It can beef itself up to become a wall, has a reloadable omni negate it can use once per turn, and it brings back Link monsters from the graveyard
many of these cards were handled and played with, causing tiny surface scratches, bent edges and other types of damage to the card that would devalue it
Grading costs the same for Japanese and English cards ($19-25/card through PSA), so higher base quality means better odds of hitting PSA 10
Worse, the pull rates often vary wildly between sets, making some like Sword and Shields Crown Zenith feel amazing to open, while Scarlet and Violets Stellar Crown is like intentionally lighting a wad of cash on fire
Lots of high-value cards were released during this period, including one particularly rare and comedic card
With support from cards like Electrode, Pikachu can still land the finishing blow when needed