1 Gonti, Canny Acquisitor 1 Felix Five-Boots 1 Thieving Skydiver 1 Sage of the Beyond 1 Ghostly Pilferer 1 Diluvian Primordial 1 Stolen Goods 1 Curse of the Swine 1 Dazzling Sphinx 1 Arcane Heist 1 Smirking Spelljacker 1 Mind's Dilation 1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury 1 Predators' Hour 1 Brainstealer Dragon 1 Cunning Rhetoric 1 Thieving Amalgam 1 Orochi Soul-Reaver 1 Thieving Varmint 1 Heartless Conscription 1 Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion 1 Baleful Mastery 1 Ohran Frostfang 1 Savvy Trader 1 Tower Winder 1 Cazur, Ruthless Stalker 1 Silent-Blade Oni 1 Hostage Taker 1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest 1 Fallen Shinobi 1 Cold-Eyed Selkie 1 Siphon Insight 1 Extract Brain 1 Shadowmage Infiltrator 1 Baleful Strix 1 Culling Ritual 1 Thief of Sanity 1 Villainous Wealth 1 The Mimeoplasm 1 Plasm Capture 1 Ukkima, Stalking Shadow 1 Bladegriff Prototype 1 Chaos Wand 1 Dream-Thief's Bandana 1 Oblivion Sower 1 Overflowing Basin 1 Drowned Catacomb 1 Temple of Deceit 1 Temple of Malady 1 Darkwater Catacombs 1 Fetid Pools 1 Yavimaya Coast 1 Viridescent Bog 1 Exotic Orchard 1 Underground River 1 Woodland Cemetery 1 Sunken Hollow 1 Temple of Mystery 1 Hinterland Harbor 1 Darkslick Shores 1 Flooded Grove 1 Twilight Mire 1 Llanowar Wastes 1 Slither Blade 1 Whirler Rogue 1 Triton Shorestalker 1 Feed the Swarm 1 Silhana Ledgewalker 1 Rampant Growth 1 Kodama's Reach 1 Void Attendant 1 Three Visits 1 Putrefy 1 Trygon Predator 1 Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius 1 Arcane Signet 1 Darksteel Ingot 1 Fellwar Stone 1 Prismatic Lens 1 Sol Ring 1 Command Tower 1 Reliquary Tower 1 Access Tunnel 1 Dimir Aqueduct 1 Opulent Palace 5 Island 6 Swamp 4 Forest Grand Larceny Tokens 1 Thopter // Manifest (helper) token 1 Thopter // Treasure token 1 Boar // Manifest (helper) token 2 Boar // Treasure tokens 1 Eldrazi Scion // Manifest (helper) token 1 Eldrazi Scion // Treasure token 1 Bounty: The Outsider // Bounty Rules 1 Bounty: Gorra Tash and Silas // Bounty Rules Thopter // Manifest (Helper) Thopter // Treasure Boar // Manifest (Helper) Boar // Treasure Eldrazi Scion // Manifest (Helper) Eldrazi Scion // Treasure Bounty: The Outsider // Bounty Rules Bounty: Gorra Tash and Silas // Bounty Rules Bounty: Frankie the Fang // Bounty Rules Most Wanted 0002_MTGOTJ_CommFace: Olivia, Opulent Outlaw 0008_MTGOTJ_CmNewFt: Vihaan, Goldwaker Starting April 5, see all the cards in the Most Wanted Commander deck in the Card Image Gallery

The tiny opportunity cost means you may not need a heavy defender theme to make Coral Colony viable, but it obviously helps and also provides another way to kill opponents using Axebane Guardian + High Alert untap loops
The answer is I have no idea
Few who bought these early versions of the cards thought to keep them in pristine condition, and this has created the perfect storm, leading to increased collectible value of these first prints in the secondary marketplace
When paired with Uxie during setup turns, Ting-Lu ex can make the opponent unable to use any abilities because the opponent's Pokmon will all have damage on them
The second reason I think it makes Magic better is that it disrupts the expected flow of the game, it mixes it up and allows situations where turn two things are happening on turn one