I played this a few times informally, and lost every time.  I had bad mana draws every time, but I also just don't think that populate works any more.  The counters I do get into play are immediately destroyed; I can never have one and be able to populate it until my opponents have already dropped a bomb.  It's frustrating that WotC makes enough cards for a theme to build a deck, but that deck just inherently isn't competitive.  I'm shelving this in exchange for something far more boring.