Some hydras can help with utility, too
This combo-focused legendary creature rewards your spell casting by dealing one point of damage to an opponent with each instant or sorcery you cast and then refunding one red mana back to your mana pool
This creates a small space to explore what I call gimmick decks in the Alpha League, a design space generally that does not exist anywhere else in constructed Magic (although, on occasions, can occur in Limited contexts, which obey the original rules of Magic: 40 card minimums, and no unique card caps)
These are usually going to be drafts, so keep an eye out for them
And then beside discarding you can use stuff like Crucible of Worlds
For one, spells and abilities cant be countered, but the other means damage cant be prevented