Orzhov has always had support for both sacrifice and token strategies, so this ability fits right into their ranks without issue
These cards were printed before the Pokemon TCG decided to add some minor design changes to how the cards would look when printed
You might really benefit from them if youre taking a slower or more fragile strategy, like combat or Voltron, and they might enhance your games if you find your meta has gotten a little too fast
Unless they say otherwise, activated abilities can be used at any time that you could cast an Instant spell
Legend has it that during the printing of a Jungle Clefable prerelease card, the stamp ended up on a certain number of Base Set Raichus, and so the elusive Prerelease Raichu was born
I dont think its that outlandish to cater to the audience that likes that art style, especially since theyve done it before and it was popular