White creates tokens, blue scries, red burns opponents, and green pumps creatures, so no matter what you cast, you gain value
One of the three common Exploit creatures could cast a spell that cost more than 1 mana (imagine if Chill of the Grave were an Exploit effect rather than a card in the set)
I could see cutting any or all of those for more counterspells or other cards that have the goal of slowing down other players to make up for the fact that this isnt the fastest deck
In the past week and a half, the price of Codsworth, Handy Helper has more than doubled
Unlike the Monarch, this also provides an effect if you get the Initiative while you already have it
That said, it falls short when it comes to using it as a card draw engine