For the Paragon cycle, I think I have a pretty good guess
Whenever you see a top-down design and think "of course it does that," the culprit is likely Reggie
If you get all three artifacts onto the battlefield, you create a legendary creature tokenthe first time we did thatand attach all three Equipment to it, making a giant, daunting creature
From the ancient Shadow Games to modern-day villains using the game to their own ends, asking why anyone is still playing this game is a seriously valid question (and makes Paradox's desire to rid the world of Duel Monsters just a tad understandable)
Too few lands, and we get screwed
That said, keep in mind that historic bias means the same player who doesnt pay for Rhystic Study might pay for your spiky dude, and it will be super annoying