Molecular Modifier

A combat anthem welded to a body fragile enough to invite the removal that shuts it off. The trigger fires at the beginning of combat, before attackers are declared, and that timing is what makes it read better than the rate suggests: the +1/+0 and first strike land while you still control the assignment, so you point the buff at whichever creature is about to trade up or punch through. First strike on an evasive threat turns a stalled swing into a clean hit; on a ground creature, it lets a smaller body win a fight it would otherwise lose. The buff is free and repeatable, but only for as long as the 2/2 lives, and a 2/2 that telegraphs a combat trick every turn is a target opponents have every reason to kill on sight. That is the tension this design accepts: a persistent engine gated behind a creature that dies to almost anything. It works best alongside a board deep enough that the buff always has a worthwhile target and wide enough that losing the artificer does not fold the plan. Red decks built to attack every turn are the natural home, since the trigger only pays off when there is always a swing to enhance.