Sure, you have to give up four damage to get Refraction Elemental, but it should more than make up for this in just one turn on the battlefield, which should make defeating the battle worthwhile pretty often
If you pay one life and sacrifice another creature, you can put a -1/-1 counter on a target creature and draw a card
Swords to Plowshares is a clean, cheap answer that kills almost any creature in Constructed formats and its played as a four-of in both aggressive and control decks alike
Most sets have a draft common common or uncommon that can repeatedly inflict one damage on each opponent just by playing other cards, like Firebrand Archer or Erebor Flamesmith
Endurance Endurance is probably my favorite of the evoke elemental cycle
That might sound like a drawback, but with a little deckbuilding finesse, it becomes a win condition