Thunderbolt
A burn spell built around a hate clause. The default mode is a clean three-to-the-face for two mana, but the second line is the design's whole reason for existing: a damage bonus that fires only against creatures with flying. This is anti-air priced into a removal spell, a way to give red a maindeckable answer to the evasive threats it has historically struggled to block. The modal structure is what makes it elegant rather than narrow. A dedicated flying-killer would be a dead card whenever the opponent kept their threats on the ground; folding that role into a flexible burn spell means the worst case is still a serviceable reach spell aimed at a player. The 4-damage tier is sized to the era's flying threats, comfortably covering the dragons and angels that a straight 3-damage burn spell would leave one point short. Instant speed lets it sit as a combat trick or an end-step removal play rather than committing on your own turn. It is a small, disciplined piece of design: a removal spell that quietly carries a sideboard's worth of air defense in its second clause, without ever asking you to draw the wrong half.



