The card represents a combination of two major franchises with Magic: The Gathering and Lord of the Rings
I think it is better in the 99
Its hard to remove with Ward, and if this slots into an aggro strategy, itll help keep some cards flowing to your hand
Many of the cards in the deck deal with adding these counters, plus plenty of +1/+1 counters to your creatures, so you can bet that there are tons of ways to proliferate all your counters up to even higher levels and to keep your opponents constantly losing life through either combat or radiation
Current prices seem very inflated, and whether they hold depends on how much the secondary market loves these promos
Thats a shame, given how they were intended to offer an entry-level product for Commander players, but these new Foundations decks meet that need handily