If a player paid life for some other reason while casting the spell, that will not reduce the number of loyalty counters the planeswalker enters the battlefield with
And its not like shed be in a very different space than Teysa, Orzhov Scion anyways
Shrinking opposing boards while you boost your own creatures often wipes out small armies on entry, and if it sticks around, it quickly turns combat into a one-sided affair
It gains percentage points against Abzan and Grixis Control while not losing too much against its good matchups like Affinity, Amulet Bloom, and G/R Tron
They both buff the same type of creatures (and Blex's itself a Pest), plus the obvious lifegain synergy
This is a new mechanic debuting in Innistrad: Crimson Vow that allows you to pay an alternate cost for the card in order to become an editor and gain a version of the card that is the same, but you have to remove the words in the brackets