The other big bonus was that you got to see their entire deck, which back then taught you a lot more than it does now due to a lot of people playing their own homebrews and a lack of other ways to take a look
Elementals can get pretty pricey, so 5 mana is often a cost reduction, and at instant speed, you can pull a lot of surprises outside your turn
Blackblade Reforged Ah, Blackblade Reforged, or as I like to call it, the perfect control win condition. Blackblade Reforged gives the equipped creature +1/+1 for each land you control (basically making it into Dakkon Blackblade)
Finally, there's always the chance of opening a card on The List (including Magic -themed versions of cards from Stranger Things x Secret Lair )
I will warn that the first times I tested this deck, I often encountered situations where I was at least 80% confident that I'm supposed to be able win the game but with no idea what the best way to go about it is
No, but they must be actual dice