(Also the first design I leaddesigners' first outing on a design team are no longer lead design of large sets.) The design team was myself, Richard Garfield, Mike Elliott and Charlie Catino
Rather than pushing toward a quick win, it helps you survive into the late game while opponents are forced to play around its controlling influence
If you see a circle that means its a common card, while a diamond means its an uncommon card
Your opponent can counter the black instant, but the sacrifice has already occurred
To supplement this core plan, MChoq runs a full playset of Enduring Innocence for card draw and lifegain
Part of that is due to the fact that as more cards get printed, and more of those get banned, then the list of banned cards obviously gets longer