WOTC continues to focus on reprinting to improve barriers of entry for Modern and, to a lesser extent, Legacy
Sacrifice after IV.) I, II, III - Pain - You draw a card and you lose 1 life.IV - Oblivion - Each opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice and loses 3 life
Once a creature with power 3 or greater has blocked Bristlebane Outrider, changing the power of the blocking creature won't cause Bristlebane Outrider to become unblocked
Hiram Flaversham - Toymaker can be great in a deck with multiple copies of Pawpsicle, but thats more something for Constructed than for Limited
When you do, you get that big creature right onto the board with no worries at all
Warner: I think you are already seeing that although Ruby/Sapphire is a powerful combination, there are also other options available to players