Consuming Aetherborn

Lifelink is one of the safer keywords to hand around, and that safety is exactly why it works on a body like this. Where many creatures with the backup mechanic grant an ability that only pays off in combat or on the correct attacker, lifelink is live the moment its target connects with anything. Point the +1/+1 counter at your best attacker and each swing starts refilling your life total; point it at the Aetherborn itself and you have a 3/3 lifelinker that anchors the board without needing a second creature to matter. The fallback target never leaves you stranded, which is the strength of backup as a design: there is always a body in play to receive the counter, so the card never sits dead in hand. The granted lifelink expiring at the end of the turn is the constraint that shapes how you use it: the ability rewards a decisive swing over a permanent buff parked on a teammate, since anyone but the Aetherborn keeps only the counter past this turn. The 2/2 underneath is deliberately plain, a delivery vehicle for the counter and the temporary keyword rather than a threat in its own right. It carries on black's long habit of stapling incidental lifegain to its creatures as insurance against aggression, but frames that gain as something you press forward with rather than hide behind.