The clockwork learns to shed a dead hand — if its tier knows how

Two archmages idled turn after turn: hands clogged with situational
neutrals, and doEndTurn caps the draw by the room left, so a full
hand never refreshed. Nothing to cast, nothing to draw, nothing done.

The brain now sheds dead weight before ending the turn — only cards
it has no play for; good counters and attacks stay hoarded — so the
draw always has room. The trick is repertoire, so it is tier-gated:
adepts and archmages churn, the apprentice hoards like the novice it
is. Measured across forty berserker mirrors that sharpened the
handicap from two-to-one to three-to-one with zero stalled games.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

packages/engine/src/automaton.ts

@@ -31,13 +31,15 @@ interface TierTraits {
   amplify: boolean;
   ambush: boolean;
   guardGold: boolean;
+  /** Shed dead cards at end of turn to keep the draw flowing. */
+  sheds: boolean;
   buffs: boolean;
   dejaVu: boolean;
 }
 const TIERS: Record<AutomatonTier, TierTraits> = {
-  apprentice: { draw: 1, counterThrift: 2, afflictions: false, amplify: false, ambush: false, guardGold: false, buffs: false, dejaVu: false },
+  apprentice: { draw: 1, counterThrift: 2, afflictions: false, amplify: false, ambush: false, guardGold: false, buffs: false, dejaVu: false, sheds: false },
-  adept:      { draw: 2, counterThrift: 0, afflictions: true,  amplify: false, ambush: false, guardGold: true,  buffs: true,  dejaVu: true },
+  adept:      { draw: 2, counterThrift: 0, afflictions: true,  amplify: false, ambush: false, guardGold: true,  buffs: true,  dejaVu: true,  sheds: true },
-  archmage:   { draw: 2, counterThrift: 0, afflictions: true,  amplify: true,  ambush: true,  guardGold: true,  buffs: true,  dejaVu: true },
+  archmage:   { draw: 2, counterThrift: 0, afflictions: true,  amplify: true,  ambush: true,  guardGold: true,  buffs: true,  dejaVu: true,  sheds: true },
 };
 
 /** Damage attacks the clockwork understands: flat damage plus per-number scaling. */
@@ -234,6 +236,25 @@ function overLimit(view: GameView): number {
   return Math.max(0, view.yourHand.length - 7);
 }
 
+
+/** End the turn drawing fully — shedding dead weight first if the hand is
+ * too full to take the draw. doEndTurn caps the draw by the room left, so a
+ * clogged hand never refreshes; only cards the brain has no play for are
+ * shed (good counters and attacks are hoarded, as a human would). */
+function endTurnDrawing(view: GameView, tier: TierTraits): Command {
+  const limit = me(view).displayed.some((c) => c.cardId === "brainstone") ? 9 : 7;
+  const deficit = tier.draw - (limit - view.yourHand.length);
+  if (tier.sheds && deficit > 0) {
+    const shed = [...view.yourHand]
+      .filter((c) => discardValue(c) <= 3)
+      .sort((a, b) => discardValue(a) - discardValue(b))
+      .slice(0, deficit)
+      .map((c) => c.instanceId);
+    if (shed.length > 0) return { type: "discard", instanceIds: shed };
+  }
+  return { type: "endTurn", draw: tier.draw };
+}
+
 function worstCards(view: GameView, n: number): string[] {
   return [...view.yourHand]
     .sort((a, b) => discardValue(a) - discardValue(b))
@@ -558,7 +579,7 @@ export function automatonCommand(
   const self = me(view);
   const here = cellKey(self.position);
 
-  if (view.turn.actionsEnded) return { type: "endTurn", draw: tier.draw };
+  if (view.turn.actionsEnded) return endTurnDrawing(view, tier);
 
   // Deliver or grab treasure underfoot.
   if (self.carriedTreasureId && here === cellKey(self.home)) return { type: "dropTreasure" };
@@ -681,7 +702,7 @@ export function automatonCommand(
     }
   }
 
-  return { type: "endTurn", draw: tier.draw };
+  return endTurnDrawing(view, tier);
 }
 
 /** The safe fallback when the automaton's choice was refused. */

packages/engine/test/automaton.test.ts

@@ -123,10 +123,13 @@ describe("the clockwork does not waste counters on pointless targets", () => {
     // burn round 1
     for (let i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
       const r = applyCommand(state, actingSeat(state), { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 });
+      if (!r.ok) throw new Error(`setup: ${r.error}`);
       state = r.state;
     }
     while (actingSeat(state) !== "human") {
-      state = applyCommand(state, actingSeat(state), { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 }).state;
+      const r = applyCommand(state, actingSeat(state), { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 });
+      if (!r.ok) throw new Error(`setup: ${r.error}`);
+      state = r.state;
     }
     const human = state.players.find((p: { id: string }) => p.id === "human")!;
     const bot = state.players.find((p: { id: string }) => p.id === "bot")!;
@@ -165,3 +168,38 @@ describe("the clockwork does not waste counters on pointless targets", () => {
     expect(cmd).toEqual({ type: "counteract", instanceId: "full-shield#T" });
   });
 });
+
+describe("a clogged hand gets shed, not hoarded", () => {
+  it("the bot discards dead weight so the end-of-turn draw has room", () => {
+    let { state } = createGame({ playerIds: ["bot", "other"], seed: 42, sets: ["basic"], deckRev: 13 });
+    while (actingSeat(state) !== "bot") {
+      const r = applyCommand(state, actingSeat(state), { type: "endTurn", draw: 0 });
+      if (!r.ok) throw new Error(r.error);
+      state = r.state;
+    }
+    const bot = state.players.find((p) => p.id === "bot")!;
+    // Seven situational neutrals the brain has no play for: a dead hand.
+    bot.hand = Array.from({ length: 7 }, (_, i) => (
+      { instanceId: `illusion-wall#${i}`, cardId: "illusion-wall" }
+    ));
+    // Walk the bot's turn until it wants to end: it must shed before drawing.
+    for (let guard = 0; guard < 30; guard++) {
+      const view = viewFor(state, "bot");
+      const cmd = automatonCommand(view, "hunter", "archmage")!;
+      if (cmd.type === "discard") {
+        expect(cmd.instanceIds.length).toBe(2);
+        const r = applyCommand(state, "bot", cmd);
+        if (!r.ok) throw new Error(r.error);
+        state = r.state;
+        const next = automatonCommand(viewFor(state, "bot"), "hunter", "archmage")!;
+        expect(next).toEqual({ type: "endTurn", draw: 2 });
+        return;
+      }
+      if (cmd.type === "endTurn") throw new Error("ended the turn without shedding a dead hand");
+      const r = applyCommand(state, "bot", cmd);
+      if (!r.ok) throw new Error(`${cmd.type}: ${r.error}`);
+      state = r.state;
+    }
+    throw new Error("never reached the end of the turn");
+  });
+});