Sakura-Tribe Elder

Ramp and a chump block folded into the same two mana, and the way it threads those two jobs is why it has outlasted nearly every fixing spell of its era. The key is that the ability is a sacrifice cost, not a death trigger: you decide when to spend the creature, so it can step in front of an attacker, soak the damage, and fetch a land as you sacrifice it, all inside one declared block. Played on your own turn it ramps; held back it buys a turn; cracked during your opponent's attack it does both at once. That flexibility is why green midrange and control shells leaned on it for years as the cleanest way to hit a land drop on a board already under pressure. The 1/1 body never carried the card; it is a vehicle for an activated ability that smooths your curve and your blocks together. Later green ramp creatures chased the same idea with bigger stats or untapped lands, but most surrendered the combat-step utility that made this one durable. The land entering tapped is the cost it pays for being a free blocker and a fetch on one card: you forgo the mana this turn and collect it next turn, in exchange for never wasting the sacrifice when you finally choose to spend it.