diff --git a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/MinimapCapture.cs b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/MinimapCapture.cs
index 511f900..8289e4d 100644
--- a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/MinimapCapture.cs
+++ b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/MinimapCapture.cs
@@ -103,9 +103,23 @@ public class MinimapCapture : IDisposable
         using var highS = new Mat();
         Cv2.Threshold(satChan, highS, _config.WallMinSat, 255, ThresholdTypes.Binary);
 
+        // Exclude nameplate text: very bright (V > 230) AND unsaturated (S < 40)
+        // Nameplates are pure white text; minimap walls are colored (have saturation)
+        using var nameplateBright = new Mat();
+        Cv2.Threshold(valueChan, nameplateBright, _config.NameplateMinValue, 255, ThresholdTypes.Binary);
+        using var nameplateLowSat = new Mat();
+        Cv2.Threshold(satChan, nameplateLowSat, _config.NameplateMaxSat, 255, ThresholdTypes.BinaryInv);
+        using var nameplateMask = new Mat();
+        Cv2.BitwiseAnd(nameplateBright, nameplateLowSat, nameplateMask);
+
         var wallMask = new Mat();
         Cv2.BitwiseOr(highV, highS, wallMask);
 
+        // Subtract nameplates
+        using var notNameplate = new Mat();
+        Cv2.BitwiseNot(nameplateMask, notNameplate);
+        Cv2.BitwiseAnd(wallMask, notNameplate, wallMask);
+
         // Dilate to connect wall line fragments
         using var kernel = Cv2.GetStructuringElement(MorphShapes.Ellipse, new Size(3, 3));
         Cv2.Dilate(wallMask, wallMask, kernel);
diff --git a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/NavigationTypes.cs b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/NavigationTypes.cs
index 42179f4..de81472 100644
--- a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/NavigationTypes.cs
+++ b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/NavigationTypes.cs
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ public class MinimapConfig
     public int WallMinValue { get; set; } = 200;
     public int WallMinSat { get; set; } = 150;
 
+    // Nameplate filter: exclude bright + unsaturated pixels (white text like "SALVAGE BENCH")
+    public int NameplateMinValue { get; set; } = 230;
+    public int NameplateMaxSat { get; set; } = 40;
+
     // Connected components: minimum area to keep (kills speckle)
     public int WallMinArea { get; set; } = 30;
 
@@ -98,7 +102,7 @@ public class MinimapConfig
     public int MatchSearchRadius { get; set; } = 100;
 
     // Template matching: minimum correlation confidence to accept a match
-    public double MatchConfidence { get; set; } = 0.3;
+    public double MatchConfidence { get; set; } = 0.15;
 
     // Wall confidence (canvas-level): per-pixel counters to filter transient noise
     public int ConfidenceInc { get; set; } = 3;
diff --git a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs
index 31933da..746079a 100644
--- a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs
+++ b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
     private readonly Mat _confidence; // CV_16SC1: per-pixel wall confidence counter
     private MapPosition _position;
     private int _frameCount;
+    private int _consecutiveMatchFails;
     private Mat? _prevWallMask; // for frame deduplication
 
     public MapPosition Position => _position;
@@ -68,11 +69,13 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
 
         if (matched == null)
         {
-            Log.Information("MatchAndStitch: dedup={Dedup:F1}ms match={Match:F1}ms (FAILED) total={Total:F1}ms",
-                dedupMs, matchMs, sw.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds);
-            return _position; // skip stitching entirely on failed match
+            _consecutiveMatchFails++;
+            Log.Information("MatchAndStitch: dedup={Dedup:F1}ms match={Match:F1}ms (FAILED x{Fails}) total={Total:F1}ms",
+                dedupMs, matchMs, _consecutiveMatchFails, sw.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds);
+            return _position; // don't stitch — wrong position would corrupt the canvas
         }
 
+        _consecutiveMatchFails = 0;
         _position = matched;
         var stitchStart = sw.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds;
         StitchWithConfidence(classifiedMat, _position, boosted: false);
@@ -115,8 +118,13 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
 
         // Check if canvas has enough walls to match against
         var canvasWallCount = Cv2.CountNonZero(canvasWalls);
+        var frameWallCount = Cv2.CountNonZero(wallMask);
         if (canvasWallCount < 50)
+        {
+            Log.Information("Match fail: too few canvas walls ({CanvasWalls}) frame walls={FrameWalls}",
+                canvasWallCount, frameWallCount);
             return null;
+        }
 
         // Template match: find where frame's walls best align with canvas walls
         using var result = new Mat();
@@ -125,7 +133,8 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
 
         if (maxVal < _config.MatchConfidence)
         {
-            Log.Debug("Map match low confidence: {Conf:F3}", maxVal);
+            Log.Information("Match fail: low confidence {Conf:F3} (need {Min:F2}) canvas={CanvasWalls} frame={FrameWalls}",
+                maxVal, _config.MatchConfidence, canvasWallCount, frameWallCount);
             return null;
         }
 
@@ -134,8 +143,8 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
         var matchX = sx0 + maxLoc.X + frameSize / 2.0;
         var matchY = sy0 + maxLoc.Y + frameSize / 2.0;
 
-        Log.Debug("Map match: ({X:F1}, {Y:F1}) conf={Conf:F3} walls={Walls}",
-            matchX, matchY, maxVal, canvasWallCount);
+        Log.Debug("Map match: ({X:F1}, {Y:F1}) conf={Conf:F3} canvas={CanvasWalls} frame={FrameWalls}",
+            matchX, matchY, maxVal, canvasWallCount, frameWallCount);
 
         return new MapPosition(matchX, matchY);
     }
@@ -177,7 +186,7 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
             if (srcVal == (byte)MapCell.Wall)
             {
                 if (boosted)
-                    conf = confThreshold; // warmup: immediately at threshold
+                    conf = confMax; // warmup: max confidence so walls survive initial movement
                 else
                     conf = Math.Min((short)(conf + confInc), confMax);
             }
@@ -312,6 +321,7 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
         _prevWallMask = null;
         _position = new MapPosition(_config.CanvasSize / 2.0, _config.CanvasSize / 2.0);
         _frameCount = 0;
+        _consecutiveMatchFails = 0;
     }
 
     public void Dispose()