Thing is, to do the things you guys want to do with this sword, there are cheaper colored alternatives.
Death Pits of Rath would make that Horseshoe Crab just as nasty for removal.
Venom gets the job done on the Taunting Elf, (Don't forget the Jangling Automaton to untap all their creatures!)
And lastly, they don't restrict things in Type 2, they ban them. And something that requires an 8 mana investment has to do a whole lot more than buff a creature in order to get banned from anything.