Something that also worked in Pokmons favor was that their last two sets, Twilight Masquerade and Stellar Crown, both had been fairly popular sets after the first five sets of the Scarlet & Violet era cards had been priced and sold much lower than MSRP and were usually close to distribution cost for stores at launch
Use it for CCGs, TCGs, living card games, expandable card games, prototype card games, or even educational flashcard projects
I believe the actual reason behind them is the following
It costs six mana, has a horrible stat line for six mana, and needs to be recast when it blocks
Emerald cards often punish opponents by forcing them to discard cards, making them a great counter to aggro decks
Control decks are a prime examplethey rely on counterspells and efficient removal spells like Swords to Plowshares or Beast Within to keep the board in check and protect their own game plan