Lifted by Clouds

Granting flying is the most replaceable effect in blue: a dozen cards do it cheaper, and the standalone instant here barely justifies a slot. The earned value lives in the splice cost. The Arcane subtype was built as a network rather than a list of one-offs, and bolting evasion on for while casting any Arcane spell gives the cycle one of its cheapest hooks. A pump effect, a counter on an Arcane shell, a bounce trick all become "and now the creature swings over the ground." That is the design idea splice was built to sell: a card you would never main-deck for its printed effect becomes worth holding because it can fold its text into a spell you were casting anyway, turning two cards into one without spending a card-draw or a tutor. Flying is the cheapest, most reach-ready thing splice can staple on, which is exactly why this sits in the lower tier of the cycle's costs. The evasion is conditional, not absolute (anything with flying or reach still blocks it), so the trick works best as a finishing push against a clear sky rather than a guaranteed alpha strike. Its value is entirely positional: a mere overpriced flying-granter in a deck with no Arcane spells, quietly excellent in one built to chain them.