how can you tell first edition pokemon cards The Difference in 1st Edition, Shadowless & Base Set What is a 1st Edition

There are traditional combat damage payoffs like Cranial Plating, Kappa Cannoneer and Nettlecyst, and some powerful non-combat threats like Ghirapur Aether Grid or Mechanized Production

Youre not grinding mindlessly for gold

Energy counters were introduced in the Kaladesh block, and featured heavily in the eponymous set and its follow-up, Aether Revolt

You can pay generic mana to cast spells instead of colored mana with Lattice on the board

It loses some power in Limited, and its much easier for it to be outclassed, but its still absurdly powerful and you should definitely play Ragavans Zidane reskin

The main question is what to do with the extra mana