Having this buddy sat on the board will give virtual card advantage by the bucket load, too, and will force opponents to spend removal to solve your failsafes
Being able to (potentially) cheat out cards like Worldspine Wurm, Shriekwood Devourer and Thunderfoot Baloth is nice, but there are some solid reprints, too
Its such a specific and unique strategy that makes pretty much any double-faced artifact worth consideration, though with some exceptions
Whenever a Desert card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, create a 4/2 green Plant Warrior creature token with reach
This design is whats commonly referred in Magic: The Gathering terms to as a 'mana dork' - a creature whose sole job is to sit there and churn out mana for their controller to amass
The main thing to remember is to find cards that have synergy with each other to help you achieve your win condition