Snake man, as I've always called him, helps ramp you up to the big guys, all the while blocking happily
In Amber, cards like Mufasa - Betrayed Leader and Rapunzel - Gifted with Healing come to mind
Now, seeing as this called Aura Thief, I thought it was worth pointing out
A Forked Bolt that costs one mana more but has more flexibility already seems like a strong card, but Ice really is the, err, icing on the cake
A well-timed Containment Priest can flash in and devastate a reanimation strategy, preventing a huge creature from hitting the battlefield and eating the reanimation spell that was targeting it
That being said, Im always excited about not having a maximum hand size on Turn 2