put it onto the battlefield face down as a colorless 2/2 creature with no name, no creature types, no abilities, and no mana cost that can be turned face up for its mana cost), and they put the other into their graveyard
Decks that want Branching Evolution want as many of those effects as they can get, and the cost reduction on The Earth Crystal is a welcome addition to the formula
Making several Craterhoof Behemoths, Coiling Oracles, Elvish Champions, or Man-o-Wars off a Rite of Replication, Arachnogenesis, or Spell Swindle will often propel you far ahead of the table if you can pull it off
Its a feeling that can only be satisfied by munching through other creatures
They often also contain special treatments, frames, arts, foils, etc, exclusive to a sets Collector Boosters