Lotus Petal is a horrendously bad way to get extra mana, forcing you to give up a card just to get one mana, and not giving you any other choices if you don't need the mana
Like any true Esper-colored spellslinging list, we want to control the battlefield as best as possible while we squeeze as much advantage as possible out of Y'shtola and our other spell-lovers
Prices are lower than winner/finalist variants but still higher than regular prints
As such, you really dont enjoy going first in a pod when youre playing cards like Land Tax, as they will struggle to fire unless a green player ahead of you not only ramps, but hits all of their land drops
It also shuts down some random cards, like Chandra, Torch of Defiance's +1 and Light Up the Stage, assuming they exile noncreature spells
While Driven to Despair sounds depressing, the future couldn't be more bright for Golgari