And in Black with the Cabal Coffers/Urborg combo you can make tons of mana, and this color combo is rich in card drawing for spells like Ancient Craving and Sign in Blood as well as removal like Bedevil and Chaos Warp to have enough for making the 3/3
You can also use DeviantArt, though that tends to have more hobbyists than professionals
In multiplayer it can be used to political advantage as you need it
It adds tutor effects to the look at the top X cards in your library, you may reveal a card (land, nonland, etc.) and put it into your hand effect
In sanctioned tournaments, generally no, unless a judge issues a proxy under specific tournament rules
This super cheap creature fits perfectly well in noncreature decks like those running a playset of Arclight Phoenix