With that original brown artifacts border, the big white art copyright on the bottom and the off-center composition by Christopher Rush, Magics most iconic card is a thing of beauty to this day, sullied only by the existence of the 30th Anniversary proxies
That said, it's susceptible to bounce and exile effects
While we wouldnt have the full block until 2013, Return to Ravnica brought powerful new tools (Abrupt Decay, Sphinxs Revelation, Cyclonic Rift, Rest in Peace, Dreadbore) and one unassuming but eventually problematic megaguildmage/one-mana planeswalker in Deathrite Shaman
Items either give a passive bonus or can be activated during a turn to trigger powerful abilities
Amethyst cards have powerful abilities that let you draw more cards or slow down your opponent
I have now tested the companions fairly extensively in numerous types of cube both with and without rule changes