diff --git a/skill/scripts/concept-seed.mjs b/skill/scripts/concept-seed.mjs
index 23339d0f3..abf9e2aba 100644
--- a/skill/scripts/concept-seed.mjs
+++ b/skill/scripts/concept-seed.mjs
@@ -219,14 +219,34 @@ export function selectApprovedStagings({ scope, key, reroll = 0, mode = null, so
     if (matching.length === 0) return [];
     approved = matching;
   }
+  // Rating weights the draw exactly as it does for world challengers: a 3-star
+  // staging earns a second ticket, a 1-star marginal keep leaves the pool. This
+  // matters more here than for worlds because the per-surface pools are small,
+  // so an unweighted shuffle repeats a weak staging far more often.
+  // Each ticket carries its index so deterministicRank sees a distinct key per
+  // ticket; ranking bare duplicates would hash identically and the pick loop's
+  // id-dedupe would silently discard the second copy, making weighting a no-op.
+  const ticketsFor = pool => pool.flatMap(composition => {
+    const rating = composition.review?.rating;
+    if (rating === 1) return [];
+    return rating === 3
+      ? [{ composition, ticket: 0 }, { composition, ticket: 1 }]
+      : [{ composition, ticket: 0 }];
+  });
+
   const prior = new Set();
   let picks = [];
   for (let round = 0; round <= reroll; round += 1) {
     const available = approved.filter(composition => !prior.has(composition.id));
+    const base = available.length >= Math.min(count, approved.length) ? available : approved;
+    let tickets = ticketsFor(base);
+    // A pool of nothing but 1-star keeps still has to yield stagings.
+    if (tickets.length === 0) tickets = base.map(composition => ({ composition, ticket: 0 }));
     const ranked = deterministicRank(
-      available.length >= Math.min(count, approved.length) ? available : approved,
-      round === 0 ? `${scope}:${key}:staging` : `${scope}:${key}:staging:reroll-${round}`
-    );
+      tickets,
+      round === 0 ? `${scope}:${key}:staging` : `${scope}:${key}:staging:reroll-${round}`,
+      entry => `${entry.composition.id}#${entry.ticket}`
+    ).map(entry => entry.composition);
     const families = new Set();
     picks = [];
     for (const composition of ranked) {
diff --git a/skill/scripts/lib/composition-catalog.mjs b/skill/scripts/lib/composition-catalog.mjs
index 6c959021a..0b0c2b5fa 100644
--- a/skill/scripts/lib/composition-catalog.mjs
+++ b/skill/scripts/lib/composition-catalog.mjs
@@ -149,6 +149,15 @@ export function validateCompositionCatalog(catalog, reviewData, { minimumTotal }
         errors.push(`composition review ${id} is stale: content changed since review`);
       }
     }
+    // Mirrors the concept catalog: an optional 1-3 grade on approved entries
+    // only, read as a calibration signal and used to weight challenger draws.
+    if (review?.rating !== undefined) {
+      if (![1, 2, 3].includes(review.rating)) {
+        errors.push(`review ${id} rating must be 1, 2, or 3`);
+      } else if (review.status !== 'approved') {
+        errors.push(`review ${id} rating only applies to approved compositions`);
+      }
+    }
     if (review?.note !== undefined && (typeof review.note !== 'string' || !review.note.trim() || review.note.length > 500)) {
       errors.push(`composition review ${id} note must be a non-empty string of 500 characters or fewer`);
     }
diff --git a/tests/concept-seed.test.mjs b/tests/concept-seed.test.mjs
index 34219ea05..4441b0e98 100644
--- a/tests/concept-seed.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/concept-seed.test.mjs
@@ -364,6 +364,31 @@ describe('concept seed scopes', () => {
     assert.equal(picks.some(pick => pick.id === 'lone-niche'), true);
   });
 
+  it('weights staging draws by rating without letting the ticket dedupe erase the weight', () => {
+    const pool = [
+      { id: 'flagship-stage', surface: 'persuade', status: 'approved', review: { status: 'approved', rating: 3 } },
+      { id: 'plain-stage', surface: 'persuade', status: 'approved', review: { status: 'approved' } },
+      { id: 'marginal-stage', surface: 'persuade', status: 'approved', review: { status: 'approved', rating: 1 } },
+    ];
+    const counts = { 'flagship-stage': 0, 'plain-stage': 0, 'marginal-stage': 0 };
+    for (let index = 0; index < 300; index += 1) {
+      const picks = selectApprovedStagings({ scope: 'direction', key: `stage-weight-${index}`, mode: 'persuade', sourceCompositions: pool, count: 1 });
+      counts[picks[0].id] += 1;
+    }
+    assert.equal(counts['marginal-stage'], 0, 'a 1-star staging keeps its approval but leaves the draw');
+    // Two tickets should put the flagship first roughly twice as often as the
+    // unrated peer; a generous margin keeps the assertion deterministic-safe.
+    assert.equal(counts['flagship-stage'] > counts['plain-stage'] * 1.3, true,
+      `flagship ${counts['flagship-stage']} vs plain ${counts['plain-stage']}`);
+
+    // A pool of nothing but 1-star keeps still yields stagings.
+    const onlyMarginal = [
+      { id: 'lone-marginal-stage', surface: 'persuade', status: 'approved', review: { status: 'approved', rating: 1 } },
+    ];
+    const fallback = selectApprovedStagings({ scope: 'direction', key: 'stage-lone', mode: 'persuade', sourceCompositions: onlyMarginal });
+    assert.equal(fallback.some(pick => pick.id === 'lone-marginal-stage'), true);
+  });
+
   it('gates stagings by breadth and falls back when every staging is niche', () => {
     const pool = [
       { id: 'broad-stage', surface: 'persuade', status: 'approved' },