Removal spells can be useful in any player's Magic deck no matter the color identity
You get to sneak in an artifact or creature, and then when it eventually leaves play, it acts as a board wipe equal to its mana value
when you cast larger artifact spells, he grows
As long as this Equipment has four or more counters on it, equipped creature has double strike
That means each of these is completely new to not just Modern, but Magic: The Gathering as a whole
Admittedly, Phylath pushing you toward basic lands during deck construction is a bit annoying, but the massive number of creatures it makes and the ability to hand out 4 power to a Plant creature of your choice is incredibly strong, and turns late game mana ramp into a lot of potential pain for your opponents