It took until Book 2 after a hundred years of war before The Fire Nation Drill represented a chance to break through
Its best if you can get the new Elf Arwen, Weaver of Hope onto the Battlefield first, as that will get the +1/+1 counters moving much faster
Since Animar reduces the cost of creatures by colorless mana, if you get enough counters on it, you can play all of your artifact creatures for free
While the balance and playability won't match a human-designed set, the ability to generate a complete, themed, illustrated, and usable MTG set from scratch is quite remarkable
The good lifegain cards like Markov Purifier are still good regardless, but roleplayers like Traveling Minister and Heron of Hope dont play well alongside cards like Fleshtaker and Novice Occultist