Nykthos Ramp wants to resolve huge threats like Cavalier of Thorns and Old-Growth Troll off of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx mana, so Spell Pierce is excellent at stopping or taxing their ramp spells like Storm the Festival and Invasion of Ixalan before they can fuel the shrine. Scorching Shot answers most of their key creatures outright since very few of their bodies exceed 5 toughness. Academic Dispute is weak since we rarely want to force their huge creatures into combat, and Boomerang Basics doesn't meaningfully slow their land-based ramp plan. We need to be fast and disruptive since once they hit a big Nykthos activation the game can get away from us quickly.