I enjoy the Japanese aesthetic and it's fun to compare these alternate arts to the mainline normal versions and see the distinct difference in art style
With Ojutai, the control player could then swing once they had counterspell mana up, and upon connecting once, the game was usually over, as they could chain counterspells, other interaction, or more Ojutai
If this was a normal tournament, like a PTQ, I would get really stressed right now, but I don't and that's what's really nice with these kind of tournaments
Fortisphere was likely taken out of circulation because it was a one-cost card that could be used as a way for Steel decks to draw up extra cards
Dark Confidant Although its fallen from favor, Dark Confidant is a premier 2-drop, 2-power creature in black thanks to the ability to draw an extra card on your turns