Wizards believes (rightly or wrongly) that new players don't like any form of hate cards in Magic because these cards lead to feel-bad moments (e.g., you build a janky Ever After Reanimator deck and your opponent slams a Rest in Peace)
However, spending an hourglass boosts your stamina and shortens the wait time
[D][D] Backstab: This attack does 20 damage to 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokmon for each damage counter already on that Pokmon (don't apply Weakness or Resistance for Benched Pokmon)
I still think firebending is a really weak ability, but if its going to get some use anywhere, making it both feed back into the card its on (by the new spells cast triggering prowess) and scale with each card played beforehand (also because of prowess) is the best possible option
The first half of the season follows an original story arc, where Yugi and his friends are transported to a digital universe, created and controlled by Noah, Seto Kaiba's adoptive brother
If the trend is flat or declining, the grading cost might not be justified