Interaction (19%) Targeted removal, board wipes, counterspells, graveyard hate, and stax
That said, there are a lot of exclusions to Eliminates very efficient removal ability, too, and that card was a staple in any deck that touched black since it hit
Taking care of it once with a Path to Exile isnt a problem
(Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays .) Equip (: Attach to target creature you control
Free cards are good, but free cards that arent normally free are much better
Because you can only have one copy of each card in your deck, you need to pick cards that have value on their own and dont need multiple copies to work well