Many players will look at this card and say sweet, I get rewarded for playing favors and donating permanents to allied players at the table! Many more will look at it and say sweet, I get to instant-kill somebody with Transcendence. Nowadays there are other legends who can let you play Santa Claus, but the original is still top of my lists, for both Naughty and Nice
Popular decks: Bant Company, Humans, Aluren, and Neoform
That's 16 more than Toph, Hardheaded TeacherToph, Hardheaded Teacher or the more mundane Uncle IrohUncle Iroh has in Gruul, 15 more than Sokka, Bold BoomerangerSokka, Bold Boomeranger in Izzet, and 13 more than Guru PathikGuru Pathik and The Lion-TurtleThe Lion-Turtle have in Simic, to say nothing of the multiple single-color Lesson commanders that have access to a fraction of that (return readers will note that I didn't even mention Lessons when I wrote about Gran-GranGran-Gran last week)
It has synergy with lots of good stuff
Its one of those sneaky finishers that end games before players realize whats happening
This foil promo version of Gaea's Cradle is a stunning card in all fairness, and has its non-foil counterpart from Urza's Saga beaten for value by over $12,000
