Invasive Maneuvers

Two mana for three damage is the going rate for cheap red instant-speed removal; the extra clause is where the design work happens. Controlling a Spacecraft bumps the deal to five, which turns a mid-sized answer into a spell that clears the four- and five-toughness threats that usually sit above burn's reach. The conditional does not gate the card the way spectacle or a life-payment would: you still get a functional removal spell if the bonus is offline, so the payoff sits on top of a floor that stays playable rather than replacing it. That structure is what makes the rider worth building toward instead of merely hoping for. The check is a live board-state read taken at resolution, not a cost paid on the way in, which means the damage total tracks whatever you control the moment the spell resolves: keep a Spacecraft on the table and the five is yours, lose it in response and you drop back to three. The instant-speed flexibility survives that friction, since you are still free to point it at a blocker mid-combat or a threat on the end step. It is a conditional scaler in a color that rarely gets to scale its removal upward, and the reward is aimed squarely at the creatures red normally has to gang-block or race instead of kill outright.