veles-content/strategies/pauper/goblins_combo/1/guide.md

Strategy Specifications

Deck Name And Archetype

• Deck identity: Goblins Combo is a Pauper Rakdos combo-midrange deck built around creature sacrifice, Goblin tutoring, artifact-card economy, discard, and a graveyard-recursive combo finish. Treat the registered name as Goblins Combo; do not rename runtime plans after a single card unless the visible legal action specifically names that card.

• Deck count validation: the registered main deck contains exactly 60 cards, and the registered sideboard contains exactly 15 cards. Main-deck nonland counts include 4 First Day of Class, 4 Goblin Matron, 4 Putrid Goblin, 4 Skirk Prospector, 4 Unearth, 4 Boiling Rock Prison, 4 Ichor Wellspring, 3 Duress, 3 Fanatical Offering, 3 Toxin Analysis, 2 Eviscerator's Insight, and singletons Krark-Clan Shaman, Impulsive Pilferer, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Stormshriek Feral, Makeshift Munitions, and Accursed Marauder. Lands are 6 Mountain, 3 Swamp, 2 Bojuka Bog, 2 Rakdos Carnarium, and 2 Vault of Whispers.

• Sideboard count validation: the sideboard is 2 Introduction to Prophecy, 4 Red Elemental Blast, 1 Origin of Metalbending, 1 Krark-Clan Shaman, 3 Suplex, 2 Cast into the Fire, and 2 Mesmeric Fiend. Every sideboard action must preserve the registered 75, and exact executable sideboard plans belong only in Sideboard Map.

• Format status: the declared format is Pauper, and runtime legality must be accepted from Veles and the wrapped rules engine rather than inferred from this guide. If Forge or another rules engine refuses a card, cost, target, replacement effect, trigger, or sideboard configuration, the agent must treat that refusal as authoritative for the current game.

• Archetype tags: use combo, midrange, sacrifice, aristocrats, and artifact as the active tags. The repeated user-provided tags are normalized for strategy lookup, but no gameplay inference should rely on tag duplication.

• Stock/rogue/hybrid status: classify this list as a hybrid Pauper Goblins Combo shell with rogue card choices and an artifact-sacrifice subtheme. Do not assume stock Pauper Goblins card packages, default kill lines, or known sideboard maps unless the exact registered card name is present in the decklist and the rules engine exposes the legal action.

• Primary color profile: the deck is Rakdos with red needed for First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, Skirk Prospector, Makeshift Munitions, Krark-Clan Shaman, Red Elemental Blast, Cast into the Fire, and likely sideboard interaction; black is needed for Duress, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Toxin Analysis, Accursed Marauder, Mesmeric Fiend, and graveyard or sacrifice pressure. Use visible mana sources and legal payment prompts to preserve the color most likely needed by the next known action.

• Mana-base concern: the deck has only 15 lands by registration, with Rakdos Carnarium as a tempo-sensitive fixer and Bojuka Bog as a tapped black source with graveyard utility. Mulligan and sequencing decisions should respect that low land count, and the agent should not keep or choose land lines that require multiple unproven draw steps unless the legal hand already contains a functional engine or defensive bridge.

• Role concern: the deck can be the combo deck, the discard-protected setup deck, or the attrition deck depending on visible pressure and disruption. Against fast creature starts, survival and board containment can outrank speculative engine assembly; against slow blue or control decks, information and protection can outrank rushing a fragile line into open interaction.

• Card-text discipline: this specification does not certify exact Oracle text for Boiling Rock Prison, Stormshriek Feral, Origin of Metalbending, Suplex, or any card whose local engine implementation may differ from memory. When a decision depends on exact wording, target restrictions, timing, damage, counters, token creation, sacrifice costs, or replacement effects, follow the legal action text and mark the reasoning as conditional if the card text is not visible.

• Opponent information status: opponent knowledge is archetype-level unless Veles provides a matchup label, revealed cards, public zones, previous-game logs, or a selected opponent strategy version. The agent may play around likely Pauper patterns from public information, but it must not pretend to know hidden hand contents, library contents, sideboard cards, or unshown removal.

Thesis

• Core assembly: Goblins Combo tries to assemble Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, and First Day of Class, then convert repeated sacrifice loops into mana, cards, damage, or a tutor chain. Treat that loop as the deck's defining commitment point, but only start it when the rules engine exposes legal actions that actually support the sequence.

• Primary kill plan: win by turning the Putrid Goblin plus Skirk Prospector loop into a decisive payoff through Makeshift Munitions, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Goblin Matron, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, or another visible legal outlet. If a payoff line requires exact card text or target legality, use the action text from Veles rather than assuming the loop is lethal.

• Setup priority: prioritize functional mana, one combo creature, one enabler, and a way to either find or protect the missing piece. Goblin Matron is the cleanest bridge because it can search for exact Goblin pieces when legal; Unearth is the best recovery card when a sacrificed or killed creature is already in the graveyard.

• Protection priority: use Duress and post-board Mesmeric Fiend to clear or expose interaction before committing a fragile combo line. Against open mana or known removal, a slightly slower turn that keeps the combo intact is usually better than spending all mana into an answer.

• Midrange fallback: use Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Toxin Analysis, Accursed Marauder, Krark-Clan Shaman, and Makeshift Munitions to trade resources until the combo can be rebuilt. This deck is not a pure all-in glass cannon; it can win games by making opposing removal and creatures line up badly.

• What not to do: do not play as a generic Rakdos aggro deck when the hand contains combo infrastructure, and do not trade away Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin for small damage unless survival, a deterministic loop, or immediate resource conversion justifies it. Combat damage is secondary to preserving the engine.

• Runtime discipline: respect legal actions, visible board state, and public information above all deck heuristics. Do not assume hidden interaction, exact opposing card names, or unverified card text; when Boiling Rock Prison, Stormshriek Feral, Origin of Metalbending, or Suplex matters, use Card text check required reasoning unless Veles exposes the relevant text or action.

Role Package

• Threats: Putrid Goblin is both a combo piece and a recursive body, so preserve it when a loop or Unearth line is plausible. Goblin Matron is a tutor-body threat because it turns future turns into exact-piece access. Stormshriek Feral is a registered singleton threat, but Card text check required before assigning combat, evasion, sacrifice, or payoff assumptions.

• Payoffs: Makeshift Munitions is the clearest sacrifice-damage payoff when legal actions expose activations and targets. Dark-Dweller Oracle can convert sacrificed creatures into card access when legal. Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight can turn expendable artifacts or creatures into velocity, but treat their tactical value as dependent on cost prompts and visible sacrifice options.

• Engines: Skirk Prospector is the mana engine and should be protected from low-value trades unless it enables a same-turn conversion. First Day of Class is the combo enabler and should often be held until the commitment turn if passing preserves surprise, mana, or protection. Goblin Matron is the engine tutor, commonly finding Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or a payoff Goblin if the action text permits.

• Velocity: Ichor Wellspring is the preferred material to sacrifice when the deck needs cards without losing a combo creature. Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Dark-Dweller Oracle, and First Day of Class provide card flow or selection only when their legal actions show useful costs and timing. Introduction to Prophecy is a sideboard velocity option, likely connected to learn-style access, but Card text check required at runtime.

• Interaction: Duress protects combo turns and disrupts sweepers, counterspells, removal, and opposing combo pieces when those cards are legally revealed. Toxin Analysis, Accursed Marauder, Krark-Clan Shaman, Bojuka Bog, Suplex, Cast into the Fire, Red Elemental Blast, Mesmeric Fiend, and Origin of Metalbending are interaction modules with matchup-dependent use; require visible legality and exact action text before assuming targets or effects.

• Protection: Duress and Mesmeric Fiend are proactive protection, while Unearth is recovery protection after removal or sacrifice. Red Elemental Blast protects against blue interaction post-board when legal. Do not spend protection on low-impact cards if a future First Day of Class or Skirk Prospector turn is the real contest.

• Recursion: Unearth is the main recursion card and should usually recover Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, or another high-leverage creature over a replaceable body. Use Unearth as combo rebuilding, not just curve filler, unless pressure forces immediate board presence.

• Mana: Mountain, Swamp, Bojuka Bog, Rakdos Carnarium, and Vault of Whispers must support early black disruption plus red combo turns. Rakdos Carnarium fixes colors but costs tempo; Bojuka Bog supplies black and graveyard interaction but enters tapped; Vault of Whispers is also artifact material for sacrifice synergies.

• Sideboard modules: Red Elemental Blast is the blue-matchup protection and interaction package. Cast into the Fire and Suplex are removal or answer packages, with Card text check required for exact targets and modes. Mesmeric Fiend adds discard bodies. Krark-Clan Shaman adds sweep density. Introduction to Prophecy and Origin of Metalbending are specialized value or lesson-style tools, with Card text check required before relying on exact text.

Primary Win Conditions

• Loop kill: Prioritize Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin plus First Day of Class when the visible hand, battlefield, graveyard, and legal actions support a same-turn sacrifice loop. Setup requires Skirk Prospector on board or castable, Putrid Goblin on board or recoverable with Unearth, First Day of Class available at the correct timing, and enough red mana to begin without stranding the enabler. Execution must follow Veles action text exactly: cast or resolve First Day of Class, sacrifice Putrid Goblin to Skirk Prospector only when the resulting return or counter interaction is legally exposed, then convert the repeated resource into a payoff line. Disruption to respect includes open removal on Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin, counterspells, graveyard exile, and effects that stop the creature from returning; use Duress or post-board Mesmeric Fiend before committing when legal and tactically relevant.

• Damage payoff: Use Makeshift Munitions as the cleanest deterministic win path when legal actions expose sacrifice activations and opponent-targeting damage. Setup requires Makeshift Munitions plus repeatable or disposable material, ideally Putrid Goblin in the First Day of Class loop or expendable artifacts such as Ichor Wellspring and Vault of Whispers when sacrificing them is legal. Execution should target opponent for lethal only when the rules engine shows the target and the available activations; otherwise use Makeshift Munitions to remove blockers, pressure planes of combat, or convert doomed material. Prioritize this line when life totals are low, combat is stalled, or the opponent can answer creatures but not an already active sacrifice outlet.

• Tutor-chain combo: Use Goblin Matron to assemble the missing Goblin rather than to add generic pressure. Setup normally asks whether the hand lacks Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or a payoff Goblin; choose the card that turns the next legal turn into a combo attempt or recovery line. Execution depends on the search choices Veles exposes, so never assume a hidden library configuration beyond registered deck contents and public known cards. Prioritize Goblin Matron when the hand has mana and protection but lacks one engine piece, or when Unearth can rebuy Matron for another exact search.

• Card-flow conversion: Use Ichor Wellspring with Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Dark-Dweller Oracle, or legal sacrifice prompts to turn spare material into enough cards to find First Day of Class, Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Unearth, or Makeshift Munitions. Setup favors artifacts and creatures that are already low-value or replace themselves; avoid sacrificing the only active combo creature unless the draw line is necessary or the creature can be recovered. Prioritize this line when the opponent has slowed the first combo attempt, when Duress shows a clear window later, or when current board pressure is manageable.

Secondary Win Conditions

• Recursive midrange pressure: Win by attacking with Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Impulsive Pilferer, Accursed Marauder, Stormshriek Feral, and other legal bodies when the combo is delayed and the opponent is spending cards inefficiently. Preserve Skirk Prospector and Putrid Goblin if they are needed for a future loop; attack with them only when damage, a forced trade, or sacrifice follow-up is clearly better than keeping engine material. Use Unearth to recover Goblin Matron for another search, Putrid Goblin for board and combo rebuilds, or Skirk Prospector when mana conversion is the bottleneck.

• Attrition-control line: Use Duress, Accursed Marauder, Krark-Clan Shaman, Toxin Analysis, Bojuka Bog, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring, and Makeshift Munitions to trade down the opponent's resources until the combo or combat becomes safe. Toxin Analysis, Boiling Rock Prison, Stormshriek Feral, and some sideboard cards require Card text check required if Veles does not expose exact effects; keep their use conditional on visible legal action text. Prioritize this line against creature pressure, graveyard engines, or decks that can stop one combo attempt but may lose to repeated material.

• Prison or lock pressure: Treat Boiling Rock Prison as a registered four-copy plan, but Card text check required before assuming a lock, removal, damage, or mana-denial function. If Veles exposes a legal Boiling Rock Prison action that restricts the opponent's current plan or buys a full turn cycle, use it as a bridge to Goblin Matron, First Day of Class, or draw-sacrifice engines. Do not overcommit into this line without understanding the visible action text.

Emergency Lines

• Behind on life: Stabilize before racing unless a legal same-turn combo kill is visible. Favor Krark-Clan Shaman, Accursed Marauder, Toxin Analysis, Makeshift Munitions removal activations, and expendable blockers over slow card-flow lines; sacrifice doomed creatures only when the life swing, removal, or draw materially improves survival.

• Behind on board: Convert replaceable permanents into interaction and cards while preserving the minimum combo core. Ichor Wellspring is the preferred sacrifice material, Putrid Goblin is acceptable only when recursion or the loop remains available, and Skirk Prospector should not be traded off unless it creates immediate mana, removal, or survival value.

• Behind on cards: Use Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Ichor Wellspring, Goblin Matron, and Unearth as rebuild tools rather than panic plays. Choose the line that creates the most future legal branches: tutor missing engine pieces, rebuy a high-leverage creature, or draw using replaceable material.

• Behind on mana: Prioritize land drops, color fixing, and Skirk Prospector access over speculative interaction. Rakdos Carnarium can repair colors but may cost tempo; Bojuka Bog enters tapped but can matter against graveyards; Vault of Whispers may enable artifact sacrifice lines. Keep red available for First Day of Class and Skirk Prospector turns, and keep black available for Duress and Unearth when protection or recovery is the current need.

• Combo disrupted or win condition removed: Rebuild through Unearth, Goblin Matron, card-flow sacrifices, and incremental Makeshift Munitions pressure. If Makeshift Munitions is gone, shift to combat plus recursion; if First Day of Class is unavailable, use Putrid Goblin as resilient material instead of assuming a loop; if Skirk Prospector is removed, search or recur it before committing fragile payoff cards.

Resource Model

• Life: Spend life as a bridge to a protected combo turn, not as a generic buffer. When under pressure, prioritize legal plays that either create a blocker, remove a creature, gain life if Toxin Analysis action text confirms it, or assemble same-turn First Day of Class plus Putrid Goblin plus Skirk Prospector before slower Ichor Wellspring draw lines.

• Hand: Treat the hand as a set of missing engine roles: enabler, creature, sacrifice outlet, payoff, protection, and rebuild. First Day of Class, Putrid Goblin, Skirk Prospector, Goblin Matron, Unearth, Makeshift Munitions, Duress, Fanatical Offering, and Ichor Wellspring should be valued by the role they unlock in the next turn cycle, not by raw mana efficiency.

• Mana: Convert mana into commitment only when the next legal branch improves. Red is the pressure color for First Day of Class, Skirk Prospector, Makeshift Munitions, Krark-Clan Shaman, and many combo turns; black is the protection and rebuild color for Duress, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Accursed Marauder, and Bojuka Bog timing.

• Board: Preserve the smallest board that still threatens the combo. Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin are engine material, Goblin Matron is tutor material, Ichor Wellspring and Vault of Whispers are artifact material, and expendable creatures become resources when Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Makeshift Munitions, or Skirk Prospector legally convert them.

• Graveyard: Treat the graveyard as an extension of the hand when Unearth is available. Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Skirk Prospector, Accursed Marauder, Impulsive Pilferer, and Dark-Dweller Oracle may become live resources again if Veles exposes legal Unearth targets; do not sacrifice or trade the only recoverable combo role unless the recovery line is visible or survival requires it.

• Exile: Treat exile as a final-cost zone unless a legal action explicitly offers access. If Dark-Dweller Oracle or another effect exiles cards for temporary use, act only on visible legal actions and prioritize engine pieces, lands, or protection that can be used before the permission expires.

• Lands: Treat lands as both mana and tactical objects. Rakdos Carnarium fixes colors but costs tempo, Bojuka Bog enters tapped and carries graveyard hate value, Vault of Whispers supplies black and artifact synergies, Mountain supports red combo starts, and Swamp supports early Duress or Unearth.

• Sacrifice fodder: Spend Ichor Wellspring first when a legal sacrifice effect needs material, because it is designed to convert into cards. Spend expendable tokens or low-impact creatures next, then recursive Putrid Goblin if recursion or First Day of Class makes it safe, and avoid spending Skirk Prospector unless the mana or sacrifice itself is the point.

• Tempo: Use tempo to buy the combo window rather than to race blindly. Duress, Accursed Marauder, Krark-Clan Shaman, Makeshift Munitions, Toxin Analysis, Boiling Rock Prison, and Stormshriek Feral can change tempo only according to visible legal text; Card text check required for Boiling Rock Prison and Stormshriek Feral before assuming exact battlefield impact.

• Information: Convert Duress and post-board Mesmeric Fiend into permission to commit. If a revealed hand shows removal, counterplay, or graveyard hate, wait or choose a protection line when legal; if the revealed hand lacks relevant interaction, favor Goblin Matron, First Day of Class, or payoff deployment.

• Sideboard bullets: Post-board resources should answer the opponent's axis without diluting the combo core. Red Elemental Blast protects or fights blue interaction, Cast into the Fire pressures artifacts or small threats if action text confirms the mode, Suplex and Krark-Clan Shaman address creature boards, Mesmeric Fiend adds disruption, Introduction to Prophecy adds selection, and Origin of Metalbending requires Card text check required before committing strategic assumptions.

Mana Guide

• Keep rule: Keep hands that can cast early black disruption or recovery and still reach red combo mana. A hand with Mountain plus Swamp or Vault of Whispers, or Rakdos Carnarium with an untapped land and time, is stronger than a hand with spells but no path to both First Day of Class and Duress or Unearth.

• Mulligan rule: Mulligan hands that cannot produce relevant colored mana before the opponent's first pressure window unless the hand has a clear legal recovery path. One-land hands need a castable early spell, a second-land draw tolerance, and a reason the matchup allows delay; color-locked hands are dangerous because this deck needs both red and black to function.

• Red priority: Preserve red when a combo turn, Makeshift Munitions activation line, Skirk Prospector sequence, or Krark-Clan Shaman action is plausible. Do not spend the only red source on low-impact actions if First Day of Class plus Putrid Goblin could become legal this turn or next turn.

• Black priority: Preserve black when Duress can clear the way, Unearth can rebuild, or Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight can convert material into cards. Against interaction-heavy decks, black on turn one or two often protects more future mana than a faster unprotected creature.

• Rakdos Carnarium sequencing: Play Rakdos Carnarium when the returned land does not cost a needed same-turn action or when fixing both colors is worth the tempo loss. Avoid exposing yourself to a missed turn against fast creature decks unless the hand cannot function without the bounce land.

• Bojuka Bog sequencing: Delay Bojuka Bog when the opponent's graveyard resource matters and the current turn can still function without its mana. Play it earlier when land development, black access, or avoiding discard pressure matters more than graveyard timing.

• Vault of Whispers sequencing: Value Vault of Whispers as black mana and artifact material. Keep it on the battlefield when artifact count or sacrifice value matters, but spend it only if a legal sacrifice action produces a decisive card, damage, or survival result.

• Land before draw: Play a land before drawing or sacrificing when the extra mana immediately unlocks a legal spell, activation, or combo branch. Hold the land before Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring triggers, or Dark-Dweller Oracle-style selection when the hand has multiple possible land drops and the draw could improve which land should be played.

• Combo-turn payment: Choose mana sources that leave the most constrained color available after each spell. When legal payments offer choices, keep red for First Day of Class, Makeshift Munitions, and Skirk Prospector actions; keep black for Duress, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, and Eviscerator's Insight follow-ups; use generic or surplus sources first.

Mulligan Guide

• Strong keep: Keep two-land hands with both red and black access plus one combo role and one connector. Examples include Mountain plus Swamp or Vault of Whispers with Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and Duress; or Mountain plus Swamp with Goblin Matron, Unearth, Ichor Wellspring, and Fanatical Offering.

• Strong keep: Keep hands where Goblin Matron supplies the missing creature if the mana casts it on time. A hand with red mana, black mana, Goblin Matron, First Day of Class, and either Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin is a real setup hand because Matron can find the missing Goblin when the rules engine offers the tutor choice.

• Medium keep: Keep interaction-plus-engine hands that can play Magic through turn three without immediately assembling. Duress, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Unearth, and one combo creature are acceptable when the lands cast the early spells and the matchup does not punish a slower start.

• Medium keep: Keep Bojuka Bog hands when the tapped land does not block the first meaningful play. Bojuka Bog plus Mountain is better with Skirk Prospector or First Day of Class than with only Duress, Unearth, and Fanatical Offering.

• Risky keep: Treat Rakdos Carnarium hands as risky when the other land enters tapped or the hand has no turn-one action. Rakdos Carnarium plus Bojuka Bog can fix colors eventually, but it may skip too much tempo against fast creature decks.

• Risky keep: Treat one-land Mountain hands as risky unless they contain Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and a draw or tutor path. One-land Swamp or Vault of Whispers hands need Duress, Unearth, or cheap black card flow and should not be kept solely because the spells are powerful.

• Automatic ship: Mulligan hands with no lands, no castable spell by turn two, only black mana with red-dependent combo cards, only red mana with Duress plus Unearth-heavy action, or sacrifice payoffs with no expendable permanent. Do not keep a hand that requires both drawing a land and drawing the missing combo role before it does anything.

• Matchup-dependent: Value Duress highly against blue, combo, and removal-heavy decks because it can clear First Day of Class or Goblin Matron turns. Value Krark-Clan Shaman, Accursed Marauder, Toxin Analysis, and Makeshift Munitions more against creature pressure, but confirm legal text and visible board impact before relying on any specific removal outcome.

• Play/draw: On the play, prefer hands that deploy Skirk Prospector or Duress before the opponent establishes pressure. On the draw, accept slightly slower Ichor Wellspring or Goblin Matron hands if the extra card improves color development and the first two turns still contain a legal action.

• Trap hand: Do not keep First Day of Class plus Putrid Goblin without Skirk Prospector, Goblin Matron, or enough draw unless the rest of the hand interacts. Do not keep multiple Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight with no Ichor Wellspring, expendable creature, or recursive target. Card text check required before treating Boiling Rock Prison or Stormshriek Feral as a reason to keep a speculative hand.

Turn Arc

• Turn 1: Lead with untapped black for Duress when the opponent is likely to have counters, removal, combo pieces, or graveyard hate. Lead with Mountain into Skirk Prospector when speed matters or the hand already has First Day of Class and Putrid Goblin. Play Vault of Whispers when black is needed and artifact status is not exposed to a visible penalty. Avoid Bojuka Bog on turn one unless black access or land development matters more than graveyard timing.

• Turn 2: Develop the missing combo role before spending cards for value. Putrid Goblin is preferred when Skirk Prospector or First Day of Class is already present; Ichor Wellspring is preferred when the hand needs material for Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight; Duress is preferred before exposing Goblin Matron or First Day of Class into likely interaction.

• Turn 2 deviation: Play Rakdos Carnarium only when returning a land does not stop a required same-turn spell or when fixing both colors is essential. Against fast boards, prioritize Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Accursed Marauder, Toxin Analysis, or Krark-Clan Shaman lines if legal and relevant over bounce-land development.

• Turn 3: Cast Goblin Matron when it finds the missing deterministic role and the opponent has not shown a reason to wait. Find Skirk Prospector when Putrid Goblin plus First Day of Class are ready, find Putrid Goblin when sacrifice mana and First Day of Class are ready, and consider Krark-Clan Shaman or Impulsive Pilferer only when visible board state or mana needs make that Goblin better.

• Turn 3 deviation: Use Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Ichor Wellspring, or Unearth to rebuild when the first creature was answered. Use Duress before a commitment turn if it is legal and mana allows. Do not fire First Day of Class just for minor haste or counters unless the visible legal actions convert it into a combo attempt, survival play, or decisive pressure.

• Turns 4-5: Commit when the hand, battlefield, graveyard, and legal actions show a complete or protected engine. First Day of Class plus Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin is the central go-now structure; Makeshift Munitions, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Unearth, or Goblin Matron determine whether the loop kills, draws, tutors, or rebuilds.

• Turns 4-5 deviation: Slow down when revealed information or visible open mana suggests interaction and Duress or Mesmeric Fiend-style disruption is available. Speed up when the opponent's clock makes waiting worse, when Unearth gives redundancy, or when Makeshift Munitions provides a visible payoff from repeated sacrifice.

• Late game: Treat every draw step as a search for either a missing combo role, a payoff, or a protection spell. Goblin Matron and Unearth are high-value topdecks because they turn graveyard and library resources into battlefield material. Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, and Eviscerator's Insight should convert spare permanents into new looks, not consume the only live combo role unless the legal line immediately replaces it.

• Late-game deviation: Stabilize before comboing when life total or combat math demands it. Use Accursed Marauder, Krark-Clan Shaman, Toxin Analysis, Makeshift Munitions, Bojuka Bog, or sideboard interaction according to visible legal actions; Card text check required for Boiling Rock Prison and Stormshriek Feral before assigning them a specific late-game role.

Card Roles

• First Day of Class: Treat First Day of Class as the main commitment spell, not a casual value cantrip. Cast it when the current legal line can convert creature entries into a combo attempt, a decisive haste attack, or a protected rebuild; avoid spending it merely because two mana is available. Its strongest use is with Putrid Goblin and Skirk Prospector, where the creature-entering replacement of counters can support repeated sacrifice if the rules engine presents that line. Use Duress first when possible against open interaction, and do not assume the combo is legal unless Veles exposes the needed sacrifice, mana, and creature-return actions.

• Putrid Goblin: Treat Putrid Goblin as the central recursive body and protect it from low-value sacrifice unless First Day of Class, Skirk Prospector, Unearth, or a payoff line makes the sacrifice productive. Cast it early when it develops toward combo or blocks profitably; hold it when the opponent is representing exile, bounce, or graveyard interaction and a Duress window is available. Do not cash it in to Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight if it is the only visible path to a complete loop unless the draw action is needed to survive or find the missing role.

• Skirk Prospector: Treat Skirk Prospector as both acceleration and the primary sacrifice-mana engine. Deploy it early when it enables a turn-three Goblin Matron, Putrid Goblin plus protection, or a same-turn First Day of Class chain; hold it only when visible removal would strand the combo and there is no immediate mana benefit. In combo turns, preserve legal sacrifice ordering carefully: sacrifice expendable Goblins before spending colored lands when doing so keeps black mana for Unearth, Duress, Fanatical Offering, or Eviscerator's Insight.

• Goblin Matron: Use Goblin Matron as the deck's role-finder, not simply as a creature. Search for the missing combo role when First Day of Class, Skirk Prospector, and Putrid Goblin are partially assembled; search for Krark-Clan Shaman when the visible battlefield requires a sweeper body and that line is legal; search for Impulsive Pilferer or Dark-Dweller Oracle only when mana conversion or card-flow needs are clearer than the default combo search. If the opponent has known counterspell or removal pressure, Duress before Goblin Matron when mana and timing permit.

• Duress: Use Duress to clear commitment turns and to update the decision model with legally revealed information. Cast it before First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, Makeshift Munitions, or a vulnerable Unearth line when the opponent's archetype suggests counters, removal, graveyard hate, or combo pieces. Against creature-heavy hands, take the noncreature card that most disrupts the next two turns rather than the most expensive card. Do not infer hidden cards after Duress resolves; act only on the revealed hand, public zones, and later rules-engine updates.

• Unearth: Use Unearth as redundancy for Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Accursed Marauder, and other cheap creatures when the graveyard contains a legal target. Prefer holding Unearth until it restores a missing combo role, reuses Goblin Matron, or rebuilds after interaction. Cycling or spending Unearth for low-impact value is secondary and should happen only when no graveyard target matters soon, mana would otherwise be wasted, or the hand needs to dig under pressure.

• Ichor Wellspring: Treat Ichor Wellspring as the cleanest artifact material for Fanatical Offering and Eviscerator's Insight. Cast it when the hand needs cards, sacrifice fodder, or an artifact permanent that can be converted later; avoid delaying a live combo turn just to draw one extra card. With Vault of Whispers also in the deck, check visible artifact liabilities before exposing extra artifacts into opposing artifact hate.

• Fanatical Offering: Use Fanatical Offering to convert expendable permanents into cards while preserving the central combo body when possible. The preferred sacrifice is Ichor Wellspring or a no-longer-needed token/permanent; sacrificing Putrid Goblin is stronger only when the current board, First Day of Class turn, Unearth backup, or survival need makes that exchange productive. Do not cast it into open mana merely for velocity if losing the sacrificed permanent would collapse the next turn's combo structure.

• Eviscerator's Insight: Use Eviscerator's Insight as deeper resource conversion when the sacrificed material is replaceable or when finding a missing piece is worth the cost. Card text check required for exact cost, flashback, and sacrifice restrictions; keep tactical use conditional on the legal action text. Prefer pairing it with Ichor Wellspring, expendable creatures, or material already likely to die, and avoid consuming the only Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin unless the current game state demands a draw-based recovery line.

• Boiling Rock Prison: Treat Boiling Rock Prison as a registered high-count role card whose exact battlefield function must be verified at runtime. Card text check required before relying on it as removal, lock piece, mana piece, or combo support. When Veles presents legal actions involving Boiling Rock Prison, choose them only if the action text and visible board show a concrete benefit: protecting the combo, slowing a relevant threat, enabling mana, or creating a deterministic follow-up.

• Toxin Analysis: Use Toxin Analysis as a combat or removal enhancer only when the rules-engine action text confirms the relevant target, timing, and effect. Card text check required for exact keywords, card draw, and targeting. Prioritize it when it lets a small creature trade up, supports Krark-Clan Shaman or Makeshift Munitions-style removal if legal, or changes lethal/survival math. Avoid firing it into empty pressure or on a creature that does not need help to accomplish the current role.

• Makeshift Munitions: Treat Makeshift Munitions as the main noncombat payoff and board-control sink. Commit it when enough expendable artifacts, creatures, Ichor Wellspring, or recursive Putrid Goblin material exists to matter, or when it threatens a deterministic kill after the engine is assembled. Do not expose it too early against removal or artifact/enchantment hate if the board has no material to convert. In creature matchups, use it to manage key attackers and blockers before chasing face damage.

• Krark-Clan Shaman: Use Krark-Clan Shaman as a tutorable reset or emergency stabilizer, especially from Goblin Matron. Because the deck has Ichor Wellspring and Vault of Whispers, the artifact-sacrifice dimension can matter, but choose it only when the legal action text and visible battlefield show the damage line. Avoid wiping your own Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or Goblin Matron unless the sweep preserves survival or opens a stronger Unearth/combo rebuild.

• Accursed Marauder: Use Accursed Marauder as a compact edict effect when a single opposing creature matters more than your own board material. Card text check required for exact sacrifice pattern and restrictions. It is strongest against tall threats, hexproof-style boards, or opponents with one relevant creature; it is weaker against token boards or boards where you must sacrifice a key combo creature without replacement.

• Dark-Dweller Oracle: Use Dark-Dweller Oracle as a grind engine when the game has shifted from immediate combo to material conversion. Card text check required for exact activation and play permission. Prefer it with expendable Goblins, Ichor Wellspring-derived material, or recursive Putrid Goblin loops if Veles presents legal actions. Do not spend the only combo creature for speculative exile access when Goblin Matron or Unearth can assemble a cleaner line.

• Impulsive Pilferer: Use Impulsive Pilferer as tutorable material when mana, sacrifice fodder, or post-removal rebuilding matters more than finding Putrid Goblin or Skirk Prospector. Card text check required for exact token or Encore behavior. It is a lower-priority Goblin Matron target unless the visible line specifically needs a body that converts into mana or repeated material.

• Stormshriek Feral: Treat Stormshriek Feral as a conditional role card until exact text is verified. Card text check required before assigning it as finisher, interaction, or engine support. When legal actions involving it appear, evaluate only visible effects: whether it advances lethal, stabilizes combat, protects a combo turn, or converts resources better than Goblin Matron, Unearth, or card-flow actions.

• Lands: Use Mountain to unlock Skirk Prospector, First Day of Class, Makeshift Munitions, and red sideboard interaction after boarding. Use Swamp, Vault of Whispers, and Bojuka Bog to cast Duress, Putrid Goblin, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, and Eviscerator's Insight while preserving black for commitment turns. Use Rakdos Carnarium for color stability when the tempo loss is acceptable, and use Bojuka Bog's graveyard exile timing deliberately rather than automatically on turn one when the opponent's graveyard may become strategically relevant later.

Interaction Priorities

• Priority: Use Duress to clear the specific card class that stops the next commitment turn, not the card that is merely strongest in abstract. Take counterspells, instant-speed removal for Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin, graveyard hate that stops Unearth or persist lines, sweepers that punish a developed board, or a fast opposing payoff when the combo is not yet close.

• Priority: Protect the Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin plus First Day of Class structure before spending interaction on marginal battlefield cleanup. If the hand already has Goblin Matron or Unearth redundancy, interaction can be aimed at the opponent's clock; if the hand has only one engine creature, removal and discard should preserve that piece first.

• Remove first: Answer creatures or permanents that create a lethal clock, shut off sacrifice or graveyard use, invalidate small blockers, or force the combo to happen before it is assembled. Use Accursed Marauder for a single high-impact creature when your sacrifice cost is acceptable, Makeshift Munitions for repeatable small-target control when material is available, and Krark-Clan Shaman only when the visible board makes a sweep worth your own losses.

• Exile first: Use Bojuka Bog deliberately against graveyard decks, flashback decks, reanimation, threshold-style pressure, or recursive threats when the opponent's graveyard already contains relevant cards. Do not spend Bojuka Bog's exile trigger early against a deck with no visible graveyard dependency unless the mana requirement or land sequencing makes waiting too costly.

• Counter first: After sideboarding, use Red Elemental Blast on blue interaction that stops the combo, a blue card-draw or tempo spell that keeps the opponent ahead, or a blue threat that shortens the clock. Do not spend Red Elemental Blast on a low-impact blue spell if Duress, Goblin Matron, or a protected engine turn is already the better route.

• Bait first: Lead with Ichor Wellspring, redundant Goblin Matron, or low-commitment card-flow when the opponent represents permission or removal and the hand can still combo later. Do not bait with the only First Day of Class, the only Skirk Prospector, or a lone Putrid Goblin unless the current line is already forced by lethal pressure or lack of future mana.

• Ignore first: Ignore small blockers, incidental life gain, and low-pressure value permanents when a legal line advances a near-term combo or protected tutor chain. Against aggro, this changes: small creatures become relevant when they reduce the life total below the next safe setup turn or force bad blocks.

• Archetype shift: Against control, aim Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, and Red Elemental Blast at permission and instant-speed interaction before the combo turn. Against creature aggro, use Toxin Analysis, Accursed Marauder, Makeshift Munitions, and Krark-Clan Shaman to buy turns. Against graveyard decks, preserve Bojuka Bog timing. Against artifact-heavy decks, check legal Cast into the Fire lines after sideboarding; Card text check required for exact modes and targets.

Combat And Trading Rules

• Priority: Preserve Skirk Prospector and Putrid Goblin unless combat directly protects life, enables a deterministic engine line, or converts through Unearth, First Day of Class, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, or Makeshift Munitions. A single point of damage is rarely worth exposing the only combo creature.

• Attack rule: Attack with Goblin Matron, expendable tokens, or redundant bodies when the opponent cannot profitably trade into a key engine piece and the damage changes the clock. Hold back creatures when life total, blocking duty, or sacrifice material is more important than chip damage.

• Block rule: Block aggressively once the opponent's visible attack threatens to put you within one turn of death or forces a future combo through bad mana. Before that threshold, prefer keeping bodies that can be sacrificed, tutored around, or converted into cards, especially when the hand contains First Day of Class or payoff material.

• Trade rule: Trade small creatures for high-impact attackers when the trade buys a full turn or protects the next Goblin Matron, Unearth, or First Day of Class line. Decline trades that exchange Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or the only sacrifice outlet for damage that is not yet decisive.

• Protection rule: Use Toxin Analysis only when the legal action text confirms the combat or damage effect and the target matters. Card text check required for exact keywords, card draw, and targeting; prefer lines where it lets an expendable creature trade up, keeps a key creature alive, or combines with a legal damage source to remove a decisive threat.

• Engine preservation: Treat Ichor Wellspring and expendable artifacts as better sacrifice or damage material than core creatures. If Makeshift Munitions is active, convert spare material into removal before combat damage when doing so saves life or improves blocks; avoid spending material on face damage unless lethal math or a locked future kill is visible.

• Life thresholds: Above roughly 10 life against low-pressure boards, favor setup and resource conversion. At 6-10 life against creature decks, prioritize stabilizing blocks and removal over speculative draw. At 5 or less, assume every attack step can be decisive and choose survival lines unless a legal combo or lethal payoff is immediately available.

• Archetype shift: Against control and combo, combat is secondary and creatures should usually be conserved for engine function. Against go-wide aggro, blocks and Krark-Clan Shaman lines become more important. Against tall-threat decks, Accursed Marauder and Toxin Analysis-supported trades matter more than racing. Against artifact or graveyard decks, combat choices should leave mana and material available for sideboard interaction when legal.

Selection And Tutor Rules

• Tutor priority: Use Goblin Matron as the deck's cleanest selection spell, and choose the missing combo piece that changes the next legal turn most. If Skirk Prospector is missing, find Skirk Prospector; if Putrid Goblin is missing and sacrifice mana is available or near, find Putrid Goblin; if both creatures are present and the hand lacks a payoff path, find the visible Goblin that the legal card pool offers for conversion, disruption, or finishing.

• Setup priority: Cast Goblin Matron before speculative draw when the hand needs one exact Goblin to function. Draw spells are better first only when mana, colors, or sacrifice fodder are missing and a single tutor target would still leave the line incomplete.

• Combo targeting: When First Day of Class is available or already resolved for the turn, value Goblin Matron lines that assemble Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin over generic pressure. Do not expose the only Putrid Goblin or Skirk Prospector to a sacrifice draw spell unless Unearth or another legal recovery line is already visible.

• Learn selection: Treat First Day of Class selection as conditional on rules-engine options. If the legal action list offers Introduction to Prophecy or Origin of Metalbending through learn or lesson access, choose the Lesson that solves the current bottleneck: Introduction to Prophecy for card selection when the combo is incomplete, and Origin of Metalbending only when its legal text clearly advances the board or removal plan; Card text check required for exact Origin of Metalbending tactical use.

• Draw sequencing: Use Ichor Wellspring before Fanatical Offering or Eviscerator's Insight when it can be sacrificed later for extra material. Prefer sacrificing Ichor Wellspring, expendable tokens, or redundant artifacts before sacrificing Putrid Goblin, Skirk Prospector, or Goblin Matron with an unspent tutor role.

• Bargain and sacrifice draw: Use Fanatical Offering when the sacrificed permanent is expendable and the two cards or generated resource can unlock a combo, land drop, protection spell, or survival action before the opponent's next turn. Use Eviscerator's Insight similarly, but verify legal flashback or additional-cost text from the engine before planning around reuse; Card text check required for exact Eviscerator's Insight timing and cost details.

• Oracle selection: Use Dark-Dweller Oracle only when the sacrificed creature is expendable or recursive and the current mana can cast the exiled card if the engine offers that permission. Do not sacrifice the only Skirk Prospector or only Putrid Goblin to Dark-Dweller Oracle unless the visible line is forced by lethal pressure or already has replacement access.

• Land timing: Play normal lands before selection when the current line needs mana immediately, but delay Bojuka Bog if the opponent's graveyard is empty and no land drop is required for the turn's legal plan. Play Rakdos Carnarium when the tempo loss is acceptable and the bounced land improves future color access, preserves Bojuka Bog for a later exile trigger, or raises total mana for a protected Goblin Matron turn.

• Scry and filtering: When Introduction to Prophecy or another legal scry/filter effect appears, keep First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Unearth, missing lands, or matchup-critical interaction according to the current bottleneck. Bottom redundant legends of the same role only after verifying the hand already has enough copies or recovery; do not bottom Duress or Red Elemental Blast against visible control unless the combo turn is already protected.

Priority And Stack Rules

• Commitment gate: Cast First Day of Class into the combo turn only when the visible hand, battlefield, graveyard, and mana can exploit creatures entering this turn or when waiting is worse because of lethal pressure or known disruption. Do not spend First Day of Class as a low-impact spell if Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, or a payoff route is not ready.

• Sacrifice timing: Use Skirk Prospector activations only when the red mana has a visible legal use, the sacrifice enables a deterministic engine sequence, or the creature would otherwise be lost. Avoid floating red mana from key Goblins before the engine asks for payment unless the action list makes the next spell or ability explicit.

• Persist timing: With Putrid Goblin, Skirk Prospector, and First Day of Class involved, follow the rules-engine prompts exactly and choose legal sacrifice, mana, and return actions that preserve the loop only when the current visible state confirms the interaction. Do not assume a persist or counter outcome unless Forge has exposed the resulting prompt or board state.

• Stack patience: Let harmless setup spells resolve when holding Duress, Red Elemental Blast, Makeshift Munitions, or sacrifice draw for a more important window. Respond to spells that remove Skirk Prospector, exile Putrid Goblin, stop First Day of Class, attack the graveyard before Unearth, or create lethal pressure before your next action.

• Discard window: Cast Duress before committing First Day of Class, Goblin Matron for the final piece, or a vulnerable Unearth line when the opponent has mana or archetype incentives for interaction. If Duress reveals no relevant stop, proceed with the fastest legal engine plan rather than spending more turns on low-impact development.

• Graveyard window: Use Bojuka Bog when the opponent's graveyard contains a visible card class that matters now, such as flashback, recursion, reanimation, threshold-style pressure, or combo material. Do not fire the exile trigger merely because it is legal if the opponent has not shown graveyard dependency and the land can be sequenced later.

• Unearth window: Use Unearth to restore Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, or another legal target when that target immediately rebuilds the combo, blocks a lethal attack, or creates a tutor/draw chain. Avoid using Unearth on a low-impact creature if a key engine creature is likely to die and the graveyard is not under immediate threat.

• Removal window: Activate Makeshift Munitions before combat damage when a point of damage changes blocks, kills a decisive creature, or prevents lethal. Save material when the only available target is face damage without lethal math, especially if the same artifact or creature can fuel Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, or future Munitions activations.

• Sweeper window: Use Krark-Clan Shaman only when the legal activation and visible battlefield show that sweeping small creatures buys survival, clears blockers for a kill, or breaks the opponent's board more than yours. Card text check required for exact activation cost and damage scaling; do not assume artifacts or creatures survive unless the engine state confirms it.

• Optional payments: Pay optional costs, sacrifice costs, or extra costs only when the immediate effect advances combo assembly, protection, survival, or lethal pressure. Decline optional value payments that consume the mana needed for Red Elemental Blast, Unearth, Makeshift Munitions, or a same-turn Goblin Matron chain.

• Sideboard stack rules: After sideboarding, hold Red Elemental Blast for blue spells that counter the combo, protect the opponent's clock, or swing the stack around First Day of Class. Use Cast into the Fire, Suplex, Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy, and Origin of Metalbending only according to legal action text; Card text check required for exact modes and timing on Suplex, Cast into the Fire, and Origin of Metalbending.

Sideboard Map

• Sideboard philosophy: Sideboard to change the deck's failure mode, not its identity. Keep the core chain of Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, and Unearth intact unless the matchup makes one axis clearly unreliable from public information.

• Protection package: Red Elemental Blast is for blue opponents where the stack, blockers, or permanent interaction can stop the combo or dominate tempo. Bring it against Counterspell decks, Faeries, Terror shells, blue Monarch/control, and blue combo mirrors; it is poor against nonblue creature decks where it has no visible legal target.

• Disruption package: Mesmeric Fiend is for combo, control, and removal-heavy decks where a temporary hand-disruption body can force a protected combo turn or expose whether First Day of Class is safe. It is weaker against decks with abundant cheap removal, sacrifice fodder, or combat pressure that makes a fragile creature too slow.

• Removal package: Suplex is for creature matchups where one efficient answer changes a race, clears a hate creature, or protects life while assembling the engine. Card text check required for exact Suplex legality, timing, and target restrictions; use it only when the rules engine exposes a legal target and the tactical value is clearer than spending mana on combo development.

• Artifact and small-permanent pressure package: Cast into the Fire is for artifact-heavy boards, small key permanents, and matchups where a single red interaction spell answers a visible engine piece or blocker. Card text check required for exact modes and damage/exile wording; treat it as matchup interaction, not a generic burn spell, until the engine shows legal modes.

• Sweeper package: Krark-Clan Shaman is for swarm decks, token boards, Faeries, Elves-style battlefields, and artifact mirrors where repeated small-creature damage can reset the board or clear blockers. It is bad when your own Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, and support creatures are the only developed board and the opponent is pressuring through larger threats.

• Filtering package: Introduction to Prophecy is for slow matchups where games hinge on finding a missing combo piece, a land, Red Elemental Blast, Duress, or Unearth after both players trade resources. It is weak against fast aggro when spending mana to filter does not affect the battlefield before the opponent's next combat.

• Engine or artifact role card: Origin of Metalbending should enter only when the matchup rewards its exact legal text and timing. Card text check required; do not assume it removes, produces material, animates artifacts, or protects the combo unless the rules engine exposes those actions.

• Exact anti-blue control plan: Use this balanced plan against blue control, Faeries/Terror, and Counterspell-heavy midrange when the opponent has shown blue stack interaction or blue permanents that matter. Side in: 4 Red Elemental Blast, 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 2 Introduction to Prophecy Cut: 1 Krark-Clan Shaman, 1 Stormshriek Feral, 1 Accursed Marauder, 1 Toxin Analysis, 2 Eviscerator's Insight, 2 Boiling Rock Prison

• Anti-blue role rule: Add role cards: Red Elemental Blast, Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only removal, slow sacrifice draw, and cards that do not protect First Day of Class or pressure a counterspell window.

• Exact anti-swarm creature plan: Use this balanced plan against go-wide creature decks, Faeries with many small bodies, Elves-style boards, and low-toughness aggressive decks when survival before combo is the bottleneck. Side in: 1 Krark-Clan Shaman, 3 Suplex, 2 Cast into the Fire Cut: 3 Duress, 1 Stormshriek Feral, 1 Dark-Dweller Oracle, 1 Eviscerator's Insight

• Anti-swarm role rule: Add role cards: Krark-Clan Shaman, Suplex, Cast into the Fire. Reduce main-deck emphasis: discard that misses creatures, slow selection, and sacrifice-value cards that require a stable board.

• Exact artifact-board plan: Use this balanced plan against Affinity, artifact sacrifice, artifact lands plus Myr Enforcer style boards, or any opponent whose visible permanents make artifact interaction tactically decisive. Side in: 2 Cast into the Fire, 3 Suplex, 1 Origin of Metalbending Cut: 3 Duress, 1 Stormshriek Feral, 1 Dark-Dweller Oracle, 1 Toxin Analysis

• Artifact-board role rule: Add role cards: Cast into the Fire, Suplex, Origin of Metalbending when its legal text is confirmed relevant. Reduce main-deck emphasis: hand disruption after the opponent has emptied their hand, fragile card-flow creatures, and narrow combat modifiers.

• Exact combo or spell-engine plan: Use this balanced plan against graveyard combo, spell combo, and slow engine decks where disrupting the hand and finding the combo faster matters more than creature combat. Side in: 2 Mesmeric Fiend, 2 Introduction to Prophecy, 4 Red Elemental Blast Cut: 1 Krark-Clan Shaman, 1 Accursed Marauder, 1 Stormshriek Feral, 2 Toxin Analysis, 1 Makeshift Munitions, 2 Boiling Rock Prison

• Combo role rule: Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy, Red Elemental Blast only when blue spells or blue permanents are expected. Reduce main-deck emphasis: battlefield-only interaction and expensive attrition pieces unless the opponent's engine uses creatures.

• Aggro role rule: Add role cards: Suplex, Krark-Clan Shaman, Cast into the Fire when their legal targets affect combat or board size. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Introduction to Prophecy and Mesmeric Fiend when they fail to change the next attack step.

• Midrange role rule: Add role cards according to the opponent's actual axis: Red Elemental Blast for blue answers, Mesmeric Fiend for removal-heavy hands, Suplex for must-answer creatures, and Introduction to Prophecy for attrition. Reduce main-deck emphasis: the narrowest removal or draw effects once the opponent's public cards reveal which resources matter.

• Graveyard matchup rule: Keep Bojuka Bog in the main configuration and do not weaken Unearth lines unless the opponent's hate makes the graveyard unreliable. Mesmeric Fiend can protect Bojuka Bog timing or a combo turn; Cast into the Fire or Suplex should be used only if the graveyard deck presents visible creatures or artifacts that matter.

• Role-change rule: When sideboarding increases interaction, pilot the deck as protected combo-control for the first turns, then become a combo deck as soon as Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, or Red Elemental Blast creates a safe window. Do not spend every sideboard card reactively if Goblin Matron can assemble the win.

• Bad-card discipline: Leave Red Elemental Blast aside against nonblue decks, leave Introduction to Prophecy aside when life total is under immediate pressure, leave Mesmeric Fiend aside when the opponent can cheaply remove it without slowing down, and leave Origin of Metalbending aside until card text and matchup role are confirmed.

• Sideboard legality rule: Submit only balanced registered-75 plans, and trust Veles validation if a generated plan is rejected. If the engine exposes only candidate plans, choose the plan whose added cards answer the visible matchup axis while preserving the core combo density.

Matchup Guidance

• Aggro: Mulligan toward functional mana plus early board material, not speculative hands that need several draw steps before affecting combat. Prioritize Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Krark-Clan Shaman, and interaction that changes the next attack step; use Duress only when the opposing archetype is likely to have burn, pump, or removal that interrupts the combo. Add role cards: Suplex, Krark-Clan Shaman, and Cast into the Fire when legal targets are creatures, artifacts, or small permanents that decide combat. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow selection and sacrifice draw when they cost mana without preventing damage before the next combat.

• Control: Treat the game as protected combo, not pure attrition, because the deck still wins fastest by assembling Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and a payoff route. Lead with Duress or Mesmeric Fiend before committing First Day of Class or Goblin Matron into open mana when the legal action set allows it. Add role cards: Red Elemental Blast against blue cards, Mesmeric Fiend against removal or counterspell density, and Introduction to Prophecy when both players are trading resources. Reduce main-deck emphasis: creature-only interaction, Krark-Clan Shaman without targets, and clunky battlefield cards that do not protect the combo window.

• Combo: Race only after checking whether Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, or Bojuka Bog can break the opponent's critical turn. Use Goblin Matron to find the missing deterministic creature piece when your hand already has First Day of Class or Skirk Prospector; use disruption first when the opponent can plausibly win before your next turn. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy, and Red Elemental Blast only if the opposing combo uses blue cards or blue interaction. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal that does not interact with the opponent's visible engine, and slow sacrifice-value lines unless they dig directly toward a missing combo piece.

• Tempo: Force the opponent to answer cheap, redundant threats before spending the decisive First Day of Class. Sequence Putrid Goblin and Skirk Prospector so that removal and bounce do not strand a single fragile piece; use Unearth to punish one-for-one interaction after the opponent taps low. Add role cards: Red Elemental Blast for blue tempo, Mesmeric Fiend when hand pressure can expose the safe turn, and Suplex when a single tempo creature is the clock. Reduce main-deck emphasis: expensive or sorcery-speed lines that walk into open mana without improving the board.

• Midrange: Identify whether the opponent is pressuring life, attacking the hand, or answering creatures, then choose the axis that converts fastest into a combo turn. Value Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Unearth, and Goblin Matron in longer games, but do not let value sequencing delay a protected lethal or near-lethal engine. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend for removal-heavy hands, Red Elemental Blast for blue midrange, Suplex for must-answer creatures, and Introduction to Prophecy when the game becomes resource trading. Reduce main-deck emphasis: the narrowest removal or least relevant card-flow effect after visible cards reveal the opponent's plan.

• Big mana: Treat the first three turns as a race to either combo or remove the payoff from the opponent's hand. Duress and Mesmeric Fiend are strongest before the opponent converts mana into large spells; Goblin Matron should usually find the missing combo creature instead of an attrition piece unless survival is already threatened. Add role cards: Red Elemental Blast only against blue big-mana payoffs or interaction, Mesmeric Fiend for hand disruption, and Introduction to Prophecy when the matchup slows into draw-go. Reduce main-deck emphasis: small-creature sweepers and combat tricks if the opponent is not winning through low-toughness creatures.

• Graveyard decks: Preserve Bojuka Bog timing for a graveyard state that matters, and avoid spending it as a tapped black source if another land can support the current turn. Use Duress or Mesmeric Fiend to take enablers or protection when visible information shows the graveyard line is imminent; use Unearth normally unless opposing graveyard hate or exile effects make recursion unreliable. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend and Introduction to Prophecy; add Cast into the Fire or Suplex only when visible artifacts or creatures are part of the graveyard engine. Reduce main-deck emphasis: battlefield-only interaction when the graveyard is the real resource.

• Artifact and enchantment decks: Decide whether the artifact/enchantment is the engine, the mana, or just a body before spending sideboard interaction. Cast into the Fire is the main artifact-pressure role card, while Origin of Metalbending requires Card text check required and should be used only when the rules engine exposes relevant legal actions. Makeshift Munitions, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, and Vault of Whispers can matter in artifact mirrors or attrition games, but do not sacrifice combo density just to play a longer value game. Add role cards: Cast into the Fire, Suplex, Krark-Clan Shaman for artifact creature swarms, and Origin of Metalbending conditionally. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress after the opponent empties its hand and creature-only cards that do not answer the visible artifact engine.

• Go-wide decks: Stabilize before comboing if the board presents lethal or near-lethal pressure. Krark-Clan Shaman is the highest-impact role card when small creatures define the game, but sequence sacrifices so your own Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, and utility creatures are not lost without a payoff. Add role cards: Krark-Clan Shaman, Suplex, and Cast into the Fire when the engine shows legal targets that reduce the next attack. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress, slow selection, and sacrifice draw that leaves the opponent's battlefield intact.

• Single-threat decks: Use discard, edict-style effects, and targeted interaction around the one permanent that determines the game. Accursed Marauder can matter when the opponent relies on a single creature, but Card text check required for exact sacrifice wording and timing; do not assume it answers hexproof, ward, or protected threats unless Forge exposes the legal result. Add role cards: Suplex, Mesmeric Fiend, and Red Elemental Blast if the threat or protection is blue. Reduce main-deck emphasis: sweepers and small damage effects when they do not remove the named threat.

• Burn: Protect life total as a hard resource and avoid unnecessary self-damage or slow tapped-land tempo losses when a cheaper line keeps interaction available. Duress is better before the opponent empties its hand; Toxin Analysis and other life-swing lines require Card text check required for exact effect and should be chosen only when the legal action meaning is visible. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend if it can take a burn spell or force removal, Introduction to Prophecy only in slower burn variants, and Red Elemental Blast only against blue burn-tempo shells. Reduce main-deck emphasis: clunky sacrifice draw and nonessential Rakdos Carnarium exposure when tempo loss matters.

• Removal-heavy decks: Assume the first visible creature may die and plan for redundancy, Unearth, and discard-backed commitment. Cast Putrid Goblin before exposing Skirk Prospector when you need a persistent body; cast Duress or Mesmeric Fiend before First Day of Class when the opponent has open mana and cards in hand. Use Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and Dark-Dweller Oracle as rebuild tools when the combo is disrupted, but pivot back to Goblin Matron as soon as a protected line appears. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy, and Red Elemental Blast against blue removal. Reduce main-deck emphasis: fragile nonessential creatures and removal with no live targets.

Specific Matchup Notes

• General/archetype-only: No fixed opposing decklist is supplied for this batch, so revealed cards, public zones, and Veles legal actions override every matchup assumption. Use these notes to rank priorities, not to infer hidden cards or force illegal lines.

• Blue tempo or blue control: Protect the commitment turn before spending First Day of Class into open mana. Lead with Duress or Mesmeric Fiend when legal, pressure with Putrid Goblin and Goblin Matron, and commit Skirk Prospector only when the line advances through removal or permission. Add role cards: Red Elemental Blast, Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy. Reduce main-deck emphasis: low-impact creature interaction and slow sacrifice draw when the opponent is holding mana for stack interaction.

• Fast creature aggro: Preserve life and blockers until the combo turn is real. Krark-Clan Shaman is the highest-impact stabilizer when the opponent presents multiple small creatures; Toxin Analysis requires Card text check required, so use it only when the exposed action text clearly improves combat, life, or removal. Add role cards: Krark-Clan Shaman, Suplex, Cast into the Fire when artifacts are involved. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Duress lines after the opponent has emptied its hand and Eviscerator's Insight lines that sacrifice needed blockers.

• Removal-heavy midrange: Treat every single creature as temporary unless recursion or discard protects the next turn cycle. Putrid Goblin and Unearth make one-for-one removal less damaging, while Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and Dark-Dweller Oracle can rebuild without abandoning the combo. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy, Red Elemental Blast against blue removal. Reduce main-deck emphasis: narrow creature answers with no visible targets.

• Graveyard or recursion decks: Time Bojuka Bog for a graveyard state that changes the opponent's next legal line, not merely for mana. Duress and Mesmeric Fiend should take enablers, payoffs, or protection visible in hand; do not overvalue your own Unearth if opposing exile effects are public. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Introduction to Prophecy, Cast into the Fire or Suplex only when visible artifacts or creatures drive the graveyard plan. Reduce main-deck emphasis: battlefield-only interaction when the graveyard is the active resource.

• Artifact decks: Identify whether the artifact is mana, pressure, sacrifice fuel, or the actual engine before spending interaction. Cast into the Fire is the clearest role card for visible artifact targets; Origin of Metalbending requires Card text check required and should be chosen only when Forge exposes relevant legal text. Add role cards: Cast into the Fire, Suplex, Krark-Clan Shaman for artifact creature boards, Origin of Metalbending conditionally. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Duress after the hand is low and creature-only answers that miss the engine.

• Big mana or slow combo: Race to assemble Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and a payoff path through Goblin Matron, while using Duress or Mesmeric Fiend before the opponent converts mana into a decisive spell. Add role cards: Mesmeric Fiend, Red Elemental Blast only against blue payoffs or permission, Introduction to Prophecy for slower resource games. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Krark-Clan Shaman and other small-board control when they do not affect the clock.

Risk Summary

• Mana risk: The deck needs black early for Duress and Unearth, red for First Day of Class, Skirk Prospector, Makeshift Munitions, and Goblin Matron turns, and tempo from Rakdos Carnarium without losing a critical turn. Keep hands that can execute a two-turn plan; punishable tapped-land sequences are a real loss mode against aggro and tempo.

• Matchup risk: The deck can misidentify its role and spend turns drawing cards while the opponent presents lethal or spends interaction while the opponent has no relevant engine. Reassess after every revealed card, public graveyard change, and combat step.

• Draw risk: Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and Dark-Dweller Oracle are rebuild tools, not excuses to delay a protected combo. Sacrifice draw is risky when it consumes Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or a necessary blocker without creating a stronger next turn.

• Over-sideboarding risk: Adding too many role cards can dilute the core Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, and payoff structure. Sideboard plans should answer the visible opposing axis while preserving enough combo density to end the game.

• Graveyard risk: Unearth is powerful but fragile against exile, and Bojuka Bog can hurt the opponent only if timed before their graveyard converts into action. Do not spend Bojuka Bog as a casual tapped black source when a meaningful graveyard window is likely.

• Sweeper and removal risk: Krark-Clan Shaman, opposing sweepers, and targeted removal can erase the exact creature mix needed for the combo. Commit First Day of Class only when the current board, hand, mana, and recursion make waiting worse or when legal action text shows deterministic execution.

• Closer risk: Makeshift Munitions, Stormshriek Feral, Boiling Rock Prison, and other payoff lines require Card text check required where exact text is uncertain. Use them conditionally from visible legal actions, and do not assume lethal, drain, damage, or loop certainty unless Forge exposes it.

• Interaction risk: Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, Red Elemental Blast, Suplex, Cast into the Fire, Accursed Marauder, and Toxin Analysis must hit the card or permanent that changes the next turn cycle. Spending interaction on a low-impact target can leave the deck without protection for the commitment turn.

• Sequencing risk: The highest-risk turns involve choosing between setup, discard, tutor, and commitment. Prefer the line that keeps the most live follow-up actions after the opponent's next meaningful response, especially when Goblin Matron can find the missing creature or Unearth can recover a removed one.

Test Feedback Checklist

• Deciding factor: What visible game event decided the game: successful Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin setup, protected First Day of Class commitment, Goblin Matron finding the missing piece, opponent pressure, mana stumble, graveyard disruption, or failure to find a payoff such as Makeshift Munitions or Stormshriek Feral?

• Mulligan review: Did the opening hand have functional black and red mana, a two-turn plan, and either combo density or interaction? Record whether hands with Duress, Unearth, Ichor Wellspring, or Fanatical Offering were kept as real plans or as hope-based keeps.

• Mana review: Did Mountain, Swamp, Bojuka Bog, Vault of Whispers, and Rakdos Carnarium sequencing preserve the color needed for the next known legal action? Flag any game where Rakdos Carnarium gained resources but lost the tempo turn that mattered.

• Velocity review: Did Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Dark-Dweller Oracle, or Unearth produce meaningful action before the opponent’s next decisive turn? Mark sacrifice-draw lines bad when they consumed Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or a needed blocker without improving the next turn cycle.

• Engine review: Did the deck assemble Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and a legal payoff route, or did one missing axis strand the rest? Track which piece was missing most often and whether Goblin Matron could have found it earlier.

• Interaction review: Did Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, Red Elemental Blast, Suplex, Cast into the Fire, Accursed Marauder, Krark-Clan Shaman, or Toxin Analysis answer the card that changed the next turn cycle? Treat Toxin Analysis outcomes as conditional until Card text check required is resolved.

• Sideboard review: Did added role cards answer the opponent’s visible axis while preserving the combo core? Note any post-board game where Introduction to Prophecy, Origin of Metalbending, Red Elemental Blast, Cast into the Fire, Suplex, Mesmeric Fiend, or the second Krark-Clan Shaman was drawn without a relevant target or timing window.

• Closing review: Did the deck convert a winning position into lethal or a locked engine, or did it continue drawing and tutoring after commitment was already available? Record whether Makeshift Munitions, Stormshriek Feral, Boiling Rock Prison, or combat damage actually closed games; use Card text check required for uncertain payoff assumptions.

• Role review: Did the pilot correctly choose between racing, stabilizing, rebuilding, and protecting the combo? Flag games where Duress was too slow against an empty-handed aggro opponent or Krark-Clan Shaman was held too long against a wide board.

• Mistake review: Did any pass, attack, block, sacrifice, tutor, or mana payment ignore a visible legal action that would have improved survival or combo progress? Separate rules-engine legality limits from pilot choice errors.

• Stranded-card review: Which cards remained unusable because of color, timing, board state, target absence, graveyard exile, or role mismatch? Track stranded First Day of Class, Unearth, Goblin Matron, Fanatical Offering, Red Elemental Blast, Suplex, and Cast into the Fire separately.

• Performance review: Which exact cards overperformed or underperformed by matchup and stage? Record Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, Ichor Wellspring, Duress, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, Bojuka Bog, and every sideboard card by action taken, not by impression alone.

First Tuning Questions

• Card quantity question: Is the deck losing because it lacks enough payoff access after assembling Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, and First Day of Class? If yes, test whether Makeshift Munitions, Stormshriek Feral, Boiling Rock Prison, or another legal payoff slot needs different quantity after exact card text is verified.

• Combo density question: Is Goblin Matron too often forced to find the first required creature instead of completing the chain? If yes, examine whether Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Impulsive Pilferer, Dark-Dweller Oracle, or Accursed Marauder quantities create too many single-card bottlenecks.

• Mana question: Are Rakdos Carnarium and Bojuka Bog causing tapped-land tempo losses more often than they provide value? If yes, revisit the balance of Mountain, Swamp, Vault of Whispers, Bojuka Bog, and Rakdos Carnarium for early black disruption and red combo turns.

• Aggro-plan question: Is the deck dying before sacrifice draw and tutors matter? If yes, consider whether the maindeck or sideboard needs more reliable early stabilization around Krark-Clan Shaman, Suplex, Accursed Marauder, or Toxin Analysis after Card text check required.

• Control-plan question: Is the deck losing to permission or removal on the commitment turn? If yes, test whether Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, Red Elemental Blast, and recursive Unearth lines provide enough protection without slowing the clock too much.

• Velocity question: Are Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and Dark-Dweller Oracle drawing cards but not converting into wins? If yes, tune toward either faster combo assembly or stronger interaction rather than more generic card flow.

• Graveyard question: Is Unearth reliable in the expected metagame, or are opposing exile effects making it a weak rebuild plan? If graveyard hate is common, ask whether Bojuka Bog timing and threat density need adjustment.

• Sideboard-slot question: Which sideboard cards had no high-impact target across multiple matches? Introduction to Prophecy, Origin of Metalbending, Red Elemental Blast, Cast into the Fire, Suplex, Mesmeric Fiend, and Krark-Clan Shaman should each justify its slot by matchup role.

• Role-conflict question: Is the deck trying to be combo, midrange, artifact value, and sacrifice control in the same draw? If yes, tune by matchup stage so post-board plans do not dilute Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, and Goblin Matron below functional density.

Veles Tactical Policy

Policy: Keep Functional Combo Or Interaction Hands

• Priority: High
• Decision families: mulligan
• Cards: Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, Duress, Unearth, Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering
• Phase windows: pregame mulligan and London bottom decisions.
• Runtime cues: opening hand, legal keep, legal mulligan, legal bottom-card actions.
• Use when: the hand has functional mana plus either two combo axes, Goblin Matron access, or Duress plus draw/recursion to reach the next turn cycle.
• Avoid when: the hand lacks red or black access, contains only payoff text without setup, or cannot cast a meaningful spell before pressure matters.
• Instructions: Keep hands that can develop Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin and either find, protect, or recur the missing piece; bottom excess expensive, duplicate, or contextless cards before cutting mana that enables the first two turns.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should compare the first two turns, not just count lands.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sequence Early Mana For Both Colors

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana
• Cards: Mountain, Swamp, Bojuka Bog, Rakdos Carnarium, Vault of Whispers
• Phase windows: opening turns, land play, mana payment prompts.
• Runtime cues: legal land-play actions, legal mana-source actions, visible hand colors.
• Use when: choosing the first land, bouncing a land with Rakdos Carnarium, or paying costs while future black and red actions are visible.
• Avoid when: a tapped land would skip the only current stabilization or combo-development play.
• Instructions: Preserve red for Skirk Prospector, First Day of Class, and sacrifice payoffs; preserve black for Duress, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, and sideboard discard.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should account for next-turn legal colors and tempo.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Establish The First Required Creature

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority, mana
• Cards: Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Unearth
• Phase windows: main phases before combo commitment.
• Runtime cues: legal cast actions for Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, or Unearth.
• Use when: no required creature is on battlefield and a legal play develops Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, or a Goblin Matron path.
• Avoid when: visible opposing pressure requires an immediate survival action or Duress must precede development to protect a fragile commitment.
• Instructions: Lead with the creature that unlocks the most future legal actions; use Goblin Matron as the bridge when the hand lacks a specific Goblin piece.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should identify which combo axis is missing.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Commit To The Combo Only After Gate Check

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority, mana, interaction
• Cards: Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, Goblin Matron, Duress, Mesmeric Fiend, Unearth, Makeshift Munitions, Stormshriek Feral, Boiling Rock Prison
• Phase windows: main phases, priority windows before casting First Day of Class or sacrificing key creatures.
• Runtime cues: legal cast First Day of Class, legal sacrifice actions, visible payoff actions, opponent open mana, revealed hand, graveyards.
• Use when: the visible line can assemble Skirk Prospector plus Putrid Goblin plus First Day of Class and has a payoff, tutor chain, protection, or waiting risks losing the window.
• Avoid when: the opponent has revealed disruption, open interaction strongly threatens the only required piece, or no payoff/continuation is visible after the engine starts.
• Instructions: Treat First Day of Class as the commitment gate; protect it with Duress or Mesmeric Fiend when available and avoid sacrificing irreplaceable pieces before the engine is legally ready.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should reason about disruption, redundancy, clock, and whether waiting is worse.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Execute Deterministic Putrid Goblin Loop Actions

• Priority: High
• Decision families: priority, mana
• Cards: Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class
• Phase windows: post-commitment combo execution while the rules engine offers loop-relevant actions.
• Runtime cues: action:sacrifice Putrid Goblin, action:activate Skirk Prospector, action:add R.
• Use when: Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, and an active resolved First Day of Class effect are visible, and the legal action text names sacrificing Putrid Goblin to Skirk Prospector for mana.
• Avoid when: First Day of Class is not resolved or the legal action text does not identify Putrid Goblin as the sacrificed object.
• Instructions: Choose the exact visible sacrifice/mana action that continues the already selected loop; stop routing no-API if the legal action set changes to targets, tutors, or payoff choices.
• Pilot skill floor: No-API may execute only exact visible loop actions.
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Choose Goblin Matron Tutor Target

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: selection
• Cards: Goblin Matron, Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Krark-Clan Shaman, Impulsive Pilferer, Dark-Dweller Oracle
• Phase windows: Goblin Matron search and reveal prompts.
• Runtime cues: legal candidate cards from library search, current battlefield and hand.
• Use when: Goblin Matron resolves and the rules engine exposes legal Goblin candidates.
• Avoid when: the prompt candidate list is hidden, empty, or does not expose exact card names.
• Instructions: Find the missing engine creature first, find Krark-Clan Shaman for wide-board survival, and find Dark-Dweller Oracle or Impulsive Pilferer only when their visible text and current resources support the selected plan; Card text check required for uncertain non-core Goblin uses.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should select the target from visible missing-piece logic.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Use Discard To Protect Or Disrupt The Next Turn Cycle

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: interaction, selection
• Cards: Duress, Mesmeric Fiend
• Phase windows: early main phases, pre-commitment turns, post-board disruption windows.
• Runtime cues: legal cast Duress, legal cast Mesmeric Fiend, revealed opponent hand, legal discard target actions.
• Use when: the opponent has unknown or revealed interaction, combo, sweeper, or payoff cards that affect the next turn cycle.
• Avoid when: the opponent hand is empty, the current board demands survival, or spending mana prevents the only legal combo/stabilization play.
• Instructions: Take the card that most directly stops the selected plan or kills you before the plan matters; do not infer exact hidden cards beyond revealed information and archetype context.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should compare revealed candidates and immediate board pressure.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Recur A Named Combo Creature With Unearth

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority, selection
• Cards: Unearth, Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron
• Phase windows: main phases, recovery turns, combo setup turns.
• Runtime cues: action:target self Putrid Goblin, action:target self Skirk Prospector, action:target self Goblin Matron.
• Use when: the graveyard contains the exact named creature, Unearth is legal, and that creature is the missing visible setup piece for the selected line.
• Avoid when: graveyard exile is pending, the target does not appear in legal action text, or a different graveyard target requires strategic comparison.
• Instructions: Choose the exact self-target action for the missing core creature after the line is selected; route non-core targets through light-model.
• Pilot skill floor: No-API may execute exact target-self recursion for core pieces only.
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Convert Artifacts And Expendable Material Into Cards

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority, selection
• Cards: Ichor Wellspring, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Vault of Whispers
• Phase windows: main phases, sacrifice prompts, draw-engine turns.
• Runtime cues: legal sacrifice-cost actions, visible expendable artifacts or creatures, current hand size and pressure.
• Use when: card flow finds missing combo pieces or recovers after disruption without sacrificing the only engine creature or needed blocker.
• Avoid when: the cost consumes Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, a protected Goblin Matron chain, or the only blocker under lethal pressure.
• Instructions: Prefer sacrificing Ichor Wellspring or expendable material before core creatures; Card text check required for exact Eviscerator's Insight and Dark-Dweller Oracle timing if legal text is ambiguous.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should evaluate cost, pressure, and next-turn payoff.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Fire Board Control Only When It Changes Survival

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction, combat
• Cards: Krark-Clan Shaman, Accursed Marauder, Toxin Analysis, Suplex, Cast into the Fire
• Phase windows: combat setup, main phases before attacks, removal prompts, sideboard games.
• Runtime cues: legal removal or sacrifice actions, visible attackers, blockers, artifacts, creatures, life totals.
• Use when: the legal action removes lethal pressure, breaks a wide board, clears a blocker for a deterministic kill, or answers a visible artifact threat.
• Avoid when: the effect would destroy your required engine pieces without survival or lethal gain.
• Instructions: Spend interaction on the threat that changes the next combat or combo window; Card text check required for Toxin Analysis, Suplex, and Cast into the Fire exact effects.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should reason from visible battlefield and legal targets.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Assign Combat Conservatively Around Engine Creatures

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: combat
• Cards: Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, Goblin Matron, Impulsive Pilferer, Stormshriek Feral
• Phase windows: declare attackers, declare blockers, combat damage, post-combat.
• Runtime cues: legal attack or block actions, visible power/toughness, tapped status, summoning sickness, life totals.
• Use when: combat choices can preserve survival, buy time, or close a game after combo pressure is established.
• Avoid when: attacking exposes the only Skirk Prospector or Putrid Goblin needed for a near-term combo without lethal or survival benefit.
• Instructions: Protect core engine creatures unless the legal trade prevents lethal, enables a known sacrifice value line, or ends the game; Card text check required for Stormshriek Feral combat assumptions.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should evaluate race math and engine dependency.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Handle Payoff Targeting After Combo Commitment

• Priority: High
• Decision families: interaction, priority
• Cards: Makeshift Munitions, Stormshriek Feral, Boiling Rock Prison
• Phase windows: post-engine loop, damage/kill prompts, main phase payoff windows.
• Runtime cues: action:target opponent Makeshift Munitions, action:target opponent Stormshriek Feral, action:target opponent Boiling Rock Prison.
• Use when: the combo line is already selected, the legal action text names a payoff source and opponent target, and visible life totals show the action contributes to ending the game.
• Avoid when: payoff text is uncertain, target choices include creatures or planeswalkers needing comparison, or the action text does not name the opponent target.
• Instructions: Use exact opponent-target payoff actions only after commitment; Card text check required for Stormshriek Feral and Boiling Rock Prison before assuming deterministic lethal.
• Pilot skill floor: No-API only for exact visible opponent-target payoff text.
• No-API allowed: yes
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Respect Priority Passes With Interaction Available

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: priority, interaction
• Cards: Duress, Red Elemental Blast, Unearth, Fanatical Offering, Eviscerator's Insight, Makeshift Munitions
• Phase windows: opponent end step, stack response windows, combat trick windows, pre-combat and post-combat priority.
• Runtime cues: legal pass, legal instant-speed action, visible stack, visible attackers or lethal clock.
• Use when: passing preserves mana for a better response or no legal action improves survival, combo progress, or disruption.
• Avoid when: the stack contains a must-answer spell, a visible lethal attack is next, or a legal action protects a selected combo commitment.
• Instructions: Explain every pass by what is being declined; Red Elemental Blast is sideboard interaction only against legal targets and Card text check required for target restrictions.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should compare pass against each legal instant-speed action.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Use Bojuka Bog As Timed Graveyard Interaction

• Priority: Medium
• Decision families: mana, interaction
• Cards: Bojuka Bog, Rakdos Carnarium
• Phase windows: land play, bounce-land sequencing, graveyard-pressure turns.
• Runtime cues: legal play Bojuka Bog, legal Rakdos Carnarium bounce, opponent graveyard contents.
• Use when: the opponent graveyard visibly enables recursion, threshold, delve, flashback, or another graveyard payoff before your next turn.
• Avoid when: playing Bojuka Bog tapped prevents the only required immediate spell and the opponent graveyard is not visibly relevant.
• Instructions: Treat Bojuka Bog as both a land and timed interaction; use Rakdos Carnarium bounce to reuse it only when tempo loss is acceptable.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should weigh graveyard impact against color and tempo.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Sideboard Without Diluting The Core Engine

• Priority: High
• Decision families: sideboard
• Cards: Introduction to Prophecy, Red Elemental Blast, Origin of Metalbending, Krark-Clan Shaman, Suplex, Cast into the Fire, Mesmeric Fiend, Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, Goblin Matron
• Phase windows: post-game sideboarding, Game 2 and Game 3 configuration.
• Runtime cues: sideboard candidate plans, revealed opponent archetype, previous-game public cards, legal registered-75 swaps.
• Use when: selecting post-board role cards for permission, artifacts, wide creatures, removal, discard, or slower card selection.
• Avoid when: a plan cuts below functional density of Skirk Prospector, Putrid Goblin, First Day of Class, or Goblin Matron without a matchup-specific reason.
• Instructions: Add Red Elemental Blast only where legal targets matter, Cast into the Fire for artifact or small-permanent roles after Card text check required, Suplex for creature interaction after Card text check required, Mesmeric Fiend for disruption, Krark-Clan Shaman for wide boards, Introduction to Prophecy and Origin of Metalbending only when their verified text fits the matchup speed.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model should preserve combo density while adding role cards.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes

Policy: Choose Lessons Or Sideboard Utility From Legal Prompts Only

• Priority: Low
• Decision families: selection
• Cards: Introduction to Prophecy, First Day of Class
• Phase windows: learn/lesson-style selection prompts if the rules engine exposes them.
• Runtime cues: legal selection list includes Introduction to Prophecy, legal action text from First Day of Class.
• Use when: the engine presents an explicit legal candidate list and Introduction to Prophecy is a visible legal choice.
• Avoid when: the engine does not expose a candidate list, the card is not legal in the prompt, or selecting it would replace a required combo action this turn.
• Instructions: Do not assume sideboard access unless the legal prompt provides it; Card text check required for exact Lesson or selection mechanics at runtime.
• Pilot skill floor: Light-model may choose among visible legal candidates.
• No-API allowed: no
• Light-model allowed: yes