I walked over and grabbed one of the playtest decks
They offer strong synergies, unique mechanics, and high upgrade potential
He simply says that Magic: The Gathering is currently making a "conscious effort to prioritize having more cards with flavor text", so there's no need to worry about that particular aspect of cards going anywhere soon
At that point, Shifting Woodland can become a copy of Aftermath Analyst, allowing you to sacrifice and reanimate it and generate infinite mana and eventually infinite Mirrorpool and Hanweir Battlements activations to produce a horde of hasty attackers
Investment Value: Many alt art cards appreciate in value over time, especially if they feature popular Pokmon
And yes, banding finally made it back to Magic (and in the same set with snow-covered landwalk no less)