While another Pokemon boom period is great, especially when it coincides with the series 25th anniversary, average collectors are struggling to find packs
This makes 1/1s while Awakening Zone made 0/1s, and I dont think theres enough difference in the two to warrant the extra mana cost
Theres a real cost to buffing a card into playability and then having to revert those buffs if it becomes overrepresented in the meta
For example, Mewtwo is normally a legendary Psychic-type Pokmon, but the Mewtwo (#12) in this series is a Fire/Metal dual-type Pokmon
Even just knowing that Ill have Traverse the Ulvenwald and Seasons Past to flash back, it seems pretty good and it potentially lets me play random cards with very high costs that I can discard early and then return with Seasons Past
If youre looking for a Commander like Sam, Loyal Attendant that just makes Food passively, Samwise Gamgee may be better in the 99 than as your Commander, but the card is very valuable in both places