The key is pairing Lotus with a legend that recoups that card, or provides a cascading advantage the longer it sits in play
Charizard Ex has two moves: Poker, which allows it to bind 3 Fire Energies from Energy, and Steam Artillery, a move that deals 150 damage and requires three Fire Energies and two of any other color
Since booster boxes are going for about $300 on the secondary market, that means you'd need to spend an average of $10,500 to find one
1Foundry Street Denizen
In the announcement, or rather the lack thereof, Wizards didnt explain their reasoning at all
Certain cards, like Helix Fossil and Dome Fossil, are categorized as Item cards but are played like Pokemon cards