veles-content/strategies/alchemy/alchemy_gruul_landfall/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

Gruul Landfall is a 60-card Alchemy main deck with no registered sideboard, built as a proactive creature deck that converts early mana, land entries, and protection into fast board pressure. The supplied validation contract says the deck passes active Alchemy deck-count validation with 60 main-deck cards and 0 sideboard cards, so Veles should treat the submitted registration as legal for this testing context unless the runtime rules engine reports a format, card availability, or digital-card-text issue.

• Format: Alchemy.
• Strategy name: Gruul Landfall.
• Registered main deck: 60 cards.
• Registered sideboard: 0 cards.
• Current tags: aggro, ramp, lands, landfall.
• Stock status: rogue or lightly mapped hybrid shell, not a proven stock archetype from the supplied data.
• Runtime stance: use legal actions first, visible state second, and this guide third.

The deck should be classified as proactive aggro-ramp with landfall pressure, not as midrange, control, combo, or traditional ramp. The main deck combines early acceleration from Llanowar Elves, repeated land access from Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage, pressure pieces including Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, and Badgermole Cub, and protection or burst tools including Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, and Ride the Shoopuf. Card text check required for exact Alchemy Oracle text, but the deck's tactical shape is clearly to develop a creature, make land drops matter, and force the opponent to answer protected threats under pressure.

The mana base is mostly green with a light red component: 12 Forest, 2 Mountain, 4 Evolving Wilds, 4 Fabled Passage, and 1 Escape Tunnel. Veles should treat green as the primary color for opening-hand function because Llanowar Elves and most threat development appear green-centered from the registered list. Veles should treat red access as a managed splash concern until exact card costs and legal action text confirm which spells require Mountain or red mana. Fetch lands and land-search sequencing are strategically important because they can fix mana, trigger land-entry payoffs, and delay or concentrate landfall triggers depending on visible pressure and available legal actions.

The role concern is that the deck likely wins by snowballing rather than by recovering from a fully stabilized opponent. Opening hands without early mana, an early creature, or a clear landfall payoff should be examined harshly by mulligan logic, especially when the hand contains multiple protection spells without a threat. Hands with Llanowar Elves plus lands and a payoff are likely structurally strong, while hands with only Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, or Escape Tunnel must be judged by whether they still produce timely green mana and legal early plays.

The protection suite makes the deck sensitive to priority timing. Snakeskin Veil and Overprotect should not be treated as generic spells to cast whenever legal; they are role cards for preserving a key creature, pushing through a tempo swing, or enabling an attack when visible interaction or combat math makes protection relevant. Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, and Ride the Shoopuf require card text checks before hard tactical assumptions, but they belong in the same proactive pressure ecosystem unless the rules engine exposes a different role through legal action labels.

Opponent information status is currently unknown: no matchup, opposing decklist, public battlefield, revealed hand, known removal, known blockers, or clock is supplied with this section. Veles must therefore avoid hidden-information assumptions and should reason only from archetype-level expectations until runtime state shows actual opposing colors, permanents, graveyard cards, revealed cards, life totals, and legal interaction windows. Any reference to familiar format staples outside the registered deck must remain prose-level metagame context or be prefixed as opponent examples in later policy fields; this section names only registered cards.

Thesis

Gruul Landfall assembles an early green creature, repeated land entries, and protection-backed combat pressure before the opponent can stabilize. The deck is built to curve Llanowar Elves or a cheap threat into Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, or another pressure piece, then use Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage to turn normal mana development into damage, counters, board size, or tempo according to the legal actions Forge exposes. Card text check required for the exact Alchemy text of Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, and Ride the Shoopuf, so Veles should infer tactical roles from visible legal action text and board output rather than assuming paper-like wording.

Prioritize board presence plus land sequencing over holding cards for speculative future value. A hand or line is strong when it produces green mana, a creature that matters, and enough lands or fetch lands to keep land-entry pressure flowing. A hand or line is weak when it contains Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, or other support cards without a creature worth protecting, or when it keeps landfall payoffs without enough land access to trigger them on time. The deck should spend early turns creating a threat that can punish the opponent's tapped mana, then decide whether to crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage immediately for mana or preserve them for a visible landfall payoff turn.

Win by forcing efficient answers to fail. Snakeskin Veil and Overprotect should usually be treated as tempo-preserving tools for a key attacker or engine creature, not as proactive spells to cast into an empty exchange. Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, and Ride the Shoopuf should be evaluated from legal action labels and current combat math: use them when they advance lethal pressure, protect a board-development plan, or convert a creature into a meaningful attack, and avoid spending them just because mana is available.

Do not pilot this deck as control, late-game ramp, or a hidden combo deck. It has no registered sideboard, no permission package, no dedicated recursion module from the supplied list, and no reason to pass repeatedly with mana unused unless visible legal actions or known interaction make waiting correct. The default plan is proactive: develop mana, deploy threats, make land drops count, attack when combat is favorable, and preserve the threat most likely to end the game.

Role Package

• Threats: Llanowar Elves is primarily acceleration but can become incidental pressure when combat is free; Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, and Icetill Explorer are the creature base that must convert lands and pump effects into damage. Prioritize keeping at least one real threat on the battlefield before spending protection or support cards.

• Payoffs: Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, and Ride the Shoopuf are the cards most likely to reward land entries, counters, combat growth, or board snowballing. Card text check required for exact payoff triggers; at runtime, prefer the payoff whose legal actions and visible resulting state create the fastest credible clock without exposing the only threat to avoidable removal.

• Engines: Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage are the main repeatable-feeling engine pieces because they can bank a land entry for a later payoff turn while still fixing mana. Llanowar Elves is the speed engine, letting the deck commit a larger threat or multi-spell sooner. Ordeal of Nylea may function as an engine or ramp payoff if its rules text produces lands or counters; card text check required.

• Velocity: Llanowar Elves, Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, Forest, Mountain, and Escape Tunnel determine whether the deck acts on time. Icetill Explorer and Ride the Shoopuf may also provide velocity if legal action text exposes card selection, land access, or movement through the deck; card text check required. Prioritize green access first, then red access only when the hand or legal actions require Mountain.

• Interaction: Self-Destruct is the primary registered interaction candidate, with exact use conditional on rules-engine action text. Use it as removal, reach, sacrifice pressure, or combat swing only if Forge shows that role legally. Combat itself is also interaction: attack and block decisions should preserve the landfall payoff creature when that creature is the deck's best path to winning.

• Protection: Snakeskin Veil is the primary protection card, and Overprotect is the singleton backup protection or combat tool. Hold protection for targeted removal, decisive combat, or a high-value payoff creature when possible; do not spend it on a replaceable Llanowar Elves unless losing that mana source visibly prevents the deck from deploying its hand.

• Recursion: No registered card should be assumed to provide recursion from the supplied decklist. If a legal action from Badgermole Cub, Ride the Shoopuf, Icetill Explorer, or another card appears to return cards from graveyard or replay resources, treat that as runtime-discovered text and follow the engine output.

• Mana: The mana module is 12 Forest, 2 Mountain, 4 Evolving Wilds, 4 Fabled Passage, 1 Escape Tunnel, and 4 Llanowar Elves. Forest is the base requirement; Mountain is a splash requirement; fetch lands are both fixing and land-entry timing tools. Escape Tunnel should be used according to visible legal action text, with card text check required for exact activated abilities.

• Sideboard: The sideboard module is empty. There are no legal Side in cards, no post-board swaps, and no matchup-specific sideboard transformations for this registration.

Primary Win Conditions

• Landfall pressure wins by pairing an early creature with repeated land entries from Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, Forest, Mountain, or Escape Tunnel. Set up by casting Llanowar Elves or a low-cost threat, then deploy Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, Traveling Chocobo, or Icetill Explorer before spending banked fetch lands. Execute by cracking Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage on the turn a visible payoff trigger, counter, pump, attack bonus, or mana conversion matters. Prioritize this path when the hand contains at least one payoff creature and two or more lands, especially when a fetch land can be saved until after the payoff is on board.

• Protected tall-threat combat wins when Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, or Badgermole Cub becomes the creature most likely to end the game. Set up by developing one threat plus enough mana to hold Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect while continuing land drops. Execute by attacking when legal combat output shows favorable damage, then use Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect only if the opponent commits targeted interaction or combat damage would otherwise trade away the primary threat. Prioritize this path against removal-heavy or blocker-light boards where one protected attacker can shorten the clock more than spreading resources across small creatures.

• Wide pressure plus support spells wins when the deck has multiple creatures and the opponent cannot answer every attacker. Set up by using Llanowar Elves to accelerate into Sazh's Chocobo, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, or Badgermole Cub, then sequence Ordeal of Nylea and Ride the Shoopuf only when legal action text shows they improve board development, counters, land access, or attack pressure. Execute by attacking with creatures that keep the crack-back survivable and by saving fetch lands for turns where several creatures benefit from the same land entry. Prioritize this path when the opponent has single-target answers, when one threat is likely to be removed, or when combat math rewards multiple bodies.

• Tempo removal or reach wins only if Self-Destruct legal action text shows removal, damage, sacrifice, or direct pressure relevant to the current board. Set up by making the opponent block or race under pressure, then use Self-Destruct when it removes a key blocker, breaks a stalled combat, converts a creature into lethal or near-lethal damage, or prevents the opponent from stabilizing. Card text check required; do not assume Self-Destruct can target any permanent, hit players, or create reach unless Forge exposes that exact legal action. Prioritize this path when normal attacks are one obstacle short of lethal or when spending a creature still leaves a winning board.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Llanowar Elves beatdown is a fallback, not the plan. Use Llanowar Elves as an attacker only when it does not risk losing required mana, when combat is clearly free, or when every point matters for a lethal setup with landfall or support spells.

• Escape Tunnel can become a late pressure tool only when rules-engine actions expose a relevant ability. Card text check required; if Escape Tunnel offers fixing, evasion, sacrifice, or land search, choose the mode that advances the current win path without sacrificing a needed land entry prematurely.

• Ordeal of Nylea can be a secondary engine if legal action text produces counters, lands, or other scaling resources. Put it on the creature whose survival and attack prospects are strongest, not automatically on the largest creature, and avoid committing it into visible removal unless Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect can protect the exchange.

• Ride the Shoopuf can be a secondary tempo or value line if legal action text shows movement, land access, creature sizing, card flow, or board impact. Use it to preserve pressure after the first threat is answered or to convert a medium board into a decisive attack; do not spend it as a low-impact spell when a creature deployment or landfall trigger is better.

• Recursion and lock plans should not be assumed from this registered list. If Forge exposes graveyard return, repeated use, prevention, or lock-like text from Badgermole Cub, Icetill Explorer, Ride the Shoopuf, Ordeal of Nylea, or another card, treat it as a runtime-discovered secondary plan and choose it only when it clearly improves the visible race or resource position.

Emergency Lines

• Behind on life, stabilize through board presence before saving speculative value. Prioritize legal creature casts, blocks that preserve the best future attacker, and Self-Destruct lines that remove lethal pressure if Forge exposes them; hold Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect for survival-critical exchanges rather than for maximum damage.

• Behind on board, trade tempo for time. Use Self-Destruct conditionally as removal or combat disruption, block with replaceable creatures before sacrificing Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, or another active payoff, and crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage immediately if the mana or landfall trigger creates a blocker or removal line now.

• Behind on cards, stop spending protection on replaceable creatures. Force the opponent to answer one meaningful threat at a time, use Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, Icetill Explorer, or Escape Tunnel only if legal action text provides real material or tempo, and avoid two-for-one exposure unless the attack threatens lethal or prevents lethal.

• Behind on mana, prioritize green access and playable spells over saved landfall timing. Crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage for Forest when required to cast threats, protect Llanowar Elves only if losing it visibly strands multiple spells, and treat Mountain as secondary unless Self-Destruct or another legal action requires red mana.

• Behind against combo, recursion, or engines, race with the fastest visible clock because the deck has no registered sideboard and no guaranteed graveyard hate or permission. Commit Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, Traveling Chocobo, or Icetill Explorer quickly, use fetch lands for maximum pressure turns, and use Self-Destruct only on engine pieces if legal action text and targets support it.

• When primary win conditions are removed, rebuild with the next creature plus land entries rather than waiting for a perfect payoff. Llanowar Elves can restart mana, any surviving creature can carry Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf if legal text supports it, and fetch lands should be converted into immediate board recovery when holding them no longer threatens a larger payoff.

Resource Model

• Life is a racing buffer, not a payment resource. Use life total to justify attacking, cracking Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage on the opponent's end step, or taking one hit to preserve Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, or Badgermole Cub for a stronger counterattack. Switch to survival mode when visible opposing attack power threatens a two-turn clock.

• Hand size converts into sequencing flexibility. Keep at least one creature-heavy line available before spending Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, or Self-Destruct, because the deck wins by making land entries matter on board. Do not protect Llanowar Elves by default if the hand already has enough lands and a stronger threat needs protection later.

• Mana advantage comes from Llanowar Elves, land count, and fetch-land timing. Use Llanowar Elves to accelerate threats or double-spell turns, but do not expose it in combat when losing it would strand Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, or protection mana.

• Board presence is the main resource. Prioritize having a landfall or scaling creature on the battlefield before maximizing fetch-land value, because Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage are strongest when their land entry changes combat, grows a key permanent, or enables a same-turn spell.

• Graveyard resources are incidental unless legal action text says otherwise. Treat sacrificed Evolving Wilds, sacrificed Fabled Passage, spent Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, and Ride the Shoopuf as history for public information, not as reusable material. Card text check required before choosing any graveyard-return, escape, flashback, or recursion-looking action.

• Exile resources should not be assumed. If Icetill Explorer, Ride the Shoopuf, Badgermole Cub, or another card exposes play-from-exile, discover, impulse, or temporary permission actions, use the card before the permission expires only when it advances board, mana, or lethal pressure more than the current hand line.

• Sacrifice fodder is scarce. Spend a creature to Self-Destruct only when Forge legal action text confirms the target, cost, and result, and when the sacrificed creature is less important than removing a blocker, preventing lethal, or converting a stalled board into lethal pressure. Card text check required for Self-Destruct.

• Tempo is the deck's real currency. A turn spent holding protection with no threat is often worse than casting Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, or Badgermole Cub; a turn spent overextending into visible sweepers or profitable blocks is worse than attacking with one protected threat.

• Information is public-state constrained. Use revealed removal, tapped lands, open mana, known blockers, stack contents, and visible graveyards to decide whether to hold Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect, but never assume the opponent has or lacks a hidden answer.

• Sideboard bullets do not exist in this registration. There are no legal Side in names, so post-board resource conversion must come only from play-pattern changes, mulligan discipline, and better fetch/protection timing.

Mana Guide

• Green mana is mandatory. Most keepable hands need Forest, Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, or Llanowar Elves access to green on turn one or turn two; Mountain-only hands are mulligans unless Forge shows a legal green source line from another card. Red is secondary and should be fetched only when Self-Destruct or another visible legal action requires it.

• Fetch Forest first by default. Use Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage to secure Forest before Mountain when the hand contains Llanowar Elves, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, Snakeskin Veil, or Overprotect. Fetch Mountain when Self-Destruct is castable soon or the hand already has stable green.

• Sequence tapped or sacrificed lands around pressure. Play Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage early if the hand lacks untapped green, but hold one when a later land entry will trigger Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, or a legal Ride the Shoopuf/Ordeal of Nylea line. Crack immediately when mana is needed this turn.

• Use Llanowar Elves as turn-one acceleration when green is available. Cast it before slower threats when the next turn can deploy Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf. Hold protection mana instead only if a current threat is more valuable than the extra mana.

• Treat Escape Tunnel as a utility land, not a colored source, unless legal action text says otherwise. Card text check required; do not rely on Escape Tunnel for green or red fixing, evasion, sacrifice, or landfall timing unless Forge exposes the exact action.

• Play lands before drawing only when mana or landfall is needed now. If no current spell, ability, or attack benefits from the land entry, delay Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, Forest, Mountain, or Escape Tunnel until after resolving legal draw, selection, or reveal actions from Icetill Explorer, Ride the Shoopuf, or another effect. Card text check required for those selection effects.

• Keep hands with two mana sources and a one- or two-mana play more often than hands with four lands and no pressure. A good opener normally has green access, an early creature, and either a fetch land for landfall timing or Snakeskin Veil/Overprotect for protecting the first serious threat.

• Mulligan hands that cannot cast green spells promptly. Ship hands with no Forest, no Evolving Wilds, no Fabled Passage, no Llanowar Elves path, and no reliable green-producing legal action; also ship hands that rely on Mountain plus Escape Tunnel unless Forge confirms colored mana access.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: Keep Forest or fetch-land access plus Llanowar Elves and one early payoff such as Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf. Prefer hands that can spend mana on turns one and two, then convert Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage into a meaningful landfall or growth turn.

• Strong keep: Keep two green-capable mana sources plus Mossborn Hydra or Traveling Chocobo plus Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect when the hand has a second threat or fetch land. This hand can pressure while respecting visible spot removal, but do not keep solely because protection exists if the first threat arrives too late.

• Medium keep: Keep two lands without Llanowar Elves when both lands produce or find green and the hand has Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf. This is acceptable on the draw and less exciting on the play if no turn-one action exists.

• Medium keep: Keep three lands with one Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage, one major threat, and one interaction/protection card. This hand is slower but stable; preserve the fetch land until the battlefield contains Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, or Badgermole Cub unless mana is required immediately.

• Risky keep: Keep one-land Llanowar Elves only when the land is Forest, Evolving Wilds, or Fabled Passage and the hand has multiple castable two- or three-mana plays. Ship this against visible or known early removal pressure unless the draw is otherwise explosive, because losing Llanowar Elves can strand Mossborn Hydra, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, Self-Destruct, or protection timing.

• Risky keep: Keep Mountain plus Forest only when green spells are castable and Self-Destruct is relevant from legal text or matchup pressure. Mountain-heavy hands are not good just because Self-Destruct is present; the deck needs green development first.

• Automatic ship: Mulligan hands with no green access from Forest, Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, or Llanowar Elves. Also ship hands that rely on Escape Tunnel as colored mana unless Forge legal action text confirms the needed mana ability.

• Automatic ship: Mulligan hands with four or more lands and no Llanowar Elves, Mossborn Hydra, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Badgermole Cub, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf. Fetch lands without a threat are delayed value, not pressure.

• Matchup-dependent keep: Against fast creature starts, prioritize early creatures plus Self-Destruct or a fast scaling blocker over slow protection-only hands. Against removal-heavy opponents, prioritize redundant threats plus Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect over all-in single-threat hands.

• Play/draw rule: On the play, require an early battlefield play or a very clear turn-two threat line. On the draw, accept slightly slower two-land hands with multiple threats because the extra card can supply the missing land or protection, but do not keep no-pressure hands.

• Trap hand: Do not keep Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, and lands with no creature. Protection, pump, and removal are support cards; they do not create the landfall clock by themselves.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1 priority: Cast Llanowar Elves from Forest when available and the hand has a turn-two payoff. If no Llanowar Elves is available, play Forest for a one-mana legal action if Forge offers one, or play/crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage to secure green when the hand needs it.

• Turn 1 fetch deviation: Hold Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage only when green mana is already secured and the hand contains Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, or Badgermole Cub that can benefit from a later land entry. Crack immediately if the next turn otherwise lacks green or enough mana.

• Turn 2 priority: Deploy the first real payoff creature before holding up protection unless a stronger creature is already exposed. Prefer Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or Icetill Explorer according to legal actions, mana, and visible opposing pressure; Card text check required for exact ordering among newer Alchemy cards.

• Turn 2 deviation: Cast Ordeal of Nylea only when there is a creature worth enhancing and the opponent is unlikely to punish the attachment immediately from visible mana and known public information. Do not expose an aura line into obvious open interaction when another standalone threat is legal.

• Turn 3 priority: Convert setup into pressure by adding a second threat, using a fetch land after a landfall creature is present, or holding Snakeskin Veil/Overprotect while attacking. Use Llanowar Elves mana for double-spell turns when legal, especially threat plus protection or threat plus Ride the Shoopuf.

• Turn 3 interaction deviation: Use Self-Destruct only when Forge legal action text confirms the cost and target and the exchange removes a blocker, prevents a race loss, or opens a high-damage attack. Do not sacrifice the only scaling threat unless survival or lethal math demands it.

• Turns 4-5 priority: Build one protected attacker or a wide enough board that a single removal spell does not end the offense. Fetch lands should be timed with Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf triggers when legal and visible.

• Turns 4-5 combat rule: Attack when the resulting board still beats the opponent's crack-back or when Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Self-Destruct, or Escape Tunnel legal text changes combat favorably. Hold back Llanowar Elves if its mana is still needed for postcombat development or protection.

• Late-game priority: Convert every land draw into damage, evasion, or board rebuilding. Preserve fetch lands until a payoff is present, but crack them for mana when multiple legal spells or activated abilities can be used in the same turn.

• Late-game deviation: Stop committing extra creatures when the visible board already presents lethal or near-lethal through one protected threat. Use Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect to force the current attack through removal rather than adding redundant creatures into public sweep or sacrifice pressure.

Card Roles

• Llanowar Elves: Treat Llanowar Elves as the deck's fastest pressure multiplier, not as a creature-combat resource unless mana is no longer relevant. Cast it on turn one whenever a green source and a turn-two payoff are available, then use it to accelerate Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, or double-spell turns. Do not trade Llanowar Elves in combat early unless the block prevents a lethal or near-lethal attack; losing the mana can strand protection, Self-Destruct, or a second threat. Against removal-heavy opponents, expect Llanowar Elves to die and keep hands only when the remaining lands still cast the deck's real threats.

• Mossborn Hydra: Treat Mossborn Hydra as a primary scaling threat and the best reason to preserve Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage for a later land entry. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording, but its role in this list is a large creature that rewards land sequencing and protection. Cast Mossborn Hydra early when the opponent cannot immediately punish it, then prioritize Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect over adding a lower-impact creature if protecting the Hydra keeps lethal pressure intact. Do not cast Ordeal of Nylea into open removal on Mossborn Hydra unless losing the aura line is acceptable or protection is available.

• Traveling Chocobo: Treat Traveling Chocobo as a major landfall payoff and a central body for turning fetch lands into damage. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording; use runtime legal actions and visible triggers rather than assuming a specific trigger size or keyword. Cast Traveling Chocobo before cracking Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage when mana allows, because the fetch can become a later pressure burst. Protect Traveling Chocobo when it is the only creature converting future lands into a clock; otherwise diversify threats if the opponent is representing single-target removal.

• Tifa Lockhart: Treat Tifa Lockhart as an explosive attack-phase payoff that can make land timing matter more than normal curve discipline. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording, but the tactical role is to convert a land-entry turn into a large combat step. Prefer to cast Tifa Lockhart before a fetch-land turn when the board can attack safely or when Snakeskin Veil/Overprotect can answer visible interaction. Do not run Tifa Lockhart into a bad attack just because a fetch land is available; the landfall turn should either produce meaningful damage, force a defensive trade, or set up lethal next turn.

• Sazh's Chocobo: Treat Sazh's Chocobo as an early creature that supports the landfall pressure plan and gives the deck more keeps without Llanowar Elves. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording; follow legal action labels for triggered, target, or selection choices. Deploy it before fetch lands when its visible text rewards land entries, but do not hold all lands indefinitely if mana development is needed for Mossborn Hydra, Ride the Shoopuf, or protection. Against fast creature decks, value Sazh's Chocobo as a body that can race or block while the larger landfall threats come online.

• Icetill Explorer: Treat Icetill Explorer as a bridge card between early setup and landfall consistency. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording; if Forge exposes choices involving lands, cards, or mana, choose according to visible need rather than hidden assumptions. Cast it when the hand needs land flow, board material, or a non-aura creature before committing Ordeal of Nylea. Avoid spending a key turn on Icetill Explorer when a protected Mossborn Hydra or Traveling Chocobo line already creates a faster clock.

• Badgermole Cub: Treat Badgermole Cub as a singleton support threat whose exact job depends on visible card text. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording. If its legal text rewards land entries, casting it before Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage can be correct; if it functions as a combat body or engine piece, compare it against Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, and Sazh's Chocobo before spending the turn. Do not overprioritize the singleton when a higher-copy payoff has a clearer protected attack line.

• Snakeskin Veil: Treat Snakeskin Veil as premium protection first and combat enhancement second. Hold it when the opponent has visible mana or known public information suggesting removal, bounce, shrink, or a targeted combat trick; use it proactively only when it creates lethal, saves a creature in combat, or lets a key threat survive a block. Put Snakeskin Veil on Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or the current largest attacker before using it on Llanowar Elves, unless protecting Llanowar Elves is necessary to cast the hand. Do not fire Snakeskin Veil into a non-targeting effect unless Forge legal text confirms it is a valid and useful response.

• Overprotect: Treat Overprotect as a flexible protection or combat card, but require a card text check before assuming the exact shield it provides. Use it to preserve the threat that carries the game plan, especially a landfall payoff with fetch lands waiting or an attacker representing lethal. Hold Overprotect when passing with a single critical creature is stronger than adding another threat into visible interaction. Do not choose Overprotect lines automatically over Snakeskin Veil; compare mana cost, legal targeting, and whether the effect solves the exact visible problem.

• Self-Destruct: Treat Self-Destruct as the deck's risky interaction slot that must be justified by visible board impact. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording and costs. Use it when the legal action removes a blocker, answers a creature that will win the race, converts a doomed creature into value, or clears the way for lethal. Avoid sacrificing or spending the only scaling threat unless the exchange wins the game, prevents immediate loss, or preserves a stronger follow-up board. Against creature-light decks, do not keep hands because Self-Destruct is present; it is support, not pressure.

• Ordeal of Nylea: Treat Ordeal of Nylea as a high-upside aura line that is strongest on a creature likely to survive and attack. Exact printed behavior may matter, so follow Forge legal triggers and targets rather than assuming every historical detail. Cast it when the opponent is tapped low, when Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect can defend the enchanted creature, or when the extra growth/mana development changes the next turn. Avoid attaching Ordeal of Nylea to Llanowar Elves unless the game demands a body immediately; losing the enchanted creature can cost both tempo and board presence.

• Ride the Shoopuf: Treat Ride the Shoopuf as a payoff or swing card whose exact mode must come from runtime legal text. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy wording. Use it when it advances pressure, converts board presence into damage, or stabilizes a race better than simply casting another creature. If Ride the Shoopuf asks for targets or choices, prioritize the line that preserves the largest landfall clock or creates the clearest attack this turn. Do not spend it into an empty or low-impact board unless the legal text shows it creates material advantage by itself.

• Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage: Treat Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage as both mana fixing and delayed landfall burst cards. Crack immediately when green mana or a curve spell depends on it; hold when Forest access is secure and Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, or Badgermole Cub can benefit from the later land entry. In combat turns, play or crack fetch lands before attacks only when the resulting triggers affect damage, survivability, or legal actions this turn. Do not hold fetch lands so long that the deck fails to cast spells.

• Forest and Mountain: Treat Forest as the core mana source and Mountain as a narrow support source for red requirements such as Self-Destruct or any red legal action Forge exposes. Keep green-heavy sequencing unless the hand already has all green needs covered. Do not fetch Mountain early unless a red spell is immediately relevant or the second green source is already secure.

• Escape Tunnel: Treat Escape Tunnel as a singleton utility land, not a reliable colored source. Card text check required for exact current Alchemy legality and activation text. Use it when Forge shows a legal activation that creates evasion, fixes a specific combat puzzle, or supports a lethal attack. Do not keep opening hands that need Escape Tunnel to cast green spells.

Interaction Priorities

• Removal priority: Use Self-Destruct first on a visible creature or permanent that blocks the current lethal attack, races faster than Mossborn Hydra or Traveling Chocobo can scale, or threatens to invalidate one large protected attacker. Do not spend Self-Destruct on a small creature that can be ignored in combat unless removing it creates immediate damage, prevents immediate loss, or protects a key landfall payoff from a bad block.

• Protection priority: Hold Snakeskin Veil and Overprotect for the creature that converts future land drops into the most damage, usually Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or the largest Ordeal of Nylea carrier. Use protection in response to targeted removal, bounce, shrink, or combat tricks only when Forge confirms the action legally answers the visible effect; do not assume protection stops sweepers, sacrifice effects, or non-targeting combat damage.

• Bait priority: Lead with Sazh's Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Badgermole Cub, or a second threat when the opponent is representing interaction and the hand contains a stronger Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf follow-up. Do not bait when the current window is the last safe chance to resolve a payoff before the opponent untaps into a faster clock.

• Ignore priority: Ignore low-power blockers, tapped creatures, and non-lethal value engines when a fetch-land turn with Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage can force profitable attacks through size. Shift to answering blockers when the opponent can double-block the only large attacker, when life total is low enough that racing fails, or when removal opens lethal this turn.

• Counter, discard, exile, and bounce policy: The registered main deck has no normal counterspell, discard, exile, or bounce package, so never wait for those lines unless the rules engine exposes a legal action from a temporary effect. If such an action appears, aim it at the visible card or object that stops lethal, kills the largest threat, removes the only landfall payoff, or wins the race; otherwise choose pressure or protection instead.

• Archetype adjustment: Against creature swarms, spend Self-Destruct and Ride the Shoopuf more readily to break board stalls or protect life total. Against removal-heavy decks, preserve Snakeskin Veil and Overprotect, avoid overloading one aura target without protection, and make the opponent answer multiple threats. Against slower setup decks, prioritize damage over small interaction unless the visible permanent will immediately stabilize them.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Attack priority: Attack whenever the board shows favorable damage without losing the only engine creature to an obvious block. Mossborn Hydra and Traveling Chocobo should usually pressure life totals after landfall growth, while Llanowar Elves should stay back when its mana is still needed for double-spell turns, protection, or casting Ride the Shoopuf.

• Fetch timing: Play or crack Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage before combat when landfall growth changes attacks, trades, lethal math, or survival against blocks. Hold a fetch land through combat only when the current attack is already good and a later landfall trigger will be more valuable with Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, or Badgermole Cub.

• Trade rule: Trade smaller creatures only when the trade preserves life total, clears a blocker for the next landfall turn, or protects a larger payoff from a multi-block. Avoid trading Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, or an Ordeal of Nylea carrier for ordinary blockers unless the exchange wins the race or prevents immediate lethal.

• Protection in combat: Use Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect to win a block, blank targeted interaction, or preserve the creature carrying the most counters, aura value, or future landfall scaling. Do not spend protection merely to push a small amount of damage if the opponent can untap and remove the true payoff afterward.

• Blocking rule: Block aggressively when life total is under a short clock and the deck needs one more turn for fetch-land growth, Ordeal of Nylea payoff, or Ride the Shoopuf. Decline blocks when racing is clearly ahead, when losing the blocker cuts off critical mana from Llanowar Elves, or when keeping a landfall threat alive creates a larger counterattack.

• Ordeal of Nylea discipline: Put Ordeal of Nylea on a creature that can attack safely or be protected, not on a disposable body by default. If the opponent has open interaction, prefer waiting for Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect support unless the aura immediately creates a decisive attack or the alternative is falling behind.

• Escape Tunnel rule: Use Escape Tunnel only when Forge shows a legal activation that makes a specific attacker hard to block, fixes a lethal line, or breaks a stalled board. Do not rely on Escape Tunnel as a generic combat plan because it is a singleton and not a colored source.

• Archetype adjustment: Against aggro, preserve life total and trade nonessential bodies before the opponent's board goes wide. Against midrange, force awkward blocks with landfall timing and protect the largest threat. Against control or combo, attack first, protect the highest-damage clock, and avoid holding creatures back unless a visible race calculation requires it.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Fetch selection: Use Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage primarily as controlled landfall timing, then as color fixing. Find Forest by default because Llanowar Elves, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Icetill Explorer, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, Snakeskin Veil, and Overprotect make the deck green-heavy. Find Mountain only when Self-Destruct or another visible red legal action matters before the next land can be played, or when green is already secured.

• Land-drop timing: Delay an uncracked Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage only when the current turn does not need the landfall trigger and the next combat or protection window will use the extra trigger better. Crack before combat when Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, or an Ordeal of Nylea creature gets a visible attack, block, or lethal advantage from the land entering now.

• Pseudo-selection discipline: Treat the deck as having no broad card tutor package unless Forge exposes a legal search or selection prompt. Do not assume the library contains a specific card at runtime beyond registered deck knowledge, and never choose a card that is not in the visible legal candidate list.

• Ordeal of Nylea search: Card text check required for exact Alchemy behavior and trigger condition. If Forge exposes a legal land-search prompt from Ordeal of Nylea, prioritize the land mix that enables current and next-turn plays: usually Forest plus Forest when green pressure and protection matter, or Forest plus Mountain when Self-Destruct is already in hand or visible as a relevant legal line.

• Ride the Shoopuf selection: Card text check required. If Ride the Shoopuf creates a search, discover, reveal, or choose-card prompt, select the candidate that most directly advances the current board plan: a land when landfall triggers or mana are the bottleneck, a threat when the battlefield is empty, and interaction or protection only when a visible opposing object or stack item threatens the current attack.

• Icetill Explorer selection: Card text check required. If Icetill Explorer exposes a land, discover, or filtering choice, prefer legal candidates that produce immediate landfall pressure or next-turn double-spell turns over speculative late-game value. Do not select red fixing over Forest unless Self-Destruct or another red action is visible and relevant.

• Scry/filter rule: When a scry, surveil, reveal, or top/bottom prompt appears from any legal effect, keep lands when Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, or Ordeal of Nylea converts them into immediate pressure. Bottom excess lands when the hand already has land drops plus fetches and the board needs a payoff, protection, or Self-Destruct.

• Escape Tunnel selection: Card text check required for current activation text. If Forge exposes a choice from Escape Tunnel, choose the visible target only when the activation immediately enables damage, protects a key attack from blocks, or fixes a stalled combat. Do not spend selection bandwidth on Escape Tunnel when a landfall or protection action is more decisive.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Default priority: Pass priority when the stack is empty, mana is needed for development, and no visible attack, removal, or protection window is being missed. Act at priority when casting a threat, cracking Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage before combat, using Self-Destruct on a blocker or racing threat, or protecting a key creature with Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect.

• Protection response: Use Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect in response to a visible targeted spell or ability aimed at Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, an Ordeal of Nylea carrier, or the only creature that can win the race. Let the effect resolve when the target is low-impact, when the spell is not actually targeting your creature, or when protection cannot legally answer the visible stack item.

• Removal response: Cast Self-Destruct at instant-speed only if Forge exposes it as legal and the target matters now. Prefer removing a blocker before combat damage, a creature that threatens lethal, or a utility creature whose visible ability will stabilize the opponent. Avoid firing Self-Destruct into open uncertainty when adding landfall pressure wins faster.

• Fetch response: Crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage during priority windows when the landfall trigger changes combat, grows a creature out of damage range, enables a protection spell, or supplies a missing color for a visible legal action. Avoid cracking purely for deck thinning if a future landfall trigger has tactical value.

• Aura and commitment timing: Cast Ordeal of Nylea when the chosen creature can attack safely, is protected by Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect, or the immediate pressure outweighs removal risk. Do not put Ordeal of Nylea onto a creature likely to die before attacking unless the rules engine shows no better development line.

• Optional triggers and payments: Accept optional landfall, counter, search, or damage-enhancing triggers when they increase pressure, preserve survival, or unlock a legal attack. Decline only when Forge shows the option as harmful, irrelevant, or resource-consuming in a way that prevents a stronger current legal play.

• Combat stack windows: After attackers, after blockers, and before damage, re-check visible legal actions before passing. Use protection to win a key combat, Self-Destruct to remove the blocker that changes lethal or saves the largest threat, and fetch lands to create landfall growth when the resulting board state is visible through Forge prompts.

• Let-resolve rule: Let opposing cantrips, setup spells, and nonlethal effects resolve when the deck has no legal counterplay or when spending interaction does not change the race. Preserve Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, and Self-Destruct for stack items or battlefield objects that affect lethal, survival, or the main landfall threat.

Sideboard Map

• Registered sideboard status: This build has no registered sideboard cards, so Veles must not propose any between-game card movement. Treat the 60-card main deck as locked for every game, and route sideboarding prompts toward confirming no legal changes unless the rules engine or tournament shell supplies a different registered configuration.

• Executable plans: No executable sideboard plan exists because the registered sideboard inventory is empty. Do not emit Side in: or Cut: lines for this deck; every such line would name an illegal zone source or exceed the registered sideboard count.

• Card coverage: There are no sideboard cards to cover by name. All role adaptation must happen through play patterns with Llanowar Elves, Sazh's Chocobo, Badgermole Cub, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Icetill Explorer, Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, Forest, Mountain, Evolving Wilds, Fabled Passage, and Escape Tunnel.

• Sideboarding action rule: If Veles receives a sideboard request for this registered list, submit the legal no-change action when available. If the engine exposes candidate changes anyway, reject any plan that adds a card not present in the registered sideboard or removes more main-deck copies than registered.

• Aggro adaptation: Against faster creature decks, keep the deck's role as a larger landfall aggro deck rather than trying to become control. Prioritize early Llanowar Elves only when it accelerates Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf before the opponent's pressure becomes lethal. Treat Self-Destruct as tempo removal for a blocker or race-breaking attacker, not as a general answer to every small creature.

• Aggro role changes: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: speculative delayed fetch-land value when immediate landfall or blocking math matters. Use Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage before combat when the trigger changes a block, attack, or damage race; do not bank landfall triggers while taking lethal or falling behind on board.

• Control adaptation: Against removal-heavy or sweep-heavy opponents, keep pressure staggered across resilient threats and protection windows. Lead with Llanowar Elves only when losing it does not collapse the hand, and avoid placing Ordeal of Nylea on a creature that cannot attack safely or be protected by Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect. Mossborn Hydra and Traveling Chocobo are the threats most worth protecting when they represent fast damage or snowballing counters.

• Control role changes: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: all-in aura commitment before the opponent spends visible removal or taps low. Preserve Snakeskin Veil for targeted interaction that would break the main clock; use Overprotect similarly only when Forge shows a legal protective response and the protected creature matters to the current race.

• Midrange adaptation: Against creature removal plus blockers, play as the deck that makes combat math awkward with landfall and counters. Sequence fetch lands to force blocks at poor times, grow Mossborn Hydra before damage when legal, and use Self-Destruct on the blocker or threat that changes the next combat step. Do not trade away Tifa Lockhart or Traveling Chocobo if the next land drop converts them into a much larger attack.

• Midrange role changes: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact pass decisions with available development. When the hand contains threats and mana, deploy enough board presence to demand answers, then hold Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect for the turn where removal would otherwise undo the landfall turn.

• Combo adaptation: Against combo or engine decks, assume the fastest credible clock is your main disruption unless Self-Destruct has a visible high-impact target. Mulligan and sequence toward Llanowar Elves into Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or Ride the Shoopuf pressure. Do not spend turns preserving perfect fetch timing if using Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage now creates a faster lethal clock.

• Combo role changes: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: defensive holding patterns that do not change the opponent's clock. Self-Destruct should hit only a visible creature that enables the opposing plan or blocks lethal; otherwise, use mana to add pressure or protect the current threat.

• Ramp adaptation: Against slower ramp decks, race before larger threats dominate combat. Keep hands that produce early mana plus a payoff, especially Llanowar Elves into Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf. Use fetch lands as damage multipliers rather than pure fixing unless Self-Destruct needs Mountain access immediately.

• Ramp role changes: Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Mountain fetching unless Self-Destruct is visible and relevant. Forest is the default search because most development, pressure, and protection actions are green.

• Flyers or evasive pressure adaptation: Race first when your ground board is larger, and remove the evasive creature with Self-Destruct only when it changes lethal, blocks a key line indirectly, or forces an unwinnable clock. Escape Tunnel may matter if Forge exposes a legal activation that converts a ground creature into damage; Card text check required for exact current behavior.

• Graveyard or attrition adaptation: The deck has no registered graveyard hate package, so do not invent one during sideboarding. Preserve threats, use protection efficiently, and pressure life totals before attrition engines generate enough resources. Ride the Shoopuf and Icetill Explorer require card text checks for exact selection or resource behavior; follow legal prompts only.

• Mana-risk adaptation: Because there are only two Mountain and many green requirements, do not alter land priorities between games. Forest remains the default fetch target from Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage. Mountain becomes important only when Self-Destruct is in hand, on stack planning, or exposed as a meaningful legal action before another land can fix red.

• No-sideboard discipline: Do not reinterpret main-deck singletons as a transformational package. Badgermole Cub, Overprotect, and Escape Tunnel are tactical options inside the fixed 60, not post-board role cards. Use them only when Forge exposes legal actions and visible board state makes the line relevant.

• Match record learning: Use prior game information only to adjust mulligan, sequencing, fetch timing, protection discipline, and Self-Destruct targets. Do not claim new registered options exist after Game 1 or Game 2. The strongest between-game adaptation for Gruul Landfall is choosing hands and lines that match the opponent's demonstrated speed, removal density, and blocker profile while preserving the exact same registered 60.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro decks: Keep hands that deploy mana and a body before the opponent's second combat step. Llanowar Elves is strongest when it accelerates Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf into a board that races rather than merely blocks. Use Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage before combat when the landfall or counter change affects attacks, blocks, or lethal math; do not preserve fetch lands for future value while taking a losing tempo hit. Self-Destruct should answer the creature that changes the race, not the first legal target. Snakeskin Veil and Overprotect should protect the creature carrying the largest immediate damage or Ordeal of Nylea investment when Forge exposes a legal response.

• Control decks: Present pressure in waves and avoid concentrating every resource on one exposed creature before the opponent has spent visible removal. Mossborn Hydra and Traveling Chocobo are preferred threats to protect when they already pressure life total or snowball counters; Tifa Lockhart is worth protecting when the next land action converts into a decisive attack. Do not cast Ordeal of Nylea onto a creature that cannot attack safely unless the alternative is falling too far behind. Icetill Explorer, Sazh's Chocobo, Ride the Shoopuf, and Badgermole Cub need card text checks for exact value lines, so use only visible legal actions and prioritize actions that leave mana for Snakeskin Veil when removal is likely.

• Removal-heavy decks: Assume every large creature may be answered, but do not stop developing if the hand has redundant pressure. Hold Snakeskin Veil for targeted removal aimed at Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or an Ordeal of Nylea carrier that determines the current clock. Use Overprotect under the same rule when Forge shows a legal protective action; Card text check required for exact protection scope. If the opponent is tapped low or empty of visible interaction, commit the threat that shortens the clock most rather than passing to preserve a perfect future landfall turn.

• Tempo decks: Fight over board position and mana efficiency before chasing maximum trigger value. Prioritize one-mana acceleration and two- or three-mana threats that can attack through small blockers. Fetch land timing should deny clean tempo blocks: crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage before combat if the visible trigger makes a creature survive, trade up, or push damage. Do not spend Snakeskin Veil merely to save Llanowar Elves unless that mana source is required for the next legal high-impact play or prevents a severe stumble. Self-Destruct should target the blocker, flier, or tempo creature that changes the next attack step.

• Midrange decks: Force awkward blocks with landfall turns and counters instead of trying to answer every opposing permanent. Sequence Forest-heavy development first, then use Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage as combat multipliers once Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or Ordeal of Nylea can punish blocks. Trade small creatures only when the trade protects a larger clock or prevents lethal. Preserve Snakeskin Veil for interaction that would undo the main threat; using it on a marginal creature is poor when another protected landfall turn would decide combat.

• Big mana decks: Race before the opponent's larger plays dominate combat. Mulligan toward Llanowar Elves plus a payoff, or a land-heavy hand with Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage and a credible early Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Ordeal of Nylea, or Ride the Shoopuf line. Forest is the default fetch target because most pressure and protection are green. Fetch Mountain only when Self-Destruct is already relevant or red mana is needed for a visible legal action. Do not hold back attackers for speculative defense unless visible lethal is threatened.

• Combo decks: Treat damage output as disruption unless a visible creature is clearly enabling the opposing plan. Keep faster hands over hands that only contain protection without pressure. Use Self-Destruct on an engine creature, cost reducer, blocker preventing lethal, or attacker forcing your death; otherwise spend mana adding pressure. Snakeskin Veil protects the clock, not a low-impact creature. Crack Fabled Passage and Evolving Wilds immediately when doing so creates the shortest visible lethal timeline.

• Graveyard decks: Accept that this registered 60 has no graveyard hate and do not invent one. Pressure life total, avoid unnecessary trades that feed attrition unless the combat math demands it, and save Self-Destruct for a visible creature that enables the graveyard plan or changes lethal. Ride the Shoopuf and Icetill Explorer require card text checks for exact selection or resource behavior; if Forge exposes selection choices, favor lines that increase immediate pressure or find land/protection consistent with visible legal text.

• Artifact or enchantment decks: Race unless Forge exposes a legal action from Self-Destruct or another current card text that directly affects the relevant permanent or creature. Card text check required before assuming any main-deck spell answers artifacts or enchantments. Ordeal of Nylea should be used when its visible legal effect advances damage or mana development, but do not place it into an obvious removal window if Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect cannot protect the carrier and losing that creature collapses the attack.

• Go-wide decks: Grow one or two creatures large enough to make blocks bad, then use Self-Destruct to remove the creature that changes combat math most. Do not waste fetch triggers after combat if precombat landfall would force worse blocks. When behind, value blockers that survive combat and preserve life total; when ahead, attack with the creature or team that makes the opponent trade multiple bodies for one threat. Escape Tunnel may create a reach line if Forge exposes a legal activation; Card text check required for exact current behavior.

• Single-threat decks: Save Self-Destruct for the central threat when legal and timing matters. If the single threat is bigger than your board, build a countered Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, or Ordeal of Nylea carrier before attacking into it. If the single threat is evasive, race only when visible damage math is faster; otherwise remove it or preserve life with blocks. Snakeskin Veil should not be spent offensively if the opponent's only realistic path is answering your one large creature.

• Burn decks: Prioritize life-total race math and avoid damage from unnecessary slow lines. Llanowar Elves is good when it accelerates a fast clock, but weak if the hand cannot convert it into pressure. Fetch lands should be used when the landfall trigger changes the clock or blockers, not merely to thin. Protect Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, or Tifa Lockhart only when the protected creature shortens the race or blocks profitably. Do not overcommit Ordeal of Nylea into open targeted damage without Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect if losing the carrier costs the game.

• No-sideboard match adjustment: This deck has a 0-card sideboard, so between games adjust only mulligans, sequencing, fetch timing, protection discipline, and Self-Destruct targets. Add role cards: none. Reduce main-deck emphasis: delayed landfall value against fast decks, all-in aura commitment against removal-heavy decks, and Mountain fetching when Self-Destruct is not relevant. The legal post-game plan is always to keep the registered main deck intact.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only note: Exact opponents are absent, so revealed cards, Forge legal actions, and public board state override every matchup assumption here. Likely sideboarding is none because the registered sideboard has 0 cards; keep the 60 intact and adjust only mulligans, fetch timing, threat commitment, protection timing, combat posture, and Self-Destruct targets.

• Fast aggro: Keep hands that produce an early board with Llanowar Elves, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, or Ordeal of Nylea before hands that only promise later landfall. Priority targets are visible attackers that race faster than your largest creature, blockers that stop a lethal swing, and creatures whose removal lets a landfall turn attack cleanly. Crack Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage before combat when the trigger changes blocks or damage; save Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect for the creature that decides the race.

• Removal-heavy midrange: Commit one main threat plus protection before spreading all resources across fragile bodies. Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, and an Ordeal of Nylea carrier are the usual protection priorities when Forge shows Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect as legal. Priority targets for Self-Destruct are creatures that block the protected threat, pressure life total faster than your clock, or force you into bad trades. Do not expose Ordeal of Nylea on a low-value creature if the opponent has open interaction and no protection is available.

• Control or sweepers: Pressure early, but do not turn every creature into the same removal window when one large threat plus fetch land backup is enough. Llanowar Elves is worth protecting only when it unlocks a decisive next turn; otherwise preserve Snakeskin Veil for Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or the current Ordeal of Nylea carrier. Use Ride the Shoopuf and Icetill Explorer according to visible legal text; Card text check required for exact selection or resource behavior. Fetch Forest by default unless Mountain is needed for a visible Self-Destruct action.

• Big mana or slower engine decks: Race first and spend interaction only when it preserves the shortest clock. Keep landfall-heavy hands with Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage plus a payoff, or Llanowar Elves into a strong threat. Priority targets are mana creatures, engine creatures, or blockers that add an extra turn to the opposing clock. Do not delay a legal attack for speculative value if visible damage math says the opponent is close to stabilizing.

• Flyers or evasive tempo: Treat life total as a deadline and build the fastest grounded clock possible. Priority targets for Self-Destruct are evasive attackers when they shorten the opponent's clock below yours, then blockers that prevent lethal. Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, and Ordeal of Nylea should attack only when the combat result is favorable from visible board state or protection is available.

• Creature-combo or sacrifice decks: Kill the visible engine creature when Forge exposes a legal Self-Destruct line and the target is clearly part of the current public plan. If the engine is not visible, pressure with Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, and landfall triggers instead of holding mana indefinitely. Snakeskin Veil protects the clock, not a low-impact creature.

• Graveyard decks: This 60 has no graveyard hate, so do not search for or represent graveyard interaction. Priority targets are creatures enabling the graveyard plan or attackers forcing lethal. Badgermole Cub, Icetill Explorer, and Ride the Shoopuf require card text checks before assuming they interact with graveyards, selection, or card flow.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: The deck is Forest-heavy with only 2 Mountain, so red actions can be delayed if Self-Destruct is stranded. Fetch Forest unless a visible legal Self-Destruct or red requirement makes Mountain necessary; do not fetch Mountain merely for future possibility when green development is still incomplete.

• Matchup risk: Fast evasion, sweepers, and large blockers punish hands that spend early turns setting up without pressure. Mulligan slow hands that lack Llanowar Elves, a credible threat, Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage landfall leverage, or a clear Ride the Shoopuf/Icetill Explorer path supported by visible card text.

• Draw risk: Multiple protection spells without a creature, multiple payoff creatures without enough lands, or Self-Destruct without Mountain can produce nonfunctional starts. Prefer hands with at least one early permanent, green mana, and either a fetch land or a clear curve.

• Over-sideboarding risk: There is no sideboard, so any runtime sideboard plan that changes card counts is illegal. Between games, only adjust play patterns and keep the registered 60 unchanged.

• Graveyard risk: The list has no confirmed graveyard hate. Win by racing, removing visible enablers with Self-Destruct when legal, and avoiding unnecessary trades that extend attrition.

• Sweeper/removal risk: Ordeal of Nylea and large landfall threats invite blowouts if committed into open interaction without Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect. Commit enough pressure to force answers, but keep a follow-up threat or fetch-trigger turn when possible.

• Closer risk: Escape Tunnel may provide reach only if Forge exposes a relevant legal activation; Card text check required. If no reach action exists, closing depends on combat math from Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Ordeal of Nylea, and timely fetch lands.

• Interaction risk: Self-Destruct and protection spells should not be spent on low-impact exchanges while the opponent's decisive threat or removal window remains visible. Use them to preserve lethal, prevent lethal, or remove the creature that changes the next combat step.

• Sequencing risk: Cracking Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage after combat wastes damage when landfall would alter attacks or blocks. Crack before combat when the trigger matters, but hold fetch lands when no visible trigger, mana need, or combat change exists.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: Record whether the game was decided by early pressure, landfall burst damage, protection timing, Self-Destruct interaction, mana failure, or inability to close through blockers.

• Mulligans: For each opener, note whether it had green mana, an early permanent, a fetch land, and either Llanowar Elves, Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, or Icetill Explorer as a concrete development path.

• Mana: Track every game where Self-Destruct was stranded by lack of Mountain, where fetching Mountain delayed green development, or where Llanowar Elves meaningfully accelerated a threat ahead of curve.

• Velocity: Count how often Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage created a decisive precombat landfall turn versus sitting unused because no visible trigger, mana need, or combat change existed.

• Engine pieces: Note whether Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, and Icetill Explorer generated enough pressure or resources to justify their slots; Card text check required for exact engine claims on newer or unfamiliar cards.

• Protection: Record whether Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect saved the creature that mattered, sat unused while the opponent advanced, or was spent on a creature that did not affect the clock.

• Removal: Log every Self-Destruct target and ask whether that target prevented lethal, enabled lethal, removed a blocker that changed combat, or answered a visible engine creature.

• Closing: Identify games where the deck reached a large battlefield but failed to finish, then check whether fetch timing, Ordeal of Nylea placement, Escape Tunnel legal actions, or protection conservation would have changed the final attack.

• Role: After each match, decide whether the deck correctly played as the aggressor, the stabilizing creature deck, or the protected-threat deck based on visible board state rather than matchup label.

• Mistakes: Flag attacks, blocks, fetch activations, protection spells, or Self-Destruct casts that looked correct from the guide but were contradicted by Forge legal outcomes or visible combat math.

• Stranded cards: Track hands where Snakeskin Veil, Overprotect, Self-Destruct, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, or Icetill Explorer lacked a legal or useful window.

• Overperformers: Mark cards that repeatedly converted early mana into lethal pressure, protected a decisive threat, or turned one fetch land into enough damage to end the game.

• Underperformers: Mark cards that repeatedly arrived too late, required too much setup, conflicted with mana, or failed to affect combat when behind.

• Sideboard: Confirm that no sideboard action changed the registered 60, because the current registered sideboard has 0 cards.

First Tuning Questions

• Card quantities: Should the deck increase or decrease Self-Destruct if red mana is often unavailable, targets are low impact, or creature matchups are being decided by one blocker or one evasive attacker?

• Card quantities: Should Overprotect remain a 1-copy supplement to 4 Snakeskin Veil, or does the deck need more protection because Mossborn Hydra, Traveling Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, or Ordeal of Nylea carriers are dying before damage?

• Card quantities: Should Badgermole Cub stay as a 1-copy role player if its Forge text does not reliably improve pressure, card flow, graveyard positioning, or combat; Card text check required before changing its role.

• Mana: Should the deck add another Mountain if Self-Destruct is frequently stranded, or would that damage the main Forest plan for Llanowar Elves, Mossborn Hydra, Ordeal of Nylea, Ride the Shoopuf, Icetill Explorer, and green landfall turns?

• Mana: Should the fetch-land count stay at 8 between Evolving Wilds and Fabled Passage if tapped-land tempo losses cost games, or are the landfall triggers decisive enough to keep the full package?

• Aggro plan: Should the deck lower its curve or increase first-turn consistency if hands without Llanowar Elves fall behind before landfall threats matter?

• Control plan: Should the list add more resilient threats or protection if removal-heavy opponents answer the first large creature and leave Snakeskin Veil or Overprotect mismatched against sweepers?

• Closers: Should Escape Tunnel or another closing role be reconsidered if board stalls happen often and Forge rarely exposes a useful Escape Tunnel action; Card text check required for exact reach assumptions.

• Engine mix: Should Ride the Shoopuf and Icetill Explorer quantities change if their visible legal actions do not produce enough velocity compared with simply casting another threat?

• Threat mix: Should Sazh's Chocobo, Tifa Lockhart, Mossborn Hydra, and Traveling Chocobo be rebalanced if one payoff consistently carries games while another requires too much setup?

• Role conflict: Is the deck losing because it keeps ramp-style hands that do not attack quickly enough, or because it commits aggro threats without preserving protection for the one creature that matters?

• Sideboard slots: Should the 0-card sideboard be filled for tested metagames, especially if recurring losses come from fast evasion, sweepers, graveyard engines, or large blockers that the main 60 cannot answer cleanly?

• Validation: Which apparent failures were real strategic failures, and which were caused by uncertain card text, unfamiliar Alchemy mechanics, or incomplete policy assumptions that need Forge-backed replay review?

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Opening Hand Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mulligan
• Cards: Llanowar Elves; Sazh's Chocobo; Tifa Lockhart; Mossborn Hydra; Traveling Chocobo; Ordeal of Nylea; Ride the Shoopuf; Icetill Explorer; Forest; Evolving Wilds; Fabled Passage
• Phase windows: pregame mulligan decisions.
• Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; visible opening hand; visible land count.
• Use when: choosing keep or mulligan for a starting hand.
• Avoid when: Forge exposes a forced keep/take-mulligan action after a previous decision.
• Instructions: Keep hands with green mana and a concrete first-two-turn permanent path; favor hands that pair a threat or landfall payoff with Evolving Wilds or Fabled Passage. Mulligan hands with no green source, no early permanent, or only reactive cards unless the hand has an engine line verified by visible card text.
• Pilot skill floor: basic.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: First Green Source And First Creature

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana; priority
• Cards: Forest; Llanowar Elves; Mossborn Hydra; Sazh's Chocobo; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Evolving Wilds; Fabled Passage
• Phase windows: turns 1-2 main phases.
• Runtime cues: action:play Forest; action:cast Llanowar Elves; action:play Evolving Wilds; action:play Fabled Passage
• Use when: selecting the first land and first creature spell with no opposing threat requiring Self-Destruct.
• Avoid when: the only green source enters tapped and another legal green line casts Llanowar Elves this turn.
• Instructions: Establish green mana before red unless Self-Destruct is immediately legal and necessary. Cast Llanowar Elves early when it accelerates a payoff next turn; otherwise deploy the threat that benefits most from future landfall triggers after visible text confirms the trigger.
• Pilot skill floor: basic.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Fetch-Land Timing For Landfall

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mana; priority; combat
• Cards: Evolving Wilds; Fabled Passage; Mossborn Hydra; Sazh's Chocobo; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Ordeal of Nylea
• Phase windows: precombat main phase, combat step, opponent end step.
• Runtime cues: action:activate Evolving Wilds; action:activate Fabled Passage; visible landfall or land-entry trigger text.
• Use when: deciding whether to sacrifice a fetch land before attacks or hold it.
• Avoid when: no visible permanent changes power, toughness, counters, mana, or legal attacks from an additional land entering.
• Instructions: Crack fetch lands before combat when visible triggers change attack math, lethal math, or survival in blocks. Hold fetch lands when the trigger does not affect this turn and saving a land entry protects a later burst. Card text check required for exact landfall or land-entry effects on newer cards.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Mountain Access For Self-Destruct

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana; interaction
• Cards: Mountain; Self-Destruct; Evolving Wilds; Fabled Passage; Forest
• Phase windows: main phases and response windows before combat damage or lethal attacks.
• Runtime cues: action:search Mountain; action:cast Self-Destruct; visible opposing creature or blocker.
• Use when: choosing fetch target or sequencing lands while Self-Destruct is in hand or legal.
• Avoid when: fetching Mountain prevents casting a green threat or protection spell that is required this turn.
• Instructions: Fetch Mountain when Self-Destruct is the visible answer to lethal pressure, a decisive blocker, or an opposing engine creature. Prefer Forest when red interaction is not legal or not time-sensitive, because the deck's development is mostly green.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Landfall Burst Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority; combat; mana
• Cards: Evolving Wilds; Fabled Passage; Mossborn Hydra; Sazh's Chocobo; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Snakeskin Veil; Overprotect
• Phase windows: precombat main phase and combat step.
• Runtime cues: visible fetch land; visible landfall payoff; legal attack after land entry.
• Use when: deciding whether to spend a saved fetch land and commit to a large attack this turn.
• Avoid when: opponent has visible untapped interaction sources, known revealed removal, or a blocker configuration that leaves the attack unfavorable after the trigger.
• Instructions: Go now when the burst creates lethal, removes the opponent's ability to race, or waiting exposes the payoff to a visible answer. Wait when protection is unavailable and the same landfall trigger can be preserved without losing the board.
• Pilot skill floor: advanced.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Protection Commitment Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction; priority
• Cards: Snakeskin Veil; Overprotect; Mossborn Hydra; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Sazh's Chocobo
• Phase windows: response windows to removal, combat tricks, damage, or target effects.
• Runtime cues: action:cast Snakeskin Veil; action:cast Overprotect; stack contains opposing spell or ability targeting a creature you control.
• Use when: a protection spell is legal in response to a visible stack object or combat outcome.
• Avoid when: the threatened creature is not part of current lethal, defense, mana, or engine development and another protected creature is more important by visible board state.
• Instructions: Save the creature that determines the next combat or preserves the main engine. Spend protection on Mossborn Hydra, Tifa Lockhart, Traveling Chocobo, or Sazh's Chocobo when losing it collapses the attack plan; conserve protection against low-impact damage if the creature survives by visible toughness.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Deterministic Snakeskin Veil Target

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: interaction; selection
• Cards: Snakeskin Veil; Mossborn Hydra
• Phase windows: target selection after casting Snakeskin Veil.
• Runtime cues: action:target self Snakeskin Veil; action:target self Mossborn Hydra
• Use when: Snakeskin Veil is already on the stack and the only legal self target shown by Forge is Mossborn Hydra.
• Avoid when: two or more legal self targets are shown.
• Instructions: Choose the single visible Mossborn Hydra target exactly as listed by the rules engine.
• Pilot skill floor: basic.
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Self-Destruct Target Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction; priority; combat
• Cards: Self-Destruct
• Phase windows: main phase, combat before blockers, combat after blockers, end step response windows.
• Runtime cues: action:cast Self-Destruct; action:target opponent; visible opposing creature targets.
• Use when: Self-Destruct is legal and Forge exposes one or more opposing targets.
• Avoid when: casting it prevents a lethal attack, strands protection mana against visible removal, or the only targets do not change clock, combat, or engine output.
• Instructions: Target the creature that prevents lethal, creates lethal, stops lethal, or removes the highest-impact visible engine. Card text check required for exact Self-Destruct damage, sacrifice, or drawback text before assuming a secondary effect.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Ordeal Carrier Selection

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection; combat; priority
• Cards: Ordeal of Nylea; Mossborn Hydra; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Sazh's Chocobo; Llanowar Elves
• Phase windows: main phase aura or attachment target selection; precombat sequencing.
• Runtime cues: action:cast Ordeal of Nylea; action:target self Ordeal of Nylea
• Use when: choosing a creature for Ordeal of Nylea or deciding whether to cast it before attacks.
• Avoid when: the only carrier is likely to die in visible combat or the opponent has revealed removal and no protection is available.
• Instructions: Put Ordeal of Nylea on a creature that can attack safely or immediately pressure life totals. Avoid using Llanowar Elves as the carrier unless it is the only creature and the aura creates a necessary attack or mana development line. Card text check required for exact trigger timing.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Ride The Shoopuf Commitment

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; selection; mana
• Cards: Ride the Shoopuf; Forest; Llanowar Elves
• Phase windows: main phases when spending mana on development.
• Runtime cues: action:cast Ride the Shoopuf; visible hand and battlefield.
• Use when: deciding between Ride the Shoopuf and adding another threat or holding interaction.
• Avoid when: tapping out prevents protection or Self-Destruct during a visible lethal or removal window.
• Instructions: Cast Ride the Shoopuf when it advances board, mana, cards, or landfall setup more than another legal creature; Card text check required for exact mode, token, land, or draw assumptions. Prefer threat deployment when the opponent is under immediate pressure and Ride the Shoopuf does not change this turn.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Icetill Explorer Development

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: priority; selection; mana
• Cards: Icetill Explorer; Forest; Evolving Wilds; Fabled Passage
• Phase windows: main phases after land drop decisions.
• Runtime cues: action:cast Icetill Explorer; visible available mana.
• Use when: Icetill Explorer is legal and the deck needs continued development rather than immediate combat modification.
• Avoid when: a landfall payoff, protection spell, or Self-Destruct must be used this turn by visible board state.
• Instructions: Use Icetill Explorer as a development play when it does not delay pressure or defense. Card text check required for exact exploration, land, or card-selection behavior before preferring it over a known threat.
• Pilot skill floor: basic.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Attack Declaration Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Mossborn Hydra; Sazh's Chocobo; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Ordeal of Nylea; Snakeskin Veil; Overprotect
• Phase windows: declare attackers step.
• Runtime cues: legal attack set; visible blockers; visible power and toughness.
• Use when: choosing attackers with multiple legal attack configurations.
• Avoid when: exactly one legal attack action exists and Forge indicates no optional attacker choice.
• Instructions: Attack when landfall counters, protection, or Ordeal of Nylea pressure makes blocks bad for the opponent or advances lethal. Hold back creatures needed to survive the crack-back unless the attack ends the game or protection covers the return combat.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Blocking And Survival Gate

• Priority: High
• Decision families: combat; interaction
• Cards: Llanowar Elves; Mossborn Hydra; Sazh's Chocobo; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Snakeskin Veil; Overprotect; Self-Destruct
• Phase windows: declare blockers, combat trick windows, before combat damage.
• Runtime cues: legal block set; opponent attackers visible; action:cast Snakeskin Veil; action:cast Self-Destruct
• Use when: opponent attacks and multiple blocks or interaction lines are legal.
• Avoid when: life total is safe and blocking sacrifices the only engine creature without changing next-turn lethal.
• Instructions: Preserve life against short clocks, but do not trade away the main payoff if the next landfall turn is the clearest route to winning. Use Self-Destruct or protection before damage only when the visible result changes lethal, creature survival, or future attacks.
• Pilot skill floor: advanced.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Escape Tunnel Closing Check

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana; combat; priority
• Cards: Escape Tunnel; Mossborn Hydra; Tifa Lockhart; Traveling Chocobo; Sazh's Chocobo
• Phase windows: precombat main phase and combat step.
• Runtime cues: action:activate Escape Tunnel; visible creature targets; visible opponent blockers.
• Use when: Escape Tunnel exposes a legal activation affecting attacks or blocking.
• Avoid when: activation text is unclear, no target is legal, or using it prevents a stronger landfall or protection line.
• Instructions: Treat Escape Tunnel as a closing tool only when Forge legal text shows it changes combat access this turn. Card text check required for exact targeting restriction and unblockable or mana behavior.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Pass With Protection Or Interaction Available

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority; interaction
• Cards: Snakeskin Veil; Overprotect; Self-Destruct
• Phase windows: any priority window with legal pass plus legal instant-speed action.
• Runtime cues: action:pass; action:cast Snakeskin Veil; action:cast Overprotect; action:cast Self-Destruct
• Use when: choosing whether to pass priority while interaction is legal.
• Avoid when: the legal instant has no target or only targets a creature that does not affect current board state.
• Instructions: Pass only after checking whether the stack, combat, or visible attack math demands action now. Spend interaction before the opportunity disappears; hold it when the opponent has not committed the target or spell that matters.
• Pilot skill floor: intermediate.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Deterministic Pass On Empty Stack

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: priority
• Cards: none
• Phase windows: priority windows outside main proactive development.
• Runtime cues: action:pass
• Use when: stack is empty, no legal non-pass action is shown, and Forge lists exactly one pass action.
• Avoid when: any legal cast, activate, attack, block, target, payment, or selection action is shown.
• Instructions: Choose the single visible pass action exactly as listed by the rules engine.
• Pilot skill floor: basic.
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard No-Change

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: sideboard
• Cards: none
• Phase windows: between games and match setup sideboard prompts.
• Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; registered sideboard count 0; action:submit no changes
• Use when: the registered sideboard inventory is empty and Forge or Veles asks for sideboarding.
• Avoid when: any non-empty registered sideboard inventory is present in a later deck revision.
• Instructions: Submit no sideboard changes and preserve the registered 60. Do not cut main-deck cards, invent sideboard cards, or request swaps.
• Pilot skill floor: basic.
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes