For just 1 blue mana, it counters a noncreature spell unless your opponent pays 2, which is often a back-breaking tempo swing in the early game
cards in your cost area (by turning them 90 degrees sideways, like tapping in Magic: The Gathering)
This is an important technique for stopping strong attacks while bracing your Blockers to go again
But also with the old classics, like a rejigged cartoony Slowpoke from Miki Tanaka, the classic Viridian Forest "fat" Pikachu a from Mitsuhiro Artia, or the reworked, mournful Cubone of his looking up longingly at the night sky
While this complements the gameplan well, its backbreaking if an opponent gains control of it or reanimates it, since the Torpor Orb effect almost completely shuts this deck down
We recently went over the most expensive reprints featured in the Doctor Who Commander decks