Use your mana acceleration early to foretell cards, then cast them for cheap later on
Much like beach babe Tidus is the underexpected hero of Spira in FF10, Steven is my hero of MTG
Rather than chase a magic markup number, price against your live cost and local demand, and treat sealed Pokmon as a traffic-driver as much as a margin line
Twenty life is nice but you have to pay upkeep for it next turn meaning your combo is either a nine mana total combo or a seven mana in one turn combo
The same principle applies to cards like Spider-Woman, Stunning Savior and Loxodon Gatekeeperwhile they serve a similar purpose, one comes down earlier and the other adds an extra layer of stax
On the other hand, Mew Ex can "steal" the biggest attack on the opponent's board with Genome Hacking, making it a great counter to hard-hitting decks