It is actually seeing some light play in Standard
A six mana investment on the front is well worth it, particularly as you can get him in for damage, pitch a spell to Connive, and flip him on the same turn
Enter the Bargain, with twice the cost, only skips your draw step, you draw them immediately to cast them or in response to something, and it's even legal as a four of in Vintage where it used to be on the B&R list
Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. While three or less might not sound like much, MTG is full to bursting with cards which only cost three mana or less that can win a game
The weather Light saga dealt with a devastating invasion of this world, and dominance was revisited in time spiral
Laboratory Maniac is not strictly worse than Thassa's Oracle, seeing as some combos require you to have this card in play and draw cards later