Off Balance

One white mana to take a single creature out of combat on either axis, and which axis matters is decided by your timing. Point it at a blocker and your attacker connects unobstructed; point it at an attacker and the threat stands inert for the turn. Either problem, one answer, but never both at once: you commit to one creature and one combat. The instant-speed clause is what makes the price interesting, because the window matters more than the cost. You hold it until the opponent is about to commit, then cast it before attackers or blockers are declared to keep exactly the creature whose presence in combat would hurt you most from ever entering the fight. The deliberate ceiling is that it buys a single turn and touches a single creature: nothing dies, nothing leaves, the problem walks back into combat next turn. That restriction is what keeps a one-mana effect from reading as soft removal; it is a tempo lever, not an answer. It belongs to the family of cheap white combat instants that spend no real card advantage but dictate when and how a creature is allowed to fight, the kind of trick whose entire value is the timing of the cast.