Are these last strike elephant creatures balanced for a custom MTG set?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Forbidden Ancients 2GG

Creature - Elephant - Rare

Last Strike.

5/5

===

Forbidden Herd G

Creature - Elephant - Uncommon

Last Strike.

3/3

Since Last Strike is a disadvantage, I figure it should be "Okay" to have the creatures break the Rule of Four for balancing cards, but how strong should they be, because it turns out, "Last Strike" is a very big disadvantage in MTG or other card games.

[AI Opinion]

Last strike is a huge drawback, but it’s also super swingy, so you need to be careful.

Forbidden Ancients at 2GG for a 5/5 last strike is pushed but probably fine in Limited, a bit above curve but still answerable. Forbidden Herd as a 3/3 last strike for G is too strong; that’s better than any one-mana green creature ever printed.

I’d make the Herd cost 1G, or keep it G but drop it to a 2/2. ⚔️🐘

[SeekerOfTruth007]

I think you are mistaken. Rogue Elephant costs just G, but has a drawback.

The "Rule of Four" predicts that a vanilla 3/3 should cost 1G, because the card itself represents 2/2 worth of value, and the mana spent is a resource worth another +1/+1.

My theory of card design is that every card should be playable and every card should be capable of beating something "better than itself".

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Notice, the AI got this wrong. Rogue elephant would kill Forbidden Herd and not even take any damage in combat.

[msc545]

Again, I can't tell for sure, but it feels to me like it's getting overly complex. I know that you appreciate this sort of thing, and so do I, but we both must recognize that other people do not.