Anafenza, the Foremost Anafenza, the Foremost used to be more appealing as a +1/+1 counter commander before the card pool broadened
(You could argue that if you believe you are the stronger player, you don't want to trade because complicated boards favor the better playerbut that's a whole other article!) Of course, this all gets modified by the many, many factors we've already discussedno decision in Magic is really made in a vacuum like this
Opening the Door Our story begins in 1993 with Limited Edition (Alpha) , when Magic first released
It reminds me of Wizards of the Coasts older Commander precons, which were often more like two or three half-decks in a trenchcoat (the idea being that players would play a few games, get a feel for which mechanics they liked and then start swapping in cards to emphasize that part of the deck)
You can pursue a traditional elfball plan, of creating a massive army of Elves and win in a massive attack, often with the help of Craterhoof Behemoth
Of course all these spells can be recast by Dralnu for double the poison counters
