The burning ball and the gore grade (v389)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

test.js

@@ -1310,6 +1310,35 @@ test('a groundstroke a little off PERFECT is a little worse, not a weak ball (no
   } finally { TUNE.autoAssist = assist; }
 });
 
+test('THE BURNING BALL: a perfect strike marks its ball for the flight, and the reply clears it', () => {
+  // render reads ball.hotT (the white-hot impact frame, the halo, the gold streak); the state is here
+  const assist = TUNE.autoAssist; TUNE.autoAssist = 1.15;
+  try {
+    startMatch(); G.interlude.introT = 0; G.match.opp = 6;
+    for (let i = 0; i < 2.2 * 60; i++) update(DT);
+    let armed = false, perfect = 0, marked = 0, cleared = 0, hot = false;
+    for (let i = 0; i < 60 * 60; i++) {
+      G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0; G.hp = G.hpMax; G.match.opp = 6;
+      if (G.phase === 'pretoss' && !(G.interlude && G.interlude.introT > 0)) { if (i % 40 === 0) keyPressed('Space'); }
+      else if (G.phase === 'toss') { if (ball.vy < 0.4 && ball.y > 2.4) keyPressed('Space'); }
+      else if (G.phase === 'rally' && ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'O' && ball.vz > 0 && !armed) {
+        const c = ringCue();
+        if (c && Math.abs(c.eta - c.sweet) < 0.5 / 60) { armed = true; keyPressed('Space'); }
+      }
+      const before = ball.lastHit;
+      update(DT);
+      if (armed && before === 'O' && ball.lastHit === 'P') {
+        armed = false;
+        if (G.hitstop > 0) { perfect++; if (ball.hotT != null) { marked++; hot = true; } }
+      } else if (armed && (!ball.active || G.phase !== 'rally')) armed = false;
+      if (hot && before === 'P' && ball.lastHit === 'O') { hot = false; if (ball.hotT == null) cleared++; }
+    }
+    assert.ok(perfect >= 5, 'a real sample of perfect strikes: ' + perfect);
+    assert.equal(marked, perfect, 'every perfect strike burns');
+    assert.ok(cleared >= 3, 'the reply is a new, cold ball: ' + cleared);
+  } finally { TUNE.autoAssist = assist; }
+});
+
 test('a TAP is timed from touch-down: a normal 120 ms tap on the gold ring still returns cleanly', () => {
   // Oliver, 2026-10-14: "manchmal scheine ich den Ball trotz gutem Timing nicht mehr zu bekommen".
   // A tap only proves it is a tap when the finger LIFTS, so it swung ~100-150 ms late — inside the