Rare tournament cards (e.g., Trophy Pikachu, Masters Key) have shown consistent price growth in the last five years
And it's worth it as this magecraft is nasty
To top it all, EX cards are basics, so they can be played immediately rather than forcing you to wait several turns to evolve
In total, eleven English sets received 1st Edition print runs over a roughly three-year span: Base Set (January 1999) Jungle (June 1999) Fossil (October 1999) Team Rocket (April 2000) Gym Heroes (August 2000) Gym Challenge (October 2000) Neo Genesis (December 2000) Neo Discovery (June 2001) Neo Revelation (September 2001) Neo Destiny (February 2002) (Plus a few promo cards with 1st Edition stamps) The sets that came after Neo Destiny (Legendary Collection, Expedition, Aquapolis, and Skyridge) did not have 1st Edition print runs
Like the Dream Journal, the Voracious Mycelium gains the ability to find the common binding card, Strange Growth, once per round as a free trigger from the action trigger
Bumpkin has the benefit of being a Beast thats perfectly fine to summon off of Cat, alongside Kitt, fine to pitch with your many effects, and provides a unique tool for the strategy