I'm not sure what you mean exactly by deeper stagger. Apart from several versions of the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard, this is my first experience with a non-standard keyboard, so I don't have much for comparison.

The modifier (command?) keys are all in the thumb cluster. Some people in r/kinesisadvantage use home row mods, but I still struggle with learning to touch type ;-)

The switches cannot be changed without re-soldering.

I constantly flash updates to the layout.