Its flexibility allows for a sudden influx of tokens at any point in the game
There are Planeshifted and Futureshifted cards, such as the original printing of Tarmogoyf
Now excess damage carries over due to Trample, and because Flanking reduces the power/toughness of the blocker, more punch gets through
Having the discard not be a cost is usually an upside as you don't lose the cards if they counter it, but in a deck like dredge this will at times be a drawback as you actually want to put cards in your graveyard
While not intentionally a budget deck, the only expensive cards in the whole deck are Arclight Phoenix and Watery Grave, which are both great cards to have in your collection anyway
Most Animar decks feature Ancestral Statue in their 99, even if the combo's not the focal point of the deck