diff --git a/docs/design/match.md b/docs/design/match.md
index b5a5729d..1209b159 100644
--- a/docs/design/match.md
+++ b/docs/design/match.md
@@ -122,7 +122,9 @@ Official rule (bwiki 盟约, 更新公告 5114): before a match the player canno
 
 [ASSUMED] Bot purchasing applies one soft 18-point penalty to non-elite, non-DIY tier V/VI shared-pool cards whose
 active bonds overlap another living teammate's opening strategy. Human and AI teammates are treated equally; it
-neither reserves stock nor prevents a stronger purchase. Existing strategy presets and rehearsal counts are unchanged.
+neither reserves stock nor prevents a stronger purchase. A living teammate's selected strategy also reserves its bond
+for bot strategy selection and focus planning before any member is deployed. The reservation ends when that teammate is
+eliminated. Existing strategy presets and rehearsal counts are unchanged.
 
 [ASSUMED] AI reactions are cosmetic social choices, enabled by default and disabled with `SP_BOT_EMOTES=0`. Only
 mixed human/AI matches emit them, through the existing whitelist and cooldown. A human emote gets at most one eligible
diff --git a/docs/history/0.2.4.md b/docs/history/0.2.4.md
index 9f5c8917..09de9ab6 100644
--- a/docs/history/0.2.4.md
+++ b/docs/history/0.2.4.md
@@ -274,3 +274,10 @@ enemy: picking emitted a unit click with no definition, instead of the tile clic
 engine-canvas regression retains the card/100 HP assertions and also covers another field refresh, live HP loss and
 closing the card when the crate is destroyed. Device metadata supplied by the new entry still wins; changing fields
 does not carry old devices across. Gameplay and allied targeting rules are unchanged.
+
+### 29.15 Opening faction reservations for bots
+
+When a living teammate has already selected a faction strategy, the bot now treats that strategy's bond as an opening
+reservation before the teammate has deployed a member. It avoids selecting the same offered strategy and includes the
+bond in focus planning and the existing soft penalty for shared high-tier cards. The reservation is removed when the
+teammate is eliminated; it does not reserve cards or prevent an immediate merge from winning.
diff --git a/server/match/bot.js b/server/match/bot.js
index 2caa40ed..877247c6 100644
--- a/server/match/bot.js
+++ b/server/match/bot.js
@@ -146,7 +146,8 @@ export function botPickBand(m, ps) {
   const ids = gd.bandIds();
   if (!ids.length) return gd.defaultBandId;
   const lateFunds = (id) => /暂存/.test(String(gd.band(id)?.desc || ''));
-  const offBond = (id) => gd.bandBondIds(id).some((b) => gd.modeInactiveBonds.has(b));
+  const reserved = new Set(m.alivePlayers().filter((p) => p !== ps).flatMap((p) => gd.bandBondIds(p.bandId)));
+  const offBond = (id) => gd.bandBondIds(id).some((b) => gd.modeInactiveBonds.has(b) || reserved.has(b));
   const pairs = ids.map((id) => [id, offBond(id) ? 0 : Math.max(1, (gd.startLp(id) - 18) ** 2) * (m.isSolo && lateFunds(id) ? 0.02 : 1)]);
   let total = 0;
   for (const [, w] of pairs) total += w;
@@ -353,7 +354,8 @@ function mainCoreBond(m, p) {
  * across rounds.
  */
 export function bondPlan(m, ps, owned = ownedBonds(m, ps)) {
-  const key = `${m.round}|${ps.shop.level}|${[...owned.counts.entries()].map(([k, v]) => k + v).join()}`;
+  const key = `${m.round}|${ps.shop.level}|${[...owned.counts.entries()].map(([k, v]) => k + v).join()}|${m.alivePlayers()
+    .filter((p) => p !== ps).flatMap((p) => m.gd.bandBondIds(p.bandId)).sort().join()}`;
   if (ps._botFocus && ps._botFocus.key === key) return ps._botFocus;
   const prev = ps._botFocusId ?? null;
   const mates = new Set();
@@ -361,6 +363,7 @@ export function bondPlan(m, ps, owned = ownedBonds(m, ps)) {
     if (p === ps) continue;
     const b = mainCoreBond(m, p);
     if (b) mates.add(b);
+    for (const id of m.gd.bandBondIds(p.bandId)) mates.add(id);
   }
   let focus = null;
   let bestS = 0;
diff --git a/test/match/bot-smarter.test.js b/test/match/bot-smarter.test.js
index 5998c87c..e0306650 100644
--- a/test/match/bot-smarter.test.js
+++ b/test/match/bot-smarter.test.js
@@ -7,12 +7,50 @@
 import { test } from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import { PHASE } from '../../shared/constants.js';
-import { botPickCard, bountyKillChance, itemTarget, arrange, botPrepBegin, botPrepEnd, bondPlan, rangeTiles, effDps, rangeRec, buyScoreOf } from '../../server/match/bot.js';
+import { botPickBand, botPickCard, bountyKillChance, itemTarget, arrange, botPrepBegin, botPrepEnd, bondPlan, rangeTiles, effDps, rangeRec, buyScoreOf } from '../../server/match/bot.js';
 import { parseKey, tileKey } from '../../server/match/board.js';
 import { makeMatch, checkInvariants, give, giveItem, legalTileFor, DATA } from './harness.js';
 
 const soloBot = (o = {}) => makeMatch({ mode: 'solo', difficulty: 'NORMAL', seats: [{ seat: 0, playerId: 'ai_0', name: 'AI', isBot: true, connected: true }], ...o });
 
+test('#514: bots respect a human opening faction before deployment and release it after elimination', () => {
+  const { m } = makeMatch({ humans: 2, difficulty: 'HARD', seed: 11 }).start().toPrep();
+  const [human, bot] = m.order;
+  try {
+    bot.isBot = true;
+    human.bandId = 'band_chiave';
+    give(m, bot, 'chess_char_1_01_a', 'hand'); // Siracusa, despite no human board yet
+    give(m, bot, 'chess_char_1_19_a', 'hand'); // Kazimierz alternative
+    assert.notEqual(bondPlan(m, bot).focus, 'siracusaShip');
+    assert.notEqual(bondPlan(m, bot).second, 'siracusaShip');
+    human.bandId = 'band_pepe';
+    for (let i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
+      assert.ok(!m.gd.bandBondIds(botPickBand(m, bot)).includes('sargonShip'), 'avoid both Sargon strategies');
+    }
+    human.bandId = 'band_chiave';
+    assert.notEqual(bondPlan(m, bot).focus, 'siracusaShip', 'same-round changes invalidate the plan');
+    human.alive = false;
+    assert.notEqual(bondPlan(m, bot).focus, 'siracusaShip', 'the bot still compares its own bond value after elimination');
+  } finally { m.dispose(); }
+});
+
+test('#514: a bot leaves Lappland for a human Chiave even when it could complete its own merge', () => {
+  for (const reward of [false, true]) {
+    const { m } = makeMatch({ humans: 2, difficulty: 'HARD', seed: 11 }).start().toPrep();
+    const [human, bot] = m.order;
+    try {
+      human.bandId = 'band_chiave';
+      bot.isBot = true;
+      const lappland = 'chess_char_6_18_a', alternative = 'chess_char_6_17_a';
+      bot.shop.level = 6;
+      bot.funds = reward ? 0 : 5;
+      bot.shop.slots = reward ? [] : [lappland, alternative].map((id) => ({ kind: 'chess', id, basePrice: 5, sold: false }));
+      if (reward) bot.pushRewardOffer('merge', { tier: 6, ids: [lappland, alternative] });
+      assert.ok(buyScoreOf(m, bot, alternative) > buyScoreOf(m, bot, lappland), 'prefer the non-reserved high-tier card');
+    } finally { m.dispose(); }
+  }
+});
+
 test('user: Given a faction strategy teammate, When scoring shared high-tier chess, Then humans and bots receive the same preference even with full stock', () => {
   const { m } = makeMatch({ humans: 3, seed: 11 }).start().toPrep();
   const [ps, mate, other] = m.order;