The permanent that goes in the bin doesn't have to be a creature, and the original counters don't have to be +1/+1 counters
Seven power, to be precise, although more is always nice too
Whats more, you can also play spells that cost 4 or more from the top of your library, which means youll want to have lands in play to get the most out of this commander
Every turn youll have the option to get one or both of the top two cards from your deck
After being used, Malevolent Hermit can be brought back as Benevolent Geist, preventing your own noncreature spells from being countered
By the time youre attacking that hard, youre typically going to have plenty of mana in your typical game of Limited There are enough Dragons in this set for this to provide some very real fixing for you, and having the fail case of helping you find a Dragon -- which is presumably one of your better cards -- is pretty nice