To give you an idea of how prevalent it is, flash has appeared in almost 100 sets to date, and that number will only increase as WotC releases new products
The excess two-drop could still be useful because to fill a gap on turn three, and the excess five-drop can make for a solid play on turn six
The majority of instances of banding are printed as a keyword on a creature
18 October - 21 October 2007
Another reason why I do not value it that highly is maybe the fact that I do not own the card in paper and thus have little experience playing with it
You don't get to look at the cards in your library, but if you happen to know the position of a card in your library for example, you know what you scried to the bottom of your library with Opt, or you cast Approach of the Second Sun last turn you can use that to your advantage and make sure you draw it when you need to