Never // Return

Unconditional removal is the front half's whole appeal: to destroy any creature or planeswalker with no clause to route around, the catch-all answer black usually pays a premium to reach. The split structure is where the design earns its keep. The two halves never compete for a hand slot the way a modal split or a flip card does; you cast Never from hand, it lands in the graveyard on resolution, and Return sits there dormant until you have the mana and the reason. That second cast pulls double duty: the exile is incidental graveyard hate (clipping a delve enabler, a flashback target, a recursive threat trying to crawl back), and the 2/2 Zombie is just enough presence to matter in a grind. This is what aftermath is built to reward: the front is a clean answer you want early, the back is a slow value spell you want late, and one printing gives you both across two turns without either half clogging the other. The wrinkle is subtler than the wording suggests. Aftermath only requires that the card reach the graveyard, not that Never ever resolve; if the Never half is discarded or milled straight into the bin, Return is fully castable from there without the front ever being cast. The floor is a slightly overcosted kill spell, the ceiling is two spells off one draw, and that spread is the design.