If the creature you control is an illegal target as the ability tries to resolve, you won't put a +1/+1 counter on it
Shuffling is smooth, edges are strong and protective
Redundancy is a great thing to have in singleton formats and you can find lots for this card however Rampant Growth, Farseek, Explore, Kodama's Reach and Cultivate all reside in the B and C cubes
I think you're right though that the first version might be better suited, especially in proactive Decks
Partner Quicken and Savage Summoning Two cases that, in retrospect, should have used "spell" rather than "card." Both cards refer to the next spell you cast of a particular type
That is a very charming iteration of a cockatrice, by the way -- a lot of Cockatrice interpretations, if they even remember that the creature's supposed to be a chicken, go all-in on making a creepy scary bird