It reads like Pay nine mana: do some goofy nonsense and that came with this subtext: put this in your trade binder and hope someone who plays multiplayer wants it. Its possible that its too vulnerable to counterspells or the traditional problem that you might just not draw it or something, but its a hard reset that gets you out of any board and works in ways that can be pretty straightforward to abuse
Magda, the Hoardmaster Magda, the Hoardmaster is surely better than I think, but the gated ability feels bad
If two cards are on the board simultaneously, they can still not target each other with spells
Most likely, due to the results of Khans of Tarkir 's Delve cards, future expansion sets are unlikely to make Delve a major mechanic, though it may still appear here and there
Although we might today think of that as strange, eight-card boosters were more common in that era
Imagine getting this out on turn 2 via a Llanowar Elves turn 1 (shout out to the reprint)