His ability to trade up the value chain, as well as stick with a decent is good, and he also threatens 4 damage each time he attacks
Theres a similar effect on Reluctant Role Model , except that it moves counters directly onto a creature when one dies, and generates +1/+1, lifelink, and flying counters
Ray of Command ( Ice Age/Alliances & Mirage/Visions/Weatherlight ) The quintessential combat trick in all of limited Magic , Ray of Command was a first pick card virtually on the caliber with red X-spells back when they were common
So you will need to do a combination of challenging, to keep your opponent's characters off the board, and questing to gain lore to win the game
In any deck with an average number of cards that tempt, this card becomes a very real threat