Yeah, I figured the -2 mod had to be from salvage in their round 6 deckbuilding, since that is how it has worked before. Losing card in advance for the *next* deckbuilding phase, which happens after matchups is revealed, sounds like bs.
WMs can't just change when salvage happens mid-war. I mean I assumed that transmutation before deckbuilding phase was completely impossible, so doing it like this never even crossed my mind.