Where it does shine is how it buffs all your guys elves, take note by giving them not only trample, but also +X/+X, where X is the number of creatures you control
Some starter decks contain the best cards of their respective inks
Players wanting to build a Shrine commander before didn't have a card that specifically called out the Shrine subtype, so Go-Shintai is a welcome addition to the format
After all, his ability doesn't trigger off creatures entering, only from casting them, so you don't get to double up his triggers when you use Ashling to make token copies
That meant that you were more likely to see the Knights facing off on opposite sides of the table instead of beside each other, fitting the intended oppositional flavour of the two cards
While it's not strictly better than Smother, due to its more prohibitive casting cost, it is a Smother with upside