2/2 is fine. I thought your comment about the card looking powerful but not actually being powerful was on when it was still 1/1, and my response was in regards to that.
I think you are being too restrictive by saying what hasn't been done before. It is more important to ask yourself "why hasn't this been done before?".
I feel counters used in this way (and +1/+1 counters for bloodthirst) are very grokkable, thus are acceptable at common. The counter usage on this card does not contribute to board complexity. It is always easy to figure out what state this card is at, and the flavor idea that it has some abundance of mana energy that you can strip away for one-time-gain is pretty strong.
Artifacts are left out of common in core sets to preserve their mystique. This is clearly not the case with counters.
I can delete those comments for you if you want?
If you're not signed in, it does say "You won't be able to edit your comments unless you sign in before posting"...
Well, it includes two core sets for three months, and then one for the other nine months.
It certainly has a wow factor.
This shuts down agrro, but then it has either already won or its cards are redundant. Awesome(Pun Day!).
Standard's only one core these days.
2/2 is fine. I thought your comment about the card looking powerful but not actually being powerful was on when it was still 1/1, and my response was in regards to that.
I think you are being too restrictive by saying what hasn't been done before. It is more important to ask yourself "why hasn't this been done before?".
I feel counters used in this way (and +1/+1 counters for bloodthirst) are very grokkable, thus are acceptable at common. The counter usage on this card does not contribute to board complexity. It is always easy to figure out what state this card is at, and the flavor idea that it has some abundance of mana energy that you can strip away for one-time-gain is pretty strong.
Artifacts are left out of common in core sets to preserve their mystique. This is clearly not the case with counters.