The most striking thing about it is the clever use of blurred white to simulate fog, in order to mask much of the background and create that trademark sense of Innistrad unease
"You will crawl through the ashes of your own grand ambitions before I grant you the mercy of death."
However, as one-off cards that you're hoping will save you for a turn at some point, you can usually do better than generic fog effects
In some games, if Nine Lives already has a bunch of counters on it, a couple attacks from Coveted Falcon and Restless Anchorage can seal the opponents fate
Treasure tokens count towards enter the graveyard triggers, but not cards in graveyards effects
It shuts itself off, which prevents it from being overpowered or only putting on paltry nuimbers of counters