Shrike Force is still quite small, so its hardly the most dangerous creature around, but it picks up buffs really nicely and holds off armies of 1/1s while effectively pecking away at the opponents life total each turn
I specifically chose those artists because they were among the original MTG contributors, they knew [the cards original designer] personally, and they were not artists represented in this first edition set
While the 3/3 body for 3 mana isnt exciting, Lord Skitters ability to create a rat token every turn can quickly get out of control, especially against decks that are light on interaction, like ramp
Heck, even Wrenn and Realmbreaker can do at least one more extra thing for the same-ish converted cost during the turn it drops
There are so many zero-mana counterspells, one-mana discard spells, and cheap draw-sevens that Mind Twist doesnt really line up as well in the format as it used to