Do remember to that if it has two loyalty counters left, it dies when you activate it
Well, the four life required to prevent it from dying has a real cost in a Pioneer format dominated by creatures
There arent a ton of cards that stand out from the set on their own merits, but the set is deep with synergies and cool themes, so before I get into my Top 10 list, lets talk about these themes more broadly
While this Construct might not be that impressive on the surface, starting off at just a 2/5, this Gearhulk grow with each noncreature spell you cast thanks to the prowess keyword and then hits harder with its double strike
With Ojutai, the control player could then swing once they had counterspell mana up, and upon connecting once, the game was usually over, as they could chain counterspells, other interaction, or more Ojutai
Unfortunately, unlike artifacts, enchantments, and even ramp, there simply aren't that many "the top of your deck matters" cards in Magic , so there's only so far you can take the theme