Legends is a very popular theme with a ton of creative, albeit more restrictive, options: Aragorn, the UniterAragorn, the Uniter, Dihada, Binder of WillsDihada, Binder of Wills, Ratadrabik of UrborgRatadrabik of Urborg, Saskia the UnyieldingSaskia the Unyielding, and more all pull you in slightly different directions
Sign in Blood/Nights Whisper (etc.) There are a lot of black instants and sorceries that draw two cards for two mana with an additional life-based setback
What makes a good proxy
Interacting with a group: the count badge and individual cards in a group respond to the following inputs
The payoff of drawing three cards is worth it, even if he gets blocked which is made harder with Menace built in
A 10/7 Demon with flying, lifelink, indestructible, and haste looks much better than a 9/7 Demon with flying, lifelink, indestructible, and haste, right