For Challenge # 004. Elena Moreau feels she has 'improved' on the old Simic Initiate design as her initiate can survive the grafting process - if you want to call it survival.

It's funny that we both ended up using green/blue and graft for this challenge.

How does Graft relate to Elena and her abilities?

Graft ties into her abilities in two ways
1) Flavourwise, she was part of the Simic guild, apprentice to Momir Vig so grafting was one of the first abilities she learned and mastered.
2) Mechanically it supports her +2 & -3 abilities as opposed to her ultimate. You use graft in conjunction with the +2 ability and other players get a 1/1 snake whereas you can get a 2/2 snake. Likewise using graft can protect a creature you are bringing in cheap with the -3 (or any creature you cast) by elevating it out of ping/burn range.

I had a rare spell for the cycle that removed all +1/+1 counters from creatures you control and put 1/1 Green & Blue snake creature tokens onto the battlefield for each +1/+1 counter so removed. Graft worked into that spell which worked into Elena's ultimate.
The rare went (though in a set with elena it could come back just not as a signature spell) but graft stayed for the interaction with her other abilities.

When making this challenge, I originally thought to myself, "Self, why don't we tell people that they can go ahead and make a rare if they want to?", then I responded, "Because, self, if we do, people will feel obligated to make the rare, and that isn't the point of this exercise."

Which isn't to say that you can't add the rare to your entry. Feel free.