Don't think Shalai has to be in a deck to work, or needs a place to use +1/+1 counters
You get what you pay for and more - unless your opponent pays to stop you
Finneas, Ace Archer gives each other creature you control that is either a Rabbit or a token, something that Rabbits are great at making in Bloomburrow, a +1/+1 counter whenever they attack
The deck comes with two potential commanders for you to field, but I think - as is usually the case - you won't get much traction out of Tifa without a fair bit of luck
In limited, it's already priced well at two mana for a 2/1 but also provides incremental value for the rest of the game as long as you have a few of the same creature type
Pygmy Giant Pygmy Giant sucks when it comes to attacking players, but its incredibly powerful when it comes to attacking other creatures especially when you sacrifice it to that effect