Like Rogue Archetype stated , it is really about the build and the list. SPs and others will set up faster, only if you let them.
Plume is the perfect card for Noir. In the right build you can be attacking in turn 3 most of the time ( you only need 2 energies to start attacking ) , just like Vilegar and many others around. It's not winning more because it's not being played more. You can beat SPs with the right cards and the right drill. As stated before, Gyarados ( even with DCE , imo ) is not much trouble and Vilegar is hard but winnable with the right mix of Night Spins and Damage Evens.
Like any other card, it's a matter of whether you like the card enough to make a deck around it and you will enjoy playing with it. Bottom line, for the question that started this thread, is that it can indeed work and be competitive if you do the right things with it , which may not be the case for many other cards, no matter how hard you try.
Just my 2 cents, out of personal experience.