Plus, the artwork for this card is pretty incredible
The constant stream of free spells off the top of your deck is just too much value for your opponent to deal with, and the ability to hit your opponent for 10 life with Kefka's Tower shouldnt be underestimated either
I was already a Return to the Ranks apologist (playing it quite extensively in early builds of Winota), but Raise the Past is just a far better rate, allowing you to bring back many more creatures for just four mana
Better still, Deranged Assistant and Sea Scryer come down for only 2 mana, so theyre likely to get at least a couple turns of use in the early game when theyre most needed
Im not sure Im too interested in the unreliable factor of gaining speed when its not a focal point of a deck
however, this was only the beginning of what would prove to be a long and illustrious career dominating the format in no end of different archetypes