Plus, Commune with Dinosaurs is a really strong card, so getting to play it (and making it stronger) is meaningful upside
The halls of Mist, also had a Cumulative Upkeep, although more reasonable at just one colorless Mana and would prevent creatures from attacking two turns in a row
You can saddle as a sorcery, but it is only really useful during your first main phase before attacking
I think the art of basic lands is an underappreciated part of Magic, but even more so in Commander, where they often get pushed aside by other more flashy lands
Also, they keep any counters they have on them when they move to other zones, as long as its not your hand or your library
The great thing is, you can grab other Lessons until you reach the point where Match the Odds is efficient, so you dont have to worry about its bad early-game fail case