Unlike many ramp effects, it can grab any Forest, not just Basic ones - allowing it to dig up certain dual- and tri-lands - and still leaves behind a creature, albeit a small one
What would players expect
As I mentioned, this isn't the first Ragost-related price spike I've covered
Cards like Astral Drift, Curator of Mysteries, and Valiant Rescuer come to mind
4 There are, of course, other peaks, corresponding to other sets of design goals and cube architectures for example, a Vintage cube that supports Splinter Twin and Channel combos will have a different peak than a cube that has identical restrictions, but does not support combo
When Twilight Masquerade first released, this card's base version was among the most valuable cards in the set