And the fact that this is a Merfolk means it can have additional upside in tribal decks, too
Instead of straight up countering the spell, you can choose where it goes yourself, which oftentimes is a two-for-one or more
Birthing Pod, like Necropotence, was a thing of beauty when we were innocent
I still say the base deck is one of the better Precons Ive seen (especially if this semi-tribal creature flavor is your thing if you like Izzet Spellslinger decks, obviously you might feel different), but this just has a little more oomph to it
That's all without crediting how good Atraxa is as a standalone (flyalone?) creature
The flexibility of this ability triggering from non-creature spells means you could very easily run Saruman as an artifact or enchantment commander, opening up interesting deck-building options while keeping to the flavour of this key villain