It shuts down other effects as well - your opponents can't cast spells from anywhere other than their hands, so no casting spells using Madness, Plot, Mayhem, or a whole bunch of red impulse draw effects
At the beginning of any game, this card is simply Chalice of Life, a 3-cost artifact that gains one life when you tap it
Take a look at MaRos articles describing new sets - he does not just dump the image gallery and say let me know what you think - he describes the sets design goals, the mechanics, why they were chosen, how those mechanics were placed in each colour, the limited archetypes the set was designed around, some anecdotes about the design process, etc
While it's entirely possible only to get regular ex-cards in a booster bundle, it's unlikely that you'll strike out
Instead, his most obvious spot is in a landfall deck
Im beginning to love this deck even more