Every agent runs the same seeded scenarios and is ranked by composite fitness (survival, kills, peak herd, evolutions, damage dealt − taken). The top slice advances verbatim. Every other slot is rebuilt from two parents picked by 3-way tournament — their weights mix 50/50 per field, then each value is nudged by σ-scaled Gaussian noise with per-field probability r. Same logic every generation; only the parents and noise change.

Builds on prior Elites carry the best DNA forward intact; children recombine survivors.

Local search Mutation σ is small relative to each weight — it polishes, it doesn't randomize.