Regent's Authority

A one-mana instant that scales its payoff to the board you've committed to. The default line is a straightforward Giant Growth variant, +2/+2 for a turn, the kind of combat trick that has existed in white since the earliest sets. The wrinkle is the branch: point it at an enchantment creature or a legend and the buff splits into a permanent +1/+1 counter plus a temporary +1/+1, which nets the same size that turn but leaves something behind. That distinction is the whole design intent. The card is a reward gated behind a deckbuilding commitment, worth a plain trick's rate to anyone but a genuine upgrade to decks stuffed with legendary bodies or enchantment creatures. The permanent half also changes what the card can do with combat math: a counter survives the next removal spell that would only have shrugged off a one-turn pump, and it stacks with counter-synergy the way a temporary boost never could. In practice it asks a small question at deckbuilding time, whether your creatures qualify for the better mode, and pays out quietly at instant speed when they do.