Blastoise debuted in Base Set with 100 and stayed at that number throughout the first two generations
Wildspeaker comes down turn three or four and then typically casts something else that ensures he lives to the following turn
Classic lines like Dark Ritual into Entomb into Reanimate bring back Griselbrand on turn one, often backed by Force of Will to protect it from Swords to Plowshares or graveyard hate
Once you reach the next tier, you cant be demoted until the season resets the following month
A Charizard was the rarest holographic in the Base Set, so pulling one from a pack was like winning a mini lottery. Only 4,000 to 10,000 cards were produced, most of which were played with and are now dogeared so to find one in mint condition like this one, which has a grading of 9 (out of 10), makes it all the rarer. The shadowless version was only printed in the earliest production run of Pokmon cards, with the holograph version even rarer
This is where the "collecting for fun" aspect comes in