Give In to Violence

A pump spell that swings the life total as hard as it swings the board. The +2/+2 is the ordinary half; the lifelink is what makes this a combat trick worth a card. Point it at an unblocked attacker and you are not just adding two to the clock, you are turning that whole hit into life gained as well, doing it at instant speed, after blocks are declared, when the opponent can no longer commit a chump. The same window makes it a defensive tool: pump a blocker to eat something and gain the life on the exchange, turning a trade that would have cost you into one that nets you. Lifelink granted at instant speed has always been a quiet math-warper, because it converts damage that was already going to happen into life you did not have when the opponent committed to the attack or block, and that swing tends to be larger than either player pre-counts. The restriction that keeps it fair is the same one that binds every trick of this shape: it does nothing without a creature already in play and some source of damage to spend it on, and it leaves nothing behind once the turn ends. What it buys for two mana is a lethal reach that also refills the life you spent getting there.