steppe access for a vulnerable token or attacker, Bojuka Bog against graveyard dependence, or Karakas against a visible legendary creature.

• Turn 3: hold priority interaction when the opponent can punish an unprotected combo. If Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, Sejiri Steppe, or another legal protection route is available, weigh waiting one turn against losing to visible removal, bounce, exile, or mana denial.

• Turns 4-5: force the opponent to answer both axes. Attack with Knight of the Reliquary, Badgermole Cub, and Scythecat Cub when combat is favorable, while keeping Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary activations available for end-step combo, Wasteland, Blast Zone, Bojuka Bog, or protection lands.

• Turns 4-5: use Six and Echoing Deeps only according to legal text shown by the engine. Card text check required before planning exact recursion, copied-land, or graveyard-resource lines; treat them as recovery tools only when the rules engine exposes the action.

• Late game: make every land drop and tutor activation threaten lethal, disruption, or protection. Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Knight of the Reliquary, Elvish Reclaimer, Crop Rotation, Wasteland, Blast Zone, Sejiri Steppe, and Talon Gates of Madara should be chosen for the current board, with card text check required for exact Talon Gates of Madara use.

• Late game: stop trading resources casually once the combo is live. Preserve Swords to Plowshares for threats that race or answer the token, preserve sacrifice fodder for land tutors, and commit Marit Lage only when winning now, forcing a weak answer, or waiting gives the opponent a clearer route.

Card Roles

• Dark Depths: Treat Dark Depths as the deck's primary kill condition, not as an ordinary mana source. Deploy it early when Thespian's Stage, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary can complete the line, but avoid exposing it to land interaction when the hand still needs colored mana development.

• Thespian's Stage: Preserve Thespian's Stage as the cleanest combo partner for Dark Depths. Prioritize keeping enough mana available to activate it at an end step or protected window, and do not spend it copying generic lands unless the rules engine shows that mana survival matters more than the token plan.

• Crop Rotation: Use Crop Rotation as a decisive instant-speed land tutor, protection pivot, or disruption spell. Hold it when sacrificing a land would expose the mana base; fire it for Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Sejiri Steppe, Bojuka Bog, Wasteland, Blast Zone, or Karakas when the visible board makes that land immediately relevant.

• Elvish Reclaimer: Cast Elvish Reclaimer early when green mana is stable because it threatens both combo assembly and utility-land answers. Protect it less than Knight of the Reliquary unless it is the only route to Dark Depths or a critical Bojuka Bog, Sejiri Steppe, Wasteland, or Karakas line.

• Knight of the Reliquary: Treat Knight of the Reliquary as both a large midrange threat and the most flexible land engine. Cast it when it can survive long enough to activate, attack profitably, or force removal away from Marit Lage; hold it only when tapping out loses to a visible faster combo or when instant-speed Crop Rotation is the safer route.

• Green Sun's Zenith: Use Green Sun's Zenith as a role-selecting spell, not as automatic curve filler. Early, it can establish Dryad Arbor or find Elvish Reclaimer; later, it should find Knight of the Reliquary, Sylvan Safekeeper, Six, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, or sideboard creatures only when the legal choices match the current tactical need.

• Dryad Arbor: Use Dryad Arbor as a Green Sun's Zenith setup target, sacrifice resource, and emergency body. Avoid fetching it into obvious removal or combat loss unless it enables mana, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, or a sideboard pressure line.

• Mox Diamond: Use Mox Diamond to accelerate into turn-one Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, or faster Knight of the Reliquary, but respect the land-discard cost. Do not keep or sequence Mox Diamond hands that discard the only land needed for green-white access, combo assembly, or future tutor activations.

• Swords to Plowshares: Hold Swords to Plowshares for creatures that race, block Marit Lage, enable an opposing combo, or threaten a planeswalker-like value snowball if present through legal output. Use it early against fast creature starts; preserve it against slower boards where Wasteland, Karakas, or combat can answer the threat.

• Legolas's Quick Reflexes: Treat Legolas's Quick Reflexes as protection or combat leverage only when the rules engine exposes a legal, relevant action. Card text check required for exact targeting and effect timing; tactically, it should be saved for protecting Marit Lage, Knight of the Reliquary, or a key tutor creature rather than spent for minor damage unless combat math demands it.

• Sylvan Safekeeper: Use Sylvan Safekeeper as the cleanest creature-based protection piece for Marit Lage and key green creatures. Do not sacrifice lands casually; spend lands only when protecting the token, preserving a lethal attack, or saving a tutor creature that will immediately convert into a winning or stabilizing land.

• Badgermole Cub: Use Badgermole Cub as a fair pressure and resource-conversion creature when the combo is delayed. Card text check required for exact triggered or activated lines; prioritize it in grindy matchups where creature size, land movement, or board presence matters, and avoid casting it over immediate combo protection against fast decks.

• Scythecat Cub: Use Scythecat Cub as a secondary fair threat and pressure piece when the opponent can answer Dark Depths or when combat damage is the better axis. Card text check required for exact growth, combat, or land-synergy text; do not let it distract from assembling a protected Marit Lage when that line is legal.

• Six: Use Six as a grind engine or recovery tool only when its legal actions are visible and strategically useful. Card text check required for exact recursion or graveyard interactions; prefer it in attrition games where replaying lands, converting graveyard resources, or rebuilding after land trades is better than rushing the combo.

• Erode: Treat Erode as conditional interaction until card text is confirmed by the rules engine. Card text check required; use it only when the visible legal action answers a permanent or resource that materially blocks the combo, races the board, or invalidates your protection plan.

• Wasteland: Use Wasteland to buy time, constrain opposing interaction, or clear utility lands that answer Marit Lage. Avoid firing it when it delays your own Knight of the Reliquary, Crop Rotation, Green Sun's Zenith, or protected combo turn more than it delays the opponent.

• Bojuka Bog: Use Bojuka Bog as graveyard disruption that can be tutored at instant speed through Crop Rotation or at activation speed through land engines. Do not play it as a tapped value land unless graveyard pressure is absent and mana development requires it.

• Karakas: Use Karakas as a tutorable answer to visible legendary creatures and as a protective or tempo land only when the rules engine confirms legal targets. Do not over-prioritize it in matchups where the opponent's relevant threats are nonlegendary and the immediate need is combo, colored mana, or graveyard hate.

• Sejiri Steppe: Save Sejiri Steppe as a protection or evasion land for Marit Lage, Knight of the Reliquary, or a decisive attacker. It is strongest when found at instant speed with Crop Rotation or through an active land tutor before a removal spell or blocker matters.

• Blast Zone: Use Blast Zone as a reset button for low-cost permanents that block the combo, overwhelm combat, or shut off key spells. Respect its speed and mana requirements; do not rely on it as an emergency answer when Swords to Plowshares, Wasteland, Karakas, or sideboard interaction can answer immediately.

• Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth: Use Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth to make utility-land-heavy hands functional and to let Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Wasteland, Bojuka Bog, Karakas, or Blast Zone contribute green mana. Be careful that it can also help opposing lands if the visible board makes that relevant.

• Windswept Heath, Savannah, Forest, Plains, and Lush Portico: Prioritize these lands for stable green-white development before utility greed. Fetch basics or durable colors when facing visible land pressure; fetch Savannah or Lush Portico when double-spell turns or white interaction matter.

• Flagstones of Trokair: Use Flagstones of Trokair as sacrifice-friendly mana support with Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary when the rules engine exposes the relevant replacement/search action. Do not assume a shortcut or outcome outside the legal prompt.

• Echoing Deeps: Treat Echoing Deeps as a specialized land with card text check required. Use it only when the engine exposes a legal action that improves the current plan, such as copying or leveraging a visible graveyard land if that is confirmed.

• Talon Gates of Madara: Treat Talon Gates of Madara as a specialized utility land with card text check required. Tutor or play it only when the visible legal action clearly protects a key permanent, changes combat, or solves a board state better than Sejiri Steppe, Karakas, Bojuka Bog, Wasteland, or combo assembly.

Interaction Priorities

• Preserve Swords to Plowshares for creatures that stop a Marit Lage attack, create a faster lethal clock, or enable an opposing combo through visible board text. Spend it early against fast creature pressure, but do not use it on replaceable blockers when Sejiri Steppe, Karakas, Wasteland, or simply making the token can solve the turn.

• Use Wasteland first on visible lands that answer Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Marit Lage, or your mana engine. Against mana-light opponents, Wasteland can be a tempo spell; against decks with redundant mana, save it for utility lands unless cutting a color creates an immediate protected combo window.

• Use Bojuka Bog as the exile effect when the graveyard is an active resource, not as a routine tapped land. Prefer instant-speed access through Crop Rotation when the opponent commits a graveyard-dependent action; if no graveyard action is pending, weigh whether holding the tutor land is stronger than consuming the land drop.

• Use Karakas as bounce interaction only when the rules engine exposes a legal legendary target or a protective line. Do not tutor Karakas over combo pieces against nonlegendary threats, and do not assume it interacts with Marit Lage unless the engine shows a legal action.

• Use Blast Zone when the opposing board clusters around one mana value and those permanents either race you or prevent combo execution. Avoid slow Blast Zone lines when a single Swords to Plowshares, Wasteland, Karakas, or sideboard card answers the relevant permanent immediately.

• Treat Erode as conditional interaction until exact card text is confirmed. Card text check required; if the engine offers a legal answer to a visible artifact, enchantment, land, or other permanent that blocks the combo or wins the race, prioritize the most permanent or least replaceable threat.

• Use Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary as interaction engines, not only combo assembly. Fetch Bojuka Bog for graveyard actions, Sejiri Steppe for targeted removal or lethal evasion, Wasteland for land-based disruption, Karakas for legal legendary threats, and Blast Zone for board clusters.

• Bait interaction with fair threats before committing fragile combo pieces when time allows. Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Six, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary can force removal or counters; do not expose Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage into obvious open interaction unless waiting is worse.

• Ignore low-impact permanents that do not race, block Marit Lage, disrupt land tutoring, pressure life total, or stop activated abilities. This deck wins by concentrating resources into a protected threat; trading interaction for cosmetic value usually weakens the decisive turn.

• Change interaction posture by archetype. Against fast creature decks, answer clock and blockers first; against combo, attack mana, graveyard, or required permanents first; against control, preserve protection and force action on their end step; against prison, prioritize permanents that shut off land search, activated abilities, or spell casting.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack with Marit Lage only when the visible board and legal actions support a lethal or near-lethal line. Check for legal blockers, bounce, exile, sacrifice effects, protection actions, and instant-speed land tutoring before moving through combat; use Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, or Talon Gates of Madara only when the engine exposes the needed legal action.

• Protect Marit Lage above every fair creature unless the fair creature is the only route to rebuild. Sacrifice lands to Sylvan Safekeeper only for lethal, survival, or preservation of a tutor creature that immediately finds the winning land; do not spend lands just to protect ordinary damage.

• Preserve Elvish Reclaimer and Knight of the Reliquary when they are active or about to become active. Blocking with them is correct when life total would fall below a realistic recovery threshold, when the opponent threatens lethal, or when their tutor role is redundant because Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage is already secured.

• Use Dryad Arbor as a disposable blocker when it buys a turn without breaking the next land-tutor or combo sequence. Do not expose it to combat if it is required as green mana, sacrifice material, or a Green Sun's Zenith setup creature.

• Trade Badgermole Cub and Scythecat Cub more freely in creature mirrors when the trade preserves life or clears a path for Knight of the Reliquary. Card text check required for exact combat scaling; if their visible stats or triggers make them grow through land movement, avoid trading before using the growth line.

• Attack with fair creatures when pressure forces the opponent to answer the board instead of holding interaction for the combo. Hold attackers back when the opponent's counterattack changes a protected combo turn into a forced defensive turn, especially if Swords to Plowshares is the only clean removal.

• Block aggressively below ten life against wide or fast boards if the combo is not guaranteed next turn. Above ten life, prefer preserving tutor creatures and using life total as a resource when a protected Marit Lage line is one or two actions away.

• Use Legolas's Quick Reflexes as combat leverage only for a meaningful swing. Card text check required; spend it to save a key creature, win a fight that unlocks lethal, or protect a decisive attacker, not to improve a minor attack.

• Respect archetype differences in combat. Against creature aggro, become the stabilizing deck and trade until Marit Lage ends the game; against control, make attacks that tax answers without overextending; against combo, attack whenever it shortens their clock and does not delay disruption; against prison, preserve creatures that unlock land tutoring or pressure planeswalker-like engines only if visible.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Use Green Sun's Zenith as the most flexible creature selector, not just a threat. Find Dryad Arbor when the hand needs immediate mana or sacrifice material, Elvish Reclaimer when land tutoring is the missing engine, Sylvan Safekeeper when a visible answer threatens a committed Marit Lage, Knight of the Reliquary when a larger repeatable tutor is better than speed, and the relevant sideboard creature only after sideboarding and only when its text matters to the visible matchup.

• Sequence Green Sun's Zenith before the land drop when the target can change the land decision. Dryad Arbor may unlock a same-turn play, Elvish Reclaimer may change whether to deploy Dark Depths, and Knight of the Reliquary may make holding a fetchland or expendable land more valuable.

• Treat Crop Rotation as the highest-leverage tutor because it is instant speed and costs a land. Use it proactively for Dark Depths or Thespian's Stage only when the missing combo piece creates a near-term kill; otherwise hold it for Sejiri Steppe, Bojuka Bog, Wasteland, Karakas, Blast Zone, Echoing Deeps, Talon Gates of Madara, or mana fixing after the opponent commits information.

• Sacrifice the least important land to Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary unless a named land has become redundant. Prefer sacrificing a tapped fetchland, excess Flagstones of Trokair, extra Savannah, or a land no longer needed for colors; avoid sacrificing Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Sejiri Steppe, Karakas, or Bojuka Bog when their unique effect is still live.

• Find Dark Depths or Thespian's Stage only after checking which half is already visible, whether the opponent has visible land interaction, and whether protection is available. If both pieces are missing, prioritize the piece that the current tutor can legally find while preserving future access to the other piece.

• Fetch Sejiri Steppe for protection or evasion at the moment it changes a legal target, block, or removal exchange. Do not spend the one-shot effect as a tapped land unless mana is otherwise impossible or the matchup has no visible way for protection to matter.

• Fetch Bojuka Bog in response to graveyard commitment, not at random. The strongest window is after the opponent targets, counts, flashes back, reanimates, delves, or otherwise exposes reliance on graveyard contents through legal stack text.

• Use Wasteland selection to create a decisive window. Find it when it cuts the opponent off an answer color, removes a visible utility land, or prevents a faster combo; do not over-tutor it when assembling Marit Lage wins immediately.

• Use Windswept Heath and Flagstones of Trokair to improve land density for graveyard-size and land-movement engines when the cost is low. Hold a fetchland if Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, or Six benefits from a future land action exposed by the engine. Card text check required for exact Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, and Six triggers.

• Select Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Savannah, Forest, Plains, or Lush Portico based on castability before elegance. Green is needed for the tutor core, white is needed for Swords to Plowshares, and Mox Diamond makes land count matter more than raw color perfection.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Hold priority decisions around Crop Rotation until the opponent commits a relevant spell, ability, attack, graveyard action, or removal target. Instant-speed land tutoring is the deck's main stack advantage, so passing with green mana open is often stronger than spending the tutor into hidden information.

• Activate Thespian's Stage copying Dark Depths only when the legal action creates a protected or necessary Marit Lage line. Check visible bounce, exile, sacrifice, tapping, blockers, and mana before committing; if waiting preserves Crop Rotation, Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, or Legolas's Quick Reflexes, wait unless the opponent's next turn is more dangerous.

• Respond to removal on Marit Lage with protection before accepting resolution. Use Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, or Talon Gates of Madara only when the rules engine exposes a legal protective action that actually addresses the shown spell or ability. Card text check required for exact Legolas's Quick Reflexes and Talon Gates of Madara effects.

• Let low-impact spells resolve when they do not change the clock, disrupt land tutoring, answer Marit Lage, or enable a visible combo. Save Swords to Plowshares, Crop Rotation, Wasteland, and protection for stack objects that affect the decisive turn.

• Use Swords to Plowshares before damage, combo resolution, or a lethal attack when the target is visible and legal. Do not fire it at a small creature if a pending Marit Lage attack ignores that creature or if Blast Zone, blocking, or racing solves the board.

• Use Sylvan Safekeeper at the last safe priority window because every activation spends a land. Protect Marit Lage first, protect an active Knight of the Reliquary or Elvish Reclaimer second, and rarely protect fair pressure unless that creature is the only route left.

• Use Wasteland before the opponent can use the land if the land is visibly decisive. If the land is merely annoying, hold Wasteland to pair with a combo turn, punish a color bottleneck, or answer a newly revealed utility land.

• Use Blast Zone activation only when the selected counter value and board state are clear from engine output. Avoid sweeping your own essential Mox Diamond, Elvish Reclaimer, Sylvan Safekeeper, or sideboard permanents unless survival or combo access requires it.

• Treat Erode as conditional stack or permanent interaction until exact card text is confirmed. Card text check required; cast it only when the engine offers a legal action against a visible object whose resolution or continued presence materially disrupts the combo, clock, or mana.

• Decline optional value payments or triggers when mana or priority must remain available for protection, Crop Rotation, Swords to Plowshares, or Wasteland. Accept optional actions only when the visible board shows no higher-priority stack risk or when the option directly advances lethal, survival, or disruption.

Sideboard Map

• Sideboard by role first and card name second. Preserve the Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage kill in almost every matchup, because the sideboard mostly adds hate pieces, protection, and asymmetrical pressure rather than changing the deck into a pure fair deck.

• Use Collector Ouphe against artifact mana, artifact combo, artifact prison, and decks whose visible battlefield depends on activated artifact abilities. It is strongest when Green Sun's Zenith can find it before the opponent converts artifacts into mana or combo material; it is weakest when your own Mox Diamond mana is essential, when the opponent has mostly nonartifact acceleration, or when a larger hate creature would cover the same axis with less self-pressure.

• Use Disruptor Flute against named-card combo, fast spell engines, planeswalker or activated-ability engines, and single-card answer patterns that beat Marit Lage. Card text check required for exact tax and activated-ability scope; choose names from visible information, revealed cards, public deck identity, or stack patterns, not from invented hidden cards. It is weak when the opponent's threats are broad, creature-based, or already on board.

• Use Doorkeeper Thrull against enters-the-battlefield engines, creature-combo chains, value creatures, artifact creatures with ETB triggers, and decks where stopping a triggered entry matters more than attacking. Card text check required for exact affected permanent types. It is bad when the opponent wins through spells, combat size, lands, graveyard recursion, or static hate rather than ETB triggers.

• Use Endurance against graveyard combo, graveyard tempo, recursive threats, self-mill, reanimation, and decks where instant-speed graveyard reset changes a stack decision. It also becomes a surprise blocker in fair creature games when the graveyard text is live enough to justify holding green cards. It is weaker when the opponent's graveyard is incidental and pitching a green card would reduce combo velocity or protection density.

• Use Force of Vigor against artifact or enchantment prison, artifact combo, fast mana boards, and permanent hate that blocks Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Crop Rotation, or creature tutors. It is strongest when free interaction prevents losing before untapping; it is weaker against low-permanent combo, creature-only pressure, or games where two-for-one pitching a green card would strand the combo.

• Use Gaddock Teeg against high-cost noncreature spells, sweepers, storm-like payoff structures, and control decks that rely on large answers. Card text check required for exact mana-value and X-spell restrictions. It changes role from hatebear to protection piece when it stops the opponent's visible answer to Marit Lage; it is weak against low-curve creature decks and removal-heavy decks that ignore its restriction.

• Use Icetill Explorer only after confirming what text matters in the matchup. Card text check required. Treat it as a flexible creature slot for games where its exact rules text improves land development, combat, or resource exchange; avoid relying on it in sideboard plans until Veles has verified its tactical role from the rules engine.

• Use Mindbreak Trap against storm, fast cast-chain combo, uncounterable-looking stack clusters, and turns where exiling spells on the stack is the relevant safety valve. It is bad against fair creature decks, slow control without burst turns, and matchups where the opponent presents permanents before the trap condition matters. Do not keep weak hands solely because Mindbreak Trap exists unless the matchup is visibly about a fast spell chain.

• Use Outland Liberator against artifacts, enchantments, lock pieces, and slower permanent-based hate where a tutorable or castable creature answer is more valuable than a one-shot spell. Card text check required for daybound/nightbound details. It is weaker when immediate free interaction is required, when the opponent has no high-impact artifacts or enchantments, or when creature removal makes a delayed answer unreliable.

• Use The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale against creature swarms, token boards, initiative-style creature pressure, and decks that need many creatures to stay in play. It is strongest when Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary can find it after the opponent commits bodies. It is weak against combo, control, single-large-threat decks, and games where your own creature board is the only pressure or mana engine.

Artifact combo and artifact prison Side in: 1 Collector Ouphe; 2 Force of Vigor; 1 Outland Liberator; 2 Disruptor Flute Cut: 2 Scythecat Cub; 2 Erode; 1 Badgermole Cub; 1 Six

Graveyard combo and reanimation Side in: 2 Endurance; 2 Mindbreak Trap; 2 Disruptor Flute Cut: 2 Erode; 2 Scythecat Cub; 1 Badgermole Cub; 1 Swords to Plowshares

Creature swarm and go-wide pressure Side in: 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale; 2 Endurance; 1 Outland Liberator Cut: 2 Erode; 1 Six; 1 Badgermole Cub

Spell-combo and storm Side in: 2 Mindbreak Trap; 2 Disruptor Flute; 1 Gaddock Teeg Cut: 4 Swords to Plowshares; 1 Scythecat Cub

ETB creature engines Side in: 2 Doorkeeper Thrull; 1 Gaddock Teeg; 1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale Cut: 2 Erode; 1 Six; 1 Badgermole Cub

• Against artifact-heavy decks, add role cards: Collector Ouphe, Force of Vigor, Outland Liberator, and Disruptor Flute. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow creature pressure, uncertain Erode spots, and fair recursion pieces that do not stop the artifact turn. Keep enough green cards for Force of Vigor and enough lands for Mox Diamond even when Collector Ouphe may later shut artifact activations down.

• Against graveyard decks, add role cards: Endurance, Mindbreak Trap, and sometimes Disruptor Flute. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal pointed at ordinary creatures and slow fair threats. Keep Bojuka Bog access high because the main deck already has instant-speed land tutoring; use sideboard graveyard interaction to create overlapping windows rather than spending every hate piece at the first legal moment.

• Against fast spell combo, add role cards: Mindbreak Trap, Disruptor Flute, and Gaddock Teeg. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Swords to Plowshares, fair combat pressure, and slow land-value cards. Mulligan toward a hate action plus a real clock, because the combo kill still needs to end the game before the opponent rebuilds around a named card or tax effect.

• Against creature-heavy fair decks, add role cards: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Endurance, and sometimes Outland Liberator if visible artifacts or enchantments matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: uncertain noncreature interaction and slow engines that do not affect combat. Preserve Swords to Plowshares, Knight of the Reliquary, and Sejiri Steppe because survival and protected Marit Lage attacks matter more than pure speed.

• Against control, add role cards: Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Force of Vigor when enchantment or artifact hate is expected, and Endurance when graveyards or flashback-style resources are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal with no targets and fragile small threats into sweepers. Name cards with Disruptor Flute only from public information or established matchup role; do not guess hidden answers when a broader pressure line is available.

• Against ETB-value decks, add role cards: Doorkeeper Thrull, Gaddock Teeg, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale when the board goes wide. Reduce main-deck emphasis: cards that do not interact with the trigger engine or the clock. Check whether Doorkeeper Thrull conflicts with your own relevant ETB effects before committing it, because this deck can use Bojuka Bog, Sejiri Steppe, and other land-entry effects in important windows.

• Against unknown opponents, avoid speculative sideboarding. Add role cards only after Game 1 reveals a clear axis, and otherwise keep the maindeck's tutor density, land count, Swords to Plowshares, and Green Sun's Zenith package intact. The default unknown plan is to win with Marit Lage, use Wasteland and Karakas when visible, and let sideboard cards answer demonstrated threats rather than imagined ones.

Matchup Guidance

• Against aggro, prioritize survival first and combo second. Keep hands that present early mana, Swords to Plowshares, a blocker from Green Sun's Zenith, or a fast Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage path; avoid hands that only develop slow land value while taking repeated attacks. Add role cards: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Endurance, and sometimes Outland Liberator if permanent-based pressure or equipment-like artifacts are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Erode spots, uncertain Six recursion plans, and creature threats that do not block profitably. Use Knight of the Reliquary as a stabilizer before using it as a tutor engine when life total is under pressure.

• Against control, apply pressure from multiple permanent types and avoid committing the entire Dark Depths line into open interaction without a protection plan. Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Green Sun's Zenith, and land tutors force answers while preserving a later Marit Lage attempt. Add role cards: Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Force of Vigor when artifacts or enchantments are visible, and Endurance when graveyard resources matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Swords to Plowshares when the opponent shows few creature targets and low-impact creature combat. Use Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, and Karakas only according to legal action text and visible threats; do not assume protection beats every answer.

• Against fast combo, mulligan toward disruption plus a clock rather than a fair midrange hand. Crop Rotation for Bojuka Bog, Wasteland against key lands, Karakas against legal legendary-creature pressure, and a fast Dark Depths line are the maindeck pressure points. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap, Disruptor Flute, and Gaddock Teeg. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Swords to Plowshares, fair combat creatures, and long recursion lines unless the opponent's combo uses creatures. Use Disruptor Flute from public information or clear matchup identity; do not name hidden cards from guesswork when holding up another legal interaction is safer.

• Against tempo, protect mana development and do not let the game become only one-spell-per-turn under pressure. Mox Diamond, Windswept Heath, Savannah, Forest, and Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth matter because the deck needs enough mana to deploy a threat and still use land tutors or protection. Preserve Swords to Plowshares for the threat that is actually ending the game, and use Wasteland when it disrupts the opponent without stranding your own Dark Depths assembly. Add role cards: Endurance if graveyards or cheap threats matter, Disruptor Flute for revealed interaction or central threats, and Force of Vigor only when visible permanent hate justifies it. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Badgermole Cub, uncertain Erode, and high-friction lines that expose Marit Lage without protection.

• Against midrange, trade resources while preserving inevitability through lands. Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Crop Rotation, and Green Sun's Zenith let the deck rebuild after removal, while Dark Depths forces the opponent to keep specific answers available. Add role cards: Endurance for graveyard exchange, Disruptor Flute for known haymakers or removal bottlenecks, Outland Liberator for visible artifacts or enchantments, and Gaddock Teeg when high-cost noncreature spells matter. Reduce main-deck emphasis: purely aggressive Scythecat Cub lines when board stalls are likely and Erode if its exact text is not relevant. Card text check required for Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, and Erode before relying on matchup-specific text.

• Against big mana, attack lands and close quickly. Wasteland, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary should pressure mana while Dark Depths threatens a short clock. Add role cards: Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Force of Vigor for visible artifact or enchantment acceleration, and Mindbreak Trap only when the opponent's payoff turn is a cast-chain rather than a single permanent. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature removal with no targets and slow fair creatures that do not meaningfully shorten the clock. Avoid spending Wasteland on a low-impact land when a more decisive land is likely visible or already public.

• Against graveyard decks, keep access to Bojuka Bog high and layer interaction instead of firing every piece at the first legal moment. Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary can turn land access into instant-speed graveyard pressure when the rules engine exposes the legal timing. Add role cards: Endurance, Mindbreak Trap, and Disruptor Flute. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow combat-only creatures and some Swords to Plowshares when the opponent is not winning through ordinary creatures. Use Bojuka Bog based on visible graveyard contents, stack context, and priority; do not assume hidden graveyard plans.

• Against artifact or enchantment decks, answer the permanent that changes the game rather than the first legal target. Add role cards: Collector Ouphe, Force of Vigor, Outland Liberator, and Disruptor Flute. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Erode positions if its exact text does not address the visible axis, fair pressure without disruption, and Six plans when graveyards are not the fight. Keep enough green cards in hand for Force of Vigor when possible, and remember that Collector Ouphe can affect your own Mox Diamond after it is on the battlefield.

• Against go-wide creature decks, treat The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale as a stabilizing tutor target, not only a sideboard land. Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary can find it after the opponent commits multiple bodies, while Swords to Plowshares handles the creature that keeps damage lethal through the tax. Add role cards: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Endurance, and Outland Liberator if permanent support is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: nonblocking slow engines and uncertain Erode. Do not overbuild your own creature board when The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale will also tax you.

• Against single-threat decks, conserve clean answers and force them to answer Marit Lage. Swords to Plowshares, Karakas when legal, Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, and Legolas's Quick Reflexes are the key tools for threat exchange and protection windows. Add role cards: Disruptor Flute for known threat or answer bottlenecks, Endurance if the threat depends on graveyards, and Gaddock Teeg when the opponent's answer suite is high-cost noncreature spells. Reduce main-deck emphasis: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale plans and go-wide hate. Use Talon Gates of Madara only after card text and legal action text confirm its relevant role.

• Against burn, protect life total and end the game before repeated direct damage matters. Swords to Plowshares may be a life-total tool only when the rules engine presents a legal creature target and the exchange is better than taking damage; avoid unnecessary fetch-shock-like assumptions because this deck's lands are exact registered cards, not invented mana sources. Add role cards: Endurance only if graveyards matter, Disruptor Flute if a revealed or known card bottleneck exists, and Gaddock Teeg only if its restrictions are relevant after card text check. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Badgermole Cub, uncertain Erode, and durdly Six recursion.

• Against removal-heavy decks, make them answer redundant engines before committing the decisive token. Lead with Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Green Sun's Zenith, and sometimes Badgermole Cub or Scythecat Cub as pressure if their card text supports the board state. Add role cards: Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Endurance for recursion fights, and Force of Vigor only for visible hate permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in Dark Depths attempts without Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, or a reason waiting is worse. If the opponent spends removal on setup creatures, reassess whether the window is now open for Thespian's Stage plus Dark Depths rather than continuing fair combat.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only notes apply until revealed cards, public zones, or rules-engine legal actions identify a narrower plan. Revealed cards override assumptions, and Veles should choose from legal actions first, visible board state second, and these matchup heuristics third.

• Against combo, prioritize the interaction axis that stops the first decisive turn. Mindbreak Trap is for visible cast-chain turns, Disruptor Flute is for a named bottleneck when the opponent has shown the card or strategy, Gaddock Teeg is for high-cost noncreature payoffs after card text confirms relevance, and Endurance is for graveyard dependence. Add role cards: Mindbreak Trap, Disruptor Flute, Endurance, Gaddock Teeg. Priority targets are the opponent's public engine card, payoff spell, or graveyard window, not a low-impact setup piece. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Badgermole Cub, uncertain Erode, and creature removal when no creature-based kill is visible.

• Against fast creature pressure, stabilize before racing unless Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage is protected and immediately decisive. Swords to Plowshares should answer the creature that changes the clock, while The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is a high-value tutor target against multiple attackers. Add role cards: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Endurance, Outland Liberator if support permanents are visible, and Doorkeeper Thrull only when its exact text checks as relevant to the opposing triggers or entries. Priority targets are lethal attackers, pump enablers, and permanents that make The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale insufficient.

• Against artifact or enchantment engines, preserve removal for the permanent that produces inevitability or prevents the Marit Lage kill. Collector Ouphe can slow artifacts but may reduce future Mox Diamond utility, so deploy it after evaluating whether the hand already has enough mana. Add role cards: Collector Ouphe, Force of Vigor, Outland Liberator, Disruptor Flute. Priority targets are lock pieces, mana engines, and hate permanents that stop Dark Depths, Crop Rotation, or creature combat.

• Against control or removal-heavy midrange, make the opponent spend answers on Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, and Green Sun's Zenith threats before exposing the decisive token. Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, and Legolas's Quick Reflexes are protection tools only when the legal action text and stack state show the protected object and timing. Add role cards: Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Endurance, Doorkeeper Thrull if card text checks against their visible effects, and Icetill Explorer only after card text confirms the matchup role. Priority targets are removal bottlenecks, sweepers, and permanent hate that invalidates the combo.

• Against land-centric or big-mana decks, use Wasteland, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary to break the key land while still developing a clock. Add role cards: Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Force of Vigor for visible artifact/enchantment acceleration, and Mindbreak Trap only for spell-chain payoff turns. Priority targets are the land or engine permanent that unlocks the opponent's next high-impact turn.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: Mox Diamond creates explosive starts but costs a land, so avoid hands that discard the only route to green mana, Dark Depths, or Thespian's Stage without a clear replacement. Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Savannah, Windswept Heath, Forest, Plains, and Lush Portico should be sequenced to keep green available for Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, and Knight of the Reliquary.

• Matchup risk: the deck can misidentify its role because it is both combo and midrange. Do not force Dark Depths into visible interaction when Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, Badgermole Cub, or Scythecat Cub can pressure first; do not grind when the opponent's public clock or combo window demands immediate Marit Lage assembly.

• Draw risk: 61 cards and several singletons make opening hands uneven. Mulligan hands that lack mana plus a plan, and treat Green Sun's Zenith as a flexible creature access card only when the battlefield, mana, and known library targets support the line.

• Over-sideboarding risk: cutting too many proactive cards can leave only answers and lands. Add role cards for the visible opposing axis, but preserve enough Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, Knight of the Reliquary, and Dark Depths access to actually win.

• Graveyard risk: Bojuka Bog, Endurance, Six, and land recursion lines can matter, but timing is everything. Use graveyard interaction from visible graveyard contents and stack context; do not fire Bojuka Bog before the opponent commits the graveyard resource unless waiting exposes a known lethal or irreversible line.

• Sweeper/removal risk: Marit Lage and large creatures still lose to legal answers if protection is absent or mistimed. Hold Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, and Karakas decisions for actual rules-engine prompts, and avoid assuming protection works against every answer.

• Closer risk: fair creatures may fail to close quickly if their exact text is not relevant. Card text check required for Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, Erode, Talon Gates of Madara, and Icetill Explorer before relying on them as matchup-specific closers or interaction.

• Interaction risk: Swords to Plowshares, Force of Vigor, Outland Liberator, Collector Ouphe, Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Doorkeeper Thrull, and Mindbreak Trap cover different axes, not interchangeable answers. Choose the piece that matches visible legal threats and public information.

• Sequencing risk: land tutors can sacrifice the wrong resource. Before activating Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary, verify the current land count, graveyard needs, Flagstones of Trokair value, Wasteland targets, and whether fetching Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Sejiri Steppe, Bojuka Bog, Karakas, Blast Zone, Echoing Deeps, or The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is actually the legal and tactical target.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: Record whether the game was decided by Dark Depths plus Thespian's Stage, fair pressure from Elvish Reclaimer or Knight of the Reliquary, land denial with Wasteland, graveyard timing from Bojuka Bog or Endurance, or the opponent resolving a threat this deck failed to answer.

• Mulligans: Check whether the kept hand had green mana, a proactive plan, and a believable path to either combo or pressure. Flag keeps that relied on Mox Diamond while discarding the only important land, kept Dark Depths without access to Thespian's Stage or a tutor, or kept interaction without a closing route.

• Mana: Track whether Savannah, Forest, Plains, Lush Portico, Windswept Heath, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, and Mox Diamond produced the colors needed on time. Mark games where Crop Rotation, Green Sun's Zenith, Elvish Reclaimer, or Knight of the Reliquary were stranded by sequencing rather than opponent pressure.

• Velocity: Ask whether the deck presented a decisive action before the opponent's visible clock or engine became dominant. Slow games should identify whether the bottleneck was missing combo access, too many reactive cards, mana denial, or choosing a fair line when Marit Lage was needed.

• Engine use: Review every Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, and Knight of the Reliquary activation for land choice. Confirm whether the chosen land was Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Sejiri Steppe, Karakas, Bojuka Bog, Blast Zone, Wasteland, Echoing Deeps, Talon Gates of Madara, or The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale for a visible tactical reason.

• Removal: Check whether Swords to Plowshares, Erode, Force of Vigor, Outland Liberator, Blast Zone, and Legolas's Quick Reflexes were used on the permanent or creature that actually changed the race, combo window, or lock state. Mark low-impact removal when a more dangerous public threat remained.

• Sideboard impact: Record which of Collector Ouphe, Disruptor Flute, Doorkeeper Thrull, Endurance, Force of Vigor, Gaddock Teeg, Icetill Explorer, Mindbreak Trap, Outland Liberator, and The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale appeared, whether it matched the opponent's visible axis, and whether it advanced the plan instead of only delaying.

• Closing: Identify whether the deck failed to end games after creating an advantage. Note if Marit Lage was exposed without Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, or Legolas's Quick Reflexes, if Badgermole Cub or Scythecat Cub could not convert pressure, or if Green Sun's Zenith found setup when a closer was needed.

• Role accuracy: Judge whether the pilot correctly chose combo, midrange, control, or mana-denial posture from public information. Flag games where the deck overprotected a slow plan against a fast opponent or rushed combo into visible interaction when fair pressure was available.

• Mistakes: List illegal assumptions separately from poor strategic choices. The agent must not assume hidden cards, guaranteed protection, exact card text for unchecked cards, or rules outcomes not shown by Veles and Forge.

• Stranded cards: Track cards that stayed in hand without legal or useful deployment, especially duplicate Dark Depths, late Mox Diamond, narrow sideboard cards, Erode, Legolas's Quick Reflexes, and card-text-uncertain threats.

• Overperformers and underperformers: Report cards by exact name and game context. Separate true performance from matchup luck, mana screw, and opponent mistakes.

First Tuning Questions

• Quantity question: Is the 61st main-deck card improving flexibility, or is it reducing access to Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Green Sun's Zenith, and Knight of the Reliquary often enough to justify returning to 60 cards?

• Combo access question: Are 2 Dark Depths, 2 Thespian's Stage, 3 Crop Rotation, 4 Elvish Reclaimer, and 4 Knight of the Reliquary enough to assemble lethal pressure on time, or do losses show too many games where the deck had disruption but no finisher?

• Mana question: Are 3 Mox Diamond and the current land mix producing explosive starts without creating too many resource-negative hands? Check whether Flagstones of Trokair, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Savannah, and fetchable basics support both fair pressure and instant-speed land tutoring.

• Protection question: Are Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, and 2 Legolas's Quick Reflexes enough protection for Marit Lage, or are games being lost to visible answers after the combo is assembled? Card text check required for Legolas's Quick Reflexes before increasing reliance on it.

• Fair threat question: Do 3 Badgermole Cub, 2 Scythecat Cub, Six, and 4 Knight of the Reliquary win games where combo is contested, or are they too slow against fast decks and too answerable against control? Card text check required for Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, and Six in matchup-specific evaluation.

• Removal question: Are 4 Swords to Plowshares plus 2 Erode covering the creature and permanent threats that actually matter, or should the main deck shift toward more proactive combo density or broader permanent answers? Card text check required for Erode before treating it as flexible interaction.

• Aggro plan question: Does The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale from the sideboard plus main-deck Swords to Plowshares, Blast Zone, and fast Marit Lage stabilize enough, or do creature matchups need more early-board role cards?

• Control plan question: Are Disruptor Flute, Gaddock Teeg, Doorkeeper Thrull, and protection lands enough against removal-heavy and spell-heavy opponents, or does the deck need more resilient closers or fewer narrow reactive cards? Card text check required for Doorkeeper Thrull and Gaddock Teeg against each visible matchup axis.

• Graveyard plan question: Are Bojuka Bog and 2 Endurance sufficient, or are graveyard decks forcing interaction before the deck can develop pressure? Review whether graveyard hate was drawn, tutored, timed correctly, and paired with a clock.

• Artifact/enchantment plan question: Are Collector Ouphe, 2 Force of Vigor, and Outland Liberator enough without overloading sideboard space, or are artifact and enchantment engines still determining games?

• Role-conflict question: Does the sideboard create hands with too many answers and too few ways to win? Review post-board games where Green Sun's Zenith, Crop Rotation, Elvish Reclaimer, Knight of the Reliquary, and Dark Depths access were reduced in practical play.

• Narrow-slot question: Did Icetill Explorer, Talon Gates of Madara, Echoing Deeps, or sideboard singletons create unique wins, or were they stranded without clear text-confirmed purpose? Card text check required before changing quantities based on isolated appearances.

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Opening Role Mulligan

Priority: High Decision families: mulligan Cards: Dark Depths; Thespian's Stage; Crop Rotation; Elvish Reclaimer; Green Sun's Zenith; Knight of the Reliquary; Mox Diamond Phase windows: pregame, mulligan Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan, opening hand, known matchup label Use when: deciding keep or mulligan before any game actions. Avoid when: sideboard lock has not loaded or hand data is unavailable. Instructions: Keep hands that produce mana and either assemble Dark Depths plus access to Thespian's Stage, develop Elvish Reclaimer or Knight of the Reliquary, or interact while progressing. Reject hands with no mana, no engine, or only reactive cards unless the matchup requires immediate hate and the hand has a clock. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Enabling Permanent

Priority: Medium Decision families: mana, priority, selection Cards: Elvish Reclaimer; Green Sun's Zenith; Dryad Arbor; Mox Diamond; Knight of the Reliquary Phase windows: turns 1-2 main phases Runtime cues: action:cast Elvish Reclaimer, action:cast Green Sun's Zenith, action:play Mox Diamond Use when: choosing the first proactive setup action. Avoid when: visible lethal pressure or stack interaction requires immediate response. Instructions: Lead with mana and a land-tutor creature when protected by the current board. Use Green Sun's Zenith for setup only when the legal action text and available mana show the intended creature line; do not assume the library contains a specific card unless the engine lists it. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Dark Depths Commitment Gate

Priority: High Decision families: priority, mana, selection Cards: Dark Depths; Thespian's Stage; Crop Rotation; Elvish Reclaimer; Knight of the Reliquary; Sejiri Steppe; Sylvan Safekeeper; Legolas's Quick Reflexes Phase windows: opponent end step, own main phase, combat setup Runtime cues: action:activate Thespian's Stage, action:cast Crop Rotation, action:activate Elvish Reclaimer, action:activate Knight of the Reliquary Use when: selecting whether to start the Dark Depths combo line. Avoid when: the legal action is only a routine mana activation. Instructions: Commit when the visible clock, mana, protection, and opponent public resources make waiting worse than acting. Prefer windows that retain protection from Sejiri Steppe, Sylvan Safekeeper, or a text-confirmed Legolas's Quick Reflexes; card text check required for Legolas's Quick Reflexes. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Execute Stage Copy After Commitment

Priority: Medium Decision families: priority, mana Cards: Dark Depths; Thespian's Stage Phase windows: any legal priority window Runtime cues: action:activate Thespian's Stage target Dark Depths Use when: the legal action text shows Thespian's Stage targeting Dark Depths and the prior decision frame selected the Dark Depths combo line. Avoid when: the prior decision frame did not commit to the combo. Instructions: Choose the exact legal action that copies Dark Depths; do not reinterpret the line or select another target. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Crop Rotation Land Choice

Priority: High Decision families: selection, mana, interaction Cards: Crop Rotation; Dark Depths; Thespian's Stage; Sejiri Steppe; Bojuka Bog; Wasteland; Karakas; Blast Zone; Talon Gates of Madara; Echoing Deeps Phase windows: any legal instant-speed window Runtime cues: action:cast Crop Rotation, prompt:choose land, prompt:search library Use when: Crop Rotation is legal or resolving. Avoid when: the engine does not expose candidate lands. Instructions: Choose the land that answers the current public problem: combo access, protection, graveyard hate, opposing legendary threat, mana denial, sweeper setup, or mana fixing. Do not sacrifice essential mana unless the selected land immediately advances survival or closing. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Reclaimer And Knight Land Choice

Priority: Medium Decision families: selection, mana, priority Cards: Elvish Reclaimer; Knight of the Reliquary; Dark Depths; Thespian's Stage; Sejiri Steppe; Bojuka Bog; Wasteland; Karakas; Blast Zone; Echoing Deeps; Talon Gates of Madara Phase windows: own main phase, opponent end step, combat tricks when legal Runtime cues: action:activate Elvish Reclaimer, action:activate Knight of the Reliquary, prompt:choose land Use when: a land-tutor activation is legal or resolving. Avoid when: activating exposes a needed blocker to lethal combat or removes required mana. Instructions: Treat every activation as a role choice. Assemble combo under low pressure, find protection when a lethal token is exposed, find hate against graveyard reliance, or find utility only when it changes the visible board. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Mox Diamond Payment

Priority: Medium Decision families: mana, selection Cards: Mox Diamond; Flagstones of Trokair; Dark Depths; Thespian's Stage; Wasteland; Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth Phase windows: main phase, opening development Runtime cues: action:cast Mox Diamond, prompt:discard a land Use when: Mox Diamond requires a land discard choice. Avoid when: the hand has too few lands to continue development. Instructions: Discard a redundant land or a land whose role is covered by visible alternatives. Preserve unique combo pieces, protection lands, and matchup-critical utility unless the acceleration immediately unlocks a stronger legal play. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Mandatory Mana For Selected Spell

Priority: Low Decision families: mana Cards: Savannah; Forest; Plains; Mox Diamond; Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth; Lush Portico Phase windows: any payment prompt Runtime cues: action:pay mana, prompt:pay cost Use when: exactly one legal mana payment action is exposed for the already selected spell or ability. Avoid when: multiple payment lines differ by preserving colored mana, untapped lands, or utility lands. Instructions: Submit the single visible payment action. When choices differ, preserve protection and interaction mana through light-model reasoning. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Protection Response

Priority: High Decision families: interaction, priority Cards: Sejiri Steppe; Sylvan Safekeeper; Legolas's Quick Reflexes; Crop Rotation; Green Sun's Zenith Phase windows: stack response, combat, removal targeting window Runtime cues: prompt:priority, stack:targeting own creature, action:activate Sylvan Safekeeper, action:cast Legolas's Quick Reflexes, action:cast Crop Rotation Use when: an owned key creature or combo token is visibly targeted or threatened. Avoid when: the target is not strategically important or protection costs sacrifice the winning position. Instructions: Protect Marit Lage, Knight of the Reliquary, and engine creatures when their survival determines the game. Card text check required for Legolas's Quick Reflexes; use only if the engine exposes a legal protective action. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Swords Removal Gate

Priority: High Decision families: interaction, priority Cards: Swords to Plowshares Phase windows: combat, stack response, opponent end step, own main phase Runtime cues: action:cast Swords to Plowshares, prompt:choose target creature Use when: deciding whether to spend Swords to Plowshares. Avoid when: the creature is not affecting the current race, lock, combo, or survival problem. Instructions: Spend removal on creatures that stop the combo, create lethal pressure, enable an opponent engine, or invalidate combat. Do not remove a low-impact creature while a more dangerous public creature remains unless life total or timing demands it. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Utility Interaction Gate

Priority: Medium Decision families: interaction, priority, selection Cards: Erode; Wasteland; Karakas; Blast Zone; Force of Vigor; Outland Liberator; Collector Ouphe; Disruptor Flute; Doorkeeper Thrull; Gaddock Teeg Phase windows: main phase, opponent development, stack response when legal Runtime cues: action:cast Erode, action:activate Wasteland, action:activate Karakas, action:activate Blast Zone, action:cast Force of Vigor Use when: a public permanent or spell axis is stopping the deck's plan. Avoid when: card text is not verified and the engine does not expose the relevant legal action. Instructions: Use narrow interaction only against visible engines, blockers, mana, or answers that matter this turn cycle. Card text check required for Erode, Doorkeeper Thrull, and Gaddock Teeg in exact rule interactions. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Fair Threat Development

Priority: Medium Decision families: priority, combat, mana Cards: Badgermole Cub; Scythecat Cub; Six; Knight of the Reliquary; Green Sun's Zenith Phase windows: own main phase, combat setup Runtime cues: action:cast Badgermole Cub, action:cast Scythecat Cub, action:cast Six, action:cast Knight of the Reliquary Use when: combo is delayed or public interaction makes a fair line safer. Avoid when: a deterministic combo line is protected and lethal soon. Instructions: Develop fair pressure when it shortens the clock without abandoning combo access. Card text check required for Badgermole Cub, Scythecat Cub, and Six; follow engine-exposed legal actions and visible stats. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Combat With Marit Lage Or Large Creature

Priority: High Decision families: combat Cards: Dark Depths; Knight of the Reliquary; Sejiri Steppe; Sylvan Safekeeper Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers, combat trick windows Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers, prompt:declare blockers, action:attack with, action:block with Use when: attacking or blocking can decide lethal, survival, or protection use. Avoid when: combat has exactly one legal no-impact pass action. Instructions: Attack with lethal or dominant threats unless public blockers, bounce, exile, sacrifice, or prevention makes waiting stronger. Preserve Knight of the Reliquary as a blocker or land tutor when combat damage is less important than the next activation. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Deterministic No-Block Pass

Priority: Low Decision families: combat Cards: none Phase windows: declare blockers Runtime cues: action:declare no blockers Use when: the only legal block action is declare no blockers. Avoid when: any legal block action names a creature or token. Instructions: Submit the visible no-block action without calling for strategic reasoning. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Graveyard Hate Timing

Priority: High Decision families: interaction, priority, selection Cards: Bojuka Bog; Endurance; Crop Rotation; Elvish Reclaimer; Knight of the Reliquary Phase windows: opponent graveyard setup, response window, opponent end step Runtime cues: action:play Bojuka Bog, action:cast Endurance, action:cast Crop Rotation, prompt:choose graveyard target Use when: opponent public graveyard resources threaten combo, recursion, or lethal. Avoid when: graveyard hate does not change a visible resource or timing window. Instructions: Fire graveyard hate when it denies a public payoff or buys a decisive turn. Prefer tutor-backed Bojuka Bog when land access is available; use Endurance when the stack or timing requires it. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Lock Selection

Priority: High Decision families: sideboard Cards: Collector Ouphe; Disruptor Flute; Doorkeeper Thrull; Endurance; Force of Vigor; Gaddock Teeg; Icetill Explorer; Mindbreak Trap; Outland Liberator; The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale Phase windows: between games Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard, match stage, opponent archetype label Use when: selecting or validating a sideboard plan. Avoid when: exact sideboard inventory or main-deck inventory is unavailable. Instructions: Add hate that matches the opponent's visible axis while preserving combo access and a clock. Do not overload on reactive cards at the expense of Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, land tutors, and green creature access. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Mindbreak Trap Emergency

Priority: High Decision families: interaction, priority Cards: Mindbreak Trap Phase windows: opponent combo turn, stack response Runtime cues: action:cast Mindbreak Trap, stack:multiple spells, prompt:choose target spell Use when: the engine exposes Mindbreak Trap and opponent stack actions can decide the game. Avoid when: the stack item is low impact or the opponent is not threatening a decisive sequence. Instructions: Use Mindbreak Trap to stop visible combo or storm-like stack pressure. Target selection must follow engine-listed candidates; do not assume hidden follow-up spells. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Force Of Vigor Pitch Choice

Priority: Medium Decision families: interaction, selection Cards: Force of Vigor; Collector Ouphe; Outland Liberator; Green Sun's Zenith; Sylvan Safekeeper Phase windows: opponent turn, free-spell window, main phase Runtime cues: action:cast Force of Vigor, prompt:exile a green card, prompt:choose artifact or enchantment Use when: Force of Vigor is legal and a pitch or target choice is required. Avoid when: the target does not block survival, combo, or sideboard role execution. Instructions: Pitch the least essential green card for the current role and target the public artifact or enchantment that matters now. Preserve unique hate or combo access unless the target is immediately decisive. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes