-1/-1 counters are very open to synergies in proliferate, counter spreading, and even as a way to negate indestructible or shield counters
There are no other breaks on the card draw beyond nontoken, so you can draw as many as die in a turn
1 2 "How Magic: the Gathering became a pop-culture hit and where it goes next"
When multiple continuous effects interact at the same layer, first the CDA effects are applied, then other effects in timestamp order (this order of applying effects may be broken by dependences, ref
There are plenty of very cheap infinite combo decks out there that can win by Turn 3, so while it can be vital to disrupt your opponent with removal spells (etc), you will likely only get the chance to cast 1-3 removal spells in game
This thing scales in size very quickly: assuming everyone has creatures, where X=1, for five mana youll get a 9/9 flyer with trample