Yeah, provoke gives some leading in the aggro table. That also makes tank swapping feels more fluid in the rotation since you can delay the shirk for one or 2 GCds if needed.

Still not as powerful as Wow Taunt abilities but I think it was a good change.

EDIT:

Quote Originally Posted by Thamorian View Post
As far as I am aware provoke still only generate +1 over the current highest enmity (0+1=1), but provoke has the advantage of being 25 yalms while tank throw attacks are only 15 yalms. PLD can also pull with Holy Spirit as that also has 25 yalm but that has a cast timer. You probably seeing tanks pull with provoke because of its range.
I dont know in pull situations but provoke had a minor buff on the aggro leading in 5.0. It is on the patch notes.