At worst, however, dealing any damage gives you a Poison Counter to start Proliferating
Howling Mine is the grandparent of them all, having seen the light of decks back in Alpha , and it does have an interesting catch that not all later iterations have: You can turn the hugs on and off, as long as you have ways to tap or untap the artifact as needed
Plus, since Hopes ability only triggers on its controllers turn, you really have to stay on top of your lifegain instead of just letting it happen passively
This is great in many places like Gruul Fight Club, Power-Matters, Toughness-Matters, Voltron to kill in three hits with any base power power dork, cheap dorks with utility that want a win con, and loads more
Puresteel Paladin Draws cards when equipment enters the battlefield and enables free equip costs, complementing Sigardas Aid perfectly