it's just an absolute comparison
Those Menace tokens pick up the Equipment and grab the Auras, and are therefore Modified and start to get bigger
Normally, they'd be great, but I think for deathtouch creatures, direct damage might be even better (that way your dudes survive the exchange)
Also consider adding Starting Town or Riverpyre Verge
Being able to play nonland cards face-down as generic lands is one of the more common solutions and has been by far the best one in my experience, so its fantastic to see Wizards work out how to include it themselves
That utility need not be much, since theres certainly value in packing your Thing in the Ice deck with free spells and Faithless Looting can turn them into something better later on, but there needs to be something