I guess I should have linked to the blog post I made about my format a while back to give you a rough idea of how different I think the format should have been. In my alternate-universe gen 5, Juniper would likely not exist as a card.
The link to the blog post leads to an error message.
I agree that the evolving Basics should receive a buff somehow... whether they are useful setup attacks or something besides weak damaging attacks. A little more HP would help too.