Players can't take any other actions until you're done casting the spell.
And, importantly, against the deck that you most want to Mental Misstep against, various Delver decks, the cards that you really want to Misstep are their non-creature spells
As someone whos lost so many games to board wipes, its amazing to have Elf commanders who dont immediately fold to a Wrath of God since Miara can at least refill your hand with more gas, not to mention giving you access to reanimation spells to get your army right back
Feather and Gerrard reach into the more competitive sphere, but most Boros decks will end up using combat damage to win games
Now add to the mix Lands-matter pieces like Lotus Cobra, Nissa, Resurgent Animist, Amulet of Vigor, or Tiller Engine, and Lumra starts converting every returning Land into extra untapped mana, extra triggers, and a very real path to winning the game