It was the first major departure from the established naturalistic themes of the Base, Jungle, and Fossil sets, introducing a narrative of corruption through the Dark Pokmon mechanic
There are certainly cards in Vintage that are better at generating card advantage (Ancestral Recall, Treasure Cruise, Dig Through Time), but you can only play one of each of those
Targeting a creature with an ability was trivial, and with Springheart Nantuko backing Nadu up, you had a constant source of new creatures to target with abilities that cost zero mana to essentially draw your entire library
Known for fiery beasts, goblins, and more, this is the deck for a quick player
This is a great example of the card I like to have in my cube, lots of potential power but needs to placed in an appropriately built deck rather than always just being a no-brainer include card sat too high on the power level devoid of any drawback