Pointed Discussion

If you're playing a defensive deck he's a big help. Test of Faith with him, or any defensive kitsune, is a good combo.

Great combo with Spellbook or any other artifact of its kind. Even without one, in a pinch he may be able to stall a big beefy trampler many times his cost for more than one turn. Fairly solid, if you ask me.

Doran, the Siege Tower. Does anything else need to be said?

Good with a lot of card draw - Niveous whisps, Sunbeam spellbomb, Emessi tome, lashknife barrier etc, and of course a spellbook

I feel like his whole "past gives strength" thing would be way more flavorfull if he gained +0/+x where x is the number of cards in your graveyard, your hand is the future not the past.

If you can generate infinite mana with Worthy Cause in hand or Miren, the Moaning Well(from the same set, even!) in play, he can give you infinite life. Even without going infinite, he can gain a bunch of life. Turn two play him out, turn three pump him before playing a land and then sac him to gain 8 life. That's gonna be a pretty big speedbump for any aggro deck.

Counterpart to Sokenzan Spellblade, but not as good.