For starters, it can easily dish out +1/+1 counters, which is the main theme of the deck
They both cost the same, have four Willpower, and can stop an opponents character from questing
Pay 1 generic, tap Ragost, and sacrifice a Food to deal 3 damage to each opponent
Yes, but timing is everything
Next, this additional mana will often slow the companion down by a turn, allowing the opponent to interact with it while in the companion players hand or otherwise giving the opponent an additional turn to plan ahead before the companion hits the battlefield. The companion nerf is significant, as Wizards explains: Its rare that we use a rules change to address metagame balance, and this isnt something we have plans to do in the future.[] We believe this solution is preferable to potentially needing to make multiple bans across different formats over time. I enjoy companions