Soldier Replica

The Replica cycle was built on a single split: a colorless artifact body any deck can run, holding a colored sacrifice ability that only fires for the player whose color matches. This one stuffs combat removal into the chassis. The 1/3 frame plugs the ground early, soaking up an attacker or trading down against aggression, then converts into three damage aimed at a creature already committed to combat. That restriction is the whole point of the activation: it never points at a creature standing safely behind the line, only at one attacking or blocking, which turns the wall into a fight-step ambush after it has finished its first job. The white pip is the quiet tax on that payoff. The body costs only generic mana and slots anywhere, but the burst that elevates it past a speed bump asks you to be playing white at the moment you crack it. That gap between a universally castable creature and a mono-color activation is exactly the design question the line was exploring: how to seed removal and combat tricks into artifact shells without forcing a color commitment until the instant the ability is activated.