Thorned Moloch

Prowess and attack-only first strike pull in the same direction, and the alignment is what gives this body its function. A bare 2/2 trades down into almost anything in combat; cast a spell to push it to a 3/3, swing, and the first strike (live only on offense) lets it eat blockers it has no business beating. The restriction is deliberate: first strike that switches on only when attacking means this is a card built to push damage, not to anchor a defense. On the back foot it reverts to a plain 2/2 that blocks no better than its stats suggest, so the design herds you toward an aggressive, spell-heavy curve where you are firing off cheap noncreature spells before combat anyway. The sequencing question (pump first or attack first, and what does the opponent dare leave back to block) is where the card earns its keep. It is clean aggressive-tempo design: a red three-drop that wants a deck full of one-mana cantrips and burn, where every spell you were casting for value also upgrades a marginal attacker into a real clock. The cost is that it accomplishes nothing in a vacuum and stalls the moment your spell density dries up, which is exactly the bargain a prowess creature is supposed to strike.