I could probably come up with some post-hoc theory that explains all of this, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader (send me your best theories here, or in the comments below)
This commander is wonderful with newer cards like Grave Researcher and Emeritus of Abundance, as well as some self-mill gems like Living Death and Six
Being bilingual and tournament-specific, it represents one of the most collectible participation promos from Pokemons competitive infancy
WotC realized since the beginning of the game that this was a very powerful effect to print, and because of that great tutors are somewhat scarce
Well, why not send that damage to another creature that person controls
This card will set you back over $200 for an ungraded copy, with graded copies skyrocketing in value if they grade out highly