This can just as easily be pitching it to play a Force of Will as it can be discarding it to a looting effect which are effects blue has in abundance
You can buy the ability to open packs faster, and there are also currencies you dont have to spend money on, and its all kind of confusing in text, but it makes sense and is easy to understand in context, so, for your sake and mine, I am not going to spend time explaining all of it
Cards like Launch Party can at least be two-for-twos by virtue of being instants, whereas Severed Strands only gets that benefit when youre playing against Luminous Bonds or Capture Sphere
It is not a "cast on turn six" commander so much as a "build a mana base that can actually produce " commander, which means fewer utility lands than you'd like
Plenty of VSTAR, VMAX, and Trainer Gallery cards are also available