I’d second the suggestion of Seedborn Muse , I run it in one of my edh decks and it’s an absolute powerhouse.

Also, a good bit of protection could Privileged Position & Sterling Grove creating a hex proof lock?

Thanks for the upvote, Poly_raptor! I'm already running Seedborn Muse . The other two are good suggestions. I'll consider those the more I play the deck.

Hey for your +1/+1 theme, Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants is pretty nice and so is Ajani, Inspiring Leader which has pretty good removal. Sylvan Awakening is a cool trick win con. Strionic Resonator can trigger Shalai’s ability twice and it speeds up the game

lifemtg, I don't think Strionic Resonator will work; Shalai's ability is an activated ability, not a triggered ability. Illusionist's Bracers , on the other hand, would do the trick.

I'm leery about trying to cram too many Planeswalkers into the deck. I think the green ones mentioned earlier would be better fits, too. The Ajanis here seem ok, but for the casting cost they require, and the amount of hate Planeswalkers tend to draw, I'm not sure they would be worth running.

When I look at running a PW, I usually look at the + effect and the - effect, and rarely consider the ultimate. Most tables are going to make sure an ultimate doesn't happen. When the PW hits the board, I want to get some value out of the first activation. Freyalise, for instance, can drop a mana dork; this is great, because the deck runs on mana dorks; the minus is a removal spell essentially, so good bonus on both sides; and the ultimate isn't really a game winner; I can live with running that one, as I think I'll probably get good value out of her. But when I look at the turn I cast her, I'm looking at essentially a 5 CMC Llanowar Elves , or a 5 CMC Naturalize on that turn. Neither of those is good value on it's own, so I really am not getting any real value until the next turn it's on the table.

Now, take Nissa, Voice of Zendikar . Three to cast, and the turn she comes down, I can - her, and get + counters on all my creatures; that's Shalai's ability for less, which is good. Or I can + her for a plant token; these tokens don't really fit the theme, but at least they don't have defender, so I can buff them and they can attack. And her ult is just card draw again, so maybe not so threatening that the table looks to annihilate her.

Now examine the Ajanis. Their + ability is pretty similar; limited counters on a limited number of creatures, and one is a 4 CMC while one is 6 CMC. For 6 CMC, I activate Shalai once, and get counters on all my creatures, and they have hexproof. Their - abilities are ok, but not great (getting some dorks out of the graveyard would be ok), and the ults I'm not really considering, as stated above.

Anyways, that was a bit of a windy reply. Hopefully that all makes sense. I do appreciate all your suggestions, though, and do hope you keep them coming! I love bouncing ideas back and forth and sorting things out.