They work best, in my opinion, when they focus on delivering one thing
However, if you can boost his strength high enough that he wins skirmishes (generally using possessions, Noble Leaders (7R112) , The Last Alliance of Elves and Men (1R49) , or Merry, Friend to Sam (1R302) ), he can discard those minions for you, similar to the way he's used as ring-bearer
As was the original cards ability, damage dealt to a player or planeswalker lets the player create a number of Treasure tokens equal to it
If a flying creature with vigilance attacks, a reach creature can still block it
Given most elf decks rely on mana generation to get value creatures on the board, having Nissa on your side isn't a bad shout
Lets set aside the argument of what would be better in Legacy (spoiler: Mind Twist), despite the fact that Dark Ritual, Ancient Tomb, and City of Traitors are all legal