veles-content/strategies/pioneer/pioneer_selesnya_angels/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

• Identity: Selesnya Angels is a Pioneer green-white creature deck built around cheap mana creatures, Angel tribal payoffs, lifegain snowballing, and high-density creature selection from Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction.

• Validation: The registered main deck contains 60 cards and the registered sideboard contains 15 cards, matching the supplied Pioneer validation contract of at least 60 main-deck cards and at most 15 sideboard cards.

• Format status: Active format is Pioneer, and the supplied format-aware validation result says the list passes; Veles should still obey the rules engine at runtime if any action, card availability, timing permission, or legality differs from this strategic guide.

• Tags: The effective archetype tags are aggro, midrange, lifegain, and tribal; duplicate supplied tags collapse into the same role profile and should not change decision weighting.

• Stock versus rogue status: Treat this as a stock-core Pioneer Selesnya Angels shell with tuned/hybrid card choices rather than a fully rogue deck; Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, and Skyclave Apparition define the recognizable plan, while Abandoned Air Temple, Multiversal Passage, and the exact Enduring Innocence allocation require deck-specific handling instead of assuming a generic Angels list.

• Primary strategic posture: The deck is proactive midrange-aggro, not pure control; decisions should normally favor establishing Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel on board, then using Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction to compound battlefield advantage.

• Mana identity: The deck is Selesnya and must sequence green sources for Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Collected Company, and Kayla's Reconstruction while preserving white access for Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Inspiring Overseer, Enduring Innocence, Portable Hole, and Archon of Emeria.

• Mana concern: Opening hands with only white lands and green spells, only green acceleration and no white follow-up, or awkward lands that enter tapped should be evaluated by visible castability, not by abstract land count alone.

• Card-text caution: Card text check required for Abandoned Air Temple and Multiversal Passage before assigning exact tactical rules to their activated abilities, timing, or color production; until confirmed, treat them as registered mana sources whose runtime legal actions and visible mana output override guide assumptions.

• Role concern: The deck can look like a lifegain combo deck, but it wins many games by ordinary combat sizing; Veles should not wait for perfect Bishop of Wings plus Resplendent Angel loops when a legal curve of Giada, Font of Hope into large Angels creates the shortest visible clock.

• Interaction profile: Main-deck interaction is creature-board interaction through Skyclave Apparition, with sideboard interaction from Portable Hole, Archon of Emeria, and Unlicensed Hearse; the deck should not assume counterspell, instant removal, protection, or tutor access because those effects are not registered in the list.

• Opponent information status: No specific opponent decklist, matchup label, or metagame target was supplied for this batch, so matchup decisions must rely on public information, revealed cards, visible battlefield pressure, graveyard contents, stack objects, life totals, and legal actions exposed by Veles.

• Runtime authority: The guide is advisory and must never override legal actions, hidden-information boundaries, target legality, priority timing, or rules-engine output; if Veles exposes only one legal action, choose from that action set even when the strategic guide would prefer another line.

• Coverage commitment: Later sections must cover every nonland main-deck card with two or more copies, specifically Bishop of Wings, Collected Company, Elvish Mystic, Giada, Font of Hope, Inspiring Overseer, Kayla's Reconstruction, Llanowar Elves, Resplendent Angel, Righteous Valkyrie, and Skyclave Apparition, and must cover every sideboard card: Archon of Emeria, Enduring Innocence, Portable Hole, and Unlicensed Hearse.

Thesis

• Assemble a mana-accelerated Angel board first, then convert lifegain triggers and +1/+1-style scaling into lethal combat pressure before the opponent can reset the battlefield. The ideal curve starts with Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves into Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Collected Company, or Kayla's Reconstruction, with the exact line chosen from visible mana and legal actions.

• Prioritize board snowballing over isolated card advantage when the choice is close. Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, and Resplendent Angel become much stronger when multiple pieces are present, so early turns should usually commit permanents that make later Angels larger, cheaper to deploy, harder to race, or more punishing to remove.

• Win through combat damage backed by lifegain, not through a deterministic combo. Resplendent Angel and Righteous Valkyrie can create runaway positions, but the deck should still attack when visible blocks, life totals, and crack-back pressure make combat favorable instead of waiting for perfect engine assembly.

• Use Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction as battlefield-rebuild and pressure-amplification engines. These cards are not permission, protection, or tutors for hidden cards; Veles should choose legal casts based on current board needs, available mana, and whether adding multiple creatures now is better than holding resources against a visible sweeper risk.

• Use Skyclave Apparition as the main-deck answer to permanents that stop the deck's creature plan. It should normally address visible blockers, engines, hate permanents, or race-breaking threats that legal targeting permits, while respecting that the list has no registered instant-speed removal or counterspell in the main deck.

• Avoid playing as pure control or pure lifegain. The deck is not trying to sit behind life total alone, chain noncreature answers, or pass with unused mana for nonexistent tricks; unless Collected Company is a legal and tactically important hold-up, mana should usually become board presence.

• Treat card text uncertainty as a runtime constraint. Card text check required for Abandoned Air Temple and Multiversal Passage before assigning exact non-mana tactical lines; if Veles exposes legal actions from those lands, use the visible action text and rules-engine legality rather than assuming a generic land pattern.

Role Package

• Threats: Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Inspiring Overseer, Skyclave Apparition, Bishop of Wings, Enduring Innocence, Elvish Mystic, and Llanowar Elves all contribute bodies, but their combat jobs differ. Giada, Font of Hope and Righteous Valkyrie are high-priority scaling threats, Resplendent Angel is the premium payoff threat, Skyclave Apparition is interaction attached to pressure, Inspiring Overseer is evasive glue, and mana creatures become expendable attackers or blockers only after they are no longer needed for key mana turns.

• Payoffs: Resplendent Angel and Righteous Valkyrie are the main cards that turn lifegain and Angel density into a fast clock. Bishop of Wings supports the payoff plan by rewarding Angels entering or leaving, while Giada, Font of Hope increases the pressure of later Angels; do not evaluate these cards as interchangeable two- or three-drops when choosing sequencing.

• Engines: Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction are the main ways to rebuild or widen from hand. Cast them when adding multiple creatures advances the board, pressures a planeswalker or life total, recovers after removal, or finds interaction through Skyclave Apparition; hold them only when visible priority, mana, or expected opponent action makes waiting materially better.

• Velocity: Inspiring Overseer, Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, and Enduring Innocence provide the deck's main access to additional cardboard or creature flow. Card text check required for exact Enduring Innocence draw, recursion, or persistence handling; until confirmed, treat it as a registered value creature/enchantment whose legal actions and visible text decide tactical use.

• Interaction: Skyclave Apparition is the only main-deck interaction module and should be conserved when the opponent has a visible permanent that blocks the Angel plan or threatens a faster kill. Portable Hole adds cheap sideboard interaction against small visible permanents, Archon of Emeria adds sideboard constraint pressure, and Unlicensed Hearse adds sideboard graveyard pressure.

• Protection: The registered list has no explicit instant protection spell, counterspell, or combat trick. The practical protection plan is redundancy through Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, multiple payoff creatures, lifegain buffer from Angel synergies, and sideboard disruption from Archon of Emeria, Portable Hole, or Unlicensed Hearse when those cards match the opponent's visible plan.

• Recursion: The deck should not assume graveyard recursion loops. Enduring Innocence may provide resilience depending on exact text, but Card text check required; otherwise, recovery comes from deploying new creatures and using Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction after removal.

• Mana: Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves are acceleration, not long-term threats, and should normally enable earlier Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, or double-spell turns. Plains, Temple Garden, Razorverge Thicket, Hushwood Verge, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, Abandoned Air Temple, and Multiversal Passage must be sequenced around visible green and white requirements, with card text checks for the less familiar lands.

• Sideboard modules: Archon of Emeria is for slowing spell-dense or tempo-negative opponents while adding an evasive body, Portable Hole is for cheap permanent interaction, Unlicensed Hearse is for graveyard pressure and potential board presence, and extra Enduring Innocence is for grindy games where persistent value matters if its exact text supports that role.

Primary Win Conditions

• Build the Angel lifegain snowball with Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, and Resplendent Angel. Setup is an early Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves into Bishop of Wings or Giada, Font of Hope, then chain Angels so each new body increases life, size, or both. Execute by attacking through the air once Righteous Valkyrie or Giada, Font of Hope makes combat favorable, and prioritize this line when the opponent is racing on board or lacks visible sweepers. Disruption risk is concentrated removal on Giada, Font of Hope, Bishop of Wings, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel; if one piece is removed, keep committing redundant Angels rather than waiting for the full engine.

• Convert lifegain bursts into a token-and-anthem kill with Resplendent Angel plus Righteous Valkyrie. Setup requires a visible way to gain enough life in one turn, often through Angel entries with Bishop of Wings or Righteous Valkyrie, then preserving Resplendent Angel until the end step if the rules engine exposes the trigger or activated line. Execute by making additional Angel bodies, crossing the Righteous Valkyrie life threshold when legal and visible, then attacking in the air with oversized creatures. Prioritize this line when life total is already high, blockers are ground-bound, or one more Angel entry changes the race; deprioritize it when immediate Skyclave Apparition interaction is needed to survive.

• Use Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction to reload into multiple battlefield pieces. Setup is four or more mana for Collected Company or a larger mana turn for Kayla's Reconstruction, helped by Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, and Giada, Font of Hope when legal. Execute when adding two or more creatures, finding Skyclave Apparition, or rebuilding after removal materially improves the visible board. Prioritize Collected Company as a held instant-speed pressure card when passing with four mana is actually legal and tactically relevant; prioritize Kayla's Reconstruction when tapping out creates a decisive board or recovery. Disruption includes counterspells, sweepers, and whiffs; do not assume hidden hits.

• Win normal combat with evasive and scaling creatures when the full engine is absent. Setup is simply deploying Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Inspiring Overseer, Skyclave Apparition, Bishop of Wings, and Enduring Innocence as legal bodies. Execute by removing a key blocker or hate permanent with Skyclave Apparition, then attacking on profitable aerial lines while mana creatures stay home only if they are still needed for future turns. Prioritize this path when the opponent is low on life, tapped low, or forced to answer one threat at a time.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Pressure planeswalkers and utility engines with creature volume rather than saving attackers for perfect life-total attacks. Skyclave Apparition should clear visible permanents that stop combat, while Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction add enough bodies to split pressure between opponent life total and planeswalkers. Use this line when a planeswalker or permanent engine will outscale lifegain if ignored.

• Use Bishop of Wings as a resilience bridge when Angels are dying. The goal is not to turtle indefinitely; the goal is to turn removal and combat trades into enough life or replacement material that the next Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Collected Company, or Kayla's Reconstruction takes over. Prioritize this backup when removal is trading one-for-one and the opponent is not presenting immediate lethal.

• Use Inspiring Overseer and Enduring Innocence as glue in grindy games. Inspiring Overseer is a body plus card flow that keeps pressure moving without overcommitting only payoff creatures. Card text check required for exact Enduring Innocence value, recursion, or enchantment behavior; use it as a legal value threat when the runtime action text confirms the relevant mode. Prioritize these cards when both players are trading resources and a single large Angel is unlikely to stay on board.

• Use sideboard pressure plans as secondary kills after Game 1. Archon of Emeria can slow spell-dense opponents while attacking in the air, Portable Hole can remove cheap blockers or engines, and Unlicensed Hearse can shrink graveyard lines while becoming a relevant attacker if the rules engine exposes that legal action. These are not the primary plan, but they buy turns for Angels to end the game.

Emergency Lines

• When behind on life, stabilize before maximizing engine greed. Prefer legal plays that add lifegain bodies, blockers, or Skyclave Apparition interaction over speculative Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction lines that leave a lethal attack unresolved. Righteous Valkyrie, Bishop of Wings, Resplendent Angel, and Inspiring Overseer are the key recovery cards if their entries or attacks change the race.

• When behind on board, remove the permanent that most blocks survival or future attacks. Skyclave Apparition should answer the visible threat, blocker, or engine that makes the next combat step worst, not a lower-impact permanent. If Skyclave Apparition is unavailable, use Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction to rebuild multiple blockers and flying attackers.

• When behind on cards, turn mana into board presence that replaces itself or finds multiple creatures. Inspiring Overseer, Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, and conditional Enduring Innocence lines are the main recovery tools. Avoid trading off Giada, Font of Hope or Righteous Valkyrie casually if they are the only remaining way to make future topdecks threatening.

• When behind on mana, preserve Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves if they unlock Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, or double-spell turns. Do not attack with mana creatures into obvious losses unless the damage changes a near-term lethal clock or they are no longer needed.

• When facing graveyard recursion or combo pressure, shift from pure race to disruption plus clock. After sideboarding, use Unlicensed Hearse against graveyard-dependent visible lines, Archon of Emeria against spell-density turns, and Portable Hole against cheap enabling permanents when legal targets exist.

• When main payoffs are removed, win by chaining medium threats. Giada, Font of Hope, Inspiring Overseer, Skyclave Apparition, Bishop of Wings, Enduring Innocence, Collected Company, and Kayla's Reconstruction can still create enough flying or wide pressure to close. Do not concede strategic agency because Resplendent Angel or Righteous Valkyrie is gone; force the opponent to answer each legal threat.

Resource Model

• Life is a combat resource and an engine threshold, not permission to ignore board pressure. Spend early turns creating lifegain bodies with Bishop of Wings, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Inspiring Overseer, and Angel entries, then convert high life into safer attacks, Righteous Valkyrie scaling, and Resplendent Angel snowball turns when the rules engine exposes the trigger or activation. Do not pay life or take attacks casually if the next visible combat can erase the lifegain cushion.

• Hand size matters most as threat density for Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction. Keep enough creatures in the deck and hand to make these cards real reloads, but do not hold cheap creatures forever waiting for a perfect burst when developing Giada, Font of Hope or Bishop of Wings would improve every future draw. Inspiring Overseer and Enduring Innocence are grind tools; Card text check required for exact Enduring Innocence card-flow and zone behavior.

• Mana converts directly into tempo because the deck has many three- and four-mana payoffs. Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves are not expendable chip attackers while they still unlock turn-two three-drops, turn-three Collected Company, larger Kayla's Reconstruction, or double-spell turns. Giada, Font of Hope is both a threat enabler and an Angel mana source when legal; protect it more highly when the hand contains multiple Angels.

• Board presence is the main currency. Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Inspiring Overseer, and Enduring Innocence should usually become battlefield material before speculative waiting lines. Skyclave Apparition is the bridge between board and interaction: use it on the permanent that most changes survival, attacks, blocks, or opposing engine speed.

• Graveyard and exile are mostly opponent-facing resources. Main deck creatures entering the graveyard matter for attrition and Bishop of Wings-style resilience only when the visible card text or engine log confirms the replacement value. After sideboarding, Unlicensed Hearse turns opposing graveyards into a tactical target; use it when public graveyard contents show recursion, delve, escape, reanimation, or graveyard-size payoffs, not merely because a graveyard exists.

• Lands are both color access and tempo constraints. Plains, Temple Garden, Razorverge Thicket, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, Abandoned Air Temple, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire must be sequenced to cast one-mana accelerants, double-white Angel spells, Collected Company, and Kayla's Reconstruction on time. Card text check required for exact Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, and Multiversal Passage modes; obey runtime legal mana output over assumptions.

• Sacrifice fodder is not a normal deck resource. Do not treat Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Bishop of Wings, or spare bodies as disposable unless a visible legal action specifically asks for a sacrifice and survival or lethal pressure requires it.

• Tempo comes from forcing the opponent to answer escalating flyers while you keep adding material. Prefer lines that add a payoff and a body over lines that merely conserve cards, unless a visible sweeper risk, combat crack-back, or interaction window makes holding Collected Company correct.

• Information is limited to legal actions, visible zones, public logs, revealed cards, and known sideboard plans. Do not assume hidden removal, sweepers, or combo pieces; instead adjust to open mana, revealed cards, graveyards, battlefield engines, and previous public decisions.

• Sideboard bullets convert narrow matchups into time. Archon of Emeria taxes spell-density decks, Portable Hole answers cheap permanents, Unlicensed Hearse fights graveyards, and additional Enduring Innocence supports attrition if its exact text is relevant and confirmed.

Mana Guide

• Keep hands that cast an accelerant or two-drop on time and can reach white-white pressure. A strong opener usually has two or more lands plus Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves, or two to three lands with Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Skyclave Apparition, or Resplendent Angel. Mulligan one-land hands without a legal accelerant, color-mismatched hands that cannot cast early spells, and slow hands where Kayla's Reconstruction is the first meaningful play.

• Prioritize green on turn one when Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves is in hand. Prioritize white access immediately after because Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Inspiring Overseer, Portable Hole, Archon of Emeria, and Enduring Innocence all pressure the white requirement. Temple Garden and Razorverge Thicket are premium early sources when they enter untapped under the visible rules.

• Sequence lands to preserve untapped mana for the current turn's legal play. Play Razorverge Thicket early when it is untapped; consider Temple Garden untapped when the life loss is outweighed by casting Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Bishop of Wings, or Giada, Font of Hope on curve. Use Plains when white is already secured and green is not needed that turn.

• Treat Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as card-text-dependent utility until the engine exposes their actions. Card text check required for exact mana, tapped, search, channel, or utility behavior. If a utility action competes with casting a payoff, choose the payoff unless the visible utility action prevents lethal, fixes a missing color, or removes a decisive threat.

• Spend creature mana before land utility only when the resulting spell is better than preserving the creature. Giada, Font of Hope mana should go toward Angel deployment when legal and impactful; Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves should power Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, or double-spells. Avoid tapping a potential blocker only if the visible combat crack-back matters more than the spell.

• Cast Collected Company when four mana is available and either instant timing matters or adding creatures now changes combat, interaction, or recovery. Tap out for Kayla's Reconstruction when X is large enough to improve the board materially; do not jam a low-X reconstruction into open risk unless behind and needing bodies.

• Play lands before draw effects when the current turn needs guaranteed mana or when a land-drop enables Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, Skyclave Apparition, or a double-spell. Delay the land until after Inspiring Overseer or confirmed Enduring Innocence draw only when all current legal plays are already castable and seeing one more card could improve land choice or utility-land deployment.

• After sideboarding, adjust mana expectations to the bullets. Portable Hole increases the need for early white, Archon of Emeria asks for timely white creature deployment, Unlicensed Hearse is colorless but should not replace colored source development, and extra Enduring Innocence should not crowd out the mana needed for Angels and Company turns.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: Keep two or three lands with Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves plus Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Collected Company, or Kayla's Reconstruction. The ideal hand makes turn-one acceleration, turn-two Angel setup or removal, and turn-three Collected Company or double-spell pressure.

• Strong keep: Keep two lands with Bishop of Wings and Giada, Font of Hope when white and green access are legal or when the hand already curves into Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel. This hand can win without a one-mana accelerant if its first two turns build the lifegain-Angel engine.

• Medium keep: Keep three lands with Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Skyclave Apparition, and Collected Company if the matchup is not visibly racing under you. This hand is slower than an accelerant opener but has enough threat density and interaction to stabilize.

• Medium keep: Keep two lands with Inspiring Overseer, Skyclave Apparition, and Collected Company only when the lands cast the early spells and the opponent is not showing fast combo or extreme pressure. This hand needs its draw step or Inspiring Overseer to bridge into the four-mana turn.

• Risky keep: Treat one-land hands with Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves as matchup- and draw-dependent, not automatic. Keep only when the land casts the accelerant, at least one two- or three-mana play follows, and missing the second land for one turn does not lose to visible speed.

• Risky keep: Treat hands with Kayla's Reconstruction plus multiple expensive spells as keepable only with acceleration or four reliable mana sources. A hand that begins playing on turn three and needs turn five to matter is too slow against pressure and too low-impact against combo.

• Automatic ship: Mulligan zero-land hands, one-land hands without Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves, hands that cannot produce early white for Bishop of Wings or Giada, Font of Hope, and hands where Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction is the first meaningful spell.

• Automatic ship: Mulligan hands with mostly lands and no Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Collected Company, or Kayla's Reconstruction. This deck needs battlefield material, not just mana.

• Matchup-dependent keep: Keep Skyclave Apparition-heavy hands against visible cheap permanents, creature engines, or lock pieces; mulligan the same hand more aggressively against opponents whose first decisive play is not a permanent Skyclave Apparition can legally target.

• Play/draw adjustment: On the play, value Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Bishop of Wings, and Giada, Font of Hope more because tempo snowballs before opposing interaction develops. On the draw, value Skyclave Apparition, Portable Hole after sideboarding, and hands with multiple early blockers or lifegain triggers more highly.

• Trap hand: Do not keep Bishop of Wings plus Resplendent Angel with no early white or no second land merely because the names combine well. The engine is only a keep reason when legal mana and sequencing let it enter the battlefield before the opponent's pressure or combo line matters.

• Trap hand: Do not keep double Collected Company or double Kayla's Reconstruction with only slow lands and no accelerant. Powerful top-end is a liability when the first three turns do not affect the board.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1: Prefer an untapped green source into Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves when legal. If no accelerant is available, play the land that best guarantees turn-two Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, or Portable Hole after sideboarding; treat Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as card-text-dependent and obey engine actions.

• Turn 1 deviation: Use Portable Hole after sideboarding over Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves only when the visible cheap permanent will snowball, block your development, or threaten a faster kill. Otherwise, acceleration is the cleaner route to Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, and double-spell turns.

• Turn 2: Prefer Giada, Font of Hope when the hand contains Angels to deploy next, especially Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel. Prefer Bishop of Wings when the hand needs lifegain triggers, future Angel resilience, or a two-drop that improves every later Angel.

• Turn 2 deviation: Cast Skyclave Apparition instead of setup only when a legal target is already decisive for survival, mana, combat, or opponent engine speed. Do not spend the removal body on a low-impact permanent if Bishop of Wings or Giada, Font of Hope would make the next turn much stronger.

• Turn 3: Prefer Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel when Giada, Font of Hope or Bishop of Wings is already supporting the board. Prefer Skyclave Apparition when removing a visible permanent creates the best attack, prevents a major crack-back, or stops a combo/setup piece.

• Turn 3 deviation: Cast Collected Company early with accelerant mana when instant-speed timing, surprise blockers, or hitting Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Inspiring Overseer, or Enduring Innocence changes the turn. Hold it when adding creatures at the opponent's end step preserves information and no immediate combat or stack pressure exists.

• Turns 4-5: Build a wide flying board while preserving pressure. Collected Company is preferred when holding up instant timing matters; Kayla's Reconstruction is preferred when the available X creates a materially larger battlefield and the deck needs raw board rebuild or overwhelming development.

• Turns 4-5 deviation: Use Skyclave Apparition before adding another payoff if the opponent's visible permanent invalidates attacks, races your life total, or threatens a combo turn. Use Inspiring Overseer or confirmed Enduring Innocence draw lines when the hand is running thin and the board is not under immediate lethal pressure.

• Late game: Convert mana into board density through Kayla's Reconstruction, Collected Company, and repeated Angel deployment. Prioritize lines that add multiple bodies, trigger lifegain synergies, or create lethal flying pressure over single small attacks.

• Late game deviation: Preserve key creatures when a visible sweeper, combat blowout, or graveyard/exile resource changes the risk profile. If behind, take the line that creates blockers and lifegain now; if ahead, force the opponent to answer Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, and Giada, Font of Hope without overcommitting beyond what legal actions and visible information justify.

Card Roles

• Bishop of Wings: Treat Bishop of Wings as the main lifegain engine and the best early non-Angel setup creature when white mana is available. Cast it before Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Inspiring Overseer, or later Angel-heavy Collected Company lines when the board is not demanding immediate removal. Preserve it in combat unless blocking prevents a decisive attack, because repeated Angel entries can move the game from stabilizing to racing. Do not keep weak hands solely because Bishop of Wings combines with Resplendent Angel; the hand still needs legal mana and a timely Angel follow-up. Against removal-heavy decks, Bishop of Wings is valuable even when killed after Angels have entered, but do not assume any death trigger or token text unless the engine exposes the result.

• Giada, Font of Hope: Treat Giada, Font of Hope as the premium turn-two accelerator for Angel-heavy hands and the creature most likely to make three- and four-mana Angels outscale normal combat. Cast Giada, Font of Hope before Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel when the hand has follow-up Angels and no urgent Skyclave Apparition target. Do not trade Giada, Font of Hope casually; losing it can turn a powerful curve into a fair creature draw. In hands with Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves, Giada, Font of Hope can be the second accelerant that enables early double-spell turns, but it still needs white mana and creature sequencing the rules engine confirms as legal.

• Righteous Valkyrie: Use Righteous Valkyrie as both payoff and stabilizer, not just as an attacker. Prioritize casting it when Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Inspiring Overseer, Resplendent Angel, or Collected Company can immediately or soon add lifegain and Angel density. If the engine shows a life-total threshold or pump effect, let that visible state shape attacks and blocks; do not assume the threshold is active from memory alone. Against aggressive decks, Righteous Valkyrie is often the first Angel that must stay back if blocking plus lifegain preserves survival. Against slower decks, deploy it early enough that later Angels threaten a compressed clock.

• Resplendent Angel: Treat Resplendent Angel as the primary snowball threat once lifegain infrastructure is present. Cast it into Bishop of Wings, Righteous Valkyrie, or Giada, Font of Hope boards when the line pressures the opponent immediately or threatens a larger next turn. Do not expose Resplendent Angel into obvious combat loss if the deck can instead cast Collected Company at instant speed or use Skyclave Apparition to clear a blocker. If the engine presents an activated ability or token-producing line, choose it only when the mana, life gain, and timing are legal and the board state makes the payoff better than further development. Against decks with exile removal, consider whether forcing removal on Resplendent Angel protects Righteous Valkyrie or Kayla's Reconstruction follow-up.

• Skyclave Apparition: Use Skyclave Apparition as flexible interaction attached to a body, and spend it on permanents that change combat, mana, engine speed, or combo timing. Do not fire it at the first legal target if Bishop of Wings or Giada, Font of Hope would make the next turn stronger and the target is not pressuring the game. Against creature decks, Skyclave Apparition often clears the one permanent that prevents profitable flying attacks or enables the opponent's race. Against control or combo, aim it at visible permanents that actually matter; if no such target exists, it can still be a Collected Company hit and pressure body. Respect the rules engine's exact legal target list, and do not infer that a permanent is removable without seeing the legal action.

• Collected Company: Treat Collected Company as the best instant-speed rebuild, ambush, and end-step development spell. Hold it when passing with four mana keeps the opponent uncertain and no main-phase hit is needed, especially when possible hits include Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Inspiring Overseer, or Enduring Innocence. Cast it precombat only when the resulting bodies or lifegain can change attacks, make lethal possible, or find Skyclave Apparition for a visible blocker or lock piece. Do not cast Collected Company into a low-value board merely because mana is available; its timing is a resource. After sideboarding, remember Archon of Emeria, Portable Hole, and Unlicensed Hearse are not Collected Company creature hits unless the engine reveals otherwise for a specific object.

• Kayla's Reconstruction: Use Kayla's Reconstruction as the deck's highest-ceiling sorcery-speed board expansion and recovery tool. Prefer it when X is large enough to add multiple relevant permanents and the board needs density more than instant-speed flexibility. Do not jam Kayla's Reconstruction for a small X if Collected Company, a clean Angel curve, or Skyclave Apparition interaction develops the game more efficiently. After sweepers or heavy removal, Kayla's Reconstruction is often the best way to rebuild with Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, Inspiring Overseer, or Enduring Innocence. Sequence lands and accelerants so the spell's X is meaningful, but do not keep hands where Kayla's Reconstruction is the first real play unless the matchup is slow and mana is excellent.

• Elvish Mystic: Use Elvish Mystic as the turn-one acceleration that converts the deck from midrange into pressure. Cast it when legal unless a sideboard Portable Hole must answer a visible snowball permanent immediately. Protecting Elvish Mystic is rarely the main plan, but its mana can decide whether Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, or double-spell turns happen before the opponent stabilizes. Do not keep one-land Elvish Mystic hands automatically; the hand still needs the land to cast it and enough payoff if the second land arrives late. In removal-heavy matchups, count Elvish Mystic as fragile acceleration, not a guaranteed land.

• Llanowar Elves: Treat Llanowar Elves as additional copies of the Elvish Mystic role for opening-hand evaluation and early sequencing. Cast it on turn one when it accelerates into Bishop of Wings plus another play, Giada, Font of Hope plus Angel pressure, Skyclave Apparition interaction, or fast Collected Company. Do not overvalue multiple mana Elves without white sources; the deck's important early creatures and interaction still require white. In combat, Llanowar Elves usually blocks only when preserving life total is more important than future mana, especially before Kayla's Reconstruction turns.

• Inspiring Overseer: Use Inspiring Overseer as a bridge card that adds an Angel body, lifegain context, and card flow. Cast it when the hand needs to hit land drops, refuel after trading, or add an evasive creature without spending a premium payoff. With Bishop of Wings or Righteous Valkyrie, Inspiring Overseer can be more than filler because entering as an Angel may compound visible lifegain synergies. Do not prioritize it over Giada, Font of Hope or Righteous Valkyrie on curve when the hand already has strong follow-up and needs pressure. Against aggressive decks, Inspiring Overseer is useful when the life and blocker matter, but it is not a substitute for Skyclave Apparition if a visible permanent is the real problem.

• Enduring Innocence: Treat Enduring Innocence as a card-text-check-required value piece because exact tactical use depends on the engine's exposed text and legal actions. Cast it when the rules engine shows it improves card flow, lifegain, or board development without delaying a required Angel payoff or interaction spell. The single main-deck copy should not anchor mulligan decisions, but it can make Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction hits better if the visible text supports that role. Sideboard copies suggest it is important in attrition or removal-heavy games; do not assume the exact trigger condition without checking visible engine output.

• Archon of Emeria: Use Archon of Emeria after sideboarding as a disruption creature when the opponent relies on casting multiple spells, chaining cantrips, or exploiting nonbasic mana speed. Cast it early enough to constrain the opponent before their key turn, but avoid delaying your own critical Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction turn if the tax effect hurts you more in the visible state. Card text check required for exact restrictions and land-entry effects; follow the engine's legal actions.

• Portable Hole: Use Portable Hole after sideboarding as cheap interaction for visible low-cost permanents that threaten tempo, combat, or engine development. Cast it before acceleration only when the target's continued presence is worse than delaying Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves. Do not bring it in as generic removal against decks whose decisive threats are outside its legal target range.

• Unlicensed Hearse: Use Unlicensed Hearse after sideboarding as graveyard pressure and a potential scaling battlefield object when graveyards visibly matter. Activate it according to legal engine prompts against cards that enable recursion, delve, escape, flashback, reanimation, or graveyard-count payoffs. Do not spend sideboard slots or activation tempo on Unlicensed Hearse merely because graveyards contain cards; the graveyard must be tactically relevant.

• Lands: Treat Temple Garden, Razorverge Thicket, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, Plains, Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire, and Abandoned Air Temple as sequencing tools for early green acceleration and early white creature spells. Prioritize untapped green on turn one for Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves, then white for Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Skyclave Apparition, and the Angel curve. Card text check required for Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, Abandoned Air Temple, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire if the engine exposes special actions; use those actions only when they beat normal mana development or spell casting.

Interaction Priorities

• Removal priority: Use Skyclave Apparition first on visible permanents that stop the Angel engine from functioning, race faster than lifegain can stabilize, or prevent Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction from converting into pressure. Highest-priority targets are engine permanents, clean answers to Giada, Font of Hope or Righteous Valkyrie, must-answer blockers that halt flying attacks, and low-cost threats that will outscale Bishop of Wings lifegain if ignored.

• Exile timing: Hold Skyclave Apparition when the opponent's current permanent is annoying but not decisive and the hand can advance Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel instead. Spend it immediately when waiting risks losing the ability to attack, protect life-total thresholds, or keep a key snowball permanent on the table.

• Sideboard removal: Use Portable Hole on cheap visible permanents whose continued presence changes the next turn cycle, especially early aggressive creatures, mana permanents, graveyard enablers, or hate pieces that block Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, or Angel combat. Do not spend Portable Hole on a replaceable body if Skyclave Apparition or normal combat can answer it and the opponent has a stronger legal target exposed.

• Graveyard interaction: Use Unlicensed Hearse only when exiling cards changes visible future lines, such as shutting off recursion, escape, flashback, reanimation, delve, or graveyard-count pressure. Ignore graveyards that are merely full unless the opponent's visible cards or known archetype make those cards functional resources.

• Counter, discard, and bounce: The registered deck has no normal counterspell, discard spell, or bounce spell; if the rules engine exposes one through an unusual effect, choose the line that preserves the Angel engine before pursuing marginal tempo. Protect Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, and Resplendent Angel over Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, or Inspiring Overseer unless mana development is the only path to Kayla's Reconstruction or Collected Company.

• Bait sequencing: Lead with mana creatures, Bishop of Wings, or Inspiring Overseer when the hand contains multiple payoffs and the opponent is representing removal or permission. Do not expose Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel into obvious interaction if a lower-value spell can draw the answer and still progress the board.

• Cards to ignore: Ignore small ground creatures when flying pressure plus lifegain wins the race, unless they threaten lethal, enable sacrifice value, crew a relevant object, or force bad blocks. Ignore planeswalkers or utility permanents only when visible Angel attacks can remove them naturally or the opponent's life total is under immediate flying pressure.

• Archetype changes: Against aggro, prioritize Portable Hole, Skyclave Apparition, lifegain bodies, and blocks that preserve life-total thresholds. Against control, prioritize threat density, end-step Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction after removal, and baiting permission before committing the best payoff. Against graveyard decks, treat Unlicensed Hearse as interaction, not a side quest. Against combo, remove enablers before blockers and use Archon of Emeria to slow multi-spell turns when legal.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack priority: Attack with flying Angels when the crack-back does not break a critical life-total threshold or expose a needed blocker. Righteous Valkyrie and Resplendent Angel make racing favorable when lifegain triggers are active, but do not turn every creature sideways if the opponent can punish a shields-down board.

• Engine preservation: Preserve Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, and Resplendent Angel unless a trade prevents lethal or unlocks a decisive attack on the following turn. Trade Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves once their mana is no longer needed, but keep them if Kayla's Reconstruction, Collected Company plus another spell, or double-spell recovery depends on that mana.

• Blocking rule: Block early against aggressive decks when the block preserves enough life for Righteous Valkyrie, Bishop of Wings, or Resplendent Angel to take over. Do not chump with an Angel payoff merely to save a few life if the board will stabilize through lifegain and flying attacks next turn.

• Trading rule: Trade Inspiring Overseer or spare Angel tokens before trading Giada, Font of Hope or Righteous Valkyrie. Trade Skyclave Apparition only when the exiled permanent has already done its job, the resulting exchange does not give the opponent a better race, and no higher-priority target is likely to appear immediately.

• Life-total thresholds: Treat high life totals as a resource for building a wider Angel board, but treat falling below the opponent's visible two-turn clock as an emergency. When Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel rewards lifegain, prefer attacks and blocks that preserve repeatable lifegain triggers over one-shot damage.

• Protection through sequencing: Protect key creatures by forcing the opponent to answer multiple must-kill threats rather than one exposed payoff. If the opponent has open mana and likely instant-speed interaction, consider passing with Collected Company available instead of casting Kayla's Reconstruction into sorcery-speed vulnerability.

• Combat tricks and channel actions: Use Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire or any special land action only when the engine shows a legal combat-impacting action and it beats casting a creature, holding Collected Company, or developing mana. Card text check required for Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, and Multiversal Passage special actions before treating them as combat tools.

• Archetype combat posture: Against aggro, block more often and let lifegain turn the corner. Against control, attack steadily with resilient spacing and avoid overcommitting into sweepers unless Kayla's Reconstruction can rebuild. Against combo, race aggressively while using Skyclave Apparition, Portable Hole, Archon of Emeria, or Unlicensed Hearse on visible enablers. Against midrange, preserve the highest-impact Angel and make trades that leave Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction as the last major resource.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Selection identity: Treat Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction as board-selection engines, not tutors for a named card. They can convert mana into multiple visible permanents, but the decision agent must choose only among cards the rules engine actually reveals and must not assume a missing Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, or Skyclave Apparition is available.

• Collected Company timing: Prefer casting Collected Company after the opponent commits mana or at end step when the board is stable, because instant speed preserves interaction ambiguity and reduces exposure to sorcery-speed removal. Cast it during combat or before damage only when the engine exposes a legal timing window and the possible hit changes blocks, lifegain math, lethal pressure, or survival.

• Collected Company picks: Choose the pair that best changes the current board, with Giada, Font of Hope and Righteous Valkyrie prioritized for snowball setup, Bishop of Wings and Resplendent Angel prioritized for lifegain-token engines, Skyclave Apparition prioritized when a revealed legal target matters immediately, and Inspiring Overseer prioritized when the hand needs a card and body more than raw scaling. If only one strong creature is revealed, take it rather than declining for theoretical future value.

• Kayla's Reconstruction commitment: Cast Kayla's Reconstruction when X is large enough to rebuild or overtake the board, especially after removal, stalled combat, or when extra mana from Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, or Giada, Font of Hope makes a multi-permanent hit realistic. Avoid spending it for a small X unless missing a board presence would lose the next turn cycle.

• Kayla's Reconstruction picks: Select permanents that create immediate board leverage from the revealed set, usually prioritizing Giada, Font of Hope before later Angels, Righteous Valkyrie before lifegain chains, Bishop of Wings before multiple Angel entries, and Skyclave Apparition when removing a visible permanent is more important than adding another attacker. Do not choose Enduring Innocence for a presumed text line unless the engine-revealed card text or legal action confirms the payoff; Card text check required.

• Inspiring Overseer sequencing: Cast Inspiring Overseer when a low-risk body, one life, and a card help bridge into Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction. Prefer higher-impact Angel payoffs first when the hand already has lands and action, because Inspiring Overseer is better as smoothing than as the main threat.

• Land-drop timing: Make land drops before main-phase Kayla's Reconstruction or double-spell turns unless a visible legal action rewards holding a land. Preserve Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as a spell-like land only when mana is already sufficient and the engine exposes a relevant channel or combat action; otherwise treat it as a land drop.

• Bottoming and redraws: For mulligan bottoms or any engine-exposed selection, keep hands and piles that contain early green mana, at least one of Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves when acceleration matters, and at least one Angel payoff. Bottom redundant expensive spells before bottoming the first functional land, first accelerant, or first engine creature.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Priority baseline: Pass priority when no legal action improves the current board, preserves a life-total threshold, answers a visible threat, or advances Collected Company / Kayla's Reconstruction timing. Do not take a legal action merely because mana is available.

• Instant-speed posture: Hold Collected Company for the opponent's end step when the current board does not require immediate bodies. Fire it earlier if the opponent presents lethal, if a combat-speed hit can change blocking or lifegain math, or if passing risks wasting mana while under meaningful pressure.

• Sorcery-speed commitment: Commit Kayla's Reconstruction on your main phase when the opponent is tapped low, after they have spent removal, or when waiting gives them a better chance to counter, discard, or race. Delay it when the existing board already demands an answer and Collected Company can represent a lower-risk instant-speed follow-up.

• Removal responses: Use Skyclave Apparition or Portable Hole only at legal times and only on visible permanents whose removal changes the next turn cycle. Let low-impact spells resolve when the board can race them, especially if holding removal protects Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Bishop of Wings, or Giada, Font of Hope from a more important permanent later.

• Eiganjo timing: Use Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire only when the rules engine exposes a legal channel-style action and the target is an attacking or blocking creature whose removal changes combat, lethal math, or survival. Do not hold Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire as interaction if missing the land drop prevents casting Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, or multiple Angel spells.

• Trigger handling: Accept beneficial lifegain, token, counter, and draw triggers when the engine presents them, but choose optional payments or optional actions only if the current board benefits. Card text check required for Enduring Innocence, Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, and Multiversal Passage before assuming any optional trigger, filtering ability, or special stack use.

• Resplendent Angel timing: Sequence spells and combat to preserve the chance of an end-step Resplendent Angel payoff when visible lifegain can reach the required threshold. Do not spend interaction or make attacks solely for that threshold if the line exposes a key Angel to a worse board state.

• Archon of Emeria stack pressure: With Archon of Emeria on the battlefield, plan priority around one-spell turns and avoid casting a low-impact spell before Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, Skyclave Apparition, or Portable Hole if the higher-impact spell is legal. Against opponents constrained by Archon of Emeria, let their first low-impact spell resolve more often when their second spell is locked out.

• Graveyard timing: Activate Unlicensed Hearse when exiling specific visible graveyard cards interrupts a legal or likely resource line, such as escape, flashback, reanimation, recursion, or delve. Do not spend priority on Unlicensed Hearse just to grow it if mana or timing is needed for Collected Company, removal, or combat-relevant actions.

Sideboard Map

• Sideboard posture: Preserve the creature-density engine for Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction unless the matchup demands narrow interaction. Sideboard cards should either buy a full turn, stop a visible resource engine, or improve the deck's ability to rebuild after removal; avoid overloading on noncreature cards when the matchup is still decided by Angel pressure.

• Archon of Emeria role: Bring Archon of Emeria against spell-chain, combo, prowess-style, delve-heavy, cascade-like, or multispell tempo decks where limiting each player to one spell per turn meaningfully slows the opponent more than Selesnya Angels. Archon of Emeria changes the deck from pure curve-out to protected snowball: cast the most important spell first each turn, prefer Collected Company as the one spell when holding four mana at instant speed, and avoid spending the turn on a low-impact creature if Kayla's Reconstruction or Skyclave Apparition is the real play. Archon of Emeria is lower value against creature decks that already play one spell per turn, battlefield mirrors where racing matters more than taxes, and removal-heavy decks that can answer it without changing their plan.

• Enduring Innocence role: Bring extra Enduring Innocence against attrition, removal piles, and midrange decks where the first wave of Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, and Skyclave Apparition is likely to trade for removal. Card text check required, so treat Enduring Innocence as a conditional grind card only when the rules engine reveals the relevant text, trigger, or legal action; do not assume a draw, recursion, or protection mode from name alone. Enduring Innocence is lower value against fast combo, graveyard engines requiring immediate disruption, and low-to-the-ground aggro where a slower value card does not stabilize the battlefield.

• Portable Hole role: Bring Portable Hole against aggressive starts, cheap creature engines, low-cost artifacts or enchantments, and decks where a one-mana answer lets Selesnya Angels keep developing Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, or Resplendent Angel in the same turn cycle. Portable Hole is best when the visible permanent is already changing combat, mana, or combo setup; it is not a generic answer to hold forever while taking damage. Portable Hole is lower value against expensive threats, creature-light control, and decks where exiling a cheap permanent does not affect the next two turns.

• Unlicensed Hearse role: Bring Unlicensed Hearse against graveyard recursion, delve, escape, reanimation, flashback, self-mill, and graveyard-count engines. Use it as disruption first and as a body later; exiling the specific visible card or pair of cards that unlocks the opponent's next legal line is more important than growing the Vehicle. Unlicensed Hearse is lower value against decks with incidental graveyard use only, creature mirrors decided by board presence, and control decks where graveyard pressure is not part of their visible plan.

Fast creature aggro / low-curve battlefield deck Side in: 4 Portable Hole Cut: 1 Enduring Innocence; 1 Kayla's Reconstruction; 2 Inspiring Overseer

• Plan rule: Add Portable Hole when the opponent presents cheap creatures or permanents that make early combat unfavorable. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slower smoothing and expensive rebuilds, but preserve Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, and Skyclave Apparition because lifegain, scaling, and clean battlefield interaction are the core stabilizers.

Graveyard combo or graveyard recursion Side in: 4 Unlicensed Hearse Cut: 1 Enduring Innocence; 1 Inspiring Overseer; 2 Kayla's Reconstruction

• Plan rule: Add Unlicensed Hearse when public graveyards are a real resource and the opponent's visible cards make graveyard denial time-sensitive. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slower card flow and high-mana rebuilds because the first priority is preventing the graveyard from converting into mana, creatures, or spell access before the Angel clock matters.

Spell-chain combo / multispell tempo Side in: 4 Archon of Emeria Cut: 1 Enduring Innocence; 1 Inspiring Overseer; 2 Skyclave Apparition

• Plan rule: Add Archon of Emeria when the opponent needs multiple spells in one turn or relies on untapped sequencing density. Reduce main-deck emphasis on creature-only removal when the opponent has few permanents that Skyclave Apparition can legally answer; keep enough Skyclave Apparition for visible hate permanents, cheap engines, or blockers that stop Angel attacks.

Removal-heavy midrange or control Side in: 3 Enduring Innocence; 2 Unlicensed Hearse Cut: 3 Elvish Mystic; 2 Llanowar Elves

• Plan rule: Add Enduring Innocence and some Unlicensed Hearse when the opponent is trading one-for-one and using the graveyard as a secondary resource. Reduce main-deck emphasis on fragile mana creatures when games slow down and removal makes acceleration unreliable; keep enough green sources and lands to cast Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction naturally.

Mixed cheap threats plus graveyard pressure Side in: 4 Portable Hole; 3 Unlicensed Hearse Cut: 1 Enduring Innocence; 2 Inspiring Overseer; 2 Kayla's Reconstruction; 2 Elvish Mystic

• Plan rule: Add Portable Hole and Unlicensed Hearse together only when both axes are visible or strongly represented by public game actions. Reduce main-deck emphasis on slower rebuilds and some acceleration because the post-board plan must answer the first wave while shrinking the graveyard line; do not reduce Angel density so far that Collected Company becomes a weak recovery spell.

Creature-light control with few graveyard dependencies Side in: 3 Enduring Innocence Cut: 3 Skyclave Apparition

• Plan rule: Add Enduring Innocence when the opponent's main plan is answering threats rather than presenting permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis on Skyclave Apparition only when there are few visible targets; if the opponent shows important enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, or cheap creatures that Skyclave Apparition can legally exile, keep more copies and reduce mana creatures or Inspiring Overseer instead.

• Archetype rule: Against aggressive decks, prioritize Portable Hole and maintain lifegain density over value engines. Bishop of Wings, Righteous Valkyrie, and Resplendent Angel are the stabilizing core, so sideboarding should make early turns safer rather than dilute the Angel payoff.

• Archetype rule: Against combo decks, prioritize Archon of Emeria when their engine uses spell volume and Unlicensed Hearse when their engine uses graveyards. If both axes matter, add both only if the main-deck cards being reduced are genuinely slower than the disruption; Selesnya Angels still needs a clock after disruption lands.

• Archetype rule: Against attrition decks, prioritize Enduring Innocence and protect high-impact Angels from being stranded behind too many narrow answers. Card text check required before selecting Enduring Innocence over a known pressure card in a close runtime decision.

• Archetype rule: Against unknown opponents after Game 1, sideboard from public evidence rather than archetype guesses. Add Portable Hole for cheap permanents already seen, Archon of Emeria for multispell turns already seen, Unlicensed Hearse for graveyard dependence already seen, and Enduring Innocence for repeated one-for-one removal already seen.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: Stabilize before snowballing by protecting the first lifegain body and answering the permanent that changes the next combat. Bishop of Wings into Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel is the preferred curve because life gain can erase early damage while flying threats take over. Portable Hole should answer cheap attackers, mana creatures, or engine permanents that keep pressure high; do not hold Portable Hole for speculative value while the opponent is already converting damage. Skyclave Apparition should remove the largest legal battlefield problem when its token drawback is smaller than the damage or engine the original permanent represents. Add role cards: Portable Hole. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower copies of Inspiring Overseer, Enduring Innocence, and some Kayla's Reconstruction when the game is about turns two through five.

• Burn: Raise life total quickly and avoid lines that spend early turns without affecting life, blockers, or clock. Bishop of Wings is a priority keep because every later Angel can become a stabilizing life swing; Righteous Valkyrie and Resplendent Angel are the cards most likely to force burn to answer the board instead of aiming damage upstairs. Giada, Font of Hope is important because accelerating Angels can put lifegain online before burn has enough draw steps. Portable Hole is valuable only when it answers a visible cheap permanent; do not sideboard as though every burn deck has enough targets without public evidence. Add role cards: Portable Hole if cheap permanents are shown, Enduring Innocence only when games become removal-heavy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Kayla's Reconstruction on the draw if survival is the bottleneck.

• Go-wide creatures: Win by making individual Angels too large and by removing the payoff permanent rather than trading down with small bodies. Righteous Valkyrie is the best stabilizer if life total can cross its visible threshold; Giada, Font of Hope makes later Angels scale over small boards. Skyclave Apparition should prioritize anthem, token payoff, or combat-enabling permanents over a replaceable attacker when legal. Portable Hole should be used early if it prevents a wide board from compounding. Avoid attacks with a needed Angel if holding it back preserves Righteous Valkyrie pressure or protects life total for a bigger swing next turn. Add role cards: Portable Hole. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow card flow before cutting Angel density.

• Tempo: Develop threats in a way that taxes interaction without exposing the whole hand to one efficient answer. Mana creatures are useful when they let Selesnya Angels present Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, or multiple Angels ahead of schedule, but do not assume they survive against open removal. Collected Company is especially valuable when the opponent leaves mana open because it can be deployed at instant speed if the rules engine offers the legal action. Skyclave Apparition should answer the threat that is shortening the clock or the permanent preventing attacks, not the first target seen. Archon of Emeria is strong when public play patterns show multiple spells per turn or heavy cantrip sequencing. Add role cards: Archon of Emeria, Portable Hole for cheap tempo threats. Reduce main-deck emphasis: a small number of slow rebuild cards if the opponent is pressuring mana and life total.

• Control: Commit enough pressure to demand answers while keeping rebuild capacity for sweepers and one-for-one removal. Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction are major recovery tools, so avoid firing them into low-impact boards unless doing so materially increases the clock or uses otherwise wasted mana. Resplendent Angel and Righteous Valkyrie are the highest-pressure standalone threats; Giada, Font of Hope matters if it turns every later Angel into a must-answer creature. Skyclave Apparition is lower value if the opponent presents few legal permanents, but keep it when public cards show enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, or blockers it can legally answer. Add role cards: Enduring Innocence, with Card text check required before relying on any specific grind mode. Reduce main-deck emphasis: some Skyclave Apparition and fragile mana creatures when removal density is high.

• Removal-heavy decks: Treat every threat as part of a sequence, not as a single protected queen. Bishop of Wings punishes creature death only if Angels enter first, so prioritize it when it is likely to survive long enough to convert later Angels into life and bodies. Enduring Innocence is a sideboard grind card only when the rules engine confirms relevant text or legal action; do not assume exact card advantage. Collected Company is best held for windows where the opponent has spent removal or where adding two bodies changes the race immediately. Kayla's Reconstruction is a late rebuild, so avoid cutting too many lands or mana sources in sideboarded games. Add role cards: Enduring Innocence, sometimes Unlicensed Hearse if graveyards become a resource. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves when they are poor topdecks and easy removal targets.

• Midrange: Preserve the engine density that makes trades favorable and use Skyclave Apparition on permanents that generate repeated advantage or block flyers profitably. Bishop of Wings plus Angel follow-ups can outscale ground combat, while Righteous Valkyrie gives the board a way to turn life gain into lethal pressure. Collected Company should be valued as both a rebuild spell and a way to add threats before combat math changes. Kayla's Reconstruction is strongest when the game slows and mana is plentiful; it is weaker when the opponent is forcing immediate battlefield answers. Add role cards: Enduring Innocence for attrition, Unlicensed Hearse when graveyard recursion or graveyard size is visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: some mana creatures on the draw if removal and blockers make acceleration unreliable.

• Combo: Present the fastest credible clock while adding the sideboard piece that attacks the visible axis. Archon of Emeria is the primary plan against spell-volume combo and decks that need several legal spells in one turn; deploy it before extra pressure when delaying the combo is more important than adding damage. Unlicensed Hearse is the primary plan against graveyard combo, and its first job is denying the visible card or card pair that enables the next engine step. Portable Hole matters only when the combo uses cheap permanents that the rules engine shows as legal targets. Do not over-sideboard into disruption without a clock; Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Giada, Font of Hope, and Collected Company close games after the lock piece lands. Add role cards: Archon of Emeria, Unlicensed Hearse, Portable Hole only for cheap permanent engines. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow smoothing and excess creature removal with few targets.

• Big mana: Kill quickly and disrupt mana or payoff permanents only when the legal target affects the next turn cycle. Mana creatures are valuable because racing matters; Giada, Font of Hope into large Angels is often better than a slow value line. Skyclave Apparition should prioritize ramp pieces, stabilizing blockers, or payoff permanents within its legal range if removing them changes the clock. Archon of Emeria is useful only if the deck relies on spell chaining or nonbasic sequencing that the card actually constrains according to engine output; do not assume it stops every big-mana plan. Add role cards: Archon of Emeria when spell volume is shown, Portable Hole when cheap mana permanents are shown. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Enduring Innocence and some Inspiring Overseer if the matchup is a race.

• Graveyard decks: Use Unlicensed Hearse as disruption first and pressure second. Exile the visible graveyard card that enables recursion, escape, delve, reanimation, flashback, or a graveyard-count payoff before growing Unlicensed Hearse for combat. Keep attacking when graveyard disruption has bought time; giving the opponent extra draw steps can undo a single exile activation. Righteous Valkyrie and Resplendent Angel are still the main clock, so avoid hands that only interact with the graveyard and do not develop pressure. Add role cards: Unlicensed Hearse, Enduring Innocence only if the opponent is also removal-heavy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower rebuild cards and some Inspiring Overseer before cutting core Angels.

• Artifact/enchantment decks: Answer the permanent that enables the engine, not the permanent that merely looks annoying. Skyclave Apparition is the main flexible answer when the legal target is within range; Portable Hole handles cheap artifacts or enchantments when early mana efficiency matters. Collected Company can find Skyclave Apparition, Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, and Inspiring Overseer, so preserve enough hit density after sideboarding. If the opponent's artifacts or enchantments do not affect combat, mana, or combo speed, prioritize building an Angel clock. Add role cards: Portable Hole. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow value only when cheap permanents are deciding the game.

• Single-threat decks: Remove or race the one threat based on whether it beats flying combat and life gain. Skyclave Apparition should be held for the single threat if it is a legal target and no earlier permanent is more dangerous. Portable Hole is only relevant when the threat is cheap enough and legal; otherwise it should not be brought in as generic interaction. Bishop of Wings and Righteous Valkyrie can make racing a single attacker realistic, especially when Resplendent Angel creates additional pressure. Add role cards: Portable Hole only for cheap legal threats, Enduring Innocence if the opponent is removal-heavy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess narrow answers if the threat profile is outside their legal range.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only: Exact opponents are not supplied for this batch, so revealed cards, public zones, and rules-engine legal actions override every archetype assumption. Treat these notes as role hints for Pioneer opponents, not as hidden-information claims.

• Fast aggro: Stabilize first with Bishop of Wings, Righteous Valkyrie, and early blockers, then turn the corner with Resplendent Angel or a wide Angel board. Likely sideboarding: add Portable Hole for cheap legal permanents; consider Enduring Innocence only when the opponent also trades resources heavily. Priority targets are early attackers, cheap snowball permanents, and blockers that prevent lifelink or flying pressure from racing.

• Removal-heavy midrange: Sequence threats so the first removal spell does not strand the whole plan. Bishop of Wings before multiple Angels can make trades less punishing, while Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction are rebuild tools after the opponent spends interaction. Likely sideboarding: add Enduring Innocence for attrition, and add Unlicensed Hearse only if graveyard value is visible. Priority targets for Skyclave Apparition are repeated-advantage permanents and blockers that stop the airborne clock.

• Spell-chain combo: Race while constraining the turn where the opponent needs multiple spells. Likely sideboarding: add Archon of Emeria as the primary disruptive body, then keep enough pressure from Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Collected Company, and Kayla's Reconstruction to end the game. Priority targets are cheap enabling permanents if Portable Hole or Skyclave Apparition can legally answer them.

• Graveyard decks: Deploy pressure and use Unlicensed Hearse to attack the visible graveyard card that matters next, not merely the largest graveyard. Likely sideboarding: add Unlicensed Hearse; add Enduring Innocence only when removal attrition is also central. Priority targets are visible recursion, reanimation, delve, escape, flashback, or graveyard-count enablers shown by public information or legal action text.

• Big mana or slow control: Accelerate into pressure and force the opponent to answer multiple must-kill Angels. Likely sideboarding: add Archon of Emeria only when spell volume or sequencing constraints are visibly relevant; add Portable Hole only for cheap mana or lock permanents. Priority targets are ramp permanents, stabilizing blockers, and payoff permanents that Skyclave Apparition can legally answer.

• Creature mirrors: Build the larger flying board and avoid trades that shrink the life-total cushion without improving the clock. Giada, Font of Hope makes follow-up Angels scale, Bishop of Wings pads life around Angel deployment, and Righteous Valkyrie can convert lifegain into a decisive attack once the visible threshold is reached. Priority targets are creatures or permanents that let the opponent race flyers or invalidate combat.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: This deck needs early green for Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Collected Company, and Kayla's Reconstruction while also needing white for Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Skyclave Apparition, and Inspiring Overseer. Do not assume Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire provide a needed color unless the rules engine exposes it as available.

• Matchup risk: The deck can look favored when life totals rise, but combo and big mana may ignore life gain unless Archon of Emeria, Unlicensed Hearse, Portable Hole, or Skyclave Apparition disrupt the visible axis. Keep a clock attached to every disruption plan.

• Draw risk: Hands with only payoff Angels and no early mana or setup can be too slow, while hands with only Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, and lands may fail to pressure. Mulligan decisions should prioritize castable early development plus at least one meaningful Angel, interaction piece, or Collected Company/Kayla's Reconstruction path.

• Over-sideboarding risk: Cutting too many Angels or Collected Company hits weakens the core engine. Sideboard cards should solve a visible matchup problem without turning the deck into low-pressure disruption.

• Graveyard risk: Unlicensed Hearse can become a distraction if the opponent's graveyard is not currently enabling a legal or likely line. Use it to deny visible graveyard resources, then return to attacking.

• Sweeper/removal risk: Committing every Angel into open mana can lose the board before Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction matters. Stagger threats when ahead, but commit when waiting gives combo, big mana, or control more draw steps than the current board can afford.

• Closer risk: Lifegain without pressure does not win. Convert Bishop of Wings and Righteous Valkyrie life swings into attacks with Resplendent Angel, Giada, Font of Hope counters, and rebuilt boards from Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction.

• Interaction risk: Skyclave Apparition and Portable Hole are bounded by legal targets, so never plan around answering a permanent until the engine lists that action. Save them for permanents that change the race, enable combo, or block the flying plan.

• Sequencing risk: Casting Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction at the wrong time can miss the tactical window. Prefer Collected Company when adding bodies before combat or after removal changes the turn, and prefer Kayla's Reconstruction when mana is plentiful and rebuilding is more important than holding up immediate actions.

• Text-certainty risk: Enduring Innocence, Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, and Multiversal Passage require runtime legality and card text confirmation before relying on specific non-mana or grind functions. Card text check required for any line that depends on exact text not exposed by the engine.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: Identify whether the game was decided by early acceleration, life-total buffering, a flying clock, disruption, mana failure, or the opponent ignoring life totals. Record whether Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel actually changed the turn count.

• Mulligans: Review each opener for green access, white access, early action, and a payoff. Flag hands that kept only Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves without a meaningful follow-up, and flag hands that kept multiple Angels without enough mana to cast them on time.

• Mana: Note every turn where Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, Razorverge Thicket, Temple Garden, Plains, or Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire constrained a legal play. Card text check required for any conclusion that depends on Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, or Multiversal Passage beyond rules-engine output.

• Velocity: Count whether Collected Company and Kayla's Reconstruction were cast in windows that added pressure, rebuilt after removal, or merely spent mana after the game was already slipping. Track misses, weak hits, and whether holding Collected Company changed combat or priority decisions.

• Engine performance: Record whether Bishop of Wings plus Angel deployment bought enough time, whether Giada, Font of Hope counters made attacks or blocks decisive, and whether Righteous Valkyrie reached a board state where its life-threshold pressure mattered.

• Removal: Review every Skyclave Apparition and Portable Hole target by visible impact, not by card reputation. The key question is whether the removal hit a racing permanent, combo enabler, blocker, graveyard piece, mana source, or low-impact object.

• Sideboard: Check whether Archon of Emeria constrained spell-chain or control turns, whether Unlicensed Hearse attacked visible graveyard resources at the right time, whether Portable Hole had legal high-impact targets, and whether Enduring Innocence improved attrition games. Card text check required for Enduring Innocence lines not explicit in engine state.

• Closing: Identify turns where the deck gained life but failed to shorten the clock. Note missed attacks, over-defensive blocks, delayed Resplendent Angel pressure, and Kayla's Reconstruction lines that should have converted mana into lethal or near-lethal board presence.

• Role: Record whether the pilot correctly became the beatdown against combo, the stabilizer against aggro, and the resilient threat deck against removal-heavy midrange. Flag games where sideboard cards diluted the Angel count or where Angels were overcommitted into obvious public-risk windows.

• Mistakes: Mark illegal-action assumptions, hidden-card assumptions, missed legal attacks, missed life-threshold checks, premature Collected Company, slow Kayla's Reconstruction, and any pass where visible mana and legal actions suggested a stronger use of priority.

• Stranded cards: Track copies of Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, Skyclave Apparition, Portable Hole, Archon of Emeria, Unlicensed Hearse, and Enduring Innocence that remained unusable because of mana, missing targets, timing, or role mismatch.

• Overperformers and underperformers: Compare actual game impact for Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Inspiring Overseer, Collected Company, Kayla's Reconstruction, Skyclave Apparition, Archon of Emeria, Portable Hole, Unlicensed Hearse, and Enduring Innocence against the matchup role they were meant to serve.

First Tuning Questions

• Card quantities: Should the 3 Elvish Mystic and 3 Llanowar Elves package become more consistent if games are lost before four-mana plays, or is the current count already creating too many weak topdecks and low-pressure hands?

• Mana base: Are Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, Multiversal Passage, Razorverge Thicket, Temple Garden, Plains, and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire producing enough untapped green and white on the turns the deck needs them? Any answer that relies on newer land text needs a card text check and runtime confirmation.

• Aggro plan: If fast creature decks are still winning through lifegain, does the deck need more early interaction than 4 Skyclave Apparition and 4 Portable Hole after sideboarding, or are blocks and life triggers being sequenced poorly?

• Control plan: If removal-heavy decks beat the first threat wave, should Enduring Innocence or Kayla's Reconstruction be emphasized more, or are Collected Company timing and threat staggering already enough when piloted correctly?

• Combo plan: If spell-chain or graveyard opponents race the deck, are 4 Archon of Emeria and 4 Unlicensed Hearse enough sideboard pressure, or is the deck losing because it deploys disruption without a fast Giada, Font of Hope or Resplendent Angel clock?

• Closer density: If games stall after gaining life, should the list protect the 4 Resplendent Angel, 4 Righteous Valkyrie, 4 Giada, Font of Hope core more aggressively, or does it need a different high-impact threat slot beyond the current Angel package?

• Selection balance: If Collected Company misses too often or Kayla's Reconstruction is stranded, should noncreature and high-cost counts be revisited, or are poor casts into weak board states causing misleading results?

• Interaction mix: If Skyclave Apparition answers the wrong things or Portable Hole lacks targets, should sideboard space move toward broader answers, or should target priority rules be tightened around blockers, combo permanents, and race-changing threats?

• Sideboard slots: If Archon of Emeria, Portable Hole, Unlicensed Hearse, or Enduring Innocence are repeatedly stranded, which matchups actually require those slots, and which losses are better solved by preserving main-deck pressure?

• Role conflicts: If sideboarded games lose with too few Angels, did the plan reduce Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, Resplendent Angel, Collected Company, or Kayla's Reconstruction pressure too far for the matchup role?

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Keep Functional Angel Starts

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mulligan; pregame
• Cards: Bishop of Wings; Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Elvish Mystic; Llanowar Elves
• Phase windows: opening hand; mulligan; pregame
• Runtime cues: opening-hand review; mulligan decision
• Use when: the hand has legal mana access, early creature development, and a path to an Angel payoff or Collected Company/Kayla's Reconstruction.
• Avoid when: the hand has no early play, only mana creatures with no payoff, or cannot cast white spells on schedule.
• Instructions: Prefer hands that curve mana creature or Bishop of Wings into Giada, Font of Hope, Righteous Valkyrie, or Resplendent Angel. Treat one-land mana-creature hands as fragile unless runtime mana and action output confirms casting sequence.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Bottom Redundant Expensive Cards

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mulligan; selection
• Cards: Collected Company; Kayla's Reconstruction; Resplendent Angel; Righteous Valkyrie
• Phase windows: mulligan bottom decisions
• Runtime cues: London mulligan bottom prompt
• Use when: a mulliganed hand contains more expensive payoff cards than the visible mana can deploy.
• Avoid when: the hand needs a single payoff to function or already lacks threats.
• Instructions: Preserve lands, early green sources, early white sources, and the first engine creature before keeping multiple four-plus-mana effects. Do not bottom the only credible threat just to smooth mana.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Establish First Accelerator Or Bishop

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana; priority
• Cards: Elvish Mystic; Llanowar Elves; Bishop of Wings; Giada, Font of Hope
• Phase windows: main phase turns 1-2
• Runtime cues: legal cast actions for Elvish Mystic, Llanowar Elves, Bishop of Wings, or Giada, Font of Hope
• Use when: early turns offer a legal creature that unlocks faster Angels or lifegain snowballing.
• Avoid when: visible interaction target or board state makes Skyclave Apparition immediately necessary.
• Instructions: Lead with green mana creatures when they enable turn-two or turn-three payoffs. Lead with Bishop of Wings when the hand already casts Angels naturally and life-trigger scaling matters.
• Pilot skill floor: low
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Cast Exact Mana Creature When Only Legal Setup

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: priority; mana
• Cards: Elvish Mystic; Llanowar Elves
• Phase windows: early main phase
• Runtime cues: action:cast Elvish Mystic; action:cast Llanowar Elves
• Use when: exactly one legal action casts Elvish Mystic or Llanowar Elves and no other non-pass spell action is legal.
• Avoid when: multiple cast actions exist or any legal action casts Bishop of Wings, Giada, Font of Hope, Skyclave Apparition, Collected Company, or Kayla's Reconstruction.
• Instructions: Submit the single visible mana-creature cast action.
• Pilot skill floor: low
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Prioritize Giada Before Angel Chain

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana; priority
• Cards: Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Inspiring Overseer
• Phase windows: main phase before casting Angels
• Runtime cues: legal cast actions for Giada, Font of Hope and Angel creatures
• Use when: Giada, Font of Hope can be deployed before follow-up Angels and the board does not demand immediate removal.
• Avoid when: lethal defense, required Skyclave Apparition target, or mana constraints make the Angel cast materially better this turn.
• Instructions: Use Giada, Font of Hope as the preferred setup permanent because later Angels scale pressure and combat. Do not delay a decisive Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel line without checking current board and life totals.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Protect Life-Threshold Pressure

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat; priority
• Cards: Bishop of Wings; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Inspiring Overseer
• Phase windows: combat; main phase; end step priority
• Runtime cues: visible life totals; legal attacks; legal Angel casts
• Use when: life gain or Angel deployment can move the game toward Righteous Valkyrie pressure or Resplendent Angel snowballing.
• Avoid when: attacks expose essential creatures to bad blocks or the opponent can race through the line on visible board.
• Instructions: Count visible life, Angel bodies, and likely crack-back before attacking. Favor lines that add life and air power while preserving the engine creature needed for the next trigger.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Company Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; selection
• Cards: Collected Company; Bishop of Wings; Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Skyclave Apparition; Inspiring Overseer
• Phase windows: opponent end step; combat trick windows; own main phase
• Runtime cues: action:cast Collected Company
• Use when: casting Collected Company can add pressure, find interaction, rebuild after removal, or change combat math before the next attack.
• Avoid when: visible board state rewards holding instant-speed pressure, mana is needed for another legal decisive action, or the library hit quality is too low from known information.
• Instructions: Prefer opponent end step when no immediate combat or survival need exists. Use main phase only when added bodies or Skyclave Apparition access matters before attacking or blocking.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Reconstruction Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mana; priority; selection
• Cards: Kayla's Reconstruction; Bishop of Wings; Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Skyclave Apparition; Inspiring Overseer
• Phase windows: own main phase
• Runtime cues: action:cast Kayla's Reconstruction
• Use when: available mana makes Kayla's Reconstruction a meaningful board-development or rebuild action and waiting risks losing tempo or cards.
• Avoid when: the board requires targeted interaction first, the spell would consume mana needed for survival, or visible pressure demands blockers already available.
• Instructions: Treat Kayla's Reconstruction as a tap-out commitment. Choose X from legal actions by board need, current mana, and expected creature density; do not assume hidden library contents.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Company And Reconstruction Hit Selection

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection
• Cards: Collected Company; Kayla's Reconstruction; Skyclave Apparition; Giada, Font of Hope; Bishop of Wings; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Inspiring Overseer
• Phase windows: spell resolution selection prompts
• Runtime cues: choose-card prompt from Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction
• Use when: the rules engine exposes candidate creatures from the spell resolution.
• Avoid when: the prompt is not tied to Collected Company or Kayla's Reconstruction.
• Instructions: Select Skyclave Apparition when a visible permanent must be answered now. Otherwise prioritize Giada, Font of Hope for scaling, Righteous Valkyrie or Resplendent Angel for pressure, and Bishop of Wings when life buffering is urgent.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Skyclave Target Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction; priority; selection
• Cards: Skyclave Apparition
• Phase windows: main phase; spell resolution target prompts
• Runtime cues: action:cast Skyclave Apparition; action:target Skyclave Apparition
• Use when: a visible nonland permanent is materially affecting race, combo setup, blockers, mana development, or ongoing card advantage.
• Avoid when: no legal target changes the next turns, or removing a low-impact object delays the Angel clock.
• Instructions: Choose targets by visible game impact, not card reputation. Recheck legality and engine target list before assuming Skyclave Apparition can answer a permanent.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Portable Hole Target Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction; sideboard; selection
• Cards: Portable Hole
• Phase windows: sideboarded main phase; target selection
• Runtime cues: action:cast Portable Hole; action:target Portable Hole
• Use when: Portable Hole has a legal visible target that affects early pressure, mana, combo setup, or blocking.
• Avoid when: the legal targets are low impact and casting a threat advances the race more.
• Instructions: Use Portable Hole as tempo-positive interaction after sideboarding. Do not assume it can hit a card unless the rules engine presents the target action.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Hearse Activation Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction; sideboard; priority
• Cards: Unlicensed Hearse
• Phase windows: main phase; opponent graveyard setup windows; end step priority
• Runtime cues: action:activate Unlicensed Hearse
• Use when: visible graveyard cards are enabling current or near-term opponent resources, or exiling cards grows Unlicensed Hearse toward combat relevance.
• Avoid when: activating consumes mana or timing needed for a stronger legal action, or graveyards are empty of relevant visible cards.
• Instructions: Target visible graveyard cards only through engine-provided legal actions. Prefer exiling cards tied to recursion, delve-like costs, flashback-like permissions, or immediate engine output.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Archon Deployment Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: sideboard; priority; combat
• Cards: Archon of Emeria
• Phase windows: sideboarded main phase; precombat main phase
• Runtime cues: action:cast Archon of Emeria
• Use when: limiting spell volume or slowing opposing mana development is more valuable than adding a larger Angel threat this turn.
• Avoid when: the deck must race immediately with Angels or Archon of Emeria would constrain the pilot's own required multi-spell turn.
• Instructions: Cast Archon of Emeria when disruption plus flying pressure creates a clear clock. Preserve Angel density when the matchup is about board size rather than spell chaining.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Enduring Innocence Attrition Gate

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: sideboard; priority; selection
• Cards: Enduring Innocence
• Phase windows: sideboarded main phase; attrition games
• Runtime cues: action:cast Enduring Innocence
• Use when: the matchup and visible board suggest removal trading, stalled pressure, or need for durable card flow.
• Avoid when: immediate flying pressure, removal, or graveyard interaction is required this turn.
• Instructions: Card text check required for exact trigger or recursion assumptions. Use Enduring Innocence only when the engine output and legal actions show its role matters more than another Angel or interaction spell.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Attack With Air Clock After Stabilizing

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Inspiring Overseer; Archon of Emeria
• Phase windows: declare attackers
• Runtime cues: legal attack declarations; visible blockers; life totals
• Use when: flying attacks shorten the clock while preserving enough blockers and life-buffering permanents.
• Avoid when: attacks expose key engine creatures to unfavorable blocks, crack-back lethal, or losing Righteous Valkyrie/Resplendent Angel pressure.
• Instructions: Count next-turn damage before attacking. Pressure combo and control quickly; defend against aggro until lifegain and larger fliers reverse the race.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Block To Preserve Engine Or Survive

• Priority: High
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Bishop of Wings; Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Skyclave Apparition
• Phase windows: declare blockers; combat damage
• Runtime cues: legal block declarations; visible attacker damage; life totals
• Use when: blocking prevents lethal, protects a crucial life threshold, or trades a replaceable creature for a visible threat.
• Avoid when: chump blocking delays death by one turn without preserving a route to stabilize or win.
• Instructions: Preserve Giada, Font of Hope and payoff Angels unless survival requires them. Trade Skyclave Apparition or mana creatures more readily when the Angel engine remains intact.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Preserve Core Density

• Priority: High
• Decision families: sideboard
• Cards: Archon of Emeria; Enduring Innocence; Portable Hole; Unlicensed Hearse; Bishop of Wings; Giada, Font of Hope; Righteous Valkyrie; Resplendent Angel; Collected Company; Kayla's Reconstruction
• Phase windows: sideboarding after game 1; sideboarding after game 2
• Runtime cues: sideboard plan prompt; legal sideboard candidates
• Use when: choosing a post-board configuration against aggro, graveyard, spell-chain, or attrition opponents.
• Avoid when: a plan cuts too many Angels or removes the deck's ability to pressure.
• Instructions: Add Portable Hole for early permanent pressure, Unlicensed Hearse for visible graveyard dependence, Archon of Emeria for spell-volume opponents, and Enduring Innocence for attrition. Reduce main-deck emphasis without hollowing Bishop/Giada/Righteous Valkyrie/Resplendent Angel.
• Pilot skill floor: high
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Respect Unknown Land Text

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: mana
• Cards: Abandoned Air Temple; Hushwood Verge; Multiversal Passage; Razorverge Thicket; Temple Garden; Plains; Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• Phase windows: land play; mana payment prompts
• Runtime cues: legal land play actions; legal mana source prompts
• Use when: choosing lands, colors, or payment sources.
• Avoid when: the engine has already forced a single legal payment action.
• Instructions: Follow rules-engine legality over assumptions. Card text check required for Abandoned Air Temple, Hushwood Verge, and Multiversal Passage decisions beyond visible produced mana or legal action text.
• Pilot skill floor: medium
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Submit Forced Pass Only When No Spell Action Exists

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: priority
• Cards: none
• Phase windows: any priority window
• Runtime cues: action:pass
• Use when: the only legal action text available is pass.
• Avoid when: any legal cast, activate, attack, block, target, selection, or sideboard action is present.
• Instructions: Submit the visible pass action only when the legal action list contains no alternative action.
• Pilot skill floor: low
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes