In this Modern age of Magic set design, staying true to the flavor and story is very important to Wizards , which means if a card doesn't happen to be on theme for a set, it doesn't make it into the set, even if the card is potentially important for making Standard function as intended
Usually this is to re-trigger EtB effects but sometimes it is just some extra protection against mass removal
And to make sure these notes are useful for everyone, Ill be approaching them all from a budget perspective
Evolutionary Leap 6.5/10 This is pretty good but it is only something you want if you have ways to win on the back of creatures and a good portion of your creature generation is also on creature cards
Rewarding you for going wide and tall gives you myriad options over how to equip your creatures
Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded just loves for you to get your attack triggers in and Anax, Hardened in the Forge is a bit of no-cost removal and board wipe insurance to keep attackers on your side