It also works well in creature heavy decks where discarding a 2nd/3rd/4th copy of a creature is less vital than in a control oriented deck where there might be less redundancy
Wizards gave some of these creatures other good abilities, like flying and first strike, but then made them 1/1s for five
Immediate value, and a powerful back that gives you all the options in the world, some ramp, and is relatively easy to get to
Strengths and Weaknesses of Pacifism Effects in Magic Always a high pick in Limited, and every so often making its way into constructed formats, this little Aura and the dozens of cards it has inspired come with a ton of strategic quirks that are much less interesting with other types of removal spells
And it can get abusive, if you have say a Clock of Omens and a Mana Vault, or an even bigger artifact source, you can probably go infinite with something like this
Alpha cards, if you havent met one in person, have more rounded corners and a thicker frame than cards which come later