veles-content/strategies/timeless/timeless_mono_black_reanimator/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

Mono-Black Reanimator is registered for Timeless as a 60-card main deck with a 15-card sideboard, and the active validation contract reports that the list passes the current main/sideboard size rules. Treat the registration as exact: 4 Boggart Trawler, 2 Darkbore Pathway, 4 Blooming Marsh, 4 Vault of Whispers, 1 Swamp, and 1 Fell the Profane form the land/MDFC floor around 4 Chrome Mox and 4 Dark Ritual; the spell core is 4 Entomb, 4 Reanimate, 4 Grief, 4 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, 4 Saint Elenda, 4 Necrodominance, 4 Vampiric Tutor, 3 Beseech the Mirror, 1 Demonic Tutor, 1 Necropotence, 1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier, 1 Sacrifice, and 1 Tendrils of Agony.

Use the deck as a hybrid combo-midrange reanimator strategy, not as a stock linear graveyard deck. The main plan can produce fast graveyard pressure through Entomb plus Reanimate, fast hand disruption through Grief, explosive mana through Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox, card-volume engines through Necrodominance and Necropotence, Vampire pressure or cheating pressure through Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda, and a compact storm or drain finish through Tendrils of Agony. Runtime decisions should identify which axis is actually legal and supported by visible resources before committing life, cards, or tutors.

Classify the list as rogue/hybrid rather than stock because it combines reanimation, Vampire/Sorin deployment, black ritual acceleration, Necrodominance card-volume planning, Beseech the Mirror tutoring, and a one-copy Tendrils of Agony finish. Do not assume a single deterministic combo line from archetype name alone. The pilot must infer the active role from opening hand, visible opponent pressure, available black mana, graveyard access, tutor density, and whether Reanimate targets are already visible in graveyard.

Respect the active archetype tags as combo, midrange, reanimator, and graveyard, with combo and midrange both live in the same game. The combo tag matters for hands that can assemble Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony; the midrange tag matters when Grief, Saint Elenda, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, and Necropotence become the practical route after disruption or graveyard pressure. The graveyard tag is central but not exclusive, so the agent should not overcommit into visible graveyard hate when a hand can pivot to card engines or Vampire pressure.

Flag legality and card-text uncertainty at runtime instead of inventing outcomes. Card text check required for any uncertain interaction involving Saint Elenda, Boggart Trawler, Fell the Profane, Necrodominance, Beseech the Mirror, Sacrifice, Culling Ritual, March of Wretched Sorrow, Vexing Bauble, or Faerie Macabre. Use the rules engine's legal actions as the source of truth for whether a card can be cast, bargained, targeted, paid for, exiled to Chrome Mox, used as a land, or selected by a tutor.

Treat the mana base as powerful but potentially fragile because many high-impact lines require black mana, card disadvantage, or life payment. Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox can create turn-one or turn-two pressure, but Chrome Mox imprint choices must preserve the actual plan, and Reanimate, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Vampiric Tutor, and shock-style mana costs can make life total a real constraint. Vault of Whispers being an artifact is tactically relevant when public effects care about artifacts, but do not assume hidden opposing artifact interaction.

Opponent information status is unknown unless supplied by match context, visible board state, public logs, revealed cards, sideboard stage, or the rules engine. Do not name or play around specific opposing cards as if known from archetype alone. When matchup guidance later references metagame cards not registered in this deck, keep those names outside policy Cards: fields or prefix them as opponent examples where policy syntax requires it.

Thesis

Mono-Black Reanimator assembles an early black-mana burst, a graveyard target, and a legal payoff action before the opponent can stabilize. The cleanest pressure sequence is Entomb placing Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Saint Elenda, or another legal creature target into a graveyard followed by Reanimate, but the pilot must confirm the target, life payment, and timing through the rules engine before treating the line as available. Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox are not just acceleration; they decide whether the deck is a turn-one combo deck, a turn-two engine deck, or a slower disruptive midrange deck.

The deck wins by converting one explosive window into either a huge creature, a card-volume engine, a Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord battlefield swing, or a Tendrils of Agony finish. Reanimate lines pressure life totals and resources, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda can turn legal Vampire-related actions into a board plan, Necrodominance and Necropotence can refill after spending cards, and Beseech the Mirror, Demonic Tutor, and Vampiric Tutor let the pilot search for whichever axis is missing. Tendrils of Agony is a compact payoff for turns with multiple spells, but do not force storm counting when the visible legal actions point to a stronger Reanimate or engine commitment.

Prioritize action certainty over archetype assumptions. The agent should first identify whether it has black mana, a legal graveyard setup action, a legal Reanimate action, a viable Chrome Mox imprint, and enough life to spend; only then should it decide between combo commitment, disruption, card draw, or waiting. If the hand contains Grief plus fast mana or recursion, use the visible legal actions to decide whether disruption protects an immediate kill, clears the way for a card engine, or buys time against pressure.

The deck is not trying to play a long fair attrition game with small material exchanges unless combo access is disrupted. It is also not trying to expose all resources into visible graveyard hate, tax effects, or stack pressure when Necrodominance, Necropotence, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, and Saint Elenda offer a non-graveyard pivot. Avoid spending Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror on a flashy line when the visible board demands survival, mana stabilization, or protection first.

Role Package

• Threats: Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the highest-impact Reanimate target when available and legal, while Saint Elenda is the repeated registered threat that overlaps with Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord lines. Grief is both disruption and a body when legal to cast or otherwise deploy, and Boggart Trawler or Fell the Profane should be treated according to the specific land/spell actions the engine exposes. Card text check required for any uncertain Saint Elenda, Boggart Trawler, or Fell the Profane mode.

• Payoffs: Reanimate is the core graveyard payoff, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is the Vampire payoff and pressure engine, Tendrils of Agony is the spell-chain payoff, and Beseech the Mirror is a payoff tutor when its legal action can convert expendable material into the missing card. Do not assume Beseech the Mirror has a bargain line unless the rules engine exposes that action.

• Engines: Necrodominance and Necropotence are the card-volume engines that let the deck rebuild after Chrome Mox, Dark Ritual, Grief, tutors, or failed graveyard pressure. Use them when life total, opponent pressure, and visible follow-up mana support a delayed payoff instead of an immediate Reanimate or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord commitment.

• Velocity: Entomb, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Beseech the Mirror find missing pieces; Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox compress the turn; Necrodominance and Necropotence reload the hand. Sequence velocity toward the current bottleneck: target, recursion, mana, protection, or finisher.

• Interaction: Grief is the main proactive interaction, Fell the Profane may be interaction if a legal spell action appears, Sacrifice has card-text uncertainty and should be used only according to visible legal text, and sideboard March of Wretched Sorrow, Culling Ritual, Duress, Faerie Macabre, Vexing Bauble, and Leyline of Sanctity cover matchup-specific pressure. Card text check required before assuming any exact removal, prevention, hate, or protection function.

• Protection: Grief, Duress, Leyline of Sanctity, and Vexing Bauble are the registered protection/disruption tools after sideboarding, while Vampiric Tutor and Demonic Tutor can protect indirectly by finding the line that beats the visible board. Protect the commitment turn before maximizing card quantity.

• Recursion: Reanimate is the explicit recursion card and should be aimed at the highest-impact legal target that matches life total, board state, and matchup role. Avoid Reanimate lines that lose to visible life pressure when Necrodominance, Necropotence, or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord can create a safer route.

• Mana: Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Blooming Marsh, Darkbore Pathway, Vault of Whispers, Swamp, Boggart Trawler, and Fell the Profane form the mana module. Preserve black mana for Entomb, Reanimate, Grief, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, and Tendrils of Agony rather than treating any imprint or land-mode choice as free.

• Sideboard modules: Culling Ritual addresses permanent-heavy boards when legal and favorable, Duress adds proactive protection, March of Wretched Sorrow covers survival or removal roles, Leyline of Sanctity protects against targeted pressure when its legal timing applies, Vexing Bauble pressures stack-based interaction or low-cost spell patterns when text confirms relevance, Faerie Macabre contests graveyards, and the second Tendrils of Agony increases access to the drain finish.

Primary Win Conditions

• Reanimate into a decisive threat is the primary win path when Entomb, Reanimate, black mana, and enough life are available. Setup uses Entomb, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror to place or find the missing piece, then execution uses Reanimate on Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Saint Elenda only when the rules engine exposes that target and the life payment is survivable. Disruption comes from Grief before commitment, or from waiting when visible graveyard hate, open stack interaction, or lethal crack-back makes the line unsafe. Prioritize this path when it is fast, protected, and converts the current hand into immediate pressure or a refill.

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the highest-impact single Reanimate target when legal because it can stabilize material and pressure in one action. Setup should favor Entomb for Atraxa, Grand Unifier when the hand already has Reanimate or a tutor chain to Reanimate; execution should avoid unnecessary Chrome Mox imprints or Dark Ritual spending that would strand the follow-up hand after the threat resolves. Prioritize Atraxa, Grand Unifier over smaller pressure when the opponent has visible board presence, the pilot needs cards, or one creature must carry the game alone.

• Saint Elenda plus Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is the main non-Atraxa battlefield plan when the legal actions support it. Setup requires black mana and either Saint Elenda access, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord access, or a tutor that can find the missing half; execution should follow only the specific Vampire or loyalty actions the engine exposes. Card text check required for exact Saint Elenda play patterns, but treat the pair as a pressure-and-stabilization route when graveyard access is contested or Reanimate life loss is dangerous. Prioritize this path when Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is already present, when Saint Elenda is naturally castable, or when a graveyard-only plan is exposed.

• Necrodominance or Necropotence into a second-wave kill is the primary engine path when the opening burst cannot safely win immediately. Setup uses Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, and land sequencing to resolve the engine while preserving enough life and mana for the next turn; execution converts extra cards into Entomb, Reanimate, Beseech the Mirror, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, or Tendrils of Agony. Disruption is life-total pressure and delayed payoff timing, so prioritize this path when the opponent is not presenting lethal pressure and the hand lacks one exact combo component.

• Tendrils of Agony is the compact spell-chain finish when the legal turn already contains multiple spells and enough mana. Setup uses Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Entomb, Reanimate, and engine cards to build a high-spell turn; execution must count only spells actually cast in the current game state and select Tendrils of Agony only when the visible drain is lethal or stabilizing enough. Prioritize Tendrils of Agony when creature combat is blocked, life totals are low, or tutors can assemble a deterministic drain line.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Grief pressure is the fallback win condition when disruption leaves the opponent low on resources and no immediate combo is available. Use Grief first to clear interaction for Reanimate or an engine, but accept a body-based plan when the visible board is empty and the hand can keep trading. Do not spend premium tutors on extending this plan unless the combo routes are blocked or the opponent is near death.

• Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord as a standalone threat plan matters when the game slows down. Use visible loyalty or Vampire-related actions to convert Saint Elenda, Grief, or other legal creatures into pressure only if the engine confirms those actions. Protect Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord against attackers when it is the current route to repeated damage, life swings, or threat deployment.

• Beseech the Mirror is a flexible bridge from partial resources into whichever win condition is missing. Use it to find Reanimate, Entomb, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Tendrils of Agony, or a survival card only according to legal actions and available costs. Do not assume bargain or sacrifice availability unless Forge exposes that cost line.

• Reanimate on an opposing graveyard creature is a real backup line when the opponent has a better legal target than the pilot. Choose this only from public graveyard information, visible life total, and rules-engine target legality. This line is especially relevant after Grief, removal, combat, or opponent self-mill creates a stronger target than Saint Elenda.

• Boggart Trawler, Fell the Profane, and Sacrifice are conditional fallback tools rather than assumed win paths. Card text check required for each exact tactical role; follow legal land, spell, removal, sacrifice, or recursion actions as exposed. Use them to preserve mana development, answer a visible threat, enable Beseech the Mirror, or maintain storm count only when the runtime action text supports that use.

Emergency Lines

• When behind on life, stop treating Reanimate, Necrodominance, Necropotence, and Vampiric Tutor as free acceleration. Prefer Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, Grief trades, Tendrils of Agony drain, or a lower-life-cost tutor path when those legal actions stabilize before the opponent attacks.

• When behind on board, prioritize a single stabilizing threat over card greed. Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the preferred Reanimate target if legal and survivable; Saint Elenda or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord lines are next if they create blockers, pressure, or life-buffering actions confirmed by the engine.

• When behind on cards, use Necrodominance, Necropotence, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Beseech the Mirror to rebuild rather than spending the last resources on an unprotected nonlethal line. If the opponent has visible pressure, choose the refill line only when the expected next turn is likely to exist.

• When behind on mana, preserve land drops and black sources before speculative Chrome Mox imprints. Use Dark Ritual for a concrete engine, Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, or tutor sequence, not for a partial line that leaves no payoff.

• When graveyard recursion is blocked, pivot to Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Grief pressure, and Tendrils of Agony. Do not keep tutoring for Reanimate into visible graveyard hate unless the same turn can remove, bypass, or ignore the obstacle through legal actions.

• When win conditions are removed, identify the remaining axis before spending tutors. If Atraxa, Grand Unifier is unavailable, lean on Saint Elenda, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Tendrils of Agony, or opponent graveyard targets; if Tendrils of Agony is unavailable, win through creature pressure and engine reloads.

Resource Model

• Life is a spendable combo resource only while it leaves a next turn or a same-turn kill. Reanimate, Vampiric Tutor, Necrodominance, and Necropotence all pressure life total, so prefer the line with the fewest life payments when the opponent has visible attackers, burn-like pressure, or a lethal next combat.

• Hand cards are both action density and Chrome Mox fuel, so protect unique role cards from unnecessary exile. Imprint redundant copies first, and avoid imprinting the only Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Beseech the Mirror, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, or Tendrils of Agony unless the visible line wins or prevents imminent loss.

• Mana converts explosive openings into commitment gates. Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox should fund a concrete Reanimate, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony line; do not spend them merely to empty the hand unless storm count or a resolved engine is the visible payoff.

• Board presence is secondary until it stabilizes or closes. Grief can trade information and pressure, Saint Elenda plus Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is the main creature-plan pivot, and Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the preferred stabilizer when Reanimate is legal and life loss is acceptable.

• Graveyard access is the fastest route, but it is fragile. Entomb should place the exact legal Reanimate target only when Reanimate, tutor access, or a protected follow-up exists; if graveyard hate is visible, shift resources toward Necrodominance, Necropotence, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, hard tutor chains, or Tendrils of Agony.

• Exile is mostly a cost zone for this deck. Chrome Mox imprint decisions are irreversible, so treat exiled cards as lost combo roles; sideboard Leyline of Sanctity may begin in exile-like pregame deployment only if the rules engine exposes that legal pregame action.

• Lands are low in count, so every land drop is a strategic resource. Blooming Marsh, Darkbore Pathway, Vault of Whispers, Swamp, Boggart Trawler, and Fell the Profane should be sequenced to produce black mana first unless the legal text of Boggart Trawler or Fell the Profane offers a more urgent spell-side use. Card text check required for exact Boggart Trawler and Fell the Profane modes.

• Sacrifice fodder matters for Beseech the Mirror and Sacrifice only when the engine exposes the cost. Use expendable permanents or creatures for bargain or mana conversion before sacrificing a key threat; Card text check required for exact Sacrifice mana output, so follow visible legal actions rather than assuming a number.

• Tempo is generated by acting before the opponent develops interaction. Fast Grief, Entomb plus Reanimate, Dark Ritual into engine, and tutor-backed Tendrils of Agony lines should be chosen when waiting gives the opponent a draw step or mana window that visibly worsens the line.

• Information converts tutors into precision. Grief and Duress after sideboard should guide whether Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, or Entomb searches for a threat, protection-by-disruption, engine, removal, or kill; never infer hidden cards beyond revealed information and archetype pressure.

• Sideboard bullets change resource priorities. Leyline of Sanctity protects life and hand against targeted disruption, Duress adds information and stack safety, Vexing Bauble pressures free-spell or zero-mana interaction, Faerie Macabre fights opposing graveyards without mana, March of Wretched Sorrow converts black cards into life and removal, Culling Ritual can reset small permanents and create a mana burst, and the extra Tendrils of Agony increases spell-chain kill density.

Mana Guide

• Black mana is the primary requirement for nearly every meaningful line. Keep hands need at least one credible black source or a legal Chrome Mox imprint that produces black, plus an action that uses it; hands with only colorless-looking or tapped/uncertain resources need a very strong tutor-engine reason to keep.

• Sequence lands to preserve untapped black on the combo turn. Blooming Marsh is strongest early, Swamp is clean and nonconditional, Vault of Whispers supplies black while adding artifact-permanent exposure, and Darkbore Pathway should usually choose the black-producing face unless green mana is explicitly required by a legal sideboard action such as Culling Ritual.

• Treat Boggart Trawler and Fell the Profane as modal/utility resources only from visible rules text. If the engine offers them as land actions and the hand is short on mana, prioritize land development; if the engine offers a spell action that solves an immediate problem or completes a kill, evaluate that spell mode against the lost land drop.

• Cast Dark Ritual when the same sequence has a payoff. Strong uses include turn-one or turn-two Necrodominance, Necropotence, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Beseech the Mirror, Entomb plus Reanimate support, or a lethal Tendrils of Agony chain; weak uses are partial tutor chains that end with no mana, no payoff, and no protected next turn.

• Use Chrome Mox to fix black only when the imprinted card is less important than the accelerated line. Prefer imprinting redundant engines, redundant tutors, redundant legends or threats, or sideboard cards that do not match the current board; avoid imprinting the only reanimation half, the only payoff, or the only black card that lets Chrome Mox function.

• Preserve BBB and BBBB planning for Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Beseech the Mirror, and chained tutor turns. Count Dark Ritual as temporary black, not as a permanent source; if the hand depends on Dark Ritual to cast every relevant spell, choose the order that resolves the highest-impact permanent or tutor before mana empties.

• Play lands before draw effects when the land drop enables immediate black mana, Beseech the Mirror costs, Reanimate follow-up, or Tendrils of Agony storm sequencing. Delay the land drop only when Necrodominance, Necropotence, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Vampiric Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror may reveal or find a land whose identity changes the correct land choice.

• Keep/mulligan mana rules should punish one-resource hands. A keep is stronger with black source plus Entomb/Reanimate, black source plus Dark Ritual/engine, or black source plus tutor chain; a hand with Chrome Mox but no expendable black card, Dark Ritual but no black source, or tutors with no mana to cast the found card should usually ship unless the visible matchup demands a risky high-roll.

• Sideboard mana should be planned before boarding locks. Culling Ritual asks for green-black access from Blooming Marsh or Darkbore Pathway, March of Wretched Sorrow asks for black cards and black mana, Duress and Faerie Macabre are low-mana interaction, Vexing Bauble can fit under black-heavy turns, Leyline of Sanctity reduces mana pressure only when deployed through a legal pregame action, and extra Tendrils of Agony rewards preserving Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox for one dense turn.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: Keep black source plus Entomb plus Reanimate when life total is not already under immediate matchup pressure. This hand threatens Atraxa, Grand Unifier quickly, can use Grief or Vampiric Tutor as protection/setup, and should prioritize executing before the opponent has visible graveyard interaction.

• Strong keep: Keep black source plus Dark Ritual plus Necrodominance or Necropotence when the hand has at least one follow-up spell, tutor, or Chrome Mox. This is an engine hand, so protect the first draw engine with Grief when legal and avoid spending Dark Ritual on a sequence that ends without a permanent or decisive tutor.

• Strong keep: Keep Chrome Mox plus expendable black card plus Dark Ritual plus Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Saint Elenda when the engine exposes a legal Sorin line. Do not assume Saint Elenda text beyond visible legal actions; treat this as a fast permanent-pressure hand only if the rules engine presents the action chain.

• Medium keep: Keep land plus Vampiric Tutor or Demonic Tutor plus one acceleration piece when the hand has a clear turn-two or turn-three payoff. Use the tutor to assemble the missing half of Entomb/Reanimate, find Necrodominance, find Beseech the Mirror, or set up Tendrils of Agony only when mana and life support the line.

• Medium keep: Keep Grief plus black card plus either a fast engine or tutor access on the draw against unknown opponents. Grief without pressure is not enough by itself, but revealed information can justify a slower hand if it clears interaction or identifies the correct tutor target.

• Risky keep: Keep one-land hands only when the land makes black and the hand has immediate action. One-land plus Entomb/Reanimate, one-land plus Dark Ritual/Necrodominance, or one-land plus Chrome Mox/follow-up can win; one-land plus multiple expensive cards and no acceleration should ship.

• Matchup-dependent keep: Keep Leyline of Sanctity hands after sideboard only when the pregame action is legal and the opponent is likely to attack hand, life total, or targeted combo setup. Do not keep an otherwise nonfunctional seven just because Leyline of Sanctity is present.

• Play/draw rule: On the play, favor explosive Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Entomb/Reanimate, or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord starts because the opponent has fewer mana windows. On the draw, favor Grief, Duress after sideboard, Leyline of Sanctity, or redundant tutor hands that can absorb one disruption spell.

• Automatic ship: Ship hands with no credible black mana, Chrome Mox with no imprintable card, Dark Ritual with no black source, or tutors that cannot be cast before the hand dies. Ship hands containing only Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Saint Elenda, Tendrils of Agony, and no way to deploy or convert them.

• Trap hand: Do not keep multiple Necrodominance/Necropotence plus no acceleration and no interaction against fast pressure. Do not keep Entomb without Reanimate or tutor access unless the rest of the hand independently casts a strong engine.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1 priority: Produce black mana and either disrupt, commit a fast engine, or set the graveyard line. Preferred starts are Entomb for Atraxa, Grand Unifier with Reanimate ready, Dark Ritual into Necrodominance or Necropotence, Grief to clear the way, or Vampiric Tutor only when the next draw immediately completes a legal line.

• Turn 1 deviation: Use Chrome Mox only when the accelerated action matters this turn or next turn. Imprint redundant Necrodominance, redundant tutors, extra legendary threats, or low-impact sideboard cards before imprinting the only Reanimate, Entomb, Dark Ritual, or payoff.

• Turn 2 priority: Convert setup into a board, hand, or kill resource. Reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier when legal and life-safe; cast Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord when Saint Elenda follow-up is legal; resolve Necrodominance/Necropotence when the hand needs volume; or cast Beseech the Mirror when bargain/cost text is legally available and the target spell can be used.

• Turn 2 deviation: If opponent interaction is revealed, choose the line that beats the revealed card rather than the fastest goldfish. Grief or Duress should clear counterplay before Reanimate, Entomb should wait if graveyard hate is already visible, and Vampiric Tutor should find protection, engine, or removal instead of a redundant payoff.

• Turn 3 priority: Decide whether the game is a combo turn or an attrition turn. Combo turns chain Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, tutors, Beseech the Mirror, Sacrifice if legal, and Tendrils of Agony; attrition turns protect Necrodominance/Necropotence, deploy Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, pressure with Saint Elenda, or reanimate the best visible graveyard target.

• Turn 3 deviation: Treat Boggart Trawler and Fell the Profane according to visible legal modes only. If mana is short, use land modes; if their spell modes answer a blocker, graveyard issue, or lethal setup, Card text check required and choose only from rules-engine legal actions.

• Turns 4-5 priority: Leverage accumulated cards into a decisive tutor chain or resilient threat. Use Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Beseech the Mirror to find the missing piece, but preserve enough mana and life for Reanimate, Tendrils of Agony, or a post-engine follow-up.

• Turns 4-5 deviation: Against visible pressure, stabilize before drawing deeper if life loss could lose the game. Reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier, March of Wretched Sorrow after sideboard, or a legal Saint Elenda/Sorin line can matter more than maximizing storm count.

• Late-game priority: Stop treating resources as replaceable and play to a specific finish. Choose between Tendrils of Agony storm, reanimated Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda pressure, or Necrodominance/Necropotence reload based on visible board, hand size, graveyards, life totals, and legal actions.

• Late-game deviation: If graveyard hate or life pressure blocks Reanimate, pivot to hard tutor chains, engine draws, sideboard interaction, and Tendrils of Agony. Do not Entomb a target into known public hate unless the engine shows an immediate legal way to use it before the opponent can act.

Card Roles

• Dark Ritual: Treat Dark Ritual as the deck's highest-leverage tempo card, not as generic mana smoothing. Use it to land Necrodominance, Necropotence, Beseech the Mirror, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, or a multi-spell Tendrils of Agony turn; avoid spending it on a line that leaves no permanent, no reanimation, no tutor resolution, and no disruption. Hold Dark Ritual when the hand can already make the same play next turn and visible opponent interaction makes the current turn fragile.

• Chrome Mox: Use Chrome Mox when the extra mana creates an immediate engine, discard, tutor, or combo turn. Imprint the least central black card for the visible line, usually a redundant Necrodominance, extra tutor, extra legendary/permanent payoff, or sideboard card with no current target; avoid imprinting the only Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier unless another path is already complete. Count Chrome Mox as card disadvantage that must buy time or action, not as a free land.

• Entomb: Use Entomb primarily to place Atraxa, Grand Unifier into the graveyard when Reanimate is available or tutor-accessible. Use Entomb for another card only when the rules engine shows a legal graveyard payoff, the current hand already wins by finding that card, or public information makes Atraxa, Grand Unifier unsafe or unnecessary. Do not fire Entomb into visible graveyard hate unless Reanimate or another legal conversion happens before the opponent can use the hate.

• Reanimate: Use Reanimate as the cleanest conversion card after Entomb, opponent discard, or public graveyard setup. Prioritize Atraxa, Grand Unifier when life total and visible board allow it, but respect Reanimate life loss and do not assume a creature is safe if opponent removal or exile is known. Reanimate can target opposing graveyards when legal; consider opponent creatures only from visible public zones and only when they stabilize, pressure, or beat hate better than the deck's own target.

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier: Treat Atraxa, Grand Unifier as the main reanimation payoff and recovery engine. Reanimate it when it refills the hand, stabilizes the board, or forces the opponent to answer immediately; delay only when life loss is lethal, a known answer makes the line fail, or a Tendrils of Agony line is already available. Do not plan to hard-cast Atraxa, Grand Unifier unless the rules engine presents legal mana and the game has reached an unusual long state.

• Necrodominance: Treat Necrodominance as a primary card-volume engine that can overpower fair disruption. Cast it early with Dark Ritual or Chrome Mox when the hand needs several pieces, but do not expose it if the current turn already has a protected reanimation or Tendrils of Agony kill. Card text check required for exact draw, hand-size, exile, and end-step behavior; choose life/payment/draw settings from visible legal actions and preserve enough life for Reanimate, shock-like opponent pressure, and follow-up spells.

• Necropotence: Use Necropotence as the singleton backup draw engine when tutor lines need sustained resources rather than immediate graveyard conversion. Card text check required for exact timing and hand delivery in the active rules implementation; choose conservative life payments under pressure and larger payments only when the opponent has low visible clock or the current hand lacks a decisive plan. Necropotence is worse when the deck must win immediately and better when the game is about rebuilding through discard or removal.

• Vampiric Tutor: Use Vampiric Tutor as a precise missing-piece finder, not as a default first action. Find Entomb or Reanimate when one half is missing, Dark Ritual or Chrome Mox when mana is the bottleneck, Necrodominance or Necropotence when a reload is needed, Beseech the Mirror when the hand can support it, or Tendrils of Agony when storm and mana are already credible. Cast it at the latest safe window unless the topdeck must be fixed before a draw or discard effect.

• Demonic Tutor: Use Demonic Tutor for the card that makes the current hand functional this turn or next turn. It is less tempo-negative than speculative Vampiric Tutor because it puts the card directly into hand, so prioritize it for immediate Entomb/Reanimate completion, Dark Ritual-fueled engines, sideboard answers, or Tendrils of Agony setup. Do not spend Demonic Tutor on a redundant payoff while mana, life, or graveyard access is the real bottleneck.

• Beseech the Mirror: Treat Beseech the Mirror as a compact tutor/combo bridge whose exact ceiling depends on legal bargain and casting options. Card text check required for the exact bargain condition and spell-casting branch; when the rules engine offers a bargained line, use it to convert disposable permanents into Necrodominance, Reanimate, Entomb, Tendrils of Agony, or another decisive piece. Do not sacrifice a critical Chrome Mox, Saint Elenda, or engine permanent unless the searched spell advances the turn immediately.

• Tendrils of Agony: Treat Tendrils of Agony as the deterministic combo payoff only when storm count, mana, and opponent life total are visible enough to support the line. Tutor for it when Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Beseech the Mirror, Vampiric Tutor, and cheap spells can build a lethal or stabilizing drain; otherwise keep it as a later finish after Necrodominance or Necropotence reloads. Do not assume lethal without the rules engine's legal stack and storm output.

• Grief: Use Grief to clear the path before committing Entomb/Reanimate, Necrodominance, Necropotence, or Beseech the Mirror. If a free or alternate-cast line is legal, pitch a card that is redundant to the current plan rather than the only payoff or conversion spell. Choose discard targets from the revealed hand by prioritizing graveyard hate, counterplay, fast kills, removal for Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or the opponent's strongest near-term engine; if no critical card is visible, take the card that most disrupts the opponent's next legal turn.

• Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord: Treat Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord as an alternate engine/pressure route paired mainly with Saint Elenda when the rules engine presents legal actions. Card text check required for exact loyalty abilities, Vampire requirements, damage, and cheat-put effects in the implementation; do not assume a Saint Elenda line unless it appears as legal. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is strongest when graveyard hate weakens Reanimate or when the hand has fast black mana and a visible Saint Elenda payoff.

• Saint Elenda: Treat Saint Elenda as the main Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord payoff and a pressure/stabilization threat, but require rules-engine legality for every deployment shortcut. Card text check required for exact body, lifelink, death trigger, token behavior, and Vampire interactions. Do not discard, imprint, or bargain Saint Elenda when the hand's best visible line is Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda; do consider spending redundant copies when reanimation, draw-engine, or Tendrils of Agony lines are stronger.

• Boggart Trawler: Treat Boggart Trawler as a modal resource whose land side can keep one-land or acceleration-heavy hands functional. Card text check required for its spell-side effect; use the land mode when black mana is the bottleneck, and use the spell mode only when the legal action text clearly answers a relevant graveyard, creature, or tempo problem. Do not hold Boggart Trawler for speculative spell value if missing the land drop blocks Necrodominance, Entomb/Reanimate, or Beseech the Mirror.

• Fell the Profane: Treat Fell the Profane as a flexible land/removal slot. Card text check required for exact spell effect, target restrictions, and life/payment costs; choose the land mode when mana unlocks an engine or combo, and choose the spell mode only when a visible target materially blocks survival or lethal setup. It is a singleton, so do not tutor for it unless the board state specifically demands its legal effect.

• Sacrifice: Treat Sacrifice as a narrow combo-mana or conversion card, not as routine interaction. Card text check required for exact mana generation, timing, and sacrifice restrictions; use it only when sacrificing a creature creates a visible legal payoff such as Tendrils of Agony sequencing, Beseech the Mirror support, or a decisive spell chain. Do not sacrifice Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Saint Elenda merely for mana unless the resulting line wins, stabilizes, or is otherwise forced by survival.

• Vault of Whispers: Use Vault of Whispers as a black artifact land that supports black spell density, Chrome Mox-adjacent acceleration texture, and possible bargain/resource requirements when legal. Protect it as a mana source when black mana is scarce, but recognize that artifact-land status may matter against public artifact hate or Culling Ritual after sideboard.

• Blooming Marsh, Darkbore Pathway, and Swamp: Use these lands to make early black mana reliable before valuing secondary properties. Blooming Marsh and Darkbore Pathway should support turn-one discard, Entomb, Vampiric Tutor, or Dark Ritual when legal; Swamp is the cleanest untapped black source and should be preserved in hands vulnerable to artifact or nonbasic pressure. Do not overvalue off-color implications from Blooming Marsh or Darkbore Pathway unless the rules engine presents relevant legal costs.

Interaction Priorities

• Discard first with Grief when the hand is about to commit Entomb plus Reanimate, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Beseech the Mirror, or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord. Take visible graveyard hate before countermagic, take countermagic before removal, take fast-kill pieces before slower card advantage, and take removal only when Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Saint Elenda is the current committed threat.

• Clear hate before speed when the opponent can stop the graveyard line. A visible one-card answer to Entomb, Reanimate, or the graveyard is usually more important than an opposing threat unless life total or board state says the next combat step is lethal. If Grief sees multiple hate pieces, take the one that is cheapest, already castable, or hardest to answer with sideboard cards.

• Remove first the permanent that prevents winning, then the permanent that kills you. Use March of Wretched Sorrow, Fell the Profane, or Culling Ritual only when the legal action text matches a visible blocker, hate piece, engine, or lethal attacker that changes the current turn cycle. Card text check required for exact Fell the Profane and March of Wretched Sorrow targeting, cost, and life rules.

• Exile graveyards with Faerie Macabre only when the public graveyard has a payoff, recursive card, escape/flashback-style threat, or opposing reanimation target that matters before the next priority pass. Do not spend Faerie Macabre just to shrink an irrelevant graveyard if the opponent's pressure is battlefield-based and your hand needs all resources for combo.

• Counter or tax only through registered effects that the engine actually exposes. Vexing Bauble is the sideboard card for no-mana or alternate-cast pressure; Card text check required for exact trigger and sacrifice ability. If Vexing Bauble creates legal trigger decisions, prioritize stopping the spell that disrupts your combo, protects lethal pressure, or produces an immediate win.

• Ignore small creatures when the hand is executing a faster Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Saint Elenda, or Tendrils of Agony plan. A creature that does not create lethal pressure, stop lifegain, remove graveyard access, or invalidate Necrodominance/Necropotence is usually less important than assembling Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, tutor, and payoff.

• Bait interaction with lower-commitment spells before exposing the irreplaceable line. Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, and Necrodominance each invite different answers; lead with the spell that still leaves a second route if countered or removed. Do not bait with the only Reanimate, only Entomb, or only black mana source unless waiting loses.

• Shift against aggro toward life and board survival before speculative card draw. Reanimate on Atraxa, Grand Unifier can cost life, Necrodominance and Necropotence can also pressure life totals, and Dark Ritual hands can spend cards quickly; choose removal, Saint Elenda, or a stabilizing reanimation line when visible attacks will make a draw engine unsafe.

• Shift against control toward discard, redundancy, and end-step setup. Grief, Duress, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, and Necrodominance matter more than early combat damage; force the opponent to answer multiple must-stop cards instead of walking the entire turn into one visible open interaction window.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack only when pressure advances a real clock without exposing the engine. Grief and Saint Elenda can pressure planeswalkers or life totals, but this deck wins more often by resolving a decisive spell chain than by trading creatures. If attacking risks the only creature needed for Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Sacrifice, Beseech the Mirror bargain, or survival blocking, hold it unless the attack is lethal or removes a critical planeswalker.

• Block first to preserve life thresholds for Reanimate, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Vampiric Tutor, and March of Wretched Sorrow. Treat life as combo fuel against slow decks and as a hard survival resource against aggro. Below roughly 10 life, prioritize reducing visible damage over small chip attacks; below roughly 6 life, do not pay life or decline blocks unless the resulting legal line wins or prevents a larger loss.

• Trade Grief when the discard job is complete and the opponent's creature meaningfully shortens the clock. Preserve Grief when it is the only body protecting Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, enabling Sacrifice, or pressuring a planeswalker. Do not treat Grief as sacred after it has stripped the key card; its body is expendable when it buys a full turn.

• Preserve Saint Elenda when Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord or lifegain stabilization is part of the current plan. Card text check required for exact Saint Elenda combat stats, lifelink, death trigger, and token rules, so make blocks and attacks from visible engine output rather than assumed text. Trade Saint Elenda only when the resulting life, death value, or survival swing is visible and better than keeping the threat.

• Protect Atraxa, Grand Unifier from unnecessary combat exposure. Once Atraxa, Grand Unifier is in play, the deck usually needs its card advantage and body to dominate; do not attack into a visible double-block or deathtouch-style trade unless the rules engine shows a favorable outcome or the damage ends the game. Block with Atraxa, Grand Unifier when survival requires it, but avoid risking it to preserve a small amount of life while ahead.

• Use Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord as a protected engine, not a disposable attacker proxy. Card text check required for exact loyalty abilities and Vampire interactions; keep blockers back when Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is producing a Saint Elenda plan or threatening a decisive follow-up. Attack opposing planeswalkers when they threaten graveyard hate, card advantage, or a faster ultimate than your combo clock.

• Against creature decks, block earlier and value lifegain or removal over greed. A delayed Necrodominance or Necropotence is acceptable if it prevents dying to visible attacks. Against control or combo, block less often with pressure bodies because each point of damage can force the opponent to act before they assemble protection.

• Do not sacrifice combat material for Sacrifice unless the mana converts immediately. Card text check required for exact Sacrifice mana and restrictions; sacrificing Grief, Saint Elenda, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier during combat is correct only when the follow-up Tendrils of Agony, Beseech the Mirror, Reanimate, or survival spell is visible and legal.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Tutor for the missing piece, not the flashiest card. If the hand already has Entomb plus Reanimate, use Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror to find protection, mana, or the payoff that fits the visible turn; if the hand has Reanimate without Entomb, find Entomb before assuming a graveyard target will appear naturally.

• Entomb should usually put Atraxa, Grand Unifier into the graveyard when Reanimate is legal or close to legal. Switch to Saint Elenda only when Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, life pressure, or visible graveyard hate makes the Vampire plan safer. Card text check required for exact Saint Elenda rules, so prefer engine-exposed legal text over assumed combat or death value.

• Vampiric Tutor is strongest at the opponent's end step unless immediate action is required. Use it main phase only when Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Boggart Trawler, Vault of Whispers, or Blooming Marsh mana lets the found card resolve this turn, or when waiting risks discard, lethal pressure, or a known shuffle/draw lock from Necrodominance or Necropotence.

• Demonic Tutor can find whichever axis is missing: Entomb for graveyard setup, Reanimate for conversion, Dark Ritual or Chrome Mox for mana, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord for the Saint Elenda route, Necrodominance or Necropotence for reloads, Beseech the Mirror for a flexible chain, or Tendrils of Agony when storm count and life totals make a kill plausible.

• Beseech the Mirror should be treated as a commitment gate, not just a tutor. Card text check required for exact bargain and casting limits; choose it when a visible bargain object such as Chrome Mox, Vault of Whispers, or an expendable permanent is legal to use and the spell it finds changes the turn immediately.

• Necrodominance and Necropotence are selection engines that demand life discipline. Against low pressure, convert spare life into enough cards to assemble Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, tutor, and payoff redundancy. Against visible pressure, stop before the next attack plus Reanimate or Vampiric Tutor life payments become lethal.

• Atraxa, Grand Unifier selection should rebuild the next decisive turn. Prioritize the card type or card revealed by the engine that supplies the missing function: mana source, Reanimate, Entomb, tutor, protection discard, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, or Tendrils of Agony. Do not assume hidden library composition beyond visible revealed cards.

• Land-drop timing should preserve modal and color options. Play Swamp, Blooming Marsh, Darkbore Pathway, Vault of Whispers, Boggart Trawler, or Fell the Profane only after checking whether the turn needs untapped black, artifact count, bargain material, imprint decisions, or a spell-side mode. Card text check required for exact Boggart Trawler and Fell the Profane modal rules.

• No true scry package exists in the registered list. When the engine exposes bottom/top/filter decisions from an opponent effect or unknown card interaction, keep cards that supply missing combo roles and bottom redundant legendary engines, extra expensive payoffs, or life-payment engines that are unsafe in the visible race.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Preserve priority for instant-speed setup when the next untap matters. Vampiric Tutor and Entomb are the key instant-speed actions; cast them at the latest safe window when you want to hide information, but cast them before passing if the opponent can present lethal, exile the graveyard, or force discard before your next action.

• Cast Entomb in response only when the follow-up is protected by legal timing. If Reanimate is sorcery-speed in the current rules output, Entomb at end step or before your main phase is preferred; if the opponent targets your graveyard or asks a stack decision involving graveyard access, Entomb only when the selected card can still matter after that spell resolves.

• Let harmless spells resolve when your hand is resource-constrained. Do not spend Grief, Duress, Vampiric Tutor, Entomb, March of Wretched Sorrow, or Faerie Macabre into a stack exchange unless the visible spell changes lethal math, blocks reanimation, removes Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, stops Necrodominance/Necropotence, or invalidates Tendrils of Agony.

• Respond to graveyard hate before it resolves if a winning reanimation line is already legal. Entomb plus Reanimate sequencing can beat some timing windows only when the engine exposes the required legal actions; otherwise, prioritize Faerie Macabre or discard earlier rather than assuming a stack trick exists.

• Use Grief and Duress before committing a fragile payoff when both are legal. Strip the visible card that counters, exiles, taxes, or kills the chosen line, then deploy Entomb, Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony according to the remaining mana and stack state.

• Hold priority through Dark Ritual chains only when the follow-up spell is visible and legal. Dark Ritual into Beseech the Mirror, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, or Tendrils of Agony is strong when it spends mana immediately; passing with temporary mana or sacrificing material through Sacrifice without a legal payoff wastes the turn.

• Resolve optional payments only when they advance the selected line. Chrome Mox imprint, Sacrifice, March of Wretched Sorrow additional costs, Beseech the Mirror bargain, and any Vexing Bauble trigger or sacrifice ability require engine text confirmation; pay or sacrifice only when the resulting spell, protection, kill, or survival action is already identified.

• Sequence Tendrils of Agony as the final stack commitment whenever possible. Count only spells the engine has actually recorded this turn, respect life totals shown in state, and avoid firing Tendrils of Agony into open interaction if a tutor, discard spell, Necrodominance/Necropotence reload, or Atraxa, Grand Unifier line creates a safer win.

• In combat windows, act only when the stack decision changes survival or the combo turn. March of Wretched Sorrow, Fell the Profane, Entomb, Vampiric Tutor, Faerie Macabre, and Reanimate lines should be chosen from visible legal actions, not assumed tricks. If no relevant instant-speed action is legal, pass priority cleanly and preserve resources.

Sideboard Map

• Sideboard with the same three questions every game: what stops the graveyard line, what pressures life total, and what taxes the spell chain. Keep Entomb plus Reanimate as the default plan unless visible matchup texture makes Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda, Necrodominance/Necropotence reload, or Tendrils of Agony more reliable.

• Culling Ritual is for battlefields with many cheap nonland permanents where clearing material and converting the turn into mana can matter immediately. Bring it against creature-token, artifact, enchantment, and low-curve permanent decks when Blooming Marsh or Darkbore Pathway can supply green and when the follow-up spell is legal after resolution. It is weak against spell-heavy decks, fast combo with few permanents, boards where your own Chrome Mox, Vault of Whispers, or other small permanents are essential, and hands that cannot cast it on time. Card text check required for exact destruction and mana rules, so let the engine confirm legal targets and mana production.

• Duress is the cleanest proactive protection card when the opponent is likely to interact through noncreature spells. Add it against counterspell, discard, graveyard hate, removal-heavy control, and combo decks where the important card is in hand before the graveyard or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord line begins. It is weak against creature-dense pressure when the visible hand or matchup implies few legal hits. After sideboarding, Duress lets Grief shift from all-purpose disruption toward a precision card that clears the highest-impact remaining threat before Entomb, Reanimate, Beseech the Mirror, Necrodominance, Necropotence, or Tendrils of Agony.

• March of Wretched Sorrow is for creature pressure, life-total stabilization, and emergency removal before a reanimation or draw-engine turn. Add it when the opponent wins by early creatures, small utility creatures, or combat pressure that makes Reanimate, Vampiric Tutor, Necrodominance, and Necropotence life payments unsafe. It is weak against noncreature combo, large threats outside its visible range, and hands where exiling black cards would remove the only functional combo piece. Card text check required for exact cost, exile, target, and life-gain rules; use it only when the engine exposes a legal target and the payment does not dismantle the selected line.

• Leyline of Sanctity is for matchups where being targeted is the main way the opponent disrupts or wins. Add it against discard-heavy, direct-damage, targeted combo, and hand-attack decks when it can start in play or when the game is slow enough to cast it if the engine allows. It is weak against battlefield-based pressure, stack-based interaction that does not target you, sweepers, graveyard exile that does not target you, and hands that cannot afford a non-combo card without clear protection value. After sideboarding, Leyline of Sanctity reduces the need to spend Grief or Duress on purely targeted pressure and lets those discard cards focus on graveyard hate, counters, or lethal blockers.

• Tendrils of Agony is the second storm payoff for games where graveyard hate or exile-heavy interaction makes one-shot Reanimate less dependable. Add it against slow interactive decks when Necrodominance, Necropotence, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, and Sacrifice can assemble a high-spell turn. It is weak against fast creature pressure when the deck cannot safely spend life and turns sculpting, and it is weak in opening hands with no mana acceleration or tutor density. Keep the Tendrils plan as a pivot, not a forced identity change, unless the opponent has repeatedly shown that graveyard conversion is unreliable.

• Vexing Bauble is for opposing free-spell, cascade-like, or no-mana interaction patterns only when its text is confirmed useful by the engine or known matchup guide. Card text check required for exact restriction, trigger, and activation rules. Add it when the opponent’s visible plan depends on casting spells without spending mana or when protecting a decisive turn from free interaction matters more than speed. It is weak when it taxes your own zero-mana Chrome Mox or otherwise conflicts with Dark Ritual sequencing, Beseech the Mirror chains, or Tendrils of Agony count. Treat it as a narrow lock/protection piece, not a generic sideboard card.

• Faerie Macabre is for graveyard mirrors, recursion engines, and opponent combo lines that rely on specific graveyard cards. Add it when instant-speed graveyard interaction matters and when holding a card in hand is safer than committing a permanent to the battlefield. It is weak against creature aggro, spell combo without graveyard dependence, and matchups where your own hand size is already pressured by mulligans, Grief, Chrome Mox, or Necrodominance/Necropotence constraints. Card text check required for exact activation and target rules; choose targets only from visible graveyard cards and never assume hidden graveyard contents.

Fast creature pressure Side in: 2 March of Wretched Sorrow; 2 Culling Ritual Cut: 1 Necropotence; 1 Tendrils of Agony; 1 Beseech the Mirror; 1 Sacrifice

• Add role cards: March of Wretched Sorrow buys life and removes an early attacker; Culling Ritual is strongest when the opponent commits multiple cheap nonland permanents and you can turn the mana into Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony that same turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow life-payment engines, storm-only payoffs, and sacrifice lines that do not stabilize the board. Keep Atraxa, Grand Unifier as the reanimation target when the life swing or card burst is needed, but respect visible lethal pressure before paying life.

Spell-heavy interaction or hand disruption Side in: 2 Duress; 4 Leyline of Sanctity Cut: 1 Fell the Profane; 1 Sacrifice; 1 Tendrils of Agony; 1 Beseech the Mirror; 1 Necropotence; 1 Saint Elenda

• Add role cards: Leyline of Sanctity protects the hand and life total from targeted plans when it is present early, while Duress clears the specific spell that stops Entomb, Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, Necropotence, or Beseech the Mirror. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slower creature-plan redundancy and conditional removal when the opponent is not pressuring combat. Keep Grief because stacking Grief plus Duress is how the deck creates a safe commitment window.

Graveyard mirror or recursion combo Side in: 2 Faerie Macabre; 2 Duress Cut: 1 Fell the Profane; 1 Sacrifice; 1 Necropotence; 1 Saint Elenda

• Add role cards: Faerie Macabre gives a non-mana answer to visible graveyard cards, and Duress fights the setup spell or protection piece before the opponent converts. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal and slow engines that do not interact with the graveyard race. Keep your own Entomb plus Reanimate line active, but avoid exposing the key graveyard card before the same turn you can reanimate unless the opponent’s relevant interaction is already cleared.

Free-spell or spell-chain combo Side in: 2 Vexing Bauble; 2 Duress; 1 Tendrils of Agony Cut: 1 Fell the Profane; 1 Saint Elenda; 1 Necropotence; 1 Reanimate; 1 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord

• Add role cards: Vexing Bauble is a matchup-specific speed bump when its restriction applies, Duress protects the decisive turn, and the extra Tendrils of Agony gives a non-graveyard finish through hate. Reduce main-deck emphasis: combat-centric Vampire conversion and single-target removal. Keep enough Reanimate density to punish a clear window, but let tutors pivot between Entomb, Reanimate, Duress, Vexing Bauble, and Tendrils of Agony according to the visible hand and stack.

Permanent-based artifact or token pressure Side in: 2 Culling Ritual; 2 March of Wretched Sorrow Cut: 1 Necropotence; 1 Sacrifice; 1 Tendrils of Agony; 1 Saint Elenda

• Add role cards: Culling Ritual is the high-ceiling reset when the battlefield contains multiple cheap nonland permanents; March of Wretched Sorrow handles the single threat that matters before the reset turn. Reduce main-deck emphasis: life-expensive reloads and redundant creature-plan pieces when the opponent is already forcing combat decisions. Preserve Vault of Whispers and Chrome Mox only when they are needed for mana, bargain, or spell-chain execution, because Culling Ritual may make your own small permanents vulnerable depending on exact rules text.

• Sideboard conservatively on the play when the opening hand can win quickly. Protection cards are valuable, but every added answer lowers the density of Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, tutor, Chrome Mox, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, Necrodominance, and Necropotence starts.

• Sideboard defensively on the draw when visible matchup speed makes life payments dangerous. March of Wretched Sorrow, Leyline of Sanctity, Duress, and Faerie Macabre are stronger when the opponent gets the first development step and can attack the hand, graveyard, or life total before your second turn.

• Reassess after every revealed card and game result. If the opponent shows no graveyard hate, reduce emphasis on narrow answers and preserve the fast reanimation core. If the opponent shows multiple hate types, diversify through Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Beseech the Mirror, and Tendrils of Agony rather than fighting every hate card one-for-one.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: Race only when the opening line produces a fast Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Saint Elenda through Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, or a protected Necrodominance reload before the opponent’s next combat step. Add role cards: March of Wretched Sorrow and Culling Ritual when early creatures or cheap permanents are visible. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Necropotence, slow Beseech the Mirror chains, Sacrifice, and Tendrils of Agony when the life total is already under pressure. Prefer Entomb plus Reanimate when the life payment still leaves a stable battlefield; prefer Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda when Reanimate life loss would expose lethal. Do not pay life for speculative card volume if visible attackers can punish the next untap.

• Control: Commit only after checking whether Grief, Duress, Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, or Beseech the Mirror can create a protected window. Add role cards: Duress, Leyline of Sanctity, and sometimes the extra Tendrils of Agony when the opponent is likely to answer graveyard lines repeatedly. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fell the Profane and creature removal if the opponent presents few creatures. Use Grief to clear the exact card that stops the next commitment, not the card that looks most powerful in isolation. Necrodominance and Necropotence are strong when the stack is clear and life total is safe, but do not tap out for them if the opponent’s visible mana and prior actions imply an immediate counter-window or end-step threat.

• Combo: Disrupt first when the opponent’s clock is faster than a raw Entomb plus Reanimate line. Add role cards: Duress, Vexing Bauble when its restriction applies, Faerie Macabre against graveyard combo, Leyline of Sanctity against targeted combo, and the extra Tendrils of Agony when a non-graveyard kill matters. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fell the Profane, slow Saint Elenda redundancy, and grind-only engines. Grief is a combo matchup card, not merely a tempo play; use it to expose whether the opponent has protection, a payoff, or a critical enabler. If the opponent can win next turn from public information, accept higher-risk Reanimate or Tendrils of Agony lines rather than sculpting.

• Tempo: Protect mana efficiency and do not let the opponent trade one cheap interaction spell for an entire turn cycle. Add role cards: Duress and Leyline of Sanctity against targeted disruption or repeated stack interaction; March of Wretched Sorrow if the tempo deck also applies small-creature pressure. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Necropotence turns and expensive Beseech the Mirror lines without Dark Ritual support. Favor lines that spend Chrome Mox, Dark Ritual, Entomb, and Reanimate in one decisive sequence after hand pressure. If the opponent leaves mana open and presents a short clock, use Vampiric Tutor for the missing protection or payoff only when the next draw step still permits action before lethal.

• Midrange: Force the opponent to answer different axes instead of repeatedly exposing one graveyard card. Add role cards: Duress when discard or removal matters, March of Wretched Sorrow against early creatures, and Leyline of Sanctity when targeted discard or burn is central. Reduce main-deck emphasis: pure storm pivots when the battlefield requires stabilization, or removal-light hands when the opponent has a large visible attacker. Atraxa, Grand Unifier is the preferred reanimation payoff when the game becomes resource-based. Saint Elenda plus Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord is a strong alternate threat pattern when graveyard hate is visible or suspected from revealed cards.

• Big mana: Pressure early and treat slow setup as a losing exchange unless Necrodominance immediately converts into a kill or protected reanimation. Add role cards: Duress and Vexing Bauble only when they interact with the opponent’s visible acceleration, payoff, or free-spell pattern. Reduce main-deck emphasis: March of Wretched Sorrow unless it has a clear target, and Culling Ritual unless the battlefield contains multiple cheap nonland permanents. Grief should take the payoff or stabilizer that beats the current clock. Reanimate lines should prioritize ending the game or drawing enough cards with Atraxa, Grand Unifier to assemble a second decisive turn.

• Graveyard decks: Interact with the visible graveyard at the last legal point that still prevents conversion. Add role cards: Faerie Macabre and Duress, with Leyline of Sanctity only when the opposing graveyard plan targets the player. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fell the Profane, Sacrifice, and slow engines that do not affect the race. Use Faerie Macabre only on visible graveyard cards named in legal target text; never assume hidden zones or future mills. Your own Entomb should usually pair with same-turn Reanimate when the opponent has shown graveyard interaction.

• Artifact and enchantment decks: Use Culling Ritual as a swing card only when the visible battlefield contains enough cheap nonland permanents to justify spending a turn. Add role cards: Culling Ritual, March of Wretched Sorrow for single early threats, and Vexing Bauble when the opponent’s artifacts or enchantments enable no-mana casting patterns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Necropotence and Tendrils of Agony if survival and battlefield reset matter more than sculpting. Card text check required for exact Culling Ritual and Vexing Bauble interactions; avoid lines that rely on destroying, taxing, or refunding mana unless the rules engine offers the legal action.

• Go-wide decks: Stabilize before maximizing card volume. Add role cards: Culling Ritual and March of Wretched Sorrow. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow tutor chains and life-heavy engines when the battlefield already represents a short clock. Reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier when the life swing or card burst changes combat math; use Saint Elenda lines when Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord makes a large body available without paying Reanimate life. Do not attack with a needed blocker unless the legal action is lethal or prevents a worse crack-back.

• Single-threat decks: Answer the one relevant permanent or race it with a faster protected payoff. Add role cards: March of Wretched Sorrow and Duress depending on whether the threat is already on the battlefield or still in hand. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Culling Ritual when the battlefield has only one meaningful nonland permanent. Fell the Profane is more valuable here than against spell-only decks if it can legally answer the threat. If Reanimate life loss makes the single threat lethal on return combat, prefer Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, removal, or a tutor for interaction before committing.

• Burn: Treat life total as a primary resource constraint, not a buffer for greed. Add role cards: Leyline of Sanctity, March of Wretched Sorrow, and Duress. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Necropotence, Necrodominance, Reanimate lines that pay too much life, and Tendrils of Agony if it is not immediately lethal or life-gaining through storm. Grief is strongest when it removes the spell that changes the lethal clock. Use Vampiric Tutor carefully because the life payment can matter; choose it only when the searched card changes the next turn’s survival or win state.

• Removal-heavy decks: Diversify threats and force the opponent to answer engines, hand pressure, and graveyard conversion separately. Add role cards: Duress and Leyline of Sanctity against targeted discard or removal patterns. Reduce main-deck emphasis: March of Wretched Sorrow if there are few opposing creatures. Saint Elenda is valuable when the opponent’s removal does not cleanly answer the resulting board state, but Card text check required for exact death or token behavior if the engine prompt does not expose it. Necrodominance and Necropotence are strong reloads after trading resources, provided the life total and hand constraints permit another decisive sequence.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General-only note: exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards, public zones, and engine legal actions override every archetype assumption here. Use Grief, Duress, Vampiric Tutor, and Entomb decisions to identify whether the matchup is about speed, graveyard access, targeted disruption, battlefield pressure, or stack interaction before committing Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, or Beseech the Mirror.

• Against discard or targeted spell decks: prioritize Leyline of Sanctity when it prevents the opponent's visible or strongly signaled plan from stripping combo pieces or pointing lethal damage at you. Add Duress when the opponent's key interaction is still in hand and you need a protected window for Entomb plus Reanimate, Beseech the Mirror, Necrodominance, or Tendrils of Agony. Grief should take the card that stops the next decisive turn, not merely the most expensive card.

• Against fast creature pressure: protect life total before maximizing card volume. March of Wretched Sorrow and Culling Ritual are the likely sideboard cards when visible creatures or cheap nonland permanents define the clock. Reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier only when the life payment still leaves a survivable board or the immediate card burst/life swing implied by legal resolution changes the race; otherwise prefer Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord into Saint Elenda when legal and tactically safer. Card text check required for exact Saint Elenda combat, death, or token implications.

• Against graveyard interaction or opposing graveyard decks: use Faerie Macabre only on visible graveyard cards exposed by legal target text, and avoid Entomb without same-turn conversion when the opponent has shown graveyard hate. Prioritize Duress before Reanimate if the opponent's revealed interaction can answer the graveyard, the target, or the spell. If graveyard access is contested, shift toward Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, Necrodominance, Necropotence, and Beseech the Mirror rather than forcing repeated exposed Reanimate lines.

• Against artifact, enchantment, or cheap-permanent engines: sideboard Culling Ritual when the visible battlefield is likely to make it a real swing, not as a generic answer. Vexing Bauble is relevant only when the opponent's public cards or known archetype pattern involve no-mana or alternative-cost casting; Card text check required for exact interaction and timing. Do not delay a lethal Tendrils of Agony or protected Atraxa, Grand Unifier line just to improve Culling Ritual unless the board state says survival requires it.

• Against stack-heavy control or tempo: choose the turn where hand pressure and mana compression line up. Duress and Grief are priority tools before committing Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Entomb, Reanimate, Beseech the Mirror, or Necrodominance into open mana. Leyline of Sanctity matters if the opponent's plan targets the player, but it does not replace tactical reasoning around visible counterplay. Tendrils of Agony from the sideboard is a closer when the game becomes about spell density and storm count rather than a single permanent sticking.

• Against burn or life-total pressure: reduce reliance on Necropotence, Necrodominance, Vampiric Tutor, and high-life Reanimate lines unless they immediately win or stabilize. Leyline of Sanctity, March of Wretched Sorrow, and Duress are likely role cards. Treat Dark Ritual and Chrome Mox as tools to shorten the game before life payments become fatal.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: the deck can produce explosive black turns with Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, Vault of Whispers, Blooming Marsh, Darkbore Pathway, Swamp, Boggart Trawler, and Fell the Profane, but hands with the wrong mix of imprint card, black source, and payoff can strand action. Do not assume Boggart Trawler or Fell the Profane functions as a land or spell unless the rules engine presents that legal action.

• Matchup risk: the deck is powerful but can misidentify whether it is the combo deck, midrange deck, or storm closer. Use revealed cards and public pressure to decide whether Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Saint Elenda, Necrodominance, or Tendrils of Agony is the correct axis.

• Draw risk: Necropotence and Necrodominance can reload, but life total, hand-size rules, and timing restrictions can turn extra cards into a delayed loss. Card text check required for exact Necrodominance and Necropotence hand and exile behavior.

• Over-sideboarding risk: bringing in too many Leyline of Sanctity, Culling Ritual, March of Wretched Sorrow, Vexing Bauble, Faerie Macabre, Duress, or the second Tendrils of Agony can dilute Entomb, Reanimate, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, tutor, and payoff density. Sideboard for the opponent's visible axis, not for every possible hate card.

• Graveyard risk: Entomb plus Reanimate is fragile when the opponent has visible graveyard interaction, exile effects, or instant-speed disruption. When that risk is public, require protection, redundancy, or a non-graveyard pivot before committing.

• Sweeper/removal risk: Saint Elenda and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord lines may lose tempo to removal if their exact board impact is not immediately decisive. Card text check required for Saint Elenda and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord details when the prompt does not expose the relevant outcome.

• Closer risk: Tendrils of Agony requires real storm and legal casting support; do not treat it as inevitable because the deck has tutors. Atraxa, Grand Unifier can win resource games but may still be too slow against lethal board pressure.

• Interaction risk: Grief, Duress, Faerie Macabre, March of Wretched Sorrow, Culling Ritual, and Vexing Bauble answer different problems. Choose the one that changes the current legal turn cycle, not the one that looks broadly useful.

• Sequencing risk: premature Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Beseech the Mirror, or Entomb can reveal or commit the plan before mana, protection, and payoff align. Sequence discard first when disruption is likely, mana first when the action window is closing, and payoff first only when legal text confirms the decisive line.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: identify whether the game was won or lost by speed, protection, graveyard access, battlefield pressure, card volume, or storm closing. Record the decisive turn and whether the final committed line used Entomb plus Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda, Necrodominance, Necropotence, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony.

• Mulligans: record whether each opener had a functional black source, an acceleration piece, a payoff, and either protection or selection. Flag hands kept on Dark Ritual or Chrome Mox that lacked a clear payoff, and hands kept on Vampiric Tutor or Demonic Tutor that were too slow against the revealed opponent plan.

• Mana: record every game where Vault of Whispers, Blooming Marsh, Darkbore Pathway, Swamp, Boggart Trawler, Fell the Profane, Chrome Mox, or Dark Ritual failed to produce the needed legal action on time. Separate true mana shortage from sequencing mistakes such as imprinting the wrong card under Chrome Mox or spending Dark Ritual before the protected payoff window.

• Velocity: record whether Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Entomb, and Beseech the Mirror found the correct axis quickly enough. Mark any game where repeated search effects improved hand quality but failed to convert into Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Necrodominance, Necropotence, or Tendrils of Agony before the opponent stabilized.

• Engines: record whether Necrodominance and Necropotence were decisive reloads, win-more plays, or life-total liabilities. Track how many cards were converted into meaningful legal actions before the opponent's next pressure point, and note any game where extra cards stranded because mana, timing, or hand-size restrictions mattered.

• Reanimation: record each Entomb and Reanimate target decision and whether Atraxa, Grand Unifier or another legal graveyard target was correct for the visible board. Flag high-life Reanimate lines that lost to combat, burn, or known interaction despite producing cards.

• Midrange pivot: record whether Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Saint Elenda stabilized games where the graveyard plan was contested. Card text check required for exact Saint Elenda and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord outcomes if the log does not expose combat, counters, tokens, or life-change details.

• Interaction: record whether Grief, Duress, March of Wretched Sorrow, Culling Ritual, Vexing Bauble, Faerie Macabre, and Leyline of Sanctity answered the actual losing axis. Note whether discard took the card that stopped the next decisive line or merely the strongest-looking revealed card.

• Sideboard: record whether added role cards matched the opponent's revealed plan. Flag games where Leyline of Sanctity, Culling Ritual, March of Wretched Sorrow, Vexing Bauble, Faerie Macabre, Duress, or the second Tendrils of Agony diluted the main engine without changing the matchup's decisive interaction.

• Closing: record every game where Tendrils of Agony was available but not lethal, and every game where Beseech the Mirror, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, and cheap spells created enough storm pressure. Separate failed storm math from correct non-storm pivots into Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Saint Elenda.

• Mistakes: flag missed legal actions, premature tutors, exposed Entomb lines, unnecessary life payments, wrong Chrome Mox imprint choices, pass decisions into visible pressure, and any line where the agent ignored public information from Grief, Duress, Faerie Macabre, or visible graveyards.

First Tuning Questions

• Card quantities: does the deck need all 4 Necrodominance plus 1 Necropotence, or did life pressure and timing restrictions make that much draw engine density conflict with Reanimate and Vampiric Tutor costs?

• Reanimation density: did 4 Entomb and 4 Reanimate produce enough fast wins with Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or were too many games decided by graveyard interaction before a protected payoff resolved?

• Acceleration balance: did 4 Dark Ritual and 4 Chrome Mox enable decisive turns often enough to justify the card disadvantage, or did Chrome Mox frequently strand key cards such as Reanimate, Entomb, Beseech the Mirror, Grief, or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord?

• Mana base: did Blooming Marsh, Vault of Whispers, Darkbore Pathway, Swamp, Boggart Trawler, and Fell the Profane consistently support black-intensive turns, or were there too many hands where modal lands, artifacts, or non-Swamp sources changed legal sequencing?

• Protection plan: are 4 Grief enough game-one disruption, or did the deck need more hand pressure from Duress-style effects after sideboarding to force through Entomb, Reanimate, Necrodominance, Beseech the Mirror, or Tendrils of Agony?

• Aggro plan: did March of Wretched Sorrow and Culling Ritual provide enough recovery against fast creature starts, or did the main deck need a stronger life-total plan when Reanimate and Vampiric Tutor costs were punished?

• Control plan: did Leyline of Sanctity, Duress, Vexing Bauble, Grief, and the second Tendrils of Agony create a coherent post-board route, or did the deck split between protecting a single threat and assembling storm without enough density for either plan?

• Graveyard plan: did Faerie Macabre matter often enough as sideboard graveyard interaction, and did opposing graveyard hate force a reliable pivot into Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, Necrodominance, Necropotence, or Tendrils of Agony?

• Closer package: was 1 main-deck Tendrils of Agony plus 1 sideboard Tendrils of Agony enough to convert high-spell turns, or did games with Beseech the Mirror and Dark Ritual show that storm was either underused or overemphasized?

• Role conflict: did the deck lose more games by being too all-in on Reanimate, too slow with Necrodominance, or too diluted after sideboarding? Use match logs to decide whether future builds should emphasize faster combo, resilient midrange, or storm finishing.

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Opening Hand Functional Keep Gate

Priority: High Decision families: mulligan Cards: Entomb; Reanimate; Dark Ritual; Chrome Mox; Vampiric Tutor; Demonic Tutor; Beseech the Mirror; Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; Saint Elenda; Necrodominance; Necropotence Phase windows: pregame Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible opening hand; game number; known opponent archetype Use when: evaluate any opening hand before keep or mulligan. Avoid when: never keep by card quality alone if the hand has no black-producing route or no path to a decisive payoff. Instructions: Keep hands with mana plus a fast Entomb/Reanimate line, protected tutor line, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda pressure, or accelerated Necrodominance/Necropotence. Mulligan hands that spend Chrome Mox or Dark Ritual without a payoff, or that rely on Vampiric Tutor while already under expected fast pressure. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Leyline Pregame Deployment

Priority: Medium Decision families: pregame; sideboard Cards: Leyline of Sanctity Phase windows: pregame Runtime cues: action:begin the game with Leyline of Sanctity Use when: Leyline of Sanctity is in the opening hand and the legal action text offers starting with it on the battlefield. Avoid when: the legal action does not name Leyline of Sanctity. Instructions: Put Leyline of Sanctity onto the battlefield when the rules engine offers the exact pregame action; the sideboard decision to include it must already have been made. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Enabler Setup

Priority: Medium Decision families: mana; priority; selection Cards: Entomb; Reanimate; Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; Saint Elenda; Necrodominance; Chrome Mox; Dark Ritual Phase windows: turn one through turn two main phases Runtime cues: legal actions include land, Chrome Mox, Dark Ritual, Entomb, Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, or Necrodominance Use when: choose the first permanent, graveyard enabler, or draw engine that turns the hand into a clock. Avoid when: opponent has revealed disruption that changes the required protection order. Instructions: Build toward one coherent first threat: Entomb plus Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord plus Saint Elenda, or accelerated Necrodominance. Do not split resources across storm count, reanimation, and vampire pressure unless the visible hand contains enough mana and redundancy. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Chrome Mox Imprint Discipline

Priority: Medium Decision families: mana; selection Cards: Chrome Mox; Entomb; Reanimate; Dark Ritual; Grief; Necrodominance; Beseech the Mirror; Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; Saint Elenda; Tendrils of Agony Phase windows: main phases; pre-combo mana setup Runtime cues: prompt:imprint; action:Chrome Mox Use when: a Chrome Mox imprint choice is required. Avoid when: imprinting the only payoff, only graveyard access, only reanimation spell, or only protection piece breaks the current line. Instructions: Imprint the card least tied to the immediate legal route. Preserve Entomb with Reanimate, preserve Dark Ritual with Beseech the Mirror or Necrodominance, preserve Grief when protection is needed, and preserve Tendrils of Agony when storm is the visible closing route. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Dark Ritual Commitment Gate

Priority: High Decision families: mana; priority Cards: Dark Ritual; Necrodominance; Beseech the Mirror; Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; Reanimate; Tendrils of Agony Phase windows: main phases; combo turn; protected tap-out turns Runtime cues: action:cast Dark Ritual Use when: decide whether spending Dark Ritual now advances a same-turn payoff or protected engine. Avoid when: Dark Ritual only increases floating mana without a legal payoff or exposes the hand to known interaction. Instructions: Cast Dark Ritual to resolve Necrodominance, Beseech the Mirror, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Reanimate support, or Tendrils of Agony math. Hold it when waiting preserves a protected burst turn and the opponent's clock does not force action. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Entomb Target Selection

Priority: High Decision families: selection; priority Cards: Entomb; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Reanimate; Grief; Tendrils of Agony Phase windows: opponent end step; own main phase; response windows before Reanimate Runtime cues: action:cast Entomb; prompt:search library Use when: Entomb resolves and the target card determines the next decisive line. Avoid when: hidden information, graveyard hate, life total, or known removal makes the default reanimation target unsafe. Instructions: Choose Atraxa, Grand Unifier when the plan is immediate Reanimate and life total permits. Choose another exact registered card only when visible legal text, known disruption, or storm math makes that line superior. Do not assume Entomb can find nonregistered cards. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Deterministic Atraxa Reanimate Target

Priority: Medium Decision families: selection; priority Cards: Reanimate; Atraxa, Grand Unifier Phase windows: main phases; post-Entomb follow-up Runtime cues: action:target Atraxa, Grand Unifier; action:Reanimate Use when: the legal action text offers Reanimate targeting Atraxa, Grand Unifier in your graveyard and the prior selected line is to reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Avoid when: multiple graveyard targets are strategically live and no prior line selected Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Instructions: Submit the exact Reanimate target action for Atraxa, Grand Unifier after the commitment has already been chosen. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Reanimate Life Gate

Priority: High Decision families: priority; selection Cards: Reanimate; Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Grief; Saint Elenda Phase windows: main phases; urgent stabilization turns Runtime cues: action:cast Reanimate; visible life totals; visible combat clock; graveyards Use when: decide whether the life payment and target create a winning or stabilizing board before the opponent's next turn. Avoid when: visible attackers, burn-like revealed cards, or known interaction make the life loss immediately losing. Instructions: Treat Reanimate as a commitment gate, not a rote spell. Prefer targets that stabilize the board or generate enough resources now, and decline speculative Reanimate lines when life total is the opponent's easiest route. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Grief Disruption Choice

Priority: High Decision families: interaction; selection Cards: Grief; Entomb; Reanimate; Dark Ritual; Necrodominance; Beseech the Mirror; Tendrils of Agony Phase windows: early main phases; pre-combo protection; post-sideboard disruption turns Runtime cues: action:cast Grief; prompt:choose nonland card; revealed opponent hand Use when: Grief exposes opponent hand and a discard choice is required. Avoid when: choosing by card strength ignores the card that stops the current line. Instructions: Take the card that prevents the next decisive legal action: graveyard interaction before Entomb/Reanimate, counterplay before Necrodominance or Beseech the Mirror, lethal pressure before a low-life Reanimate, or storm disruption before Tendrils of Agony. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Tutor Commitment Gate

Priority: High Decision families: selection; priority Cards: Vampiric Tutor; Demonic Tutor; Beseech the Mirror; Entomb; Reanimate; Necrodominance; Tendrils of Agony; Dark Ritual Phase windows: upkeep; opponent end step; own main phase; combo turn Runtime cues: action:cast Vampiric Tutor; action:cast Demonic Tutor; action:cast Beseech the Mirror; prompt:search library Use when: the tutor choice determines whether the deck commits to reanimation, draw engine, midrange pressure, or storm. Avoid when: selecting a powerful card leaves no mana, no timing window, or no protection for the line. Instructions: Tutor for the missing piece of the nearest protected kill or stabilizing engine. Prefer Entomb/Reanimate when fast and safe, Necrodominance when card volume beats the visible clock, Beseech the Mirror when mana and bargain conditions are legal, and Tendrils of Agony only when storm math or tutor chaining is credible. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Draw Engine Tap-Out Gate

Priority: High Decision families: priority; mana Cards: Necrodominance; Necropotence; Dark Ritual; Chrome Mox; Vampiric Tutor; Reanimate Phase windows: main phases; low-resource recovery turns Runtime cues: action:cast Necrodominance; action:cast Necropotence Use when: decide whether to commit life and mana to a black draw engine. Avoid when: visible pressure can punish skipped board impact or life loss before new cards matter. Instructions: Cast Necrodominance or Necropotence when the hand lacks a decisive line but the life total and board allow a reload. Delay when immediate Reanimate, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, Saint Elenda, Grief, or Tendrils of Agony lines already solve the turn. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sorin And Saint Elenda Pivot

Priority: Medium Decision families: priority; combat; mana Cards: Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; Saint Elenda Phase windows: main phases; combat setup; post-graveyard-hate games Runtime cues: action:cast Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; action:cast Saint Elenda; visible battlefield Use when: graveyard combo is delayed or unsafe and a battlefield plan is legal. Avoid when: Card text check required for exact Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Saint Elenda modes and the engine output does not expose enough legal action detail. Instructions: Use this package as the main midrange pivot after disruption or sideboarding. Respect only the legal modes and combat outcomes shown by Forge; do not infer unlisted counters, tokens, lifegain, or cheat effects. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Tendrils Storm Close Gate

Priority: High Decision families: priority; mana; selection Cards: Tendrils of Agony; Dark Ritual; Chrome Mox; Beseech the Mirror; Vampiric Tutor; Demonic Tutor; Sacrifice Phase windows: combo main phase; lethal race turns Runtime cues: action:cast Tendrils of Agony; visible storm count; visible opponent life total Use when: determine whether Tendrils of Agony is lethal or stabilizing enough this turn. Avoid when: storm count, mana, or target legality is not visible in the engine actions. Instructions: Commit to Tendrils of Agony when visible storm copies and legal targets produce lethal or necessary life swing. Use Beseech the Mirror, Dark Ritual, Chrome Mox, cheap tutors, and Sacrifice only within legal sequencing shown by Forge. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Deterministic Tendrils Opponent Target

Priority: Medium Decision families: selection Cards: Tendrils of Agony Phase windows: Tendrils of Agony target prompt Runtime cues: action:target opponent Tendrils of Agony Use when: the legal action text offers Tendrils of Agony targeting the opponent and no friendly target is part of the selected line. Avoid when: copied spells expose multiple opponent-like targets or prevention/redirection prompts change target relevance. Instructions: Submit the exact opponent target for Tendrils of Agony after the storm-close decision has already been made. Pilot skill floor: no-api No-API allowed: yes Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Combat With Large Threats

Priority: Medium Decision families: combat Cards: Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Saint Elenda; Grief Phase windows: declare attackers; declare blockers; post-combat priority Runtime cues: prompt:attackers; prompt:blockers; visible battlefield; visible life totals Use when: choose attacks or blocks after a reanimation or vampire pivot. Avoid when: assuming hidden tricks or exact combat text not shown by engine output. Instructions: Attack when the threat meaningfully shortens the clock without exposing a necessary stabilizer. Block when preserving life enables Necrodominance, Necropotence, Reanimate, or a storm turn; avoid trading away the only pressure if the opponent is not presenting lethal pressure. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Plan Selection

Priority: High Decision families: sideboard Cards: Leyline of Sanctity; Duress; Vexing Bauble; Faerie Macabre; March of Wretched Sorrow; Culling Ritual; Tendrils of Agony; Grief; Necrodominance; Necropotence; Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord; Saint Elenda; Entomb; Reanimate Phase windows: between games Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; revealed opponent archetype; game result; public cards seen Use when: selecting a post-board configuration. Avoid when: sideboarding by generic archetype label while public cards show a different losing axis. Instructions: Add Leyline of Sanctity and Duress against targeted disruption or combo pressure, Vexing Bauble against free-spell or cast-permission pressure, Faerie Macabre against graveyards, March of Wretched Sorrow and Culling Ritual against creature/permanent swarms, and extra Tendrils of Agony for storm-closing density. Preserve enough Entomb/Reanimate or Sorin/Saint Elenda threat density to win. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Graveyard Interaction Timing

Priority: Medium Decision families: interaction; selection Cards: Faerie Macabre; Leyline of Sanctity; Duress; Grief Phase windows: opponent graveyard setup; response windows; pre-combo disruption turns Runtime cues: action:activate Faerie Macabre; prompt:choose cards in graveyard; revealed graveyards Use when: opponent graveyard resources are visible and Faerie Macabre or discard can interrupt their next legal line. Avoid when: spending interaction on low-impact cards leaves a known decisive graveyard card or hand card untouched. Instructions: Use Faerie Macabre on the visible graveyard cards that enable the opponent's next engine or lethal line. Use Duress or Grief first when hand disruption can remove protection before graveyard interaction is needed. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Anti-Aggro Survival Actions

Priority: Medium Decision families: interaction; combat; mana Cards: March of Wretched Sorrow; Culling Ritual; Reanimate; Necrodominance; Necropotence; Saint Elenda; Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord Phase windows: early turns; combat pressure turns; low-life main phases Runtime cues: visible attackers; action:cast March of Wretched Sorrow; action:cast Culling Ritual Use when: fast battlefield pressure threatens life total before the combo turn. Avoid when: using life-payment engines while visible combat damage can end the game before new cards convert. Instructions: Prioritize survival over pure velocity when under a short clock. Use March of Wretched Sorrow or Culling Ritual when legal text supports stabilizing the board, and prefer Saint Elenda or Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord lines when they produce board presence under the current rules output. Pilot skill floor: light-model No-API allowed: no Light-model allowed: yes