Magic Sort strategy that preserves options

A good move does more than join two matching colors. It should improve the next board: more exposed matches, fewer mixed stacks, or more flexible space.

1. Count flexible spaces before you move

An empty bottle is the most flexible position on the board. A partly filled bottle with a useful top color is semi-flexible. Before a pour, ask how many of those positions will remain afterward.

2. Build from the bottom you want to keep

When choosing between two legal destinations, prefer the one that creates a clean, repeatable stack. Avoid parking a color on top of a mixed bottle if you will soon need what is underneath.

3. Expose blockers in short sequences

Do not move a top block merely because you can. Identify the buried color you need, then reserve a destination for each obstructing stack. If the sequence consumes every flexible spot, find a different order.

The crowded-board recovery loop

1. PauseStop consolidating visible pairs. Find the color whose release would create the most new matches.
2. TraceLocate every copy of that color and note what sits directly above each one.
3. ReserveChoose one bottle that can temporarily absorb a blocker without hiding another priority color.
4. ReopenFree one flexible position, then use it to expose and consolidate the target color.
5. RecountBefore continuing, make sure the new board still has at least one route for the next buried color.

When a legal move is still a bad move

• It completes a short stack but buries a color that appears nowhere else on top.
• It uses the last empty bottle without finishing a full single-color bottle.
• It creates a tall mixed bottle that will require the same moves to dismantle later.
• It changes the board without increasing access, space, or a nearly complete color.