Ease of Distribution: Lightweight and compact, making them easy to distribute or include in mailings, packages, or promotional kits
Idol of Oblivion If you have a way to generate tokens (which, in Magic, are legion), Idol of Oblivion becomes a solid once-per-turn draw engine
After using UFO Turtle to search out the Princess, the deck sets up walls with Level Limit, Gravity Bind, and Messenger of Peace to protect her
I suspect the decline of Rivers Rebuke can be blamed almost entirely on Deflecting Swat, as nobody wants to invest 6 mana only to have their targeted board wipe pointed back at them for free, but I personally dont think this potent spell is all that much worse now than it was years ago
Skarrgan Hellkite
The distinction between the base and full sets matters, as acquiring every secret and special card is vastly harder as they are designed to be a rare, lottery-like feature