You even get a bonus bit of life when you sacrifice the bodyguard to get your creature back
Ashcloud Phoenix is great in any deck built around those types of mechanics, because unlike most Morph creatures it can go back and forth between being face up and face down
As such the option to discard it was always interesting, it would allow for much more immediate and mana efficient card draw but it would significantly reduce the overall value
The real power comes from how flexible it isyou can generate tokens, buff your creatures, or fuel combos
Okay, there is a little variation: Tidus, Blitzball Star goes tall and encourages you to strike fast
We can't say for sure whether your local game store will have you deviate from the norm, but if it's a Prerelease event, it will no doubt be Final Fantasy