Her old version had some initial appeal, but I got consistent feedback that her card wasn't effective. After trying a round of buffs on her card, I decided on a remake.
I like the "Innistrad native guided by spirits" trope and wanted to build on that.
I felt that an ETB Spirit token would be a novel way to also call back to cards like Geist of Saint Traft.
Her +1 calls back to Garruk Relentless but has a couple twists.
Her +0 can either boost her or her creatures and rewards a mixture of Spirits and non-Spirits. Since there aren't many Spirits in green, I wanted to encourage a mix of tribes rather than a mono-Spirit deck.
Other Design Changes
Changed Thaegen the Confined to Thaegen the Confined. His extra target ability was always on the watch list. It doesn't really work in the existing Magic rules, which I was ok with if it was fun. The problem is that it mainly served as an amplifier for removal spells. I'm trying out a new middle ability in hopes that I can enable a wider range of spells to be played with him.
Changed Lykarev the Usurper to Lykarev the Usurper. His plus is only occasionally useful. The new version of the ability will be stronger and also simpler. We'll see if it is too strong.
Changed Zaina Shreen to Zaina Shreen. She's one mana cheaper and her first ability now says "up to 1". She's one of the least-played Contenders so I'm trying a small boost.