I felt like I had created this really cool new tool and was eager to share it with the other designers
Its blue ability pins down any creature that is already tapped, effectively keeping it pinned so long as you keep paying that surprisingly cheap two mana cost
And finally, Caves of Koilos is a cheap pain land that could easily replace a swamp or plains.
The first one released was Shivan Dragon at MagicCon Philadelphia, the second one was Giant Growth at MagicCon Minneapolis, the third was Lord of the Pit at MagicCon Barcelona, the fourth one was Merfolk of the Pearl Trident at Gen Con, and the fifth one was Swords to Plowshares at MagicCon Vegas
Art-driven appeal: Many of these cards will still look stunning 10+ years from now, even if the meta game changes
Reanimate While sacrificing after the third lore counter is added might look like a downside of Sagas (and in Standard, it mostly is), it can be an upside as well, especially in Modern or Commander, where you have cards like Starfield of Nyx that can simply reanimate the Saga and start the process over from the beginning
