diff --git a/src/complexagent.rs b/src/complexagent.rs
index 2759aa4..4899cc2 100644
--- a/src/complexagent.rs
+++ b/src/complexagent.rs
@@ -32,11 +32,9 @@ impl Agent for ComplexAgent {
 
         println!("# of moves stored: {}", self.future_moves.arena_len());
 
-        self.future_moves.best_move().inspect(|&(i, j)| {
-            if !self.future_moves.update_root_coord(i, j) {
-                panic!("update_root_coord failed");
-            }
-        })
+        self.future_moves
+            .best_move()
+            .expect("FutureMoves has no move?")
     }
 
     fn name(&self) -> &'static str {
diff --git a/src/logic/future_moves.rs b/src/logic/future_moves.rs
index e1ad42c..773f591 100644
--- a/src/logic/future_moves.rs
+++ b/src/logic/future_moves.rs
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ impl FutureMoves {
     }
 
     /// Return the best move which is a child of `self.current_root`
-    pub fn best_move(&self) -> Option<(Coord, Coord)> {
+    pub fn best_move(&self) -> Option<Option<(Coord, Coord)>> {
         self.current_root
             .and_then(|x| {
                 self.arena[x]
@@ -230,25 +230,32 @@ impl FutureMoves {
                     "selected move color should be the same as the color of the agent"
                 );
             })
-            .and_then(|&x| self.arena[x].coord)
+            .map(|&x| self.arena[x].coord)
     }
 
     /// Updates `FutureMoves` based on the current state of the board
     /// The board is supposed to be after the opposing move
-    pub fn update_from_board(&mut self, board: &Board) {
+    /// Returns whether or not the arena was regenerated (bool)
+    pub fn update_from_board(&mut self, board: &Board) -> bool {
         let curr_board = self
             .arena
             .iter()
             .enumerate()
-            .find(|(_, m)| &m.board == board && (m.parent == self.current_root))
-            .map(|(idx, _)| idx)
-            .filter(|_| self.current_root.is_some());
+            .filter(|(idx, _)| {
+                self.current_root
+                    .map(|x| self.arena[x].children.contains(idx))
+                    .unwrap_or(false)
+            })
+            .find(|(_, m)| &m.board == board)
+            .map(|(idx, _)| idx);
 
         if let Some(curr_board_idx) = curr_board {
             self.set_root_idx_raw(curr_board_idx);
+            return false;
         } else {
             dbg!("regenerating arena from board");
             self.set_root_from_board(*board);
+            return true;
         }
     }
 
@@ -264,26 +271,6 @@ impl FutureMoves {
         self.set_root_idx_raw(0);
     }
 
-    /// Update the root based on the coordinate of the move
-    /// Returns a boolean, `true` if the operation was successful, false if not
-    #[must_use = "You must check if the root was properly set"]
-    pub fn update_root_coord(&mut self, i: Coord, j: Coord) -> bool {
-        // check to make sure current_root is some so we dont
-        // have to do that in the iterator
-        if self.current_root.is_none() {
-            return false;
-        }
-
-        self.arena
-            .iter()
-            .enumerate()
-            .find(|(_, node)| node.parent == self.current_root && node.coord == Some((i, j)))
-            .map(|x| x.0)
-            // do raw set so we can prune it on the next move (in `update`)
-            .inspect(|&root| self.update_root_idx_raw(root))
-            .is_some()
-    }
-
     /// Update current root without modifying or pruning the Arena
     fn update_root_idx_raw(&mut self, idx: usize) {
         self.current_root = Some(idx);
@@ -461,8 +448,8 @@ mod tests {
 
     const FUTURE_MOVES_CONFIG: FutureMoveConfig = FutureMoveConfig {
         max_depth: 1,
-        min_arena_depth_sub: 2,
-        top_k_children: 2,
+        min_arena_depth_sub: 0,
+        top_k_children: 1,
         up_to_minus: 0,
         max_arena_size: 100,
     };
@@ -662,17 +649,32 @@ mod tests {
             (Some((4, 2)), Piece::White),
         ];
 
-        for (coords, color) in moves {
+        for (i, (coords, color)) in moves.into_iter().enumerate() {
             if color == futm.agent_color {
                 // my turn
-                futm.update_from_board(&board);
+
+                // seperate variable because we want it to always be executed
+                let update_result = futm.update_from_board(&board);
+
+                // make sure that the arena should only be
+                // regenerated on the first move
+                assert!(i <= 0 || update_result, "board regenerated on move #{}", i);
+
                 let best_move = futm.best_move();
+                assert!(
+                    best_move.is_some(),
+                    "best_move (#{}) resulted in ABSOLUTE None: {:?}",
+                    i,
+                    best_move
+                );
+
                 if coords.is_none() {
-                    assert_eq!(best_move, None);
+                    assert_eq!(best_move, Some(None));
                 } else {
-                    assert_ne!(best_move, None);
+                    assert_ne!(best_move, Some(None));
                 }
             }
+
             if let Some((i, j)) = coords {
                 board.place(i, j, color).unwrap();
             }