It makes for a smoother game overall and works incredibly well under various stax effects, which notably makes for a great sub-theme, and Heliod is overall one of the best mono-white commanders
Even Pokemon like Manaphy are seeing upticks in the prices of their cards, as the Pokemon hype sends prices up nearly across the board
It came out in 2023, and it was a fairly instant hit with players who loved to look for the better cards
From Freebies to Holy Grails: The Top 10 Skyrocketing Japanese Promo Cards Promo cards with limited distribution runs and zero chance of a reprint are virtually guaranteed to create a frenzy in the secondary market
GameStop's prices might be ridiculous, but they're also a guaranteed purchase
Third, all of Zendikar Expeditions (with the exception of the Battle for Zendikar rare duals) were cards that players had wanted reprints of