So unupped it's a pillar only on your opponent's side of the field. Upped, it's the same thing as unupped only it leeches opponent's (elemental hate) and worse than a devourer.
Yes, it's a pillar on their side, but you get the quanta. Same for the upped. Going by comparison to Devourer, I'd say the upped is on par, or just slightly worse because of the restriction (non-randomness). And for the opponent to stop you benefiting from this, they have to waste valuable PC. In that aspect, compare again to devourer. PC vs. CC. Why not just have both in the same deck? There you go.
Also, forgot to mention - this is cheaper costing than devourer, too.