Because Dominaria is so well known, we decided we wanted to do something iconic for the back face, and what's more Dominarian than Alpha and has been much beloved for 30 years
Pioneer is not as fast-paced as Modern or Legacy, but it is faster than Standard
There are also some seriously powerful crossovers between Elves and +1/+1 counters
This eight-cost character quests for four lore, which is already a huge amount, but anytime it does quest, you get to ready all the cards in your inkwell
Then for each creature card you own in exile with a memory counter on it, create a tapped and attacking token thats a copy of it
Sure, A lot of people still play paper Standard and the bannings hurt them just as badly as ever