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

# Strategy Specifications
## Deck Name And Archetype

- Identity: Jund Midrange is a Timeless fair-deck specification for a black-red-green attrition shell that wins by converting early mana, discard, and removal into durable pressure from Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, and Wrenn and Six. Treat the deck as a proactive-interactive midrange deck, not as a pure control deck; Veles should spend resources to keep the opponent off-balance while advancing board presence whenever the legal action list permits a credible threat.

- Validation: The registered list is 60 main-deck cards and 15 sideboard cards, matching the active Timeless validation contract of at least 60 main-deck cards and at most 15 sideboard cards. The current format-aware validation result passes, so the pilot guide should assume the deck is registered and playable unless the rules engine later reports a legality, companion, zone, or card-availability issue.

- Tags: Use the active tags `midrange` and `discard` as the main strategic labels, with `removal`, `threat-dense attrition`, and `graveyard-resource pressure` as internal tactical descriptions rather than new archetype tags. The repeated source tag `midrange,discard` should be normalized mentally to one midrange plan plus one discard-interaction plan.

- Stock status: Classify this as a hybrid Jund Midrange build rather than a pure stock list. The shell uses familiar Jund roles, but the exact card mix is deck-specific: Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Molten Impact, Questing Druid, Delighted Halfling, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes create a more spell-recursive, threat-forward Timeless profile than a generic removal-pile midrange deck.

- Registered main deck: The legal main-deck pool is 3 Abrupt Decay, 3 Blood Crypt, 2 Bloodchief's Thirst, 4 Bloodstained Mire, 4 Deathrite Shaman, 2 Delighted Halfling, 4 Fatal Push, 1 Forest, 2 Inquisition of Kozilek, 3 Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, 4 Molten Impact, 4 Orcish Bowmasters, 2 Overgrown Tomb, 4 Questing Druid, 3 Stomping Ground, 1 Swamp, 4 Verdant Catacombs, 3 Wooded Foothills, and 1 Wrenn and Six. Do not allow guide slices or policy blocks to reference absent Jund-adjacent cards as playable lines.

- Registered sideboard: The legal sideboard pool is 1 Abrupt Decay, 2 Culling Ritual, 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring, 2 Magus of the Moon, 1 Mai, Scornful Striker, 2 Sheoldred's Edict, 1 Surgical Extraction, 4 Thoughtseize, and 1 Wrenn and Six. Jegantha, the Wellspring is registered in the sideboard; Veles must not assume companion availability, companion legality, or companion reveal/use unless the rules engine exposes that legal action.

- Mana identity concern: The deck is primarily black-red-green and fetch-shock driven, with only 1 Forest and 1 Swamp as basic lands. Veles should expect painful and sequencing-sensitive mana, so early decisions must preserve access to black for Fatal Push, Inquisition of Kozilek, Bloodchief's Thirst, Thoughtseize after sideboard, and Deathrite Shaman activations; red for Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; and green for Questing Druid, Abrupt Decay, Delighted Halfling, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and Culling Ritual after sideboard.

- Role concern: The deck must identify whether the current game asks it to be the remover, the discard-pressure deck, the planeswalker/threat deck, or the stabilizing deck. The pilot should not hold removal indefinitely for theoretical higher-value targets when visible pressure threatens life total or planeswalkers, and should not spend discard late unless the opponent still has unknown cards or a known high-impact card from public/revealed information.

- Card-text certainty: Card text check required for any exact tactical inference not supplied by the rules engine, especially with digital or less common cards such as Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Molten Impact, Mai, Scornful Striker, and Culling Ritual. Runtime choices must follow legal actions, visible objects, prompts, costs, targets, and outcomes exposed by Veles and Forge rather than assumed Oracle-like memory.

- Opponent info status: No specific opponent decklist, matchup label, revealed hand, public graveyard plan, or metagame target is supplied in this batch. Matchup and sideboard advice must therefore remain archetype-conditional until a later section or runtime context names visible opponent cards, public game actions, or an explicit matchup guide.

## Thesis

- Assemble a pressure-backed attrition game by pairing cheap discard and removal with sticky, snowballing threats. The deck wants Deathrite Shaman or Delighted Halfling to accelerate, Inquisition of Kozilek to clear the first high-impact card, Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, and Molten Impact to keep the board unstable, then Questing Druid, Orcish Bowmasters, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes to convert each exchange into lasting advantage.

- Win by forcing the opponent to spend turns answering threats while their best card is discarded, killed, or taxed by graveyard and board pressure. Veles should prioritize hands and lines that produce both interaction and a clock, because this list is strongest when the opponent is under immediate pressure before they can rebuild from one-for-one trades.

- Do not play as draw-go control unless the visible board demands emergency containment. The deck has many cheap answers, but it is not trying to sit behind answers forever; after the first exchange window, Veles should spend legal actions on Questing Druid, Orcish Bowmasters, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when doing so does not concede a visible lethal, combo, or planeswalker threat.

- Prioritize mana integrity before speculative value. Fetch-shock sequencing should preserve early black for discard and Fatal Push, red for Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, and green for Questing Druid, Abrupt Decay, Delighted Halfling, and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; taking extra damage is acceptable only when tempo, color access, or a key spell window clearly justifies it.

- Treat unfamiliar or digital-specific exact text as rules-engine owned. Card text check required for exact tactical assumptions involving Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Molten Impact, Mai, Scornful Striker, and any prompt-specific mode or target choice not fully described by Veles legal actions.

## Role Package

- Threats: Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes are the pressure core. Lead with the cheapest threat that improves the current turn cycle, but prefer a discard or removal spell first when the opponent has visible or revealed capacity to punish an unprotected threat.

- Payoffs: Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes is the highest-board-impact top-end threat, while Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion and Questing Druid are the main attrition payoffs when games slow down. Use these cards to turn traded resources into inevitability, not as disposable tempo plays into open visible interaction unless waiting risks falling behind.

- Engines: Deathrite Shaman, Wrenn and Six, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, and Orcish Bowmasters are the repeat-resource package. Prioritize protecting engines when they already generate mana, cards, damage, recursion, or board control, but trade them off when the opponent's visible pressure makes life total or planeswalker defense the higher priority.

- Velocity: Questing Druid, Molten Impact, Wrenn and Six, fetch lands, and Deathrite Shaman are the main cards that keep the deck from running out of material or mana. Card text check required for exact Molten Impact and Questing Druid execution; use rules-engine legal actions to determine whether the current mode is selection, removal, card access, or another effect.

- Interaction: Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt are the first-line cheap answers, Bloodchief's Thirst covers additional creature or planeswalker pressure when legal, Abrupt Decay answers low-cost permanents when the engine exposes valid targets, Molten Impact may contribute removal or value depending on legal modes, and Inquisition of Kozilek handles nonbattlefield threats before they resolve. Spend interaction early against fast starts, but preserve the answer that matches the most dangerous visible permanent or revealed card when multiple answers are legal.

- Protection: The deck protects threats mostly by stripping answers with Inquisition of Kozilek, presenting redundant must-answer permanents, and using removal to keep blockers or attackers off the board. It should not assume commander-style protection, equipment protection, or free shields, because none are registered.

- Recursion: Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Deathrite Shaman are the registered recursion or graveyard-resource cards to track, with exact use governed by visible graveyards and legal prompts. Do not assume any graveyard line is available merely because a card is in a graveyard; choose only legal actions surfaced by the engine.

- Mana: Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, Wooded Foothills, Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Forest, Swamp, Deathrite Shaman, and Delighted Halfling form the mana module. Prioritize two-color access by turn one, all three colors by the midgame, and untapped sources when a discard-removal-threat curve is available.

- Sideboard modules: Thoughtseize expands discard against combo, control, and high-impact noncreature plans; Abrupt Decay and Sheoldred's Edict expand interaction against permanents or threats that normal removal may not answer cleanly; Culling Ritual pressures low-cost board floods when legal; Magus of the Moon attacks greedy mana; Surgical Extraction attacks graveyard or redundancy plans; Wrenn and Six increases grind density; Mai, Scornful Striker is a matchup-specific threat or value card pending card text check; Jegantha, the Wellspring is registered sideboard material but must not be treated as a companion or castable resource unless Veles exposes the legal action.

## Primary Win Conditions

- Pressure-backed attrition is the default win path: deploy Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, or Wrenn and Six after the first discard/removal exchange, then force the opponent to answer threats while their best play is constrained by Inquisition of Kozilek, Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, and Molten Impact. Prioritize this line whenever the opening hand has two colors, one cheap interaction spell, and any recurring or snowballing threat.

- Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes is the main top-end board-closing plan: set up with stable red-green mana, enough life to survive the opponent's next visible attack, and preferably a cleared battlefield or discard-protected window. Execute by committing Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when the generated pressure can defend the planeswalker or immediately threaten a fast clock; do not tap out for it into visible lethal, a known combo turn, or a battlefield where the opponent can remove the token and kill the planeswalker for little cost.

- Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion is the main graveyard-value win path when the game becomes one-for-one. Card text check required for exact Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion recursion timing and eligibility; use only legal actions exposed by Veles. Prioritize Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion when graveyards are stocked with cheap registered spells, the opponent is low on visible pressure, and a single turn of reuse can convert Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Inquisition of Kozilek, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, or Molten Impact into material advantage.

- Questing Druid is the main flexible threat-and-card-flow path when the deck needs pressure without overcommitting. Card text check required for exact Questing Druid adventure or exile-access prompts; choose legal actions based on engine text. Prioritize Questing Druid when the hand risks running out of spells, when a creature body matters for pressure or planeswalker defense, or when the opponent is trading one-for-one and cannot punish a modest board commitment.

- Orcish Bowmasters plus removal pressure is the best small-creature and card-draw punishment path. Set up by holding Orcish Bowmasters for a visible draw trigger window only when the rules engine exposes it and tempo allows; otherwise cast it as an early threat when the body, token, and damage pressure matter. Prioritize this line against opponents relying on small creatures, planeswalkers vulnerable to damage, or repeated draw actions visible in public information.

## Secondary Win Conditions

- Deathrite Shaman can become a reach and resource engine when graveyards are populated. Use it first for mana when accelerating into Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes changes the turn cycle; shift to damage or life-related legal actions only when the engine offers them and the race or life total makes that mode more valuable than mana.

- Lightning Bolt and Molten Impact can close games after creature or planeswalker pressure has reduced life totals. Preserve direct-damage legal actions when the opponent is near lethal range unless a visible creature, planeswalker, or combo piece must die immediately. Card text check required for exact Molten Impact modes and damage targets; do not assume face damage, selection, or removal unless the current legal action says so.

- Wrenn and Six is a resource-loop path with fetch lands rather than a standalone kill. Use Wrenn and Six to recover Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, or Wooded Foothills when land drops, color access, graveyard fuel, or repeated shuffling matter; use damage-style legal actions to control one-toughness creatures or pressure planeswalkers when exposed by the engine. Prioritize Wrenn and Six in grindy games where mana development and card economy beat immediate creature pressure.

- Delighted Halfling is not a win condition, but it enables faster high-impact permanents. Prioritize it when the hand contains Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes and already has interaction; deprioritize it when the opponent's visible board demands Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, or Molten Impact before acceleration.

- Small-creature combat is a real fallback when both players are low on cards. Attack with Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and generated tokens when trades favor the deck's removal-heavy follow-up, but hold creatures back when they are protecting Wrenn and Six or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes from visible attackers.

## Emergency Lines

- When behind on life, stabilize before extracting value. Spend Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, and legal Molten Impact actions on the highest-damage visible threats, fetch shock lands conservatively when colors allow, and use Deathrite Shaman life-related legal actions only if the engine exposes them and the life swing matters this turn cycle.

- When behind on board, trade resources aggressively until a planeswalker or value creature can survive. Do not save removal for abstract future threats if the current battlefield creates lethal, attacks Wrenn and Six or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes profitably, or prevents attacks from becoming safe.

- When behind on cards, shift into recursive and card-access lines. Prioritize Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six returning fetch lands, and Deathrite Shaman mana development over low-impact burn to the opponent unless burn creates visible lethal or prevents a decisive planeswalker activation.

- When behind on mana, protect fetch-land sequencing and cheap plays. Use Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, and Wooded Foothills to secure missing colors, value Deathrite Shaman and Delighted Halfling as catch-up engines, and avoid hands or lines that require double-spell turns without the visible mana to support them.

- When engines are removed, win by redundancy rather than waiting for a specific card. Replace Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion with Questing Druid or Wrenn and Six value, replace Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes pressure with creature combat plus Lightning Bolt reach, and replace Deathrite Shaman acceleration with fetch-land discipline and cheaper interaction.

- When facing graveyard recursion or combo pressure, use discard and removal to break the decisive window. Inquisition of Kozilek should take the visible or revealed enabler when legal, Deathrite Shaman should use graveyard-interaction legal actions only when they target the relevant public card, and all commitment to slow value must pause if the opponent presents a near-term public combo line.

## Resource Model

- Life is a spendable resource only when the exchange preserves tempo or unlocks the required colors. Fetching Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, or Stomping Ground untapped is acceptable to cast Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Deathrite Shaman, Inquisition of Kozilek, or Abrupt Decay on time; fetch conservatively when the opponent's visible pressure makes each shock-land point matter more than a faster double-spell turn.

- Hand cards are the deck's main long-game currency, so trade them for time, information, and permanent advantage. Spend Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, and Molten Impact on threats that change the next combat or planeswalker turn, then rebuild with Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when the board is stable enough.

- Mana converts directly into tempo because most spells are cheap and double-spelling is the default way to pull ahead. Prefer turns that pair interaction with Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, or Inquisition of Kozilek over single low-impact plays unless Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes or Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion will dominate the board immediately.

- Board presence is defensive before it is aggressive against fast starts. Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and token bodies should protect Wrenn and Six or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when visible attackers threaten them; attack only when the remaining board plus removal can handle the opponent's next combat.

- Graveyards are active resources for Deathrite Shaman, Wrenn and Six, and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion. Preserve Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, and Wooded Foothills as fuel when colors are already secure; target public graveyard cards with Deathrite Shaman only when the engine exposes a legal action and the selected card matters for mana, race math, or opponent recursion.

- Exile is a conditional resource mainly through Questing Druid and possibly sideboard Surgical Extraction. Card text check required for exact Questing Druid exile-access timing and exact Surgical Extraction use; play exiled cards only when the legal action advances board, mana, or interaction this turn cycle rather than draining mana from a necessary response.

- Lands are both color sources and recursive material. Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, and Wooded Foothills support revolt-style Fatal Push timing if the engine exposes the relevant state, stock graveyards, and give Wrenn and Six repeatable land drops; do not spend a fetch casually when a later shuffle, color correction, or graveyard action is more valuable.

- Sacrifice fodder is limited and should not be assumed. There is no broad main-deck sacrifice engine; treat generated Orcish Bowmasters tokens, Questing Druid bodies, Deathrite Shaman, and Delighted Halfling as board pieces first unless a visible legal action explicitly asks for a sacrifice or a sideboard card changes the texture.

- Information is strongest when it changes immediate sequencing. Use Inquisition of Kozilek and post-board Thoughtseize to identify whether to hold removal, commit Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, deploy Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, or race with burn; do not act on hidden-card guesses beyond archetype-level risk.

- Sideboard bullets convert narrow resources into matchup-specific tools. Thoughtseize adds proactive information and disruption, Surgical Extraction pressures public graveyards, Culling Ritual punishes low-cost permanent clusters, Sheoldred's Edict answers threats that dodge targeted removal, Magus of the Moon attacks fragile mana, Mai, Scornful Striker and Jegantha, the Wellspring require card text checks, and extra Abrupt Decay or Wrenn and Six increases interaction or grind.

## Mana Guide

- Build early mana around black and red first, then green. Black enables Fatal Push, Inquisition of Kozilek, Bloodchief's Thirst, Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Abrupt Decay, and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; red enables Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, Wrenn and Six, Questing Druid, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; green enables Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Questing Druid, Abrupt Decay, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes.

- Fetch the land that casts the next two turns, not only the current spell. Bloodstained Mire should usually secure Blood Crypt when black-red interaction is needed, Verdant Catacombs should often secure Overgrown Tomb when green-black development matters, and Wooded Foothills should often secure Stomping Ground when red-green planeswalker or Questing Druid lines matter; adjust only to visible legal needs.

- Keep hands with two functional mana sources, at least one early play, and a credible color path. A one-land hand needs Deathrite Shaman or Delighted Halfling plus a legal route to cast interaction, and it becomes risky without fetch land, green access, or a second land soon. A three-land hand is strong when it supports double-spell turns and at least one high-impact card.

- Mulligan mana that cannot cast spells on time. Hands with only Stomping Ground plus black spells, only Swamp plus red-green spells, or fetch choices that cannot produce both early interaction and a turn-three value play should be treated as suspect unless the hand has multiple cheap legal plays and a visible draw plan.

- Sequence Deathrite Shaman and Delighted Halfling as acceleration only when the board permits it. Against visible pressure or known fast starts, cast Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, or Molten Impact first if the threat would punish spending turn mana on setup; when safe, acceleration enables earlier Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, Questing Druid, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes.

- Play lands before draw or exile-access actions when the extra mana is needed for a known legal follow-up. Hold a fetch land until after Questing Druid-style card access or other draw/selection only when current mana already casts all likely follow-ups and the shuffle, landfall/revolt timing, or information from the new card can change the fetch target.

- Use untapped shock lands when passing with interaction matters. Leaving black for Fatal Push or Bloodchief's Thirst, red for Lightning Bolt or Molten Impact, black-green for Abrupt Decay, or two mana for Orcish Bowmasters can be worth life; fetching tapped is better when no legal instant-speed action is needed and life is under pressure.

- Respect Magus of the Moon after boarding as both a plan and a constraint. If Magus of the Moon is in the game plan, fetch Swamp and Forest or the required shock lands before committing it when possible; do not strand Abrupt Decay, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, or sideboard cards by transforming too many lands into red-only sources.

## Mulligan Guide

- Strong keep: Keep two or three mana-source hands that cast a turn-one Deathrite Shaman, Inquisition of Kozilek, Fatal Push, or Lightning Bolt and have a turn-two play such as Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, or Delighted Halfling. The ideal hand has Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, or Wooded Foothills plus a shock land path to black-red-green by turn three.

- Strong keep: Keep hands with Deathrite Shaman plus a fetch land, one cheap removal spell, and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, Questing Druid, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes as the follow-up engine. This hand has mana, graveyard fuel, interaction, and a payoff.

- Medium keep: Keep two-land hands with Orcish Bowmasters plus Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, or Molten Impact even without a planeswalker, especially on the draw. The hand trades early and can win by drawing into Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes.

- Risky keep: Keep one-land hands only when the land is Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, or Wooded Foothills and the hand has Deathrite Shaman or Delighted Halfling plus at least one castable one-mana interaction spell. A one-land Swamp, Forest, Stomping Ground, Blood Crypt, or Overgrown Tomb hand is much worse because it has fewer correction lines.

- Automatic ship: Ship hands with no lands, one non-fetch land and no Deathrite Shaman or Delighted Halfling, five or more lands with no Wrenn and Six or action, or colors that cannot cast the first two turns of spells. Ship hands whose only plays start at Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes unless the matchup is visibly slow and the mana is excellent.

- Matchup-dependent keep: Against fast creature starts, keep removal-heavy hands even if the threat package is slow; Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, Molten Impact, and Orcish Bowmasters are the stabilizing core. Against slow combo or control, prioritize Inquisition of Kozilek, Deathrite Shaman, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and post-board Thoughtseize over redundant creature removal.

- Play/draw adjustment: On the play, value turn-one discard or acceleration because it protects the first engine turn; on the draw, value immediate removal and two-mana interaction because the opponent gets the first board action. A hand that is fine on the play with Delighted Halfling into Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes may be too slow on the draw if it lacks Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, or Bloodchief's Thirst.

- Trap hand: Do not keep a hand just because it has powerful names if it cannot sequence them. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, and Wrenn and Six do not rescue an opening hand that cannot cast black interaction, cannot reach green-red, or folds to the first visible creature.

## Turn Arc

- Turn 1: Prefer a fetch land that enables the next two turns, then cast Deathrite Shaman, Inquisition of Kozilek, Fatal Push, or Lightning Bolt according to pressure. Lead on Inquisition of Kozilek when the opponent is likely to have a key noncreature or removal spell and the board is empty; lead on Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt when a visible creature will punish waiting; lead on Deathrite Shaman when mana acceleration and graveyard fuel are safe.

- Turn 1 deviation: Cast Delighted Halfling only when the next play is a high-impact legendary spell or permanent and the opponent's first turn does not demand removal. If the hand already has enough lands, Delighted Halfling is less urgent than protecting life total or clearing the way for Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes.

- Turn 2: Prefer double-spell interaction when possible, especially removal plus Deathrite Shaman, Inquisition of Kozilek plus Fatal Push, or Lightning Bolt plus Deathrite Shaman. Cast Orcish Bowmasters when the legal timing punishes a draw action, blocks profitably, or supplies pressure while holding removal; cast Questing Druid when the battlefield is stable enough to use the extra material. Card text check required for exact Questing Druid adventure/exile timing.

- Turn 2 deviation: Use Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, or Molten Impact on the permanent that most threatens the next two turns, not simply the first legal target. Card text check required for exact Molten Impact modes and damage rules; choose only legal targets exposed by Veles.

- Turn 3: Prefer the first durable advantage piece if the opponent is contained. Wrenn and Six is strongest when recurring Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, or Wooded Foothills matters; Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion is strongest when the graveyard and hand create immediate follow-up value; Questing Druid is strongest when mana remains for interaction; Abrupt Decay plus a one-mana spell is often better than tapping out.

- Turn 3 deviation: Delay Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion or Wrenn and Six when visible attackers can kill the permanent immediately or when the opponent has known interaction from Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Spend the turn trading resources first if Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes will become safe on turn four.

- Turns 4-5: Deploy Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when it creates a clock or stabilizes through a token while removal covers the largest counterattack. Prefer turns that pair Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, or Wrenn and Six with Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, or Orcish Bowmasters over tapping out into a visible losing race.

- Late game: Convert every resource into pressure or cards. Use Deathrite Shaman actions only when the public graveyard target advances mana, life race, or denial; recur lands with Wrenn and Six when land drops, fetch fuel, or discard protection matters; pressure planeswalkers and life totals with Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes while holding removal for the threat that changes combat math.

## Card Roles

- Deathrite Shaman: Treat Deathrite Shaman as the deck's best turn-one accelerant when a fetch land or early exchange can stock a graveyard. Use it to jump from one mana into Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, Questing Druid plus interaction, or an earlier Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, but do not spend its activation casually when the same graveyard card may matter for mana fixing, life racing, or denying the opponent. Against aggressive decks, prioritize life-total stabilizing or mana acceleration over small drain lines unless the drain creates a clear race advantage. Against graveyard decks, use Deathrite Shaman as repeatable pressure on public graveyard resources, but only target cards Veles shows as legal and public. The common mistake is treating Deathrite Shaman as merely a threat; in this deck it is also color smoothing, turn compression, and graveyard control.

- Delighted Halfling: Use Delighted Halfling as acceleration and protection for legendary plays, especially Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, and Wrenn and Six. Cast it early when the hand needs to reach a legendary payoff or when the opponent is unlikely to punish a low-impact creature. Hold or deprioritize it when the first turns require Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Inquisition of Kozilek, or Deathrite Shaman. The main synergy is enabling a powerful permanent while keeping future mana flexible; the main mistake is spending turn one on Delighted Halfling against a board where a visible creature or known combo piece demands interaction.

- Inquisition of Kozilek: Use Inquisition of Kozilek to clear the path for engines, disrupt cheap combo pieces, and choose the opposing card that most affects the next two turns. On turn one, lead with it when the battlefield is empty and the opponent's archetype can punish an unchecked hand. After seeing the hand, convert that information into sequencing: protect Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes from known removal, save Abrupt Decay for known permanents, or hold Lightning Bolt for a creature the opponent must expose. Do not cast Inquisition of Kozilek after committing a fragile engine if the same mana could have removed the known blocker or threat first.

- Fatal Push: Use Fatal Push as the cleanest answer to early creatures and as the best way to regain tempo after the opponent commits to the board. Pair it with Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, or Wooded Foothills when revolt-like conditions are visible and legal, but do not assume revolt or target legality unless Veles exposes it. Hold Fatal Push when Lightning Bolt can answer the current creature and Fatal Push is needed for a larger follow-up. Against creature-light control, it is a low-priority card and should often be converted into time only when an actual creature threatens a planeswalker or life total.

- Lightning Bolt: Use Lightning Bolt as flexible interaction that can kill early creatures, finish planeswalkers, and close games. In the first turns, spend it on creatures that will snowball or invalidate Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. In the late game, preserve Lightning Bolt when the opponent is near lethal range or when planeswalker loyalty matters. Do not fire Lightning Bolt at the opponent just because it is legal; this deck wins many games by trading efficiently first and converting engines into inevitability.

- Bloodchief's Thirst: Use Bloodchief's Thirst as scalable removal when Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt does not line up cleanly. Early, it is a one-mana stabilizer; later, it can answer larger creatures or planeswalkers if the kicked or alternate legal action is available. Card text check required for exact available modes shown by the rules engine. Preserve it against decks with must-answer permanents if Abrupt Decay is not available. The mistake is spending Bloodchief's Thirst on a minor target when a cheap red or black spell would handle the same threat and leave Bloodchief's Thirst for a harder permanent.

- Abrupt Decay: Use Abrupt Decay as premium insurance against cheap permanents that Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, or Bloodchief's Thirst cannot answer efficiently. Hold it for cards that change the texture of the game: engines, hate permanents, small planeswalkers, strong blockers, or combo pieces. Against blue decks, its reliability matters; against large-threat decks, it may be narrower and should be spent before it becomes stranded. Do not waste Abrupt Decay on a creature that can be killed by Lightning Bolt unless the current turn requires exact mana or prevents a severe tempo loss.

- Molten Impact: Treat Molten Impact as conditional red interaction until card text is verified. Card text check required for exact modes, target restrictions, damage amount, exile or graveyard clauses, and any perpetual or digital-only text. Use it only when Veles presents a legal action whose visible target and label clearly match the desired exchange. In tactical planning, count it as part of the removal density, but avoid relying on it for exact lethal, exact planeswalker math, or specific replacement effects unless the runtime action text confirms the result.

- Orcish Bowmasters: Use Orcish Bowmasters as a flash-speed punishment card, a combat stabilizer, and a source of incremental pressure. Cast it when the opponent is about to draw extra cards if the rules engine exposes the window, when the body blocks profitably, or when the ping plus token changes combat or planeswalker math. It pairs well with discard and removal because Jund can force the opponent into awkward low-resource turns while Bowmasters attacks from multiple bodies. Do not run Orcish Bowmasters into open removal just to add power unless the board requires a blocker or the opponent's draw effect makes waiting worse.

- Questing Druid: Use Questing Druid as a two-part value threat when the battlefield is stable enough to profit from extra cards or future growth. Card text check required for exact adventure, exile, casting window, and growth trigger wording. In practice, prefer Questing Druid when the hand has mana to use the material it generates or when removal has already contained the opponent's pressure. It is strong in attrition mirrors and weaker when spending mana on it lets a fast creature deck widen the board. Do not cast the value half into a turn where you cannot use the resources and will die to visible attackers.

- Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion: Use Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion as a graveyard-driven engine after trades have happened and the opponent's immediate answer has been checked by discard or pressure. Card text check required for exact graveyard casting restrictions, timing, and mana-value limits. The best Jarsyl turns follow Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Inquisition of Kozilek, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, or fetch-land exchanges that create relevant graveyard options. Protect Jarsyl by removing attackers first when possible; do not deploy it into a board where it dies before generating value unless waiting loses more material.

- Wrenn and Six: Use Wrenn and Six to turn fetch lands into repeated land drops, color stability, and long-game inevitability. Recurring Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, or Wooded Foothills fuels Deathrite Shaman, fixes shock-land access, and protects against missing future land drops for Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. Use the damage ability when it kills a meaningful creature, pressures a planeswalker, or protects Wrenn and Six from immediate combat. Do not expose Wrenn and Six into a board that can attack it down for free unless the recursion immediately fixes a critical mana problem.

- Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes: Use Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes as the highest-impact finisher and stabilizer when four mana is available and the board can support a planeswalker. It can pressure life totals, attack opposing planeswalkers, and convert a creature into cards or damage when legal actions show that line. Card text is broadly known, but still obey Veles action text for target and sacrifice choices. Cast Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when removal can clear the largest counterattack or when the token changes the race immediately. Do not tap out for it into a visible lethal swing if cheaper interaction prevents the loss.

- Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, and Wooded Foothills: Use fetch lands as color fixing, graveyard fuel, revolt support for Fatal Push when legal, and recursion targets for Wrenn and Six. Choose shock lands by the next two turns, not only the current spell: black on turn one supports Deathrite Shaman, Inquisition of Kozilek, Fatal Push, and Bloodchief's Thirst; red supports Lightning Bolt and Molten Impact; green supports Questing Druid, Abrupt Decay, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. Do not fetch unnecessary untapped shock lands when life total matters against fast starts.

- Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, and Stomping Ground: Use shock lands to assemble black-red-green while controlling life loss. Blood Crypt is the most common early interaction land because it casts black discard/removal and red removal; Overgrown Tomb supports Deathrite Shaman, Fatal Push, Abrupt Decay, and Questing Druid; Stomping Ground supports red removal and green engines. Fetch basics only when Blood Moon-like effects are visible or life total and color needs allow it. The mistake is taking damage for colors that are not needed before the next known decision.

- Swamp and Forest: Use Swamp and Forest as life-preserving, disruption-resistant basics when they still cast the hand. Swamp supports black one-mana interaction and Deathrite Shaman, while Forest supports green engines and Delighted Halfling but may strand red or black-heavy hands. Fetch basics when the opponent pressures life total, when Magus of the Moon-style effects are expected post-board, or when Wrenn and Six plus fetches already cover future colors. Do not over-prioritize basics if doing so prevents casting Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes on time.

## Interaction Priorities

- Remove mana engines and snowball permanents first when they compress the opponent's future turns. Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, and Molten Impact should first answer creatures or permanents that generate mana, cards, repeatable damage, or protected combat math. Do not spend premium removal on a low-impact attacker when Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes can already race or block it.

- Use discard to clear the card that invalidates the next two turns, not merely the strongest card in isolation. Inquisition of Kozilek should take cheap interaction, fast engines, combo enablers, or removal for the threat you plan to deploy next. Post-board, Thoughtseize can take larger threats and sweepers; use that wider reach to protect Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Magus of the Moon, or a removal-heavy stabilization line.

- Prioritize Fatal Push and Bloodchief's Thirst for cheap creatures before using Abrupt Decay on the same class of target. Abrupt Decay is the safer answer to noncreature permanents, small planeswalkers, hate pieces, or permanents that Lightning Bolt cannot cleanly kill. Lightning Bolt should preserve tempo, finish planeswalkers, answer haste pressure, or close lethal; avoid firing it at a creature that can be ignored for one turn unless life total or planeswalker loyalty demands it.

- Treat Molten Impact as flexible interaction only when the Veles legal action text confirms the target and effect. Card text check required. If the prompt presents it as removal, rank it near Lightning Bolt for tempo exchanges; if it has exile, damage, or alternate modes, rely only on visible engine text and do not assume exact graveyard or lethal implications.

- Use Deathrite Shaman exile choices to deny resources before gaining marginal value. Exile opposing graveyard cards that enable recursion, delve-like costs, flashback-like permissions, death triggers, or known graveyard engines before using Deathrite Shaman for incidental life or damage. When Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion is active or expected, preserve your own graveyard cards that are likely to become legal resources unless survival requires using them.

- Bait removal with redundant threats before committing the unique engine when the clock permits. Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, and Questing Druid can draw out cheap interaction before Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. Do not bait when the opponent's visible board threatens lethal or when the legal action list offers a clean high-impact play now.

- Ignore low-impact creatures when life total, planeswalker loyalty, and combat math remain safe. Jund wins many games by trading removal for engines rather than every body. Against fast creature decks, this rule changes: remove the creature that increases the next combat most, especially if it forces bad blocks or turns shock-land damage into a liability. Against control, hold removal for must-answer threats and pressure planeswalkers or life totals with creatures instead.

- This deck does not counter or bounce spells in the registered list. If Veles exposes no counter or bounce action, do not reason as if one exists. If an opponent spell must be stopped, the available tools are discard before it resolves, removal after it resolves, Abrupt Decay for eligible permanents, Sheoldred's Edict for suitable post-board threats, Culling Ritual for low-cost boards, or Surgical Extraction only when a legal graveyard target and strategic reason are visible.

## Combat And Trading Rules

- Attack when pressure does not expose the engine that is carrying the game. Deathrite Shaman and Orcish Bowmasters can chip in when their tap or block role is not needed; keep them back when their ability, token body, or trade stabilizes against visible attackers. Questing Druid should attack after it has grown or when forcing removal is acceptable, but it should stay home if blocking protects Wrenn and Six or buys a Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes turn.

- Preserve Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion unless combat converts it into immediate winning value. Jarsyl is usually worth more as a repeatable resource engine than as a trade with an ordinary attacker. Block with Jarsyl only when the alternative is losing a planeswalker that matters more, falling to a critical life threshold, or dying to visible damage.

- Use Orcish Bowmasters bodies to punish small attackers and awkward blocks. The token and Bowmasters can split combat duties, pressure planeswalkers, or trade with one-toughness creatures while the ping handles another target if the legal action text allows it. Do not trade Bowmasters away before an expected extra-draw window unless survival or planeswalker defense requires the block.

- Protect Wrenn and Six when recurring fetch lands is solving mana or card flow. Trade creatures to keep Wrenn and Six alive if the emblem threat, repeated damage, or Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, and Wooded Foothills recursion will dominate the long game. Let Wrenn and Six take damage only when preserving creatures creates a faster lethal clock or when Wrenn has already produced the needed land value.

- Use Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes to change combat immediately. When Veles offers attacks or sacrifice-style actions from Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, choose lines that either remove an opposing planeswalker, create lethal pressure, or turn a creature into enough cards or damage to break parity. Do not expose Minsc & Boo to a clean counterattack if a cheaper removal spell first clears the largest attacker.

- Trade down against aggro and trade up against midrange. Against fast decks, block earlier, preserve life above burn-range when possible, and spend Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push before shock-land damage compounds. Against midrange, accept trades that load the graveyard for Deathrite Shaman and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, but avoid trading away the only threat when your hand is all removal.

- Race control and combo more aggressively after discard confirms the path. If Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize shows that the opponent lacks immediate punishment, turn Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes sideways to shorten the game. If the revealed hand contains sweepers or removal, stagger threats and keep the minimum board needed for pressure.

- Treat life total as a resource until it changes removal priorities. Above roughly 12 against unknown or slower boards, favor mana efficiency and pressure. At 8 or below against red or wide creature pressure, preserve blockers, fetch basics or tapped shock lands when legal and sufficient, and choose removal that prevents the most next-turn damage. At 4 or below, prioritize survival over long-game value unless the legal action is immediate lethal.

## Selection And Tutor Rules

- Treat this deck as pseudo-selection, not a true tutor deck. Bloodstained Mire, Verdant Catacombs, and Wooded Foothills select mana first, graveyard fuel second, and shuffle quality only incidentally; do not spend a fetch land just to shuffle unless mana is already secure and a visible top-card effect makes the shuffle relevant.

- Fetch for the color pair that unlocks the current hand and the next legal play. Stomping Ground supports Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; Overgrown Tomb supports Deathrite Shaman, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Inquisition of Kozilek, and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; Blood Crypt supports Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Orcish Bowmasters, and discard. Prefer Forest or Swamp only when the life total, opponent pressure, or Magus of the Moon plan makes basic access more important than full color density.

- Sequence land drops around Wrenn and Six before spending the last fetch land. If Wrenn and Six is legal or likely next turn, a fetch land in the graveyard becomes repeated land access, Fatal Push revolt support, Deathrite Shaman material, and a way to keep making land drops. Do not exile your only recurring fetch with Deathrite Shaman when Wrenn and Six is actively solving mana or card flow.

- Use Delighted Halfling to cast high-impact legendary spells when the legal action confirms it helps. Prioritize Delighted Halfling mana for Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when that preserves colored lands for Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Orcish Bowmasters, or Deathrite Shaman activations.

- Use Questing Druid as selection when the hand needs velocity more than a board body. If Veles exposes a card-exile or adventure-style action, choose it when you can use at least one revealed card before the permission expires, when you need land/spell flow, or when extra spell casts grow Questing Druid into a real threat. Card text check required for exact permission duration and casting limits; follow the rules-engine action text.

- Preserve graveyard options for Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion before taking marginal Deathrite Shaman value. Card text check required for exact Jarsyl permissions, but treat visible legal graveyard-cast actions as premium selection because they convert spent Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Inquisition of Kozilek, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, or Molten Impact into new resources. Do not assume a graveyard card is castable unless Veles lists the action.

- Choose discard targets by future bottleneck, not by raw mana value. With Inquisition of Kozilek or post-board Thoughtseize, take the card that beats your current visible line: cheap removal before Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; sweepers before a wide Orcish Bowmasters plus token board; combo pieces before pressure; planeswalker answers before Wrenn and Six or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes. If the hand contains only interchangeable threats, take the card your current removal cannot answer cleanly.

## Priority And Stack Rules

- Act at sorcery speed when the play improves board position and no instant-speed information is needed. Cast Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes in main phases when mana use is efficient and the opponent has not shown a reason to wait.

- Hold instant-speed removal for the last safe window when waiting creates information. Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst if legally instant-speed only, Molten Impact if the engine presents it as instant-speed, and post-board Sheoldred's Edict should answer attacks, equipment-style commitments, sacrifice targets, or planeswalker pressure after the opponent commits resources. If waiting risks lethal damage, a protected combo, or losing a planeswalker that matters, act immediately.

- Let low-impact spells resolve when removal after resolution is cleaner. Jund has no registered counterspell, so the stack plan is discard before casting, kill or edict after resolution, or Abrupt Decay eligible permanents after they land. Do not spend Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push into a stack window unless Veles shows a legal target and the spell or ability will change combat, loyalty, life total, or a triggered outcome that matters.

- Respond to extra-card-draw and one-toughness events with Orcish Bowmasters when Veles exposes the trigger or target choice. Aim damage at the creature, planeswalker, or opponent that changes the current exchange most; do not invent a Bowmasters trigger if the rules engine has not presented one. Preserve Bowmasters before expected draw steps or cantrip chains unless blocking is required for survival.

- Use Deathrite Shaman activations at the window that denies the opponent the most. Exile opposing instants, sorceries, creatures, or lands in response to visible graveyard use when legal; otherwise activate on end step when mana was not needed for interaction. Prefer mana generation early, graveyard denial against recursion, life gain against burn pressure, and life loss when closing the game.

- Spend Abrupt Decay on stack-adjacent threats only after verifying the permanent is legal. Abrupt Decay is strongest against cheap permanents that dodge Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push, but it cannot answer everything. If Veles does not list the target, choose a different legal interaction or pass.

- Treat optional payments and triggered choices as tactical commitments. Pay costs or choose triggers from Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, Deathrite Shaman, or post-board cards only when the visible action advances mana, pressure, card flow, or survival. Decline optional value when it consumes mana needed for removal, a discard follow-up, or a planeswalker-protecting play.

- Use combat priority windows to convert removal into better blocks or attacks. Kill the creature that changes damage math before blockers if it prevents the most damage; kill after blockers if the opponent has already made a bad attack and the removal preserves a creature or planeswalker. Do not pass a visible lethal-prevention window while holding a legal Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, or Sheoldred's Edict action.

## Sideboard Map

- Sideboarding must preserve the deck's Jund midrange identity: early discard or removal, mana-efficient pressure, planeswalker advantage, and graveyard utility. Add role cards to answer the opponent's axis, then reduce main-deck emphasis from the least relevant removal, discard, mana creature, or expensive threat package for the visible matchup.

- Thoughtseize is the broad anti-combo, anti-control, and anti-big-spell card. Add Thoughtseize when the opponent's most important cards are noncreature engines, sweepers, counterplay, planeswalkers, graveyard enablers, or expensive haymakers that Inquisition of Kozilek may miss. Thoughtseize is worse against very low-curve aggro, burn-heavy decks, and board states where life total is the binding resource; in those matchups it shifts from a default early play to a selective answer for a single must-stop card.

- Wrenn and Six is the extra attrition engine for fair, creature-light, and land-resource games. Add Wrenn and Six when repeated fetch land recursion, one-damage pressure, and land-drop certainty matter more than immediate removal density. Wrenn and Six is poor when the opponent attacks it cleanly on turn two, ignores land resources, or presents threats that survive the loyalty-minus mode without losing tempo.

- Surgical Extraction is graveyard pressure and combo disruption, not a generic value card. Add Surgical Extraction when a specific opposing graveyard card is a known engine, recursion target, combo piece, or duplicate threat that discard and removal can place into the graveyard first. Surgical Extraction is weak when the opponent uses the graveyard incidentally, when card count matters more than precision, or when using it would leave the deck down material without denying a real line.

- Mai, Scornful Striker is a matchup-specific threat or utility creature only after card text is verified. Card text check required. Add Mai, Scornful Striker when the legal actions and visible text show it improves creature combat, pressure, or attrition in a way the main deck lacks; avoid it when the opponent's removal makes extra creatures low-impact or when its text does not line up with the matchup.

- Culling Ritual is the high-impact reset against cheap permanent density. Add Culling Ritual against token boards, artifact-heavy starts, low-cost creature swarms, cheap enchantment engines, and decks that deploy multiple permanents with mana value two or less. Culling Ritual is bad against sparse threats, high-mana permanents, creature-light control, and matchups where destroying Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Orcish Bowmasters tokens, or Questing Druid would harm your own board more than the opponent's.

- Abrupt Decay is the fourth flexible permanent answer. Add Abrupt Decay when the opponent relies on cheap permanents that Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Bloodchief's Thirst, or Molten Impact do not answer cleanly, especially noncreature engines, small planeswalkers, artifacts, enchantments, and creatures outside damage range. Abrupt Decay is lower priority when the opponent presents mostly large creatures, spell-based combo, or lands as its key resources.

- Sheoldred's Edict is the clean answer for single protected creatures, large creatures, and planeswalkers. Add Sheoldred's Edict when targeted removal is unreliable, when the opponent plays one major threat at a time, or when planeswalkers are a major axis. Sheoldred's Edict is weak into tokens, expendable creature boards, and decks that naturally leave small permanents available to sacrifice.

- Magus of the Moon is the mana-punishment plan that changes your own sequencing. Add Magus of the Moon against greedy multicolor mana, land-combo shells, and decks where turning nonbasic lands into Mountains limits interaction or key spells. Before relying on Magus of the Moon, fetch Forest and Swamp when legal and tactically possible, because this deck also uses Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Verdant Catacombs, Bloodstained Mire, and Wooded Foothills heavily. Magus of the Moon is poor when the opponent already functions on red mana, has basics, or can remove a creature cheaply while you damage your own mana.

- Jegantha, the Wellspring is primarily companion access or a late-game resource when the rules engine exposes it legally. Card text check required for all companion and activation details. Use Jegantha, the Wellspring when the matchup is grindy and paying for a companion does not cost a critical interaction turn; do not prioritize it in fast games where four or five mana spent away from Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Abrupt Decay, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, or Sheoldred's Edict changes survival.

Anti-combo and spell-engine plan
Side in: 4 Thoughtseize; 1 Surgical Extraction; 1 Wrenn and Six
Cut: 3 Abrupt Decay; 2 Bloodchief's Thirst; 1 Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes

- Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Surgical Extraction, and Wrenn and Six increase proactive disruption, graveyard precision, and land-flow consistency. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Bloodchief's Thirst and Abrupt Decay lose value when the opponent's core cards are spells or graveyard engines rather than battlefield permanents, and one Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes can be slow if the early turns are about preventing a decisive setup.

Creature swarm and cheap-permanent plan
Side in: 2 Culling Ritual; 1 Abrupt Decay; 2 Sheoldred's Edict
Cut: 2 Inquisition of Kozilek; 2 Delighted Halfling; 1 Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes

- Add role cards: Culling Ritual, Abrupt Decay, and Sheoldred's Edict increase board control against many small permanents plus a few large or protected threats. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Inquisition of Kozilek loses power after the opponent empties its hand, Delighted Halfling is fragile in creature combat, and one Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes is less important when stabilizing the battlefield is the first job.

Greedy mana and big-resource plan
Side in: 2 Magus of the Moon; 4 Thoughtseize; 1 Wrenn and Six
Cut: 2 Bloodchief's Thirst; 2 Fatal Push; 2 Delighted Halfling; 1 Molten Impact

- Add role cards: Magus of the Moon attacks mana, Thoughtseize clears removal or payoff spells, and Wrenn and Six helps keep lands flowing while pressuring small creatures or planeswalkers. Reduce main-deck emphasis: some Fatal Push and Bloodchief's Thirst are less reliable against noncreature engines or large threats, Delighted Halfling can be lower impact when the plan is disruption into mana denial, and one Molten Impact may be redundant when the opponent is not primarily a creature deck.

Fair midrange and control attrition plan
Side in: 4 Thoughtseize; 1 Wrenn and Six; 1 Abrupt Decay; 2 Sheoldred's Edict; 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
Cut: 4 Fatal Push; 2 Delighted Halfling; 1 Bloodchief's Thirst; 1 Lightning Bolt; 1 Questing Druid

- Add role cards: Thoughtseize protects Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; Abrupt Decay and Sheoldred's Edict diversify answers; Jegantha, the Wellspring gives a companion or late resource when legal. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push declines against creature-light builds, Delighted Halfling is weaker into removal-heavy games, and small amounts of burn or Questing Druid pressure can make room for cards that trade on higher-value axes.

- Adjust plans by observed cards, not by archetype label alone. If the opponent shows many one-toughness creatures or tokens, keep more Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Orcish Bowmasters, and Molten Impact. If the opponent shows few creatures and many noncreature engines, prioritize Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Surgical Extraction, Abrupt Decay, and Magus of the Moon according to the legal threats visible in the game log.

## Matchup Guidance

- Aggro: Prioritize survival before card advantage, because Jund Midrange wins creature races by trading early and letting Deathrite Shaman, Questing Druid, Orcish Bowmasters, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes take over after the first wave is contained. Keep one-mana removal highly when the opponent presents early creatures; Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, and Abrupt Decay should answer damage now rather than chase theoretical higher value. Add role cards: Culling Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict, and sometimes Mai, Scornful Striker after card text check if it improves combat or stabilizing. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Inquisition of Kozilek and Delighted Halfling when the opponent empties its hand quickly or pressures mana creatures.

- Control: Lead with discard and must-answer threats rather than removal density, because control matchups are decided by forcing a threat through and denying the answer that matters. Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize should take sweepers, planeswalker answers, counterplay, or card-advantage engines when visible; do not fire discard into an empty or low-impact hand if a battlefield action advances pressure. Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes are commitment-gate cards: cast them when the visible shields are down, when waiting exposes you to worse card advantage, or when discard has cleared the key answer. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict, and Jegantha, the Wellspring when legal and tempo permits. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push, some Bloodchief's Thirst, Delighted Halfling, and excess small burn when the opponent shows few creatures.

- Combo: Disrupt the setup before developing slow pressure, because this deck's clock is meaningful only if the opponent loses a key card or resource first. Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize should take payoff, enabler, protection, or card selection according to the visible hand and the current turn cycle; prefer the card that lets the opponent win or lock the game before your next meaningful interaction. Deathrite Shaman and Surgical Extraction become precision tools when the opponent relies on graveyard cards, repeated names, or a single exposed resource. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Surgical Extraction, Wrenn and Six, and Magus of the Moon against land- or color-dependent combo. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Bloodchief's Thirst, Fatal Push, and Abrupt Decay when the opponent's decisive cards are not creatures or cheap permanents.

- Tempo: Trade mana efficiently and avoid tapping out into an obvious punish, because tempo decks convert one missed interaction window into a lost race. Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Molten Impact, and Bloodchief's Thirst should answer threats while preserving the ability to add a cheap threat or discard spell in the same turn when legal. Orcish Bowmasters is high leverage against visible draw effects and small creatures, but do not rely on hidden draw spells being present. Questing Druid is strong when it lets you spend mana across turns without exposing a single expensive card to counterplay. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict, and Wrenn and Six. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes or Delighted Halfling when they are too slow or fragile against visible pressure.

- Midrange: Preserve two-for-one engines and make every removal spell line up cleanly, because the mirror-like games punish spending Abrupt Decay or Sheoldred's Edict on a low-value permanent while a bigger threat remains. Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, and Jegantha, the Wellspring are the cards that can break parity when legal and protected. Use Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize to clear the answer to the threat you will actually cast, not merely the strongest card in isolation. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict, and Jegantha, the Wellspring. Reduce main-deck emphasis: excess Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt when the opponent's threats outgrow damage removal.

- Big mana: Attack mana and payoff timing rather than small battlefield exchanges, because removal-heavy hands can look functional while failing to stop the decisive spell. Magus of the Moon is a commitment card that requires fetching Forest and Swamp when legal and practical before it enters; do not strand your own Abrupt Decay, Deathrite Shaman, Questing Druid, or Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion without a reason. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek should take payoff, enabler, or answer to Magus of the Moon based on visible hand texture. Add role cards: Magus of the Moon, Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Surgical Extraction when graveyard or repeated land-resource patterns matter, and Sheoldred's Edict for single large threats. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push, Bloodchief's Thirst, and some Molten Impact when small creatures are not the axis.

- Graveyard: Use Deathrite Shaman as interaction before using it as incidental value when the graveyard is a live resource. Surgical Extraction is best after discard, removal, fetch-land exchange, or a visible graveyard placement exposes the exact card that matters; do not spend it on a name that does not change the opponent's next legal line. Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion may also care about graveyard access; Card text check required, so treat its use as conditional on visible legal action text and the rules engine. Add role cards: Surgical Extraction, Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, and sometimes Culling Ritual if the graveyard deck also uses cheap permanents. Reduce main-deck emphasis: removal that does not answer the engine shown by public information.

- Artifact/enchantment: Prioritize Abrupt Decay and Culling Ritual when the opponent's engine is made of cheap permanents, because Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push may leave the actual resource untouched. Abrupt Decay should answer the permanent that unlocks repeated advantage, mana, or protection when visible. Culling Ritual is strongest when it removes multiple opposing permanents and the resulting mana can be used legally without sacrificing an important own board for little gain. Add role cards: Culling Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Thoughtseize, and Magus of the Moon only if the artifact/enchantment deck also relies on greedy nonbasic mana. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Bloodchief's Thirst and some Fatal Push when creatures are not central.

- Go-wide: Stabilize the board count first, because single-target removal loses when the opponent has many expendable bodies. Orcish Bowmasters tokens, Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Molten Impact, Bloodchief's Thirst, and Abrupt Decay should be used to reduce attacks that change life-total math or protect Culling Ritual timing. Culling Ritual is the key sideboard swing against low-cost token or permanent boards, but avoid destroying your own Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Orcish Bowmasters token, or Questing Druid unless the exchange clearly prevents more damage or opens a winning follow-up. Add role cards: Culling Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict only if a large threat appears, and Mai, Scornful Striker after card text check.

- Single-threat: Save the cleanest answer for the threat that actually matters, because these decks often make Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt look awkward against one protected creature or planeswalker. Sheoldred's Edict is premium when the opponent controls only one meaningful creature or planeswalker; delay it if visible tokens or expendable creatures would absorb the effect. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek should remove protection or the threat before it resolves when possible. Add role cards: Sheoldred's Edict, Thoughtseize, Abrupt Decay, and Wrenn and Six. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Culling Ritual unless the deck also shows cheap support permanents.

- Burn: Treat life total as the primary resource and fetch shock lands conservatively, because Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, and Stomping Ground can make the opponent's reach lethal. Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, and Abrupt Decay should remove creatures that represent repeated damage; do not overpay life for mana unless the legal play prevents more damage than it costs. Deathrite Shaman can matter as graveyard interaction or life buffer only when the rules engine exposes a legal ability and appropriate cards exist. Add role cards: Thoughtseize only when taking a high-impact spell is worth the life cost, Sheoldred's Edict for larger single threats, and Wrenn and Six when it answers small creatures or improves land stability. Reduce main-deck emphasis: slow Jegantha, the Wellspring plans and expensive threat turns that do not affect damage.

- Removal-heavy decks: Do not overcommit creatures into one-for-one exchanges when a planeswalker, adventure-style resource, companion access, or graveyard-recursion line can stretch their answers. Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, and Jegantha, the Wellspring are the pressure sources to prioritize after discard clears the most relevant answer. Delighted Halfling is stronger when it makes a key threat uncounterable or accelerates safely, but weaker when it simply dies before producing value. Add role cards: Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Jegantha, the Wellspring, Abrupt Decay, and Sheoldred's Edict. Reduce main-deck emphasis: Fatal Push and Bloodchief's Thirst when the opponent wins through noncreature value rather than creatures.

## Specific Matchup Notes
- General/archetype-only: Use these notes as assumptions until the opponent reveals cards; visible cards, legal actions, public zones, and rules-engine prompts override every matchup label. Prioritize discard targets by the opponent's next decisive legal line, then choose removal or threat deployment around that information.

- Fast creature starts: Keep hands that can cast Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Bloodchief's Thirst, Molten Impact, Abrupt Decay, or Orcish Bowmasters early, because falling behind makes Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion harder to protect. Likely sideboarding adds Culling Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict for single large threats, and possibly Mai, Scornful Striker after card text check required. Priority targets are haste threats, snowballing one-drops, token engines, and creatures that make removal awkward.

- Blue or spell-heavy tempo: Lead with Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize when legal before committing Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes into open interaction. Delighted Halfling matters more when it enables a protected high-impact permanent than when it only accelerates a routine creature. Likely sideboarding adds Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict, and Jegantha, the Wellspring. Priority targets are counterspells, card-advantage engines, evasive threats, and bounce or removal that trades up on a closer.

- Combo or graveyard engine: Use discard first, then Surgical Extraction only after a relevant card is visible in a graveyard or the action text confirms a legal target. Deathrite Shaman should pressure graveyards before life-total value when the opponent's public resources make that relevant. Likely sideboarding adds Thoughtseize, Surgical Extraction, Magus of the Moon when mana is exploitable, and sometimes Culling Ritual against cheap permanent engines. Priority targets are the card that starts the combo, the card that protects it, and the graveyard card that changes the next turn.

- Big mana or greedy mana: Fetch basics when practical before committing Magus of the Moon, because Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Verdant Catacombs, Bloodstained Mire, and Wooded Foothills can make your own mana fragile. Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek should take payoff, acceleration, or the answer to Magus of the Moon according to the revealed hand. Likely sideboarding adds Magus of the Moon, Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Sheoldred's Edict, and Jegantha, the Wellspring. Priority targets are mana engines, sweepers that punish overextension, and single large threats.

- Control or removal mirrors: Do not spend all threats into one-for-one removal; sequence Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, and companion access so each card demands a different answer. Save Abrupt Decay for permanents that generate repeated value rather than the first legal target. Likely sideboarding adds Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Jegantha, the Wellspring, Abrupt Decay, and Sheoldred's Edict. Priority targets are planeswalkers, draw engines, sweepers, and exile-style answers to recursive or graveyard-dependent lines.

## Risk Summary
- Mana risk: The deck is powerful but shock-heavy, so unnecessary Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, or Stomping Ground life payments can lose races before midrange cards take over. Fetch Forest or Swamp when the visible matchup rewards Magus of the Moon, Wrenn and Six stability, or conservative life management.

- Matchup risk: Removal-dense hands can be traps against combo, big mana, or control, because Fatal Push, Bloodchief's Thirst, Lightning Bolt, and Molten Impact may not answer the decisive axis. Mulligan or discard decisions should ask whether the hand interacts with the opponent's revealed plan, not whether it has generic spells.

- Draw risk: Flood and threat-light draws need Wrenn and Six, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, or Jegantha, the Wellspring to convert resources into pressure. Do not trade the only closer for a marginal exchange unless survival or a known opposing card requires it.

- Over-sideboarding risk: Do not dilute the main deck into disconnected answers; Deathrite Shaman, Orcish Bowmasters, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes still need to end the game. Add role cards only when they answer the matchup's visible axis.

- Graveyard risk: Deathrite Shaman and Surgical Extraction can be high impact, but spending them on low-impact graveyard cards may leave the real engine intact. Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion may involve graveyard use; card text check required, so follow legal action text and visible targets.

- Sweeper/removal risk: Culling Ritual can be a swing card or self-inflicted damage if it removes your own cheap board without a winning follow-up. Against sweepers, avoid committing every Deathrite Shaman, Delighted Halfling, Orcish Bowmasters, and Questing Druid unless pressure or discard information justifies it.

- Closer risk: Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes and Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion are stronger after discard or when the opponent is tapped down; casting them into open known answers wastes the deck's best parity breakers. Protect closers by clearing the relevant answer rather than the flashiest card.

- Interaction risk: Sheoldred's Edict is weaker into expendable bodies, Abrupt Decay may be needed for noncreature engines, and Lightning Bolt may need to finish a planeswalker or player instead of killing a small creature. Choose interaction by the next public consequence.

- Sequencing risk: Delighted Halfling, Deathrite Shaman, discard, and fetch lands create many legal early lines, but the wrong order can strand colors, miss a discard window, or expose a key permanent. Use the rules engine's current legal actions first, then sequence toward the next protected threat or necessary answer.

## Test Feedback Checklist
- Deciding factor: Identify whether the match was decided by early discard, early removal, mana stability, unanswered Questing Druid, Orcish Bowmasters pressure, Wrenn and Six value, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion recursion, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes closing power.

- Mulligans: Record whether keep decisions had a castable one-mana spell, functional colors, a threat, and matchup-relevant interaction; flag hands that kept Fatal Push or Bloodchief's Thirst against noncreature plans or kept discard without pressure.

- Mana: Track every game where Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, Verdant Catacombs, Bloodstained Mire, or Wooded Foothills life payments changed a race; note whether Forest or Swamp would have preserved life or enabled Magus of the Moon planning.

- Velocity: Check whether Deathrite Shaman or Delighted Halfling accelerated a meaningful follow-up, or merely exposed a low-impact permanent while the hand lacked Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, or Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes.

- Engine performance: Note whether Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and Deathrite Shaman generated repeat value from legal actions and visible resources; write "Card text check required" for any Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion line where card text certainty mattered.

- Removal allocation: Review whether Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, Bloodchief's Thirst, Abrupt Decay, and Sheoldred's Edict answered the next public consequence instead of the first legal target.

- Sideboard impact: Record whether Thoughtseize, Surgical Extraction, Culling Ritual, Magus of the Moon, Abrupt Decay, Wrenn and Six, Sheoldred's Edict, Jegantha, the Wellspring, and Mai, Scornful Striker improved the actual axis of the game; for Mai, Scornful Striker write "Card text check required" until verified.

- Closing: Track games where Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes or Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion ended the game after disruption, and games where the deck stabilized but failed to close before the opponent recovered.

- Role: Mark whether Jund correctly became aggressor against combo or control, defender against fast creature starts, and resource trader in mirrors; flag role confusion such as holding Lightning Bolt too long while behind or spending discard after the key window passed.

- Mistakes: List visible missed land sequencing, preventable shock damage, discard target errors, removal used on low-impact permanents, overextension into known sweepers, and sideboard choices that diluted threat density.

- Stranded cards: Count turns where Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Abrupt Decay, Culling Ritual, Magus of the Moon, or Sheoldred's Edict stayed unusable because of mana, board texture, or opponent threat profile.

- Overperformers and underperformers: Compare card mentions in wins and losses, especially Questing Druid, Orcish Bowmasters, Deathrite Shaman, Molten Impact, Delighted Halfling, Bloodchief's Thirst, and Inquisition of Kozilek.

## First Tuning Questions
- Card quantities: Should Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion remain at 3 if graveyard interaction, mana pressure, or timing windows regularly strand it, or does it deserve the current count because it wins attrition games after discard?

- Card quantities: Should Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes stay at 2, increase as the best closer, or decrease if shock-heavy mana and open interaction make four-mana commitments too risky?

- Mana: Does the deck need a different land balance if Forest and Swamp are repeatedly necessary for life preservation, Magus of the Moon planning, or casting Wrenn and Six through disruption?

- Early mana: Are 2 Delighted Halfling enough for protected legendary threats, or are they weak when the deck needs more removal, discard, or resilient threats?

- Removal mix: Is 4 Fatal Push, 4 Lightning Bolt, 4 Molten Impact, 2 Bloodchief's Thirst, and 3 Abrupt Decay too creature-focused against combo and control, or is the density required to survive Timeless creature starts?

- Discard mix: Should main-deck Inquisition of Kozilek stay at 2 with Thoughtseize in the sideboard, or do repeated combo/control losses require more main-deck discard despite life-total pressure?

- Threat velocity: Does Questing Druid consistently provide pressure and resource flow, or does the deck need a different balance between cheap threats and higher-impact closers?

- Graveyard plan: Is Deathrite Shaman enough game-one graveyard pressure, or do losses to graveyard engines justify more reliance on Surgical Extraction or additional sideboard graveyard slots?

- Aggro plan: Are Culling Ritual, Abrupt Decay, Sheoldred's Edict, Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Molten Impact, and Bloodchief's Thirst producing stabilization, or is the deck losing because removal trades but no stabilizing closer follows?

- Control plan: Are Thoughtseize, Wrenn and Six, Jegantha, the Wellspring, Questing Druid, Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes enough to beat removal mirrors, or does the deck need more resilient card advantage?

- Big-mana plan: Does Magus of the Moon win enough games to justify 2 sideboard slots and basic-fetch discipline, or does it conflict too often with Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb, Stomping Ground, and multicolor spell sequencing?

- Sideboard slots: Does Mai, Scornful Striker justify a slot after card text check required, or should that slot become a clearer role card for aggro, combo, control, or graveyard matchups?

- Role conflicts: Is the deck trying to be discard-tempo, removal-control, and planeswalker midrange in the same post-board games, and which plan actually wins when the opponent's archetype is known?

- Companion access: Does Jegantha, the Wellspring matter in long games often enough to shape sideboard planning, or is it mostly a low-impact fallback when primary threats are answered?

## Veles Tactical Policy

### Policy: Keep Functional Jund Starts
Priority: High
Decision families: mulligan
Cards: Deathrite Shaman; Delighted Halfling; Inquisition of Kozilek; Fatal Push; Lightning Bolt; Orcish Bowmasters; Questing Druid
Phase windows: opening hand; mulligan decisions
Runtime cues: prompt:mulligan; action:keep; action:mulligan
Use when: keep only hands with two lands or one land plus Deathrite Shaman, at least one early legal spell, and access to needed black or red interaction by turn two.
Avoid when: hand lacks colored mana, contains only four-mana threats, or has removal that does not match the visible or known matchup axis.
Instructions: Prefer disruption plus pressure over speculative value; against unknown opponents, value a one-mana play, fetchland, and removal/discard mix.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fetch Basic Or Shock By Role
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana
Cards: Verdant Catacombs; Bloodstained Mire; Wooded Foothills; Blood Crypt; Overgrown Tomb; Stomping Ground; Forest; Swamp; Magus of the Moon
Phase windows: early turns; land searches; pre-Magus sequencing
Runtime cues: action:search library; action:pay 2 life; action:put onto battlefield tapped
Use when: choose lands from visible legal fetch options based on current hand colors, life total, and whether Magus of the Moon is a post-board plan.
Avoid when: shock damage changes a visible race or basic Forest/Swamp already casts the next required spell.
Instructions: Fetch black early for discard/removal, red for Lightning Bolt and Molten Impact, green for Deathrite Shaman, Questing Druid, Wrenn and Six, and Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deploy First Mana Creature
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; priority
Cards: Deathrite Shaman; Delighted Halfling; Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; Wrenn and Six
Phase windows: main phase; early turns
Runtime cues: action:cast Deathrite Shaman; action:cast Delighted Halfling
Use when: cast the available one-mana accelerator before slower threats when it enables turn-two Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion, Wrenn and Six, or faster double-spell turns.
Avoid when: immediate visible removal target or discard spell is required to prevent a known next-turn loss.
Instructions: Prefer Deathrite Shaman when graveyards or drain/mana utility matter; prefer Delighted Halfling when legendary follow-up protection is tactically important.
Pilot skill floor: low
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Use Main-Deck Discard Before Committing Threats
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; priority
Cards: Inquisition of Kozilek; Thoughtseize; Questing Druid; Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Phase windows: precombat main; early turns; before tap-out threats
Runtime cues: action:cast Inquisition of Kozilek; action:cast Thoughtseize
Use when: cast discard before committing a key threat if the opponent has unknown hand cards and the next threat would lose tempo to visible interaction.
Avoid when: opponent is empty-handed, discard is outside legal target range, or board survival requires removal first.
Instructions: Take the card that most directly beats the selected role: combo piece, sweeper, removal for the next threat, or card-advantage engine.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Fatal Push Creature Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Fatal Push; Verdant Catacombs; Bloodstained Mire; Wooded Foothills
Phase windows: opponent combat; end step; main phase when mana-efficient
Runtime cues: action:cast Fatal Push
Use when: a visible creature threatens damage, combo progress, or planeswalker pressure and Fatal Push is legal against that target.
Avoid when: the target is low-impact and a fetchland or other revolt enabler can visibly improve the legal target range later this turn.
Instructions: Preserve Fatal Push for creatures that cannot be cleanly answered by Lightning Bolt or Orcish Bowmasters when public board texture indicates a bigger target is likely.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Direct Damage Allocation
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; combat
Cards: Lightning Bolt; Molten Impact; Orcish Bowmasters; Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Phase windows: combat; end step; lethal setup; planeswalker pressure
Runtime cues: action:cast Lightning Bolt; action:cast Molten Impact
Use when: choose between creature removal, planeswalker pressure, and opponent damage using visible life totals, blockers, and next combat math.
Avoid when: spending burn on the opponent leaves a public creature that races or invalidates current attacks.
Instructions: Treat Lightning Bolt and Molten Impact as flexible reach only after survival and board control are secured; Card text check required for exact Molten Impact modes.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Abrupt Decay Permanent Check
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction
Cards: Abrupt Decay; Culling Ritual; Sheoldred's Edict
Phase windows: main phase; opponent end step; stack windows when legal
Runtime cues: action:cast Abrupt Decay
Use when: a visible nonland permanent is the highest-impact obstacle and Abrupt Decay is legal against it.
Avoid when: a cheaper removal spell answers the same threat or Culling Ritual can answer multiple visible low-cost permanents post-board.
Instructions: Prioritize permanents that stop attacks, enable combo, protect the opponent's plan, or threaten immediate resource snowball.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Orcish Bowmasters Flash Discipline
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; interaction; combat
Cards: Orcish Bowmasters
Phase windows: opponent draw/selection windows; combat; end step
Runtime cues: action:cast Orcish Bowmasters
Use when: the opponent has a visible draw trigger, a one-toughness target, or combat math where the body and damage change blocks or pressure.
Avoid when: casting into open mana exposes it without changing the current public board or next combat.
Instructions: Use Orcish Bowmasters as interaction first and threat second; preserve flash timing when opponent card draw is likely from public actions.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Questing Druid Adventure And Body Timing
Priority: Medium
Decision families: selection; priority; combat
Cards: Questing Druid
Phase windows: main phase; end step; post-removal pressure turns
Runtime cues: action:cast Questing Druid
Use when: the legal action advances pressure or converts spare mana into cards without delaying required interaction.
Avoid when: tapping out prevents a necessary removal spell, discard spell, or post-board answer in the same turn cycle.
Instructions: Treat Questing Druid as the default bridge from attrition to pressure; Card text check required for exact adventure timing and exile-play constraints.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Jarsyl Recursion Commitment Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; selection
Cards: Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion; Fatal Push; Lightning Bolt; Inquisition of Kozilek; Thoughtseize; Deathrite Shaman
Phase windows: main phase after graveyard is stocked; attrition turns
Runtime cues: action:cast Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion
Use when: commit Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion only after visible graveyard resources, mana, and opponent interaction make the recursion turn worth the exposure.
Avoid when: graveyard is empty, opponent has known removal, or the current board requires immediate answer first.
Instructions: Use Jarsyl to reuse cheap interaction and convert trades into inevitability; Card text check required for exact timing and eligible cards.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Minsc And Boo Tap-Out Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: priority; combat
Cards: Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes; Delighted Halfling; Thoughtseize; Inquisition of Kozilek
Phase windows: main phase; post-discard window; stabilizing or closing turns
Runtime cues: action:cast Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
Use when: cast Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes when the visible board can protect it or its immediate output changes the clock or stabilizes combat.
Avoid when: tapping out leaves lethal pressure, known counterplay, or an unanswered permanent that invalidates the planeswalker.
Instructions: Lead with discard when legal and relevant; use Delighted Halfling mana when available for legendary threat reliability.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Wrenn And Six Value Gate
Priority: Medium
Decision families: priority; mana; interaction
Cards: Wrenn and Six; Verdant Catacombs; Bloodstained Mire; Wooded Foothills; Lightning Bolt; Fatal Push
Phase windows: early main phase; land-recursion turns; one-toughness removal spots
Runtime cues: action:cast Wrenn and Six
Use when: Wrenn and Six can recur fetchlands, answer a visible small creature, or provide a durable value engine behind removal.
Avoid when: opponent can attack it down immediately and another legal play stabilizes the board better.
Instructions: Pair Wrenn and Six with fetchlands for mana and card flow; do not prioritize loyalty value over survival.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Deathrite Shaman Activated Choice
Priority: Medium
Decision families: mana; interaction; priority
Cards: Deathrite Shaman; Surgical Extraction
Phase windows: main phase; end step; graveyard response windows
Runtime cues: action:activate Deathrite Shaman
Use when: choose mana, drain, or graveyard exile according to visible graveyard cards, current mana needs, life race, and opposing graveyard dependency.
Avoid when: activation removes a card needed for Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion or fails to affect the current turn.
Instructions: Exile opposing graveyard resources before they become engines; use mana mode when it enables a same-turn legal spell.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Combat With Incremental Threats
Priority: Medium
Decision families: combat
Cards: Orcish Bowmasters; Questing Druid; Deathrite Shaman; Delighted Halfling; Jarsyl, Dark Age Scion
Phase windows: declare attackers; declare blockers; combat trick windows
Runtime cues: prompt:declare attackers; prompt:declare blockers
Use when: attack or block based on visible damage race, creature roles, and whether preserving an engine creature matters more than damage.
Avoid when: a needed mana creature, Bowmasters body, or Jarsyl engine is exposed for low damage without changing clock math.
Instructions: Trade resources when behind, pressure when ahead, and avoid sacrificing mana development unless survival or lethal math requires it.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Culling Ritual Sweep Gate
Priority: High
Decision families: interaction; mana
Cards: Culling Ritual; Abrupt Decay; Fatal Push; Lightning Bolt; Bloodchief's Thirst
Phase windows: main phase; post-board stabilizing turns
Runtime cues: action:cast Culling Ritual
Use when: multiple visible low-cost permanents make Culling Ritual materially better than one-for-one removal and the follow-up mana can be used legally.
Avoid when: it destroys important own permanents without stabilizing, or one-target removal answers the only relevant threat.
Instructions: Count both sides before casting; prioritize board reset plus same-turn follow-up over raw permanent count.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Edict And Extraction Precision
Priority: Medium
Decision families: interaction; selection
Cards: Sheoldred's Edict; Surgical Extraction; Thoughtseize; Inquisition of Kozilek
Phase windows: main phase; opponent graveyard dependency windows; planeswalker or single-threat boards
Runtime cues: action:cast Sheoldred's Edict; action:cast Surgical Extraction
Use when: Sheoldred's Edict answers a visible protected or single threat, or Surgical Extraction can remove a public graveyard card that the opponent's plan depends on.
Avoid when: edict lets opponent sacrifice a low-impact permanent, or extraction hits a card without visible strategic consequence.
Instructions: Use discard first when it can reveal whether the extraction or edict target matters.
Pilot skill floor: medium
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Magus Of The Moon Commitment
Priority: High
Decision families: mana; priority; sideboard
Cards: Magus of the Moon; Forest; Swamp; Blood Crypt; Overgrown Tomb; Stomping Ground
Phase windows: post-board main phase; before opponent big-mana turns
Runtime cues: action:cast Magus of the Moon
Use when: cast Magus of the Moon after fetching basics or securing colors, and when visible opponent mana suggests the lock effect is worth constraining your own lands.
Avoid when: your hand still needs unavailable black or green mana, or the opponent's visible board already ignores nonbasic disruption.
Instructions: Plan Forest and Swamp before Magus; do not strand Abrupt Decay, Deathrite Shaman, or sideboard interaction without a reason.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes

### Policy: Sideboard Role Selection
Priority: High
Decision families: sideboard; pregame
Cards: Thoughtseize; Surgical Extraction; Mai, Scornful Striker; Culling Ritual; Abrupt Decay; Sheoldred's Edict; Magus of the Moon; Jegantha, the Wellspring; Wrenn and Six
Phase windows: sideboarding; pregame after matchup known
Runtime cues: prompt:sideboard; action:submit sideboard
Use when: select sideboard plans that increase the relevant axis: discard for combo/control, Culling Ritual for low-cost boards, Magus of the Moon for mana greed, edicts for protected threats, Surgical Extraction for graveyard reliance.
Avoid when: adding narrow cards reduces threat density without matching public matchup evidence.
Instructions: Keep a coherent plan; Card text check required for Mai, Scornful Striker and exact Jegantha, the Wellspring companion/use constraints.
Pilot skill floor: high
No-API allowed: no
Light-model allowed: yes