Ancient Hellkite

The activated ability rewrites how a Dragon clears its own runway. Most red creatures aim their burn anywhere; this one points only at a creature the defending player controls, and only while the swing is live. That fencing is the trade: a repeatable, mana-only ping paid for by tying it to a single attacking creature in a single combat step. Untap, declare it as an attacker, and every untapped red source becomes a aimed at the defender's board, picking off would-be blockers before blocks are profitable or shaving down mana dorks and utility creatures that have nothing to do with combat at all. The seven mana only buys the body; the clearing is a separate tax, one red pip per damage, spent during a later attack step after the Dragon is already in play. The window is the whole point. The ability shuts off the moment combat ends, so it does no work on defense and nothing during your second main; it lives entirely inside the attack step it enables. The flying 6/6 already escapes a ground stall on its own, so the ability is not about getting the Dragon through: it is about clearing the air and the chumps so the rest of your team swings unobstructed. The math scales with how much red you can leave open after attacking, which makes it a payoff for a board flooded with mana late rather than a fixed-rate burn effect. A 6/6 shrugs off most damage-based removal in combat; the extra red you sink in afterward is what turns a sturdy beater into a reason to attack into a stocked defense.