Gifting an opponent the monarchy is annoying, but in a deck with card draw punishers like Nekusar, the Mindrazer, you can work around it
It resolves even if that spell is countered or otherwise leaves the stack
While Ruby/Amethyst probably has the advantage realistically in that matchup, its not by a lot and a strong Sapphire/Steel player can certainly overcome Ruby/Amethysts tools either by gaining more cards in hand through superior draw support, or discarding that decks key cards via A Whole New World
Suncrystal Fate is a three-mana removal spell for tapped creatures or a five-mana removal spell for anything
Every Equipment costs mana to actually equip to your creatures, but the deck has plenty of ways to cheat around equip costs by making them either discounted or completely free, depending on what your board state is
Which obviously has everyone scrambling to look up FF characters' birthdays, in anticipation of future spoilers