Most of those are pretty bad, but I love a commander that incentivizes playing with cards that don't have a home anywhere else
I like the base 3/3 and generic to activate the Curator, and I like the +1/+1 counter and lifegain on the Scavenging Ooze, so if you have slots for green cards, why not both
There were also no spells in the format that said destroy target Planeswalker. The times have changed, and Garruk is just not going to do enough when he resolves for how easy it can be to top deck an answer
Yes, a lot of their cards will be better than Shock, unless you were playing Limited back then in which case they might not have any such cards, but better enough
Each starter deck introduces you to an existing game strategy, and expands it by adding 5 brand-new cards
It lets you find anything you want but tucks it three draw steps away, so you want some extra draw spells to get it in your hand quicker