That said, the increase in speed when opponents lose life is a triggered ability, and you can interact with it as such
It makes certain avenues of all-in or race style strategies pointless where they are typically one of the best things to do against something you can't deal with and will ultimately beat you
This was mimicked stateside by being a part of 24 of the top 64 decks of the 2018-2019 Madison Regional Championships, with the exact same list placing 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th, 23rd and 30th.
A 2-drop creature that exiles everything your opponents play is potent enough without the ability to cast one of them for free
For example, Sapphire is great at gaining ink but weak at drawing cards, so pairing it with Amethyst creates a much more balanced team
Background U Devotion is my favorite archetype in Pioneer