first edition gastly pokemon card · Base Set #50(Shadowless) [1P] Destiny Bond Gastly 1997 Japanese Topsun #092

Instant Color tag templates(None) Reprieve Return target spell to its owner's hand

If your power is all in these expensive finishers, then you need to treat your creature count like a resource and preserve as large a board as possible while ramping to these payoffs

This means it gets to keep its flying counter, upgrading the creature you turned face up

So perhaps the question isn't 'why is this spiking' but 'why isn't this spiking harder?' One reason could be that many players aren't a fan of infinite turn combos

That means it becomes increasingly important for more recent precons to add something new to the mix, something that makes them feel distinct from the many, many precons that came before them