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Renewed Faith has been seeing an increase in play lately all though not quite up to A cube standards yet

Now compare those joke-only cards or bad cards with those that work within the rules of Magic well enough to have value at the kitchen table, and which are more than just a joke: Consider Giant Fan and Goblin Bookie as two cards that sort of counter the above issues

For protection we've got a ton of ways to protect our creatures from dying with umbras like Hyena Umbra, indestructible with Timely Ward, hexproof with Swiftfoot Boots

damage without paying its mana cost

Even better, at the beginning of your upkeep, you can move any number of those counters onto other Creatures