Fists of the Anvil

Pure offense, no defense: +4/+0 is the kind of pump that leans hard on attacking, which makes this a finisher trick rather than a combat-saving one. The whole tradition of red combat pumps runs along this axis, from Brute Force to Built to Smash, and Fists of the Anvil sits at the loud end: four power for two mana, all of it pointed forward. The toughness it withholds is the price. A defensive trick like Giant Growth can ambush an attacker and survive the swing back; this one cannot save a blocker from anything, and a creature it pumps still dies to the same trade it was already losing. What it does instead is convert a single connection into a haymaker, doubling down on a creature the opponent has chosen not to block or cannot profitably block. That narrowness is the design honesty here: it is a damage-doubler for the aggressor, sold cheap because it does nothing when you are behind. The reward scales with evasion and with first strike, where the extra power lands before any retaliation can. Outside that window it is dead weight: the +4 is enormous, but it only buys you tempo you were already winning.