Fateful Absence

Unconditional two-mana removal that answers both creatures and planeswalkers is a rate white almost never gets to keep clean, so the design pays for it with a downside pointed at the opponent rather than the caster. Handing the controller a Clue is the concession: you spend two mana and a card to break their board, and they claw back a fraction of it later, on their own terms, for another two mana and an activation. That structure makes it a fair-fight tool by construction. Against a lone threat you are more than happy to trade a future card draw for killing it now; against a deck already flooding on resources the Clue matters less than the tempo you buy. What it does not do is discriminate by target type, which is the real breadth here: white's answers to planeswalkers have historically been narrow and specialized, and folding walker removal into an instant-speed catch-all at this price is the generous part of the deal. The compensation clause also keeps it honest against value engines: hitting a card-advantage creature refunds the opponent the smallest of consolation prizes rather than cleanly netting you ahead. It is removal built to be efficient without being oppressive, the kind of restrained rate that gives it a long shelf life in fair white decks that want a spell to point at anything and don't mind the opponent digging one card deeper for the privilege of losing their best permanent.