First strike, trample, and lifelink are a powerful combination that make this creature extremely hard to get into combat with
The Pro Tour Top 8 being 4 Izzet Cutter and 4 Mono-Red, with Cutter being a huge metagame chunk, means that some bans are inevitable here
To determine the total cost of a spell, start with the mana cost or alternative cost you're paying (such as a flashback cost), add any cost increases (such as kicker costs), then apply any cost reductions (such as that of The Fire Crystal's first ability)
It has item buffs, but only has a few items
The "Vivi Cauldron" deck was run by more than half of players and posted dominant results in both Arena Championship 9 on August 9, 2025 and Spotlight: Planetary Rotation a few weeks later
Turn 2 sounds like a great time to do this