Arrester's Zeal

Most combat tricks let you hold up the same effect whenever you please: the surprise block, the end-of-combat blowout, the ambush that resolves after math is locked in. This one splits the reward on a fork that pump spells almost never force. Cast it reactively, in response to a block, and you get a clean +2/+2 to win the exchange or rescue a creature, exactly the insurance a trick usually provides. But the flying rider is gated behind casting it during your own main phase, before attackers or blockers are declared, which means the two best modes actively compete for the same card. Reactive play buys the surprise at the cost of evasion; proactive play buys evasion (flying that dodges anything without reach or wings of its own) at the cost of ever ambushing anything. Committing to the main-phase line means announcing the flying before you know how the opponent will block, since blockers come later in a combat phase you have not yet reached. That is the whole design. The card asks whether you would rather keep the trick as a hedge against combat math you can see coming, or telegraph evasion and dare the opponent to produce a flier or reach body they may not have. The keyword was built to reward what pump spells normally punish: acting on your own turn and showing your hand before combat, with the payoff being the one bonus a temporary boost most wants to carry.