veles-content/strategies/modern/modern_boros_burn/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

Boros Burn is a Modern red-white linear aggro deck built to convert early creature pressure and direct damage into a short, counted race. The registered main deck is exactly 60 cards, and the sideboard is exactly 15 cards: the main deck contains 20 lands, 12 creatures, and 28 noncreature damage or pressure spells; the sideboard contains 2 Meltdown, 3 Tormod's Crypt, 1 Skullcrack, 2 Searing Blood, 2 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 2 Roiling Vortex, and 3 Wear // Tear.

The deck's declared tags are aggro, burn, and spells, and those tags are accurate for runtime planning. Treat the deck as a proactive damage deck first, a tempo-creature deck second, and a narrow answer deck only after sideboarding; most decisions should be evaluated by whether they preserve a fast lethal clock without giving away damage efficiency.

The list is a hybrid Boros Burn configuration rather than a pure stock Modern Burn list. The stock pressure shell is represented by Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, Searing Blaze, Monastery Swiftspear, and fetch-shock mana, while the more build-specific plan uses Boltwave, Seal of Fire, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Arena of Glory, Barbarian Ring, and Chandra's Incinerator to add delirium pressure, stored damage, and large threat conversion.

The registered colors are primarily red with a focused white splash. Red is required early and repeatedly for Mountain, Barbarian Ring, Arena of Glory, Boltwave, Seal of Fire, Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Searing Blaze, Monastery Swiftspear, Chandra's Incinerator, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Meltdown, Searing Blood, Eidolon of the Great Revel, and Roiling Vortex. White is required for Boros Charm and the Tear half of Wear // Tear, and it is supplied by Elegant Parlor, Sacred Foundry, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, and Scalding Tarn when legal fetch choices expose those lands.

Legality and card-text certainty should be checked by Veles or the registered rules engine at runtime before assuming any spell mode, restriction, replacement effect, or damage amount. The pilot guide may use common strategic roles for Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Boros Charm, Searing Blaze, Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Chandra's Incinerator, and sideboard cards, but the decision agent must obey legal actions and visible prompts over any heuristic in this document.

The deck has no known opponent-specific information in the provided request. Matchup guidance should therefore classify opponents by visible archetype evidence, revealed cards, public zones, and sideboard-stage context; do not infer hidden cards, exact sideboard contents, or opponent role certainty unless the game log or rules engine has exposed that information.

The main role concern is that this deck can lose damage races by miscounting mana, spending burn on low-impact creatures, or keeping hands that produce pressure but not enough total damage. The mana concern is that white access matters for Boros Charm and Wear // Tear, but unnecessary shock damage can shrink the deck's race margin; fetch decisions must balance immediate red density, future white access, Searing Blaze landfall timing, Barbarian Ring threshold pressure, and whether Arena of Glory can create an explosive creature turn.

The pilot should treat this guide as deck-specific tactical advice, not a replacement for the rules engine. If Veles presents legal action IDs that contradict an assumed line, choose only among the legal actions shown; if the board state, hand, graveyard, stack, or priority window does not match a policy, route to reasoning rather than forcing a burn-script shortcut.

Thesis

This Boros Burn deck assembles a fast red damage count backed by cheap creatures, stored burn, fetchland landfall, and a large punishment threat in Chandra's Incinerator. The default plan is to make the opponent's life total the central resource from turn one, use Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler to convert cheap spells into repeat damage, and finish with direct damage from Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, Boltwave, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, Barbarian Ring, or a discounted Chandra's Incinerator when legal.

This deck wins by counting to lethal earlier than the opponent can stabilize, not by maximizing individual card advantage. Prioritize hands and lines that produce a credible first-two-turn clock, preserve enough red mana to cast multiple spells, and keep a clear path to the last 6-8 damage; a line that spends a premium burn spell on a creature must either unlock attacks, trigger Searing Blaze efficiency, prevent lethal pressure, or protect a near-term kill.

This deck is not trying to become a long-game control deck. Do not hold Lightning Bolt, Boros Charm, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Boltwave, or Seal of Fire indefinitely for theoretical value when visible resources show the opponent can be forced into lethal range; delayed damage is acceptable only when it enables Searing Blaze landfall timing, prowess pressure, Dragon's Rage Channeler selection, Chandra's Incinerator deployment, Skullcrack or Roiling Vortex anti-life-gain timing after sideboarding, or a rules-engine-confirmed stack interaction.

This deck is also not trying to win normal creature combat after the early turns. Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler are pressure engines first and blockers only when survival requires it; Chandra's Incinerator is the main body that can dominate combat after damage has already been dealt. Use combat to add damage when attacks are safe or materially advance lethal, but do not trade away early creatures for low-value battlefield exchanges if burn-to-face lines remain live.

Prioritize visible lethal math over abstract archetype heuristics. At runtime, count known damage in hand, suspended Rift Bolt, active Seal of Fire, Barbarian Ring activation if threshold and mana are legal, creature attack damage, prowess triggers, delirium status for Dragon's Rage Channeler if relevant, landfall availability for Searing Blaze, and any sideboard damage engines already on the battlefield. If any assumed card text, trigger, damage amount, or restriction is not exposed clearly by Veles, use the legal action text and mark the line conditional rather than inventing certainty.

Role Package

• Threats: Monastery Swiftspear is the preferred early pressure creature because every cheap noncreature spell can turn into immediate combat damage; lead with it when legal if the hand can cast multiple spells across the next two turns. Dragon's Rage Channeler is the early filtering and pressure creature; value it higher when the hand contains Seal of Fire, fetchlands, Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, or other card types that can help graveyard texture, but do not assume delirium without visible graveyard confirmation. Chandra's Incinerator is the large conversion threat; commit it when prior or same-turn damage makes it legal and the resulting body or trigger pressure is worth the mana and exposure.

• Payoffs: Boros Charm is the highest-damage white spell and should usually be preserved for player damage unless a legal mode is clearly needed to protect a decisive battlefield or win a race. Searing Blaze is the premium two-for-one damage card when a target creature and landfall timing are available; fetchlands should often be sequenced to preserve a landfall window. Barbarian Ring is late reach when threshold, red mana, and life-payment constraints are legal; do not count it as guaranteed before Veles exposes the activation.

• Engines: Seal of Fire functions as stored damage, a future prowess trigger enabler only when cast, a graveyard card after use, and a way to set up Chandra's Incinerator timing; use it early when mana efficiency matters, but cash it in when it creates lethal, enables an Incinerator line, or removes a blocker that meaningfully changes attacks. Arena of Glory is a creature-turn accelerator or haste enabler only if the rules engine exposes that line; Card text check required for exact runtime options.

• Velocity: Rift Bolt supplies delayed damage and efficient sequencing, especially when suspend is legal on turn one or when hard-cast damage is needed later. Dragon's Rage Channeler provides selection through its triggered filtering when legal; do not override mandatory or optional trigger prompts without checking visible cards and current lethal math.

• Interaction: Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, Searing Blood, Meltdown, Wear // Tear, Skullcrack, Roiling Vortex, Eidolon of the Great Revel, and Tormod's Crypt are the interaction suite by role. Main-deck interaction should still be damage-positive whenever possible; sideboard interaction should answer visible life gain, graveyard reliance, artifacts, enchantments, or low-toughness creature swarms without abandoning the burn clock.

• Protection: Boros Charm may provide protection if the legal mode exists and the board state makes protection worth more than direct damage; Card text check required at runtime for exact mode availability and affected permanents. The deck has no broad commander-style protection package and should not spend turns representing absent protective cards.

• Recursion: The registered main deck and sideboard contain no dedicated recursion cards. Treat graveyard contents as resources for Dragon's Rage Channeler context, Barbarian Ring threshold, and opponent graveyard decisions with Tormod's Crypt, not as a planned self-recursion engine.

• Mana: Mountain, Elegant Parlor, Barbarian Ring, Arena of Glory, Sacred Foundry, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, and Scalding Tarn form a mostly red mana base with a white splash. Fetch choices should first secure red spell density, then white access for Boros Charm or Wear // Tear, while considering Searing Blaze landfall and avoidable shock damage in races.

• Sideboard modules: Meltdown and Wear // Tear are artifact/enchantment answers, Tormod's Crypt is graveyard pressure, Skullcrack and Roiling Vortex are anti-life-gain and damage-pressure tools, Searing Blood is creature-race removal, and Eidolon of the Great Revel is a punisher threat for low-curve spell matchups. Sideboard plans must preserve enough burn density that the deck still ends games quickly.

Primary Win Conditions

• Burn-stack lethal is the default win path: assemble visible damage from Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, Boltwave, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, creature attacks, and Barbarian Ring when activation is legal. Set up by keeping red mana available, sequencing one-mana spells before expensive plays, and counting suspended Rift Bolt plus stored Seal of Fire as part of the next-turn kill; execute by pointing damage at the opponent unless removing a creature immediately unlocks more damage or prevents lethal. Disruption matters most when the opponent presents life gain, counterspells, prevention, or a faster clock; prioritize this path whenever the opponent is at or below the known damage total in hand and on board.

• Early creature pressure converts cheap spells into extra damage through Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler. Set up by casting a one-mana creature before Lava Spike, Seal of Fire, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, or Boltwave when the turn can produce attacks or selection; execute by attacking when visible blockers do not create a bad trade and by casting noncreature spells before combat when prowess or Dragon's Rage Channeler triggers improve the attack. Disruption includes removal, blockers, and graveyard hate against delirium; prioritize this path in opening hands with at least one creature, multiple cheap spells, and mana that supports two active turns.

• Chandra's Incinerator is the main body-based payoff after damage has already been dealt. Set up by dealing noncombat damage first with Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, Boros Charm, or Boltwave, then commit Chandra's Incinerator only when the rules engine exposes a legal cast and the remaining mana supports the turn. Execute by using later burn to aim damage where legal text creates the most pressure, commonly opponent damage plus battlefield control when the trigger is available. Disruption includes removal before attacks, counterspells, and failure to deal enough prior damage; prioritize this path when direct burn alone is not enough, when a large attacker stabilizes combat, or when the opponent must answer the creature instead of racing.

• Searing Blaze tempo-kill is the highest-impact creature-matchup win path when landfall and a legal creature target are visible. Set up by preserving Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Scalding Tarn, or an unplayed land for the turn Searing Blaze is cast; execute when it removes a blocker or attacker while also damaging the opponent. Disruption includes no legal target, prevention, or losing the landfall window; prioritize it when the target changes combat math or the opponent's creature clock is the main obstacle to lethal.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Stored and delayed damage wins games where immediate mana is constrained. Seal of Fire can be deployed early as future damage, future graveyard material, and a later Chandra's Incinerator enabler; Rift Bolt can be suspended when legal to bank damage for the next turn. Prioritize these lines when the hand has more spells than mana, when Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler can use later spell timing, or when holding all burn would waste a turn.

• Barbarian Ring is late reach only after threshold and activation legality are visible. Treat it as a land first and a finishing damage source second; do not count the activation as guaranteed before Veles exposes enough graveyard and mana information. Prioritize it when life totals make normal spell damage short by two, when sacrificing land is not relevant, and when the activation does not prevent casting a lethal spell.

• Boros Charm is the premium backup burst spell because it represents a large single action when legal. Use it as direct damage in most races, but consider other exposed modes only when protecting Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Chandra's Incinerator clearly produces more damage than casting Boros Charm at the opponent. Card text check required for exact legal modes and affected permanents at runtime.

• Sideboard pressure can become a secondary win condition after boarding. Eidolon of the Great Revel, Roiling Vortex, Skullcrack, Searing Blood, Tormod's Crypt, Meltdown, and Wear // Tear should support the same clock rather than replace it; prioritize damage engines and narrow answers only when the visible matchup problem is life gain, graveyard dependence, artifacts, enchantments, or creature swarms.

Emergency Lines

• When behind on life, race by converting every legal action into immediate or next-turn damage unless a removal spell prevents more damage than it costs. Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, and Searing Blaze may target creatures if the creature represents lethal, blocks a lethal attack, or unlocks a profitable attack; Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Boltwave, and Boros Charm should still usually aim at the opponent when legal. Card text check required for Boltwave exact targeting and damage text.

• When behind on board, stop trying to win fair combat and use burn to create one decisive attack or one lethal spell chain. Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler can block only when survival requires it; otherwise preserve attackers if the opponent's life total is within burn range. Chandra's Incinerator can reverse board pressure after prior damage, but do not tap out for it if direct burn already wins sooner.

• When behind on cards or facing discard, spend damage before it is stranded and value redundant burn over sculpting a perfect hand. Dragon's Rage Channeler selection should favor live damage, necessary lands, and white access for Boros Charm or sideboard cards; do not keep speculative pieces when the current legal action can push the opponent into lethal range.

• When behind on mana, choose lines that spend all available red mana efficiently and preserve fetchlands only when Searing Blaze landfall or color fixing is worth the delay. Fetch Sacred Foundry or Elegant Parlor only when white mana is needed for Boros Charm or Wear // Tear and life loss or tapped timing is acceptable by visible rules output.

• When primary win conditions are removed, pivot to accumulated reach from topdecked burn, Seal of Fire, suspended Rift Bolt, Barbarian Ring, and any surviving creature hit. Do not concede because Chandra's Incinerator or early creatures are gone; the deck can still win from a low opponent life total with single-card damage draws.

Resource Model

• Life total is a race buffer, not a protected asset. Spend life on Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Scalding Tarn, Sacred Foundry, and shockland timing when that mana converts into immediate damage, enables Boros Charm, enables sideboard Wear // Tear, or keeps a landfall Searing Blaze turn intact; conserve life only when visible opponent pressure makes the extra damage taken likely to lose the race.

• Hand cards are mostly stored damage and should be measured by castable damage over the next two turns. Prioritize hands and draw-step choices that turn mana into Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Seal of Fire, Boltwave, Boros Charm, Searing Blaze, Monastery Swiftspear pressure, Dragon's Rage Channeler filtering, or Chandra's Incinerator after prior damage; do not hold burn for abstract value when the opponent is within known lethal range.

• Mana is the main bottleneck because most spells are cheap but the deck wants multiple actions per turn. Use one-mana red spells to double-spell early, preserve white access for Boros Charm and Wear // Tear, and count Chandra's Incinerator only when prior noncombat damage and visible legal casting cost make it realistically castable. Card text check required for Boltwave exact mana and targeting text.

• Board presence is a damage multiplier, not the primary long-game plan. Monastery Swiftspear rewards spell-before-combat sequencing, Dragon's Rage Channeler rewards noncreature spell volume and graveyard texture, and Chandra's Incinerator rewards prior damage; trade creatures only when blocking prevents lethal or attacking into a blocker sacrifices more future damage than the attack creates.

• Graveyard is a live resource for Dragon's Rage Channeler and Barbarian Ring. Track card types and threshold from visible state, use fetchlands and cheap spells to stock the graveyard naturally, and do not assume delirium or threshold until Veles exposes it; graveyard hate from the opponent can downgrade Dragon's Rage Channeler and Barbarian Ring without changing the direct-burn plan.

• Exile is mostly delayed damage tracking for suspended Rift Bolt and public replacement effects. Treat suspended Rift Bolt as next-turn pressure that can enable Chandra's Incinerator or finish the opponent, but adapt if the rules engine shows timing, target, or counterplay constraints.

• Lands are both mana and tactical triggers. Fetchlands fix white, fill graveyard, and turn on Searing Blaze landfall; Barbarian Ring is a land first and late reach second; Arena of Glory is a red source with creature-combat relevance only when its visible text and legal actions matter. Elegant Parlor may enter tapped or have special land types; Card text check required for exact timing and utility.

• Sacrifice fodder is minimal and should not be invented. The main registered sacrifice-like resources are fetchlands and possibly Barbarian Ring activation costs; do not treat creatures, Seal of Fire, or Tormod's Crypt as fodder unless the legal action text explicitly offers the sacrifice and the visible result advances damage, survival, graveyard denial, or Chandra's Incinerator setup.

• Tempo is won by spending mana every turn while forcing the opponent to answer damage, not by accumulating perfect burn. Suspend Rift Bolt or deploy Seal of Fire when mana would otherwise go unused, cast Searing Blaze with landfall when it changes combat and damages the opponent, and commit Chandra's Incinerator when it creates a faster clock than holding more spells.

• Information is limited to public zones, revealed cards, known deck roles, and legal actions. Use opponent life total, available mana, graveyards, battlefield, stack, hand count, and revealed cards to decide whether to fire burn now, preserve Searing Blaze, hold Skullcrack after sideboarding, or respect interaction; never assume hidden life gain, counterspells, or removal without public evidence.

• Sideboard bullets are narrow resources that must still support the clock. Tormod's Crypt buys time against graveyard engines, Meltdown and Wear // Tear answer artifacts or enchantments, Skullcrack and Roiling Vortex pressure life-gain plans, Searing Blood improves creature races, and Eidolon of the Great Revel punishes cheap-spell decks when its symmetrical damage does not lose the race.

Mana Guide

• Keep opening mana that casts a red one-mana spell on turn one and at least one follow-up spell on turn two. A one-land hand is keepable only with multiple one-mana actions and strong draw texture; a two-land hand is preferred; a three-land hand needs enough burn or creature pressure; four-plus lands should be suspicious unless the nonlands are high-impact and the matchup demands stability.

• Prioritize untapped red first because Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Seal of Fire, Rift Bolt, Boltwave, Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, Searing Blaze, and Chandra's Incinerator setup all begin from red mana. Fetch Mountain when white is unnecessary and life is pressured; fetch Sacred Foundry when Boros Charm, Wear // Tear, or another white action is in hand or likely needed before the next fetch opportunity.

• Preserve fetchlands when Searing Blaze is in hand and a creature target is likely. Play a nonfetch land first if the hand can still function and landfall may matter later; crack the fetch before casting Searing Blaze only when the rules engine confirms the target, landfall condition, and mana all line up.

• Name and sequence the actual fetches: Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, and Scalding Tarn are the landfall bank for Searing Blaze and the cleanest way to find Mountain or Sacred Foundry. Bloodstained Mire should usually stay uncracked when Searing Blaze is in hand and the opponent is likely to present a creature; crack it early only when the turn needs immediate red or white mana, life total pressure makes extra shock damage unacceptable later, or the current legal action is already better than preserving landfall.

• Sequence tapped or utility lands around damage windows. Elegant Parlor and Barbarian Ring should enter or be used when they do not block a critical one-mana spell, two-spell turn, Boros Charm, or Searing Blaze landfall line; Arena of Glory should be sequenced as a red source first, with any creature bonus considered only from visible legal actions and text.

• Play land before draw or selection when landfall, mana spending, or Dragon's Rage Channeler follow-up actions are more important than concealing information. Delay the land only when Dragon's Rage Channeler surveillance, a draw effect, or known top-card information could change which land should be played, and only if no current legal action requires the land immediately.

• Spend white mana deliberately because the main deck splashes mainly for Boros Charm. Do not shock Sacred Foundry just to represent white if all current and next-turn damage is red; do shock it when Boros Charm is part of lethal math, Wear // Tear is needed after boarding, or failing to access white would strand the strongest legal action.

• Count Barbarian Ring activation as a future spell only when threshold, mana, and sacrifice legality are visible. Avoid sacrificing a land if it prevents casting a lethal burn spell or Chandra's Incinerator on the same or next turn.

• Use all mana before passing unless holding mana has a concrete purpose. Concrete purposes include Lightning Bolt interaction, Seal of Fire activation timing, Searing Blaze with an expected landfall window, Skullcrack against visible life gain after sideboarding, or Wear // Tear against a known artifact or enchantment; otherwise convert mana into damage or board pressure.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: keep two-land hands with untapped red, Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler, and at least two cheap damage spells such as Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, Rift Bolt, or Boltwave. These hands convert mana immediately, make later Boros Charm or Chandra's Incinerator more threatening, and rarely need perfect draws to function.

• Strong keep: keep fetchland plus red source hands with Searing Blaze when the opponent is likely to present early creatures. Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, or Scalding Tarn can preserve landfall while Mountain, Sacred Foundry, Arena of Glory, or Elegant Parlor supplies mana; do not keep solely for Searing Blaze if the matchup has few targets.

• Medium keep: keep two or three lands with no creature when the hand contains enough direct damage to spend turns one through three. Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Seal of Fire, Boltwave, and Boros Charm can race without a creature, but value hands without Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or cost-reduced Chandra's Incinerator need clean mana and low land count.

• Risky keep: keep one-land hands only when the land casts multiple one-mana spells and the hand has at least three immediate plays. A Mountain or fetchland with Monastery Swiftspear, Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, and Rift Bolt is plausible, especially on the draw; a one-land hand with Boros Charm, Chandra's Incinerator, Searing Blaze, or multiple white/conditional cards is a ship unless legal action context proves otherwise.

• Automatic ship: ship hands with no land, no red source, four-plus lands with weak pressure, or hands whose first legal spell is delayed beyond turn two. Hands full of Chandra's Incinerator, Boros Charm without white access, Searing Blaze without creature expectation, or sideboard bullets without a clock fail the deck's tempo requirement.

• Matchup-dependent keep: keep Tormod's Crypt, Wear // Tear, Meltdown, Roiling Vortex, Skullcrack, Eidolon of the Great Revel, or Searing Blood only after sideboarding when the opponent's revealed deck or matchup label makes that card live. Do not keep a low-damage sideboard hand just because it has an answer; the answer must protect or accelerate a burn clock.

• Play/draw adjustment: on the play, prefer Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or suspended Rift Bolt to seize tempo before blockers and countermagic develop. On the draw, value Lightning Bolt, Searing Blaze, Seal of Fire, and Searing Blood higher against creature starts because answering the first threat while dealing damage can recover tempo.

• Trap hand: do not keep a visually powerful hand that cannot spend mana efficiently. Examples include three lands plus two Chandra's Incinerator and no early damage, Sacred Foundry plus Boros Charm plus no red one-mana spell, or Searing Blaze-heavy hands against an opponent with no visible creature plan.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1 priority: lead with Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler when available and protected by functional follow-up mana. If no creature is available, suspend Rift Bolt or cast Lava Spike, Boltwave, or Seal of Fire according to legal action text; Card text check required for Boltwave exact targeting and timing.

• Turn 1 deviation: preserve fetchlands when Searing Blaze landfall is likely to matter on turn two. If the hand has both a fetchland and a nonfetch red source, play the nonfetch first when it still casts the turn-one action; fetch Sacred Foundry only when Boros Charm or sideboard Wear // Tear timing makes white necessary.

• Turn 2 priority: spend all mana while adding damage and graveyard texture. Attack with Monastery Swiftspear after casting a noncreature spell when legal, cast Dragon's Rage Channeler before additional cheap spells when surveillance can matter, and use Searing Blaze with landfall when it removes a creature while damaging the opponent.

• Turn 2 deviation: hold Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, or Searing Blaze when the opponent's visible battlefield or mana indicates a better target is imminent and passing does not waste the whole turn. Do not hold Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, or Boltwave for imagined value; convert sorcery-speed face damage into pressure unless lethal math or Chandra's Incinerator setup says otherwise.

• Turn 3 priority: evaluate whether Chandra's Incinerator is now castable from visible damage already dealt this turn. If legal and it creates a faster clock than casting two burn spells, commit it; if not, prioritize Boros Charm, multiple one-mana burn spells, or Searing Blaze plus attack lines that push the opponent toward lethal range.

• Turn 3 deviation: respect open interaction only through public information and legal actions. If the opponent can answer Chandra's Incinerator and your hand has redundant direct damage, continue burning; if the opponent is under a short clock and tapped low, use the opportunity to commit Chandra's Incinerator or a high-damage Boros Charm line.

• Turns 4-5 priority: count exact visible lethal before choosing targets. Direct Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, Boltwave, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, Barbarian Ring, and Seal of Fire at the opponent when legal lethal is present; otherwise remove blockers only when the attack damage gained exceeds the burn redirected away from the opponent.

• Turns 4-5 deviation: use sideboard cards only when they change the race or stop a known engine. Meltdown and Wear // Tear answer visible artifacts or enchantments, Tormod's Crypt interrupts graveyard reliance, Skullcrack and Roiling Vortex contest life gain, Searing Blood punishes creatures, and Eidolon of the Great Revel is strongest before both players are already in topdeck lethal range.

• Late game priority: topdeck mode favors immediate legal damage over speculative setup. Activate Barbarian Ring only when threshold and sacrifice legality are visible and the lost land will not strand a lethal spell; use Seal of Fire timing to play around visible stack choices, but do not miss damage by waiting without a concrete reason.

• Late game deviation: creatures become finishers only if they can attack or force removal before the opponent stabilizes. Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler should attack when legal damage is favorable; Chandra's Incinerator should be cast when its body or triggered pressure is more valuable than holding another burn spell.

Card Roles

• Monastery Swiftspear: use Monastery Swiftspear as the cleanest turn-one pressure and as the card that converts routine burn sequencing into combat damage. Cast noncreature spells before combat when the extra prowess damage is relevant and the spell does not need to be held for a visible creature, stack fight, or lethal response. Do not trade it away casually against creature decks unless the trade preserves life while direct damage can finish the opponent.

• Dragon's Rage Channeler: use Dragon's Rage Channeler as early pressure, card filtering, and graveyard setup for delirium and Barbarian Ring. Cast it before cheap noncreature spells when the surveil trigger can improve draws or fill the graveyard. Once delirium is visible, remember that its forced-attack text can turn bad attacks into mandatory attacks; plan burn and removal so that the attack remains useful rather than feeding a blocker.

• Chandra's Incinerator: use Chandra's Incinerator as the deck's battlefield-swinging finisher, not as an opening-hand payoff that excuses slow starts. Cast it after visible noncombat damage has made the cost legal and when the 6-power body, trample, or follow-up damage triggers create a faster clock than spending the same turn on direct burn. Prefer it when the opponent has creatures or planeswalkers that later burn can punish through its trigger; be cautious when the opponent is nearly dead and a removal spell on Chandra's Incinerator would waste a turn.

• Lightning Bolt: treat Lightning Bolt as the most flexible damage spell and preserve that flexibility when the opponent can present a must-kill creature. Aim Lightning Bolt at the opponent when it completes a lethal line, enables Chandra's Incinerator, clears the way for a decisive attack, or prevents wasted mana. Avoid spending it on a low-impact creature when Lava Spike, Boltwave, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, or Barbarian Ring can already close the game.

• Lava Spike: use Lava Spike as efficient face pressure and a benchmark for whether the hand is racing fast enough. Cast it early when mana would otherwise go unused, when it triggers Dragon's Rage Channeler, or when it helps make Chandra's Incinerator legal that turn. Do not hold Lava Spike for creature interaction; if the legal action text only points at the opponent or planeswalkers, its job is to advance the life-total clock.

• Boltwave: use Boltwave as redundant one-mana direct damage only when Veles exposes a legal damage action consistent with that role. Card text check required for exact Boltwave Oracle text, targeting, and timing; do not assume it can kill creatures or target a planeswalker unless the rules engine presents that legal action. Its main tactical job is to increase the density of turn-one pressure, Dragon's Rage Channeler triggers, and Chandra's Incinerator cost reduction.

• Rift Bolt: use Rift Bolt as delayed damage that sets up the next turn, especially when suspending it lets the deck spend all mana on turn one. A suspended Rift Bolt can make Chandra's Incinerator legal before the main phase if it deals noncombat damage during upkeep, but the target choice must follow the current visible board when the trigger resolves. Hard-cast Rift Bolt when immediate damage is required for lethal, creature removal, or same-turn Incinerator sequencing.

• Seal of Fire: use Seal of Fire as banked damage that keeps mana free on a later turn. Casting it adds a noncreature spell trigger for Dragon's Rage Channeler, and sacrificing it later can add an enchantment to the graveyard for delirium or threshold planning. Hold Seal of Fire on the battlefield when open mana matters, but sacrifice it when it creates lethal, kills a key visible creature, or triggers Chandra's Incinerator at the right time.

• Searing Blaze: use Searing Blaze as the premium race card when the opponent controls a legal creature target and landfall is available or can be enabled. Preserve Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, or Scalding Tarn when a creature matchup makes turn-two landfall likely. Do not keep or sequence around Searing Blaze as if it were unconditional burn; without a creature target, and especially without landfall, it may be stranded or underpowered.

• Boros Charm: use Boros Charm primarily as four instant-speed damage that justifies white mana in the deck. Choose the damage mode when it advances lethal math or pressures a control opponent at end step. Choose the indestructible or double-strike modes only when legal action text and visible combat or stack context prove they outperform four damage, such as protecting Chandra's Incinerator from a visible sweeper or producing exact lethal with a large attacking creature.

• Arena of Glory: use Arena of Glory as creature infrastructure, especially for Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, and Chandra's Incinerator timing. Card text check required for exact mana restrictions, but do not count Arena of Glory as a normal red source for noncreature burn unless the engine exposes that payment as legal. Its haste or exert line is strongest when a surprise Chandra's Incinerator or hasty threat changes the clock immediately.

• Barbarian Ring: use Barbarian Ring as both a red land and late-game reach once threshold is visible. Count its self-damage in races, especially against other aggressive decks, and avoid relying on it when life total is under pressure. Activate only when sacrificing the land will not strand a lethal Boros Charm, Searing Blaze, or multi-spell turn; its two damage is excellent for finishing opponents or removing a blocker when threshold is already established.

• Elegant Parlor: use Elegant Parlor as a fetchable red-white source that improves card quality when the tapped land cost is acceptable. Its surveil helps Dragon's Rage Channeler, delirium, and Barbarian Ring, but the tempo loss is real in a deck built around one-mana spells. Fetch or play Elegant Parlor when the current turn does not require untapped mana, when Boros Charm access matters next turn, or when graveyard texture is worth the delay.

• Sacred Foundry: use Sacred Foundry as the untapped white source for Boros Charm while still functioning as a Mountain-type land for red sequencing. Fetch it untapped when Boros Charm is in hand or white sideboard cards are already part of the current game plan; fetch a lower-pain red source when life total is the limiting resource. Do not shock automatically when the hand can spend only red mana this turn.

• Mountain: use Mountain as the safest untapped red source for the deck's one-mana spells. Fetching or playing Mountain preserves life, enables clean Lava Spike, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Seal of Fire, Boltwave, and Searing Blaze sequencing, and may help Arena of Glory enter untapped if its Mountain condition is relevant. Prefer Mountain when white is not needed and landfall timing is already covered.

• Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, and Scalding Tarn: use the fetchlands as mana fixing, landfall enablers, and graveyard fuel. Hold one fetchland when Searing Blaze may need landfall on the opponent's turn or on a later main phase. Crack fetchlands before or after Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil according to the visible top-card decision: do not shuffle away a kept top card, and do not spend life for fixing that the hand does not need.

Interaction Priorities

• Priority: point most damage at the opponent unless a visible creature changes the race faster than the same damage to face. Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, Searing Blood, Barbarian Ring, and Chandra's Incinerator triggers are the creature-interaction package; Lava Spike, Boltwave, Rift Bolt, and Boros Charm should stay aimed at life totals unless Veles exposes a legal target and the board makes that target decisive.

• Priority: remove mana creatures, combo creatures, lifegain bodies, and creatures that enable a faster lethal clock before spending burn on ordinary attackers. Searing Blaze is the preferred answer when landfall and a creature target are both available, because it preserves face pressure while killing the target. Lightning Bolt and Seal of Fire should cover must-kill creatures when Searing Blaze is not legal or when landfall is unavailable.

• Priority: ignore low-power blockers when Monastery Swiftspear prowess, Dragon's Rage Channeler evasion after delirium, Chandra's Incinerator size, or direct damage can race through them. Do not spend Lightning Bolt on a creature that neither blocks a lethal attack nor threatens lethal damage before the opponent dies. Treat every creature-removal spell as a lost Lava Spike unless it materially changes the next combat or life-total race.

• Priority: use Chandra's Incinerator as repeat interaction only after noncombat damage makes its trigger real. Aim the trigger at the most dangerous visible creature when that preserves the attack plan, but aim other burn at the opponent when the creature can be handled by the triggered damage. Do not expose Chandra's Incinerator to a bad attack just because it can fight; its main job is compressing the opponent's clock while turning face burn into removal.

• Priority: this deck does not counter, discard, bounce, or exile from the main deck, so never wait for those action types unless sideboard cards or engine output explicitly provide them. Tormod's Crypt is the sideboard exile tool and should hit graveyards when a visible graveyard resource is about to matter, not simply because cards are present. Wear // Tear and Meltdown are artifact/enchantment interaction, and their timing should favor removing damage prevention, lifegain engines, prison pieces, or artifact boards that stop lethal.

• Priority: bait opposing interaction with lower-commitment burn before spending Boros Charm or a critical Lightning Bolt when lethal can be assembled across multiple spells. Lava Spike, Boltwave, suspended Rift Bolt, and expendable Seal of Fire pressure the opponent while testing shields. Preserve Boros Charm when four instant-speed damage is the cleanest answer to open mana, end-step windows, or exact lethal.

• Priority: shift interaction by archetype, not habit. Against creature aggro, prize Searing Blaze, Searing Blood, Seal of Fire, and Lightning Bolt as tempo-positive removal. Against control and combo, minimize creature shots and maximize direct damage, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Roiling Vortex, Skullcrack, and fast Monastery Swiftspear pressure. Against graveyard decks, time Tormod's Crypt around visible commitment. Against artifact-heavy decks, Meltdown and Wear // Tear can become race cards by clearing blockers or engines.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack: push damage with Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler whenever the visible blocks do not trade down for no damage. Cast precombat spells when prowess, surveil, delirium, or Chandra's Incinerator cost reduction changes combat math; hold spells until after combat when the opponent's blocks are already bad and instant-speed reach is more valuable.

• Attack: treat Monastery Swiftspear as a burn spell with legs, not as a creature to preserve at all costs. If a precombat Lava Spike, Boltwave, Seal of Fire, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, or Boros Charm makes it attack for meaningful damage, take the attack unless the block removes the only path through a longer game. Trading Monastery Swiftspear for a key blocker is acceptable when the remaining hand can finish the opponent.

• Attack: treat Dragon's Rage Channeler as a setup threat until delirium or repeated surveil makes it a real clock. Avoid trading it into a small blocker before it has filtered draws unless the opponent's life total is already low enough that every point matters. Once delirium is visible, prioritize attacks that force the opponent to answer flying pressure while burn handles the last life points.

• Attack: commit Chandra's Incinerator to combat when its size and trigger pressure demand an answer, but do not trade it into expendable blockers if direct damage can close the game. If Arena of Glory creates a legal haste line, use it when the surprise attack changes the clock immediately or forces lethal blocks. If the opponent can kill it after blocks, weigh whether four-to-six face damage would have been safer than a creature commitment.

• Block: block only to survive, protect a winning counterattack, or convert a creature that has already dealt enough damage into tempo. Boros Burn is usually the beatdown, so chump-blocking early with Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler is a warning sign unless visible lethal from the opponent is imminent. Chandra's Incinerator may block large attackers when survival matters, but preserving it for attacks is often better if the race remains favorable.

• Trade: trade creatures when the exchange preserves a faster burn clock than racing. Monastery Swiftspear can trade with a lifegain creature, combo creature, or attacker that would force multiple future blocks. Dragon's Rage Channeler should trade less often before delirium because its card selection is a resource; after delirium, trade only when the opponent's creature would otherwise win the race.

• Protection: use Boros Charm's non-damage modes only when Veles shows a legal mode and the visible board proves it beats four damage. Indestructible can matter against a visible sweeper or lethal combat exchange involving Chandra's Incinerator, while double strike can matter for exact lethal with a large attacker. Default to four damage when the protection line does not immediately change survival or lethal math.

• Threshold: count life carefully before activating Barbarian Ring or shocking Sacred Foundry in creature races. Barbarian Ring can remove a blocker or finish the opponent, but sacrificing a land can break a multi-spell turn. Against aggressive decks, prefer Mountain or tapped Elegant Parlor when the hand can afford tempo, and avoid unnecessary fetchland damage when Searing Blaze landfall is already covered.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Selection: this list has no true tutors, so treat every selection decision as draw quality, landfall setup, or graveyard texture rather than as a search package. Do not hold resources waiting for a nonexistent tutor line; the deck wins by turning visible legal burn, attackers, and sideboard hate into damage on schedule.

• Surveil: use Dragon's Rage Channeler triggers to keep immediate damage, required lands, and matchup-critical sideboard cards while moving redundant late lands or low-impact cards to the graveyard. Keep Lightning Bolt, Boros Charm, Lava Spike, Boltwave, Rift Bolt, Searing Blaze with landfall support, and Chandra's Incinerator when the current hand can enable them. Bottom or graveyard extra Arena of Glory, extra Barbarian Ring, and unneeded fetchlands when mana is already sufficient and the opponent is under pressure.

• Surveil: prioritize delirium only when it materially improves Dragon's Rage Channeler combat or Chandra's Incinerator cost pressure. Do not bin a burn spell just to add an instant or sorcery type if the opponent is already within burn range. Do bin expendable permanents or lands more freely when Dragon's Rage Channeler gaining evasion changes the clock.

• Elegant Parlor: use its selection as a tempo-aware setup tool when Veles exposes a surveil choice. Keep land-light openers functional, keep missing red or white access when Boros Charm, Wear // Tear, Skullcrack, or Roiling Vortex matters, and move slow or duplicate cards only when the hand already curves into pressure.

• Fetchlands: time Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, and Scalding Tarn around Searing Blaze landfall before treating them as deck-thinning. Leave a fetchland uncracked when a future Searing Blaze could need landfall on the opponent's turn or on the next main phase. Crack before Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil only if the shuffle effect is relevant to a known top-card state or if mana is needed now.

• Land drops: make land drops before damage spells when Searing Blaze landfall, Chandra's Incinerator cost reduction, or multi-spell sequencing needs the mana. Delay a fetchland activation when opponent actions may create a better Searing Blaze target. Avoid sacrificing Barbarian Ring if the resulting lower mana count prevents a same-turn Boros Charm, Chandra's Incinerator, or double-burn finish.

• Pseudo-selection: suspend Rift Bolt when the current turn cannot use all mana efficiently and the next upkeep trigger will create a forced damage event that supports prowess, Chandra's Incinerator, or exact lethal. Hard-cast Rift Bolt only when the immediate stack action is worth more than a delayed trigger.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Priority: spend instant-speed damage at the latest window that preserves lethal, landfall, and combat math. Use Lightning Bolt, Boros Charm, Seal of Fire, and Skullcrack on end step or in response windows when waiting denies the opponent information, but cast precombat spells when Monastery Swiftspear prowess, Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil, delirium, or Chandra's Incinerator cost reduction changes attacks.

• Stack: let harmless spells resolve when the opponent is not changing life totals, blockers, graveyard access, or lethal timing. This deck has no main-deck counterspell, so responses should be burn, Seal of Fire activation, Boros Charm mode choice, Barbarian Ring activation, or sideboard interaction only when the visible legal action advances damage, survival, or hate timing.

• Lethal: hold priority for exact lethal when multiple instant-speed actions are legal and the opponent is tapped low or shielded by a visible lifegain/prevention effect. Sequence Skullcrack before or in response to lifegain/prevention when legal and visible. Use Boros Charm as four damage when that is the cleanest stack-based finish; use other modes only when the engine exposes a legal mode that immediately beats removal, combat, or a sweeper.

• Seal of Fire: deploy Seal of Fire early when it turns on future damage without spending mana later, but activate it only when the target or opponent damage matters now. Sacrificing Seal of Fire in response to removal, lifegain pressure, a small creature's ability, or a lethal stack is preferred over leaving damage stranded. Do not fire it at a creature merely because priority is available.

• Rift Bolt: resolve suspended Rift Bolt with a clear target based on current life totals and board state, not on the plan from the previous turn. Target the opponent by default. Redirect to a creature only when that creature blocks lethal, threatens immediate lethal, enables lifegain, or prevents Dragon's Rage Channeler, Monastery Swiftspear, or Chandra's Incinerator from attacking profitably.

• Searing Blaze: cast Searing Blaze only when Veles shows a legal target and landfall or non-landfall damage is tactically acceptable. Prefer opponent plus creature damage when landfall is active. If a fetchland is available, crack it in the window that makes Searing Blaze legal and strongest, while respecting life loss from Sacred Foundry and fetchlands in races.

• Chandra's Incinerator: after noncombat damage, use any exposed trigger or damage assignment to remove the visible creature that most affects the race. Do not aim setup burn away from the opponent solely to create a trigger unless the creature target is worth the lost face damage. If Arena of Glory exposes a legal haste or mana line for Chandra's Incinerator, choose it only when the immediate attack or pressure changes the clock.

• Graveyard timing: activate Tormod's Crypt in response to a visible graveyard payoff, escape, reanimation, delirium dependency, or lethal graveyard line rather than on a full graveyard with no pending use. Preserve Dragon's Rage Channeler delirium awareness when deciding whether your own graveyard matters, but Tormod's Crypt should normally target the opponent unless Veles shows a specific self-target reason.

• Sideboard stack tools: use Wear // Tear and Meltdown before combat or before lethal only when the artifact or enchantment blocks damage, prevents damage, gains life, locks casting, or enables the opponent's immediate win. Use Roiling Vortex and Eidolon of the Great Revel as proactive pressure when legal, but do not walk them into a line that stops your own exact lethal unless the visible race demands the permanent.

Sideboard Map

• Role rule: sideboarding should preserve the deck's low-land, high-damage identity while upgrading narrow damage spells into hate that deals damage, clears blockers, or stops opposing engines. Do not over-sideboard into a reactive deck; every added card should either shorten the race, prevent life gain, remove a damage-prevention permanent, answer artifact pressure, or shut down graveyard leverage.

• Meltdown: bring Meltdown against artifact-heavy creature decks, artifact mana decks, and board states where one red mana can remove multiple cheap artifacts before attacks or before a lethal burn turn. Meltdown is weak when the opponent presents only one artifact, when your own tempo requires spending mana on face damage, or when the artifact that matters has mana value above the legal X you can pay. Treat Meltdown as a setup sweeper, not a generic removal spell; cast it before Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler attacks only when clearing artifacts materially changes combat or survival.

• Tormod's Crypt: bring Tormod's Crypt against graveyard combo, escape, reanimation, delirium, recursive threats, or decks whose visible graveyard turns future cards into large tempo swings. Tormod's Crypt is weak against fair creature decks with no visible graveyard dependency and against matchups where drawing a zero-damage card costs a full burn spell. Treat Tormod's Crypt as a held response when a graveyard action is pending; firing it immediately is correct only when the opponent's current graveyard already enables a visible legal payoff or the next priority pass risks losing access.

• Skullcrack: bring Skullcrack against life gain, prevention, fog effects, damage prevention shields, and races where stopping one life swing is worth a card. Skullcrack is weak against decks with no life gain or prevention and can be clunky when the hand already has multiple two-mana spells. Treat Skullcrack as an instant-speed gatekeeper: hold it for a visible life-gain or prevention window unless casting it now creates exact lethal or prevents the opponent from safely untapping.

• Searing Blood: bring Searing Blood against small-creature decks where a creature is expected to die from the spell and the player damage matters. Searing Blood is weak against creature-light decks, high-toughness boards, and matchups where creatures are not required for the opponent's clock. Treat Searing Blood as removal that still advances face damage; do not spend it on a creature that will not die unless Veles exposes a rules-confirmed line where another effect completes the damage this turn.

• Eidolon of the Great Revel: bring Eidolon of the Great Revel against low-curve spell decks, cantrip-heavy combo, cascade-style setup, and opponents who must cast multiple cheap spells to stabilize. Eidolon of the Great Revel is weak when your own life total is under immediate pressure, when the opponent has bigger threats already on board, or when you must chain several cheap burn spells to survive. Treat Eidolon of the Great Revel as a pressure permanent; cast it early when it constrains the opponent's next turn, but avoid it when it turns your own forced burn sequence into lethal damage against you.

• Roiling Vortex: bring Roiling Vortex against life gain, free-spell pressure, long-game stabilization, and opponents trying to recover above burn range. Roiling Vortex is weak when the matchup is decided before turn three, when spending two mana on a non-immediate damage source loses a race, or when your hand lacks enough direct burn to exploit the recurring clock. Treat Roiling Vortex as inevitability plus prevention utility; activate the life-gain clause only when Veles shows the legal action and the opponent is about to gain life or prevent damage.

• Wear // Tear: bring Wear // Tear against artifacts or enchantments that stop damage, gain life, race faster than burn, lock casting, or invalidate attacks. Wear // Tear is weak against decks with only incidental artifacts or enchantments and against hands that need every card to point at the opponent. Treat Wear // Tear as precision interaction; use Wear, Tear, or the fused line only when Veles exposes legal targets whose removal changes lethal timing, combat, or the opponent's engine.

Artifact creature pressure Side in: 2 Meltdown; 2 Searing Blood; 3 Wear // Tear Cut: 4 Rift Bolt; 1 Lava Spike; 2 Chandra's Incinerator

• Plan note: this plan lowers delayed damage and expensive pressure for artifact clearing plus creature removal. Keep Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, and Searing Blaze because they still answer creatures while preserving damage. Chandra's Incinerator can stay in smaller amounts when repeated noncombat damage is easy, but it is less reliable when artifact boards force you to spend mana defensively.

Graveyard combo or recursive graveyard pressure Side in: 3 Tormod's Crypt; 2 Roiling Vortex Cut: 4 Searing Blaze; 1 Chandra's Incinerator

• Plan note: this plan trades creature-dependent damage for graveyard denial and recurring pressure. Keep fast one-mana burn because the opponent may spend resources setting up. Use Tormod's Crypt as a response to the visible graveyard payoff rather than as a turn-zero ritual unless the opponent's public plan makes waiting unsafe.

Life gain or prevention control Side in: 1 Skullcrack; 2 Roiling Vortex; 3 Wear // Tear Cut: 4 Searing Blaze; 2 Seal of Fire

• Plan note: this plan focuses on stopping life swings and removing artifacts or enchantments that blank damage. Keep Boros Charm because four damage is the cleanest way to punish slow shields. Keep enough one-mana burn to maintain pressure, but reduce creature-conditional cards when the opponent is unlikely to give Searing Blaze targets.

Low-curve spell combo Side in: 2 Eidolon of the Great Revel; 2 Roiling Vortex; 1 Skullcrack Cut: 4 Searing Blaze; 1 Seal of Fire

• Plan note: this plan adds punishment permanents and anti-stabilization while reducing cards that need creatures. Eidolon of the Great Revel is strongest on the play or when the opponent must cast several cheap spells to assemble the win. Roiling Vortex is stronger when the opponent uses free spells, life gain, or delayed setup turns.

Small-creature aggro Side in: 2 Searing Blood; 2 Eidolon of the Great Revel Cut: 2 Rift Bolt; 2 Chandra's Incinerator

• Plan note: this plan increases immediate board interaction while preserving the main burn clock. Keep Searing Blaze at high value when landfall can be supported by Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, or Scalding Tarn. Eidolon of the Great Revel is matchup-dependent; it is better when the opponent must cast multiple small spells and worse when your life total is already lower.

• Add role cards: Meltdown and Wear // Tear against artifact density; Wear // Tear and Roiling Vortex against enchantment-based prevention or life gain; Tormod's Crypt against graveyard engines; Searing Blood against small creatures; Eidolon of the Great Revel against cheap spell volume; Skullcrack and Roiling Vortex against life gain or prevention.

• Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze when the opponent has few creatures or landfall timing is hard; Rift Bolt when speed and instant timing matter more than delayed damage; Chandra's Incinerator when the matchup punishes four-mana threats or requires early interaction; Seal of Fire when sideboard permanents or stack tools occupy the same low-impact setup space.

• Role-change rule: after sideboarding, Chandra's Incinerator becomes a payoff for matchups where removal plus burn naturally reduce its cost, not a card to force through every game. After adding Eidolon of the Great Revel or Roiling Vortex, prioritize sequences that let those permanents tax or drain while still leaving mana for Lightning Bolt, Boros Charm, Skullcrack, or Wear // Tear when the opponent's next action matters.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: Race first, remove only creatures that change the damage race or unlock attacks. Keep Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, and Searing Blood pointed at small creatures when Veles shows that the creature dies and the opponent also takes damage. Preserve Lava Spike, Boltwave, Rift Bolt, and Boros Charm for face damage unless a visible attacker represents more damage than the spell would deal. Add role cards: Searing Blood against small creatures; Eidolon of the Great Revel when the opponent must cast several cheap spells; Meltdown or Wear // Tear only when artifacts or enchantments are a visible part of their pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Chandra's Incinerator when the game is decided before a four-mana or reduced-cost threat matters; Rift Bolt when delayed timing loses a race.

• Control: Commit early one-mana pressure, then force the opponent to answer every draw step as potential lethal. Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler are best before the opponent has stabilized, but do not overvalue combat once removal is visible and direct burn can finish the game. Hold Boros Charm as a high-damage instant unless Veles exposes a mode that prevents a sweeper from breaking a winning board. Add role cards: Skullcrack and Roiling Vortex against life gain or prevention; Wear // Tear against artifacts or enchantments that stop damage or gain life. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze when there are few targets; Seal of Fire when every card must deliver larger immediate damage.

• Combo: Count turns, not cards, and spend interaction only when it shortens your clock or interrupts a visible setup permanent. Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, and Boros Charm should usually go to the opponent because combo rarely rewards creature removal unless the creature is visibly part of the engine. Eidolon of the Great Revel is strongest when it enters before the opponent starts chaining cheap spells; Roiling Vortex is stronger when the opponent uses free spells, life gain, or a delayed setup turn. Add role cards: Eidolon of the Great Revel; Roiling Vortex; Skullcrack if life gain or prevention is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze and Searing Blood when creature targets are absent.

• Tempo: Protect mana efficiency and avoid walking into a turn where the opponent spends one cheap answer and attacks freely. Cast one-mana burn before two-mana burn when it uses all mana and grows Monastery Swiftspear or enables Dragon's Rage Channeler filtering. Use Lightning Bolt or Seal of Fire on a tempo creature only when that creature's next attack exceeds the damage lost by not targeting the opponent. Boros Charm is valuable because four damage compresses the race, but do not tap out for it if Veles shows a better instant-speed window after the opponent commits mana. Add role cards: Searing Blood for low-toughness threats; Wear // Tear for visible artifact or enchantment tempo engines.

• Midrange: Treat every opposing life point as hard to recover once the opponent starts trading one-for-one. Early creatures are good if they demand removal, but direct burn remains the main plan once the board clogs. Searing Blaze is premium when fetch lands such as Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, or Scalding Tarn can trigger landfall while killing a creature and hitting the opponent. Chandra's Incinerator is a payoff only when prior noncombat damage has reduced its cost and Veles shows a legal cast; do not hold burn too long solely to force it. Add role cards: Roiling Vortex against stabilization; Skullcrack against life gain; Wear // Tear against permanent-based shields.

• Big mana: End the game before the opponent's expensive spells erase small burn advantages. Prioritize opening hands with one-mana pressure plus enough lands to cast Boros Charm on time. Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, and Rift Bolt should usually target the opponent unless Veles shows a must-kill mana creature or artifact creature that changes the next turn. Roiling Vortex can punish long setup, while Eidolon of the Great Revel is matchup-dependent if the opponent's deck has few cheap spells. Add role cards: Wear // Tear for visible artifacts or enchantments; Meltdown only against artifact mana or artifact boards; Roiling Vortex for inevitability pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze when creature density is low.

• Graveyard: Keep the burn clock intact and use graveyard hate at the last safe public-information window. Tormod's Crypt should normally wait until the opponent's graveyard contains the visible payoff or Veles exposes a response window that would deny their next legal graveyard action. Dragon's Rage Channeler and Barbarian Ring may care about your own graveyard state, so do not assume Tormod's Crypt is free if Veles shows it would affect your resources; Card text check required for exact Barbarian Ring activation thresholds in the current rules output. Add role cards: Tormod's Crypt; Roiling Vortex against recursive life gain or long graveyard loops. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze when graveyard decks are creature-light.

• Artifact/enchantment: Identify whether the permanent prevents damage, races faster than burn, or is merely incidental. Wear // Tear should answer the visible card that changes lethal timing, not the first legal target. Meltdown is for artifact density and should be timed so it clears meaningful permanents without wasting a turn that could have produced lethal burn. Seal of Fire and Lightning Bolt can finish artifact creatures when damage is enough, but do not spend multiple burn spells into a board where Meltdown is legal and decisive. Add role cards: Meltdown; Wear // Tear; Searing Blood if artifact creatures die to it. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Rift Bolt when delayed timing fails to answer the permanent in time.

• Go-wide: Stabilize only enough to keep the race favorable, then return to face damage. Searing Blaze and Searing Blood are strongest when they remove a creature while preserving opponent damage. Lightning Bolt and Seal of Fire should target creatures that enable the largest attack, pump turn, or lethal swing; otherwise keep them pointed upstairs. Monastery Swiftspear attacks are good when prowess triggers let it survive blocks or force damage, but do not trade it for a low-impact creature if the hand needs repeated combat damage. Add role cards: Searing Blood; Meltdown against artifact creature boards; Eidolon of the Great Revel when the opponent floods the stack with cheap spells.

• Single-threat: Kill the threat only if it wins the race, blocks all profitable attacks, or turns off Chandra's Incinerator damage redirection value. Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire, Searing Blaze, and Searing Blood should be evaluated by visible toughness, damage prevention, and whether the opponent takes damage too. If one creature is the opponent's entire clock, spending two burn spells can be correct only when the resulting time gained exceeds the damage lost. Add role cards: Wear // Tear if the threat is an artifact or enchantment; Skullcrack if the threat carries life gain or prevention; Roiling Vortex when repeated damage pressures them through one blocker.

• Burn mirror: Life total is the primary resource, and self-inflicted shock or fetch damage must be justified by immediate spell casting. Use Sacred Foundry and Elegant Parlor sequencing only when Veles shows the mana is required; fetch basics when possible and when it does not strand Boros Charm. Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler are strong early if they attack more than once, but creature removal that does not also damage the opponent is suspect. Eidolon of the Great Revel is dangerous when you are behind and powerful when you are ahead or on the play. Add role cards: Skullcrack against visible life gain; Roiling Vortex if the game may stall; Searing Blood for opposing small creatures. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Chandra's Incinerator when casting it is too slow.

• Removal-heavy decks: Convert creatures into early pressure or bait, then finish with direct damage from hand and graveyard-enabled resources when legal. Do not delay Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, or Boros Charm trying to protect Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler unless Veles shows an immediate lethal setup. Chandra's Incinerator is best after the opponent has spent removal or when reduced cost lets it enter while leaving burn available. Add role cards: Roiling Vortex for recurring pressure; Skullcrack for stabilization; Wear // Tear for removal-adjacent lock pieces. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze and Searing Blood when the opponent's deck presents few creatures to target.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only: Revealed cards override matchup assumptions, sideboard expectations, and priority targets. Treat Veles legal actions and public zones as the authority; use these notes only to rank actions when the rules engine exposes multiple legal lines.

• Low-creature spell decks: Race as the default and keep removal-like burn pointed at the opponent unless a visible creature changes lethal timing. Add role cards: Eidolon of the Great Revel; Roiling Vortex; Skullcrack when life gain or prevention is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Searing Blaze and Searing Blood effects when there are no legal creature targets. Priority targets: permanent engines that gain life, prevent damage, or make burn spells lose tempo.

• Creature aggro: Preserve the burn race by killing the creature that produces the largest next attack, not the creature that merely looks efficient. Searing Blaze is premium when landfall is available from Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Scalding Tarn, or a land drop Veles shows as legal. Add role cards: Searing Blood; Eidolon of the Great Revel against cheap-spell density; Meltdown only for artifact creature boards. Priority targets: haste threats, pump enablers, lifelink threats, and blockers that stop Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler from connecting.

• Big mana and slow control: Spend early turns converting cards into damage before the opponent stabilizes. Boros Charm is a key closer, and Chandra's Incinerator becomes attractive only when prior noncombat damage makes the cast legal without wasting a full turn. Add role cards: Roiling Vortex; Wear // Tear for visible artifact or enchantment shields; Skullcrack for life gain or prevention. Priority targets: mana permanents only when removing them clearly delays the opponent more than face damage advances lethal.

• Graveyard decks: Keep the clock intact while holding Tormod's Crypt for a visible graveyard payoff window. Do not assume Tormod's Crypt is free if your own Dragon's Rage Channeler or Barbarian Ring resource state matters; Card text check required for exact Barbarian Ring threshold and activation details. Add role cards: Tormod's Crypt; Roiling Vortex for long-game pressure. Priority targets: the graveyard action or card that Veles exposes as immediately consequential, not incidental filler.

• Artifact/enchantment decks: Use Wear // Tear on the permanent that changes lethal math, damage permission, or the opponent's next explosive turn. Meltdown should be saved for artifact density unless one visible artifact is decisive and no better answer exists. Add role cards: Wear // Tear; Meltdown; Searing Blood for small artifact creatures. Priority targets: damage prevention, life gain, mana acceleration, and artifact creatures that represent lethal pressure.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: The deck needs red early and sometimes white for Boros Charm or Wear // Tear, so avoid speculative hands where Sacred Foundry, Elegant Parlor, fetch lands, or Arena of Glory sequencing cannot cast the visible hand on time. Fetch-shock damage is real in races; pay life only when the mana unlocks immediate damage or prevents losing tempo.

• Matchup risk: Burn loses percentage when it misidentifies whether it is racing, controlling creatures, or preserving a response. Revealed cards override archetype labels; a single visible life-gain, prevention, graveyard, or artifact engine can matter more than the opponent's broad deck type.

• Draw risk: Hands with too many lands, too many creature-only interaction spells, or Chandra's Incinerator without early damage can stall. Hands with Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler but no follow-up spells may fail to pressure through removal.

• Over-sideboarding risk: Do not dilute the core Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, and creature pressure plan for narrow answers. Add role cards only when the opponent's revealed strategy makes those cards higher impact than direct damage.

• Graveyard risk: Tormod's Crypt can conflict with your own graveyard-dependent resources if used carelessly. Dragon's Rage Channeler, Barbarian Ring, and any graveyard-counting public state should be checked before firing hate.

• Sweeper/removal risk: Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler are pressure, not a plan that must be protected at all costs. Against removal-heavy decks, convert early attacks into damage and keep enough direct burn to finish after creatures die.

• Closer risk: Boros Charm and Chandra's Incinerator are powerful finishers but can be stranded by mana, timing, or cost reduction. Do not hold multiple cheap burn spells solely to make Chandra's Incinerator cheaper if casting those spells now sets up lethal.

• Interaction risk: Skullcrack, Roiling Vortex, Wear // Tear, Meltdown, Searing Blaze, Searing Blood, Seal of Fire, and Lightning Bolt all lose value when fired at the first legal target. Wait for the public-information window where the answer changes lethal, survival, or engine timing.

• Sequencing risk: Suspend Rift Bolt, deploy Seal of Fire, and cast one-mana burn in the order that maximizes next-turn lethal and prowess pressure. Landfall timing for Searing Blaze and fetch timing from Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, or Scalding Tarn should be planned before spending the turn's land action.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: Did the game end because Boros Burn converted early cards into damage, because the opponent stabilized through life gain or prevention, or because creature pressure from Monastery Swiftspear, Dragon's Rage Channeler, or Chandra's Incinerator forced blocks and removal?
• Mulligans: Did kept hands contain early red mana plus at least two proactive damage sources, or were hands kept with stranded Boros Charm, Searing Blaze without landfall support, Chandra's Incinerator without setup damage, or sideboard cards without a visible matchup reason?
• Mana: Did Sacred Foundry, Elegant Parlor, Arena of Glory, Bloodstained Mire, Wooded Foothills, Scalding Tarn, Mountain, and Barbarian Ring sequencing cast spells on curve, or did tapped mana, missing white, fetch-shock damage, or color choices change the race?
• Velocity: Did Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Seal of Fire, and Boros Charm get converted into timely damage, or did the pilot hold burn too long for a lower-value prowess, surveil, landfall, or Chandra's Incinerator setup?
• Engines: Did Monastery Swiftspear and Dragon's Rage Channeler deal meaningful early damage before removal, and did Chandra's Incinerator enter after noncombat damage at a tempo-positive point?
• Removal: Did Searing Blaze, Searing Blood, Seal of Fire, and Lightning Bolt kill creatures only when doing so improved lethal timing, protected survival, enabled attacks, or prevented life gain?
• Sideboard: Did Meltdown, Tormod's Crypt, Skullcrack, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Roiling Vortex, Wear // Tear, and Searing Blood appear in matchups where their text mattered, or did sideboarding dilute direct damage without changing the opponent's best line?
• Closing: Did the pilot preserve Boros Charm, suspended Rift Bolt timing, Seal of Fire on-board damage, Barbarian Ring resources, or instant-speed Lightning Bolt for lethal windows rather than spending them into low-impact board states?
• Role: Did the pilot correctly identify when Boros Burn was the aggressor, when creature removal was required to survive, and when a sideboard hate card had to be held for a specific public-information window?
• Mistakes: Did any pass, attack, block, target, fetch, suspend, graveyard-hate activation, or sideboard decision ignore visible legal actions that would have changed lethal, survival, or next-turn damage?
• Stranded cards: Which cards sat in hand for multiple turns, especially Boros Charm, Chandra's Incinerator, Searing Blaze, Searing Blood, Meltdown, Wear // Tear, Skullcrack, Roiling Vortex, Eidolon of the Great Revel, or Tormod's Crypt?
• Overperformers and underperformers: Which cards produced the most damage, protected the race, or answered the decisive permanent, and which cards repeatedly failed because of mana, timing, targets, matchup texture, or rules-engine legal-action gaps?

First Tuning Questions

• Card quantities: If games stall with uncast Chandra's Incinerator, should the deck reduce reliance on four copies, or did losses show that pilots failed to enable cost reduction with Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Seal of Fire, or Boros Charm?
• Card quantities: If Monastery Swiftspear or Dragon's Rage Channeler underperform, were they removed immediately in the matchup, blocked by larger creatures, unsupported by cheap spells, or sequenced after burn spells that should have enabled attacks?
• Mana: If Boros Charm or Wear // Tear are stranded, does the mana base need a different white-source balance, or did sequencing of Sacred Foundry, Elegant Parlor, and fetch lands leave white unavailable unnecessarily?
• Mana: If Arena of Glory or Barbarian Ring caused awkward starts, did the issue come from land composition, fetch choices, tapped-land timing, or keeping hands without enough one-mana red action?
• Aggro/control plan: If creature aggro wins races, should Searing Blood or main-deck removal emphasis increase, or were Searing Blaze and Lightning Bolt pointed at the opponent when a visible creature changed survival math?
• Aggro/control plan: If control or big-mana decks stabilize, should Roiling Vortex, Skullcrack, or Eidolon of the Great Revel receive more sideboard emphasis, or did the pilot spend early damage too slowly?
• Closers: If opponents survive at one to four life, did Boros Charm timing, Rift Bolt suspend timing, Seal of Fire deployment, or Barbarian Ring activation windows leave damage unused?
• Sideboard slots: If artifacts or enchantments dominate losses, did Wear // Tear and Meltdown answer the relevant permanent, or did they sit in hand because the opponent's decisive card was not actually an artifact or enchantment?
• Sideboard slots: If graveyard decks win through Tormod's Crypt, was it activated too early, too late, or in games where maintaining pressure with burn would have mattered more than holding hate?
• Role conflicts: If sideboard games feel slower, did adding Meltdown, Tormod's Crypt, Skullcrack, Searing Blood, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Roiling Vortex, or Wear // Tear reduce the density of Lava Spike, Boltwave, Lightning Bolt, Rift Bolt, Boros Charm, and creature pressure too much?
• Runtime guidance: If Veles repeatedly routes close choices poorly, which exact decision family needs sharper guidance: mulligan, mana, priority, combat, interaction, selection, sideboard, or pregame?

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Opening Keep Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mulligan
• Cards: Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Lava Spike; Boltwave; Lightning Bolt; Rift Bolt; Seal of Fire; Boros Charm; Searing Blaze; Chandra's Incinerator
• Phase windows: pregame, mulligan
• Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible opening hand; visible land count
• Use when: Veles asks keep or mulligan with an opening hand visible to the pilot.
• Avoid when: no mulligan decision is pending.
• Instructions: Keep hands with red mana plus multiple early damage actions; strongly prefer one-drop creature or several one-mana burn spells. Mulligan hands with no red source, one land plus only Boros Charm and Chandra's Incinerator, or sideboard-only interaction without pressure.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Threat Setup

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana, priority
• Cards: Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Seal of Fire; Rift Bolt
• Phase windows: turns 1-2 main phases
• Runtime cues: action:cast Monastery Swiftspear; action:cast Dragon's Rage Channeler; action:cast Seal of Fire; action:suspend Rift Bolt
• Use when: the pilot can spend early mana on a creature, Seal of Fire, or suspended Rift Bolt.
• Avoid when: lethal is already available this turn or survival requires immediate removal.
• Instructions: Lead with Monastery Swiftspear when follow-up spells can attack for extra damage. Lead Dragon's Rage Channeler when surveil selection matters or removal density is expected. Deploy Seal of Fire before a future prowess, delirium, or instant-speed lethal window. Suspend Rift Bolt when mana would otherwise be inefficient.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Red Mana First

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana
• Cards: Mountain; Sacred Foundry; Elegant Parlor; Arena of Glory; Barbarian Ring; Bloodstained Mire; Wooded Foothills; Scalding Tarn
• Phase windows: all main phases and payment prompts
• Runtime cues: action:play Mountain; action:play Sacred Foundry; action:play Elegant Parlor; action:play Arena of Glory; action:play Barbarian Ring; action:activate Bloodstained Mire; action:activate Wooded Foothills; action:activate Scalding Tarn
• Use when: land play or fetch choice affects casting red spells this turn or next turn.
• Avoid when: Veles presents only one legal mana payment.
• Instructions: Preserve untapped red for one-mana burn and creatures. Fetch or shock only when the extra mana changes the current turn, next-turn lethal, Boros Charm access, or landfall for Searing Blaze. Treat Elegant Parlor as slower setup unless its typed mana or fetchability is required.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Exact Mandatory Mana Payment

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: mana
• Cards: Mountain; Sacred Foundry; Elegant Parlor; Arena of Glory; Barbarian Ring
• Phase windows: payment prompts
• Runtime cues: action:pay mana
• Use when: exactly one legal mana-payment action is shown and it pays for the spell or ability already selected.
• Avoid when: multiple legal payments spend different lands, colors, or floating mana.
• Instructions: Submit the sole legal payment action without asking for strategic reasoning because the prior spell or ability choice already committed the line.
• Pilot skill floor: no-api
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Opponent-Face Burn Target

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Lava Spike; Lightning Bolt; Boros Charm; Rift Bolt; Seal of Fire; Barbarian Ring
• Phase windows: main phases, upkeep from suspend, end step, combat trick windows, lethal windows
• Runtime cues: action:target opponent Lava Spike; action:target opponent Lightning Bolt; action:target opponent Rift Bolt; action:target opponent Seal of Fire; action:target opponent Barbarian Ring
• Use when: the legal action text targets the opponent and the selected spell or ability is already being resolved as direct damage to that opponent.
• Avoid when: a visible creature or planeswalker target is also strategically relevant, or prevention/life-gain interaction is pending.
• Instructions: Choose the opponent target for direct-damage execution after the pilot has already selected the burn spell or ability.
• Pilot skill floor: no-api
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Burn Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority, interaction
• Cards: Lava Spike; Boltwave; Lightning Bolt; Rift Bolt; Seal of Fire; Boros Charm; Barbarian Ring
• Phase windows: all priority windows
• Runtime cues: action:cast Lava Spike; action:cast Boltwave; action:cast Lightning Bolt; action:cast Boros Charm; action:activate Seal of Fire; action:activate Barbarian Ring
• Use when: choosing whether to spend a burn card now or hold it.
• Avoid when: the legal action is a deterministic target after the burn spell was already chosen.
• Instructions: Count visible life totals, known on-board damage, suspended Rift Bolt timing, Seal of Fire damage, Barbarian Ring availability, and opponent life-gain prevention windows. Fire burn now for lethal, to force a short clock, to enable Chandra's Incinerator, or to use mana that cannot improve later.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Chandra's Incinerator Commitment

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mana, priority
• Cards: Chandra's Incinerator; Lava Spike; Boltwave; Lightning Bolt; Rift Bolt; Seal of Fire; Boros Charm; Barbarian Ring
• Phase windows: main phases after noncombat damage
• Runtime cues: action:cast Chandra's Incinerator
• Use when: Chandra's Incinerator is legal and its cost was reduced by visible noncombat damage this turn.
• Avoid when: casting it prevents lethal burn this turn or leaves a required removal/survival action unavailable.
• Instructions: Commit Chandra's Incinerator when it is tempo-positive, blocks or attacks meaningfully, and does not consume burn needed to finish the opponent. Card text check required for any triggered damage-target decisions exposed by Forge.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Searing Blaze Landfall Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana, interaction
• Cards: Searing Blaze; Bloodstained Mire; Wooded Foothills; Scalding Tarn; Mountain; Sacred Foundry; Elegant Parlor
• Phase windows: main phases, combat, opponent turn priority windows
• Runtime cues: action:cast Searing Blaze; action:activate Bloodstained Mire; action:activate Wooded Foothills; action:activate Scalding Tarn
• Use when: Searing Blaze is legal or a fetch land can enable landfall before casting it.
• Avoid when: no legal creature target exists or spending the fetch changes nothing this turn.
• Instructions: Use Searing Blaze primarily when creature removal plus opponent damage changes the race. Sequence landfall before casting when visible legal actions support it, but do not delay lethal direct damage only to improve Searing Blaze.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Creature Removal Versus Face

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Lightning Bolt; Seal of Fire; Searing Blaze; Searing Blood
• Phase windows: combat, main phases, opponent priority windows
• Runtime cues: action:target creature Lightning Bolt; action:target creature Seal of Fire; action:target creature Searing Blaze; action:target creature Searing Blood
• Use when: burn can target a visible creature and the opponent is not dead from immediate face damage.
• Avoid when: only one legal target exists after a prior commitment.
• Instructions: Kill creatures that create lethal pressure, gain life, block key prowess damage, or unlock a stronger attack. Point damage at the opponent when creature removal does not change survival, attacks, or the opponent's clock.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Prowess Attack Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat, priority
• Cards: Monastery Swiftspear; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Lava Spike; Boltwave; Lightning Bolt; Seal of Fire; Rift Bolt; Boros Charm
• Phase windows: beginning of combat, declare attackers, precombat main
• Runtime cues: action:attack with Monastery Swiftspear; action:attack with Dragon's Rage Channeler; action:cast Lava Spike; action:cast Lightning Bolt
• Use when: attacks or precombat spells can change combat damage this turn.
• Avoid when: Veles shows exactly one forced attack action.
• Instructions: Cast precombat spells when prowess or surveil changes damage, delirium, or blocks. Attack when the creature's expected damage is worth exposure to blockers; hold back only when blocking is required to survive visible lethal pressure.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Boros Charm Mode Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Boros Charm
• Phase windows: all priority windows
• Runtime cues: action:choose mode Boros Charm; action:cast Boros Charm
• Use when: Forge asks for a Boros Charm mode or target.
• Avoid when: only one legal mode or target is shown.
• Instructions: Prefer opponent damage for lethal or clock compression. Consider permanent protection only when the visible stack or effect would destroy a relevant permanent and preserving it changes lethal or survival. Card text check required for any mode text not exposed in the legal action label.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Graveyard Threshold And Barbarian Ring

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana, priority, selection
• Cards: Barbarian Ring; Dragon's Rage Channeler; Bloodstained Mire; Wooded Foothills; Scalding Tarn
• Phase windows: main phases, end step, lethal windows
• Runtime cues: action:activate Barbarian Ring; visible graveyard count; action:surveil Dragon's Rage Channeler
• Use when: Barbarian Ring activation or graveyard-resource choices are legal.
• Avoid when: activating Barbarian Ring prevents casting a higher-damage spell this turn.
• Instructions: Use Barbarian Ring as reach when threshold and mana are visible. With Dragon's Rage Channeler surveil, value card types and future damage, but do not bin a needed land or lethal spell solely for graveyard count.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection

• Priority: High
• Decision families: sideboard
• Cards: Meltdown; Tormod's Crypt; Skullcrack; Searing Blood; Eidolon of the Great Revel; Roiling Vortex; Wear // Tear
• Phase windows: between games
• Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; visible matchup label; game number; prior public game log
• Use when: Veles asks for sideboarding choices.
• Avoid when: a game is already in progress.
• Instructions: Choose exact registered plans from Sideboard Map. Preserve burn density unless the sideboard card attacks a visible matchup axis: artifacts, graveyard reliance, life gain/prevention, creature swarms, low-curve spell chains, or artifacts/enchantments.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Artifact And Enchantment Hate Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Meltdown; Wear // Tear
• Phase windows: main phases, opponent priority windows when legal
• Runtime cues: action:cast Meltdown; action:cast Wear // Tear; action:target artifact Wear // Tear; action:target enchantment Wear // Tear
• Use when: artifact or enchantment interaction is legal and a public permanent can be targeted or swept.
• Avoid when: the target does not change the opponent's clock, mana, lock, or lethal prevention.
• Instructions: Use Wear // Tear on decisive public artifacts or enchantments. Use Meltdown when the visible artifact board justifies spending a non-damage card and mana this turn.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Graveyard Hate Timing

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Tormod's Crypt
• Phase windows: any legal activation window
• Runtime cues: action:activate Tormod's Crypt; action:target opponent Tormod's Crypt
• Use when: Tormod's Crypt activation is legal and an opponent graveyard is visible.
• Avoid when: the opponent graveyard has no visible card or count relevant to the pending spell, ability, or matchup plan.
• Instructions: Activate Tormod's Crypt in response to a graveyard-dependent spell or before the opponent can convert a visible graveyard into advantage. Do not spend it just because the graveyard contains cards.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Life-Gain Prevention Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Skullcrack; Roiling Vortex
• Phase windows: opponent life-gain windows, upkeep/main phases, lethal turns
• Runtime cues: action:cast Skullcrack; action:cast Roiling Vortex; visible life-gain spell or ability on stack
• Use when: a visible stack item or permanent threatens life gain or damage prevention, or Roiling Vortex is a legal proactive hate play in a slow matchup.
• Avoid when: casting the card delays immediate lethal with other burn.
• Instructions: Hold Skullcrack for the public window where it stops life gain or prevention unless it is required for lethal damage. Cast Roiling Vortex when its ongoing pressure and restriction matter more than immediate burn density.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Eidolon Commitment Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana, priority
• Cards: Eidolon of the Great Revel
• Phase windows: early main phases after sideboarding
• Runtime cues: action:cast Eidolon of the Great Revel
• Use when: Eidolon of the Great Revel is legal and the matchup rewards symmetrical punishment.
• Avoid when: the pilot is behind on life and must cast multiple cheap spells to survive or kill this turn.
• Instructions: Cast Eidolon when it pressures spell-heavy opponents and the pilot can accept its symmetry. Delay or avoid it when visible life totals make the pilot take more punishment than the opponent.
• Pilot skill floor: light-model
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes