It works especially well as a way to bounce back from a board wipe
A 1-toughness 3-drop creature is a difficult ask, and a 2-toughness 5-drop is even less workable
Sure, there were more of the expensive Modern cards floating around, but there were now more Modern players, too, and the demand once again exceeded the supply
You can also open a Splash Portal to tap down quite a few creatures on the opponents side
That said, its power level is quite high, and like Mana Leak or Lightning Bolt being in Standard, it will be a defining component of the game during its entire life in the format
In addition, when he dies, we put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to two target creatures, which is a nice extra