A two-mana, two-power first strike creature is already passing the vanilla test (especially in 2009), but when it can also produce a turn 3 Marit Lage 20/20 indestructible flying token, its a little bit much
Maybe it was the introduction of Meren of Clan Nel Toth and later reanimation commanders that bumped it off the radar, but I was never really in tune with calling Karador a good Abzan commander
Drawing a shield gives your Creature vigilance, and "mean eyes" give it menace
Its a Commander variant inspired by the legend of King Arthur and Excalibur, where you pick a common creature to be your champion (commander) and a legendary Equipment to be its signature weapon
Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Command Tower how many more cards are prescribed in your shell before you get to add a personal touch
In practice, you can attack with this duo and another big creature to hopefully draw out and eliminate some blockers