Originally, when a card with madness was discarded you first had to choose whether to put it into exile or to let it go straight to the graveyard
If one of those is missing, the card may still be desirable, but it should be treated as a slower, more negotiated purchase
Vesuvan Drifter is already a 2/4 flying creature for 3 mana, and sometimes youll make it stronger in the late game
Throw in cards like Colossus Hammer that are cheap on the front end and have massive equip costs that you can bypass, and youre in business
Many dragon-based decks are already able to amass a punishing engine with the likes of Sarkhans Unsealing, Dragon Tempest, and Scourge of Valkas
(It must survive to get the counters.) You may cast this card from your graveyard by removing six counters from among creatures you control in addition to paying its other costs