Three strength, three willpower, and one lore for questing are all nothing to write home about for a cost of 3 ink, and there are definitely more exciting alternatives to deploy
How Do Elf Commanders Work in MTG
The mix of abilities allows you to pick and choose what you need at any given time, and the flexibility means you can usually find the perfect answer to any given question
There's also the fact that a lot of the story was changed for the English release, heavily pushing an anti-fighting, anti-racism message
Another trait of Alternate Fourth Edition cards is that they do not glow under ultraviolet light where standard cards react strongly
The differences between the theme decks can be found in the pull strips, cards being stored on the top or bottom of the box, the artwork on the back of the box, and of course the copyright dates on the box