Punish the Enemy

Two arrows from one card, and that split-targeting structure is the whole design intent: three to a player or planeswalker, three to a creature, on different targets at instant speed. The split-shock template has been tried in many shapes over the years, but most versions either ask less mana for less reach or split their damage between two creatures. This one points half its payload at the face (or at a planeswalker, which was the relevant clause when superfriends decks were a live concern) and half at the board, refusing to let either half flex onto the other. The rigidity is the cost: you cannot stack all six onto one threat, so the card only pays off when you genuinely have two separate things worth burning. At five mana for six total damage spread across two obligatory targets, the rate sits well behind a focused removal spell, which is why it has always lived at the margins. Its one redeeming wrinkle is the instant-speed window: held up on an opponent's combat or end step, it can answer a creature and chip the controller in the same beat, no second card required. The damage going to a player rather than "any target" also means it reads as reach, not flexibility, which is the line between a removal spell and a finisher this card never quite crosses.