Three mana for a counter-every-turn engine has been a defining rare in every format it touches, and the physics here amplify it rather than blunt it. TMT runs at medium speed with common removal that mostly costs two or three mana and largely targets creatures rather than enchantments. That means Bishop usually gets one combat trigger before Stomped by the Foot or Grounded for Life answers it, and one trigger is already a card's worth of value. Two triggers wins the game.
The split clause is what separates this from older Luminarch Aspirant engines: counters go on up to two creatures, so every Equipment in the set becomes a real threat and hybrid commons like Mechanized Ninja Cavalry and Foot Ninjas turn into permanent two-for-ones. The counters survive the answer to the source, which means removing Bishop the turn after he lands does not undo the work. RW Equipment wants him as the P1P1 of the format alongside Shredder, Unrelenting, because the deck is already buying into a wide creature base that wants to grow. WB Sacrifice takes him nearly as high but for a different reason: the counters glue together a board that would otherwise trade down into Food and removal, keeping bodies above the format's 2/3 and 3/2 common ceiling. Mono-white legendary-matters decks anchor their curve on him rather than treating him as support.
The one seam is Grounded for Life, which kills a tapped Bishop more cheaply, so the counter-source becomes a liability the moment you start attacking with him. Maindeck in any white deck, and the first white signal worth reading when you open the pack.
