The instant burn that could potentially take out two dorks in the right circumstances or tapping and drawing a card was incredibly versatile, and gave you tools against both aggro or control/combo in your main deck without needing to sideboard later
Gau, Feral YouthGau, Feral Youth doesn't have to exert any effort to grow bigger and bigger, which feeds into its triggered ability very well
Outside of mass exile effects like Farewell, its tough to deal with a Hogaak deck because its designed to fight spot removal, counterspells, and wrath effects due to all the reanimator shenanigans going on
But even such a simple task may need some skill and knowledge
The card might find a place in Izzet-colored Commander decks such as Melek, Izzet Paragon or certain Niv-Mizzet builds, though there's stiff competition for those decks' limited creature slots