It doesnt change power and toughness, which is a bummer, but you get evasion, protection, and lifelink on a single card, and that should be good enough for heroic or Voltron builds, for a start
Remember, too, that it can search out a Plains, so in the late game, we can often construct situations where we get double Emeria Shepherd activations with the help of Knight of the White Orchid (if we are behind on lands, we can play a Plains, return Knight of the White Orchid to the battlefield, get another Plains, trigger Emeria Shepherd again, and return something else)
The deck wins by flooding the board with artifacts and then using combos and smart plays to keep your opponents on their toes
The set gave us our second legendary creature with monarch-related abilities, Jared Carthalion, True Heir
For instance, a common tactic for Infect decks was to play and buff one powerful card, like a Glistener Elf or Blighted Agent, and win with a single attack to deal 10 or more poison counters to the opponent in one go
While this is technically the most powerful mana rock in all of Magic: The Gathering, the card is also silver-bordered in its original printing