meta dominance + aura art
Cheaper (costed) effects regularly get played more even when other effects are around and cost less money to acquire
It showed that we were learning how potent typal themes can be in making a card stand out
Other Pokmon attributes include Owner's Pokmon, [20] Baby Pokmon, [21] Crystal Pokmon, [22] Dark Pokmon, [23] Light Pokmon, [24] Team Magma's cards, [25] Team Aqua's cards, [25] Delta Species, [26] Pokmon Prime, [27] Pokmon SP, Restored Pokmon, Team Plasma cards, [28] Ancient Trait, Ultra Beasts, [29] Single Strike, [30] Rapid Strike, Fusion Strike, [31] Ancient, [32] and Future cards
Counters shenanigans with cards like Contractual Safeguard and Resourceful Defense are kind of the thing you want to do with an Athreos, Shroud-Veiled deck, and that sounds fun, but it also sounds like third place at the EDH table
Unfortunately, like many scarce resources that turn a profit, a frenzy to grab as many cards as possible ensued on the release date