Frost Bite

Two damage for one mana is already a full removal spell: it clears most early aggressors and dents a planeswalker without asking for anything at cast time. The jump to three is where the mechanic earns its keep, and the toll for that extra point is paid long before the spell hits the stack. Where cheap red burn has traditionally demanded a spectacle trigger, a life payment, or an attacker on the board to scale, this one asks only whether you committed to snow lands and snow permanents during construction. That relocation is the smart part of snow as a payoff: the bonus costs nothing on the card itself, so it can print an unconditional two and quietly reach Lightning Bolt's output for having done the deckbuilding homework. Targeting is what keeps this a removal spell rather than a burn spell: creatures and planeswalkers only, never a face, so it kills threats but never closes a game. There is a quiet elegance in how the scaling lands, too. Snow saturation only climbs as a game grinds on, so the three-damage mode tends to arrive right when the board has outgrown two, sidestepping the usual awkwardness of scaling burn, where the extra damage shows up exactly when it is least needed. Disciplined one-for-one removal that pays out for a color-and-type commitment most decks would rather not make.