The highest-price card I can recall in Standard, for a regular, non-promo, non-foil English, was when Jace, Vryns Prodigy hit nearly $100 a few months after release
Some spells and abilities can deal damage to a battle, and spells and abilities that deal damage to any target can target/damage a battle
One that I think is quietly good, if Stalwart Pathlighters condition is met, all your creatures get indestructible, not just the ones with different powers
In fact, I would go so far as to say that knowing their path to victory directly contributed to making those players better high-tier optimization came naturally as a result of playing towards their win condition
Combined with cards like Furnace of Rath or Dictate of the Twin Gods, you can turn a board of Goblins into a dangerous rabble or a hand of cheap burn spells into a veritable firestorm, leaving nothing but scorched playmats where your opponents used to be