There's one really easy element here: Fiery Fall is the only Alara block "1M Basic Landcycling" card that really feels good both to play and to cycle. The other four are all generally levels of... eh? 3UU is too much for a counterspell, Lifegain is super weak, 7 mana for a drain is a spell that can end games but feels worse than creatures and other better scaling options, and Gleam is nice as a combat trick but is only here because the new white options in MH2 is equally unimpressive, frankly. So the blue and green options were easy replacements, while I feel like an enchantment that cycles is exactly what we want in black anyway, so that's totally playable too. I feel like the red enchantment doesn't really do enough to cut Fall, and I enjoy that Gleam at least has a chance to be played.

The rest are more sidegrades?

  • Call to Heel -> Withdraw: I enjoy these two for one chances. It's really interesting comparing this to Run Away Together. Withdraw sometimes bounces two creatures, but usually bounces them for different opponents. Run Away is less colour intensive but NEVER double bounces for one player, and sometimes requires either a sacrifice or 'Oh no I bounced my Pacified creature' to work. I feel Withdraw at least beats the strange position of paying one extra mana for usually a worse Unsummon.
  • Audacious Infiltrator -> Barbed Spike: Not going to lie, I enjoy Infiltrator. I think it's a fun evasive creature that, were this a real reprint set, would totally be in the environment as way to randomly make combat more interesting. But I enjoy extra equipment being added to the environment, and this is a fun design. Stormfront Pegasus that leaves its... horn behind? Love it.
  • Fireshrieker -> Batterbone: Again, randomnly extra equipment, but this one suddenly makes a lot things into threats in a way that Shrieker honestly doesn't a lot of the time.

Definitely more interesting cards from the set, especially when you get to the rares, so more changes are likely.