Honestly, its not an inspired design, but its an effective one
Versions with black add protection with Kaya's Ghostform and removal with Dead Weight
I thought, Oh, this is the spell that gets me one of three random creatures, grabbed the best creature in my deck, and two other decent ones
While we've focused on the regular versions of Valakut Exploration for this story, there are other variants available that haven't moved up in price by as much
In a Pod-based deck, there are going to be lots of creatures coming and going, and many of the combo pieces in these decks have enter-the-battlefield effects
In return, I got a bunch of bulk that included several copies of Rest in Peace, Epic Experiment, Nivmagus Elemental, Collective Blessing, and some other casual hits