The alliance abilities work with casting creatures, creating tokens, and any other way a creature ETBs
Unfortunately, Basris uptick only adds a single damage to the board
It's probably not coming back because shuffling effects were so common and that'd take a long, long time
Some patterns lasted for years, while others had short stays, making them markers for their short time in the franchise
Other creatures I like but can't find space for are Skullmulcher , a creature + sac outlet and card draw on a body, Green Sun's Zenith or Chord of Calling this guy out when your sac outlets have been removed or countered to finish of a player second main phase, remember it is a may ability so can still keep enough tokens out for defense if needs be
The charizard pokemon card is often used as shorthand for high-end Pokmon collecting, even outside dedicated hobby spaces