You'll put a +1/+1 counter on the creature even if the defending player doesn't have the most life as the ability resolves
Smagol, Helpful Guide Smagol, Helpful Guide kinda has a similar issue as Braids, Arisen Nightmare: Its main aristocrats-related ability only works at the end of the turn
When you cast a TDFC, you cast it as the front face, and it enters the battlefield with its front face up. Then each TDFC has further instructions on how you can transform it to its backside.Take Kefka, Court Mage: You spend , and you get to transform it into Kefka, Ruler of Ruin Or Ultimecia, Time Sorceress: Pay and exile eight cards from your graveyard, and she turns into Ultimecia, Omnipotent, giving you a whole extra turn as cherry on top
For one-off edge cases, its usually faster to use a generic token, a dry-erase token, or a spare card in a sleeve