When designers who didn't know the reference asked about him, I just said, "Trust me, he's great." Later when working on reprints, I also wanted to reference the Wondrous Tails weekly missions, and Tome of Legends felt like the perfect flavor fit by adding counters to your book and granting you rewards for doing so
And it's a bigger 1/2 so it can block a 1/1 and survive
[38] [39] [40] For example, with the elimination of the "play for ante" mechanic in all formal formats, [41] all cards with this feature were banned
The way it worked was that it gave you a goal to pursue, and if you did it, you were rewarded with a special mechanically unique token
It comes down for only 2 mana and combines a Zulaport Cutthroat creature death effect with the Marionette Master artifact death trigger, which makes it like a duplicate Mayhem Devil or an alternative for decks that dont run red
But he doesnt enter combat alone because summoning him also creates a 4/1 Guenhwyvar token, representing his stalwart panther companion and further increasing his value