As an arcanist player, I have uses for them. I love Rasputina's avatar. She spends the early turns distributing damage and protecting herself and her team, and then transforms into a hard to damgae beatstick that punishes you for engaging with her later in the game. Colette makes her game of cat and mouse even more difficult to deal with, so you spend the early turns stealing all the VP on the table and the late turns with the avatar dancing, dodging, and dominating the board... both are very worth the 2SS cost in my opinion.