It's no secret that casting big, expensive spells are some of my favorite things to do in the entire game. They're the reason I love both Cubing, as well as brewing my own decks that often contain said big, expensive spells. A lot of times I'll even find a sweet seven- or eight- mana card to specifically build around, like Eerie Ultimatum or Sorin's Vengeance. Well, today I want to go over my Top 5 expensive spells that cost seven or more mana!

Now, considering that new cards are printed all the time, and Magic is a dynamic, shifting game with a lot of moving parts, this list could easily change next month or next year. As you may notice, some of these cards didn't even exist last year, for example. But as of right now, these are some of the best bang-for-your-buck cards I want to be casting.

Genesis Ultimatum

As a relatively new card, when I first saw Genesis Ultimatum, I immediately knew it was the perfect card to try and exploit. The funny thing is that Genesis Ultimatum, with its five cards, seemed to be directly competing with Inspired Ultimatum in the same set. When it comes to Magic there are two resources that you really want to exploit: mana and cards. Mana is more frequently the bottleneck, because it doesn't matter how many cards you have in your hand if you can't cast them. While Inspired Ultimatum simply puts the cards into your hand, Genesis Ultimatum lets you actually cast them, and if you can't cast them or don't want to, then they go into your hand. But you can end up having some pretty crazy things happen.

Casting a Genesis Ultimatum, only to hit an Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, an Eerie Ultimatum, and a Tamiyo, Collector of Tales - among other cards - should pretty much lock up any game it happens in. It was also fun to get the Genesis Ultimatum back from the graveyard thanks to the Tamiyo. Now, this obviously isn't the most common situation, but at the very least, Genesis Ultimatum is going to "draw" you five cards, and if you happen to be able to cast any of those? Well, good on you.

The biggest difference between Inspired Ultimatum and Genesis Ultimatum, is that Genesis Ultimatum is very likely to net you additional mana value in the cards you draw, where Inspired is only going to net you those cards. The fact that you gain five life and deal five damage does not offset this.

Cruel Ultimatum

This is the quintessential big mana spell. This is the spell that players and decks were stretching their mana to cast. You didn't want three Islands in your deck because drawing that third Island meant you would be a turn behind in casting your Cruel Ultimatum. And a playing a Forest or a Plains? Forget it! When a card is strong enough for you to sculpt your entire mana base around casting it (I'm looking at you, Vivid lands...), you should really take notice.

Thankfully, Cruel Ultimatum has really withstood the test of time, and all of the other more recent Ultimatums are still using this as a template. While it doesn't commit anything to the board, like the aforementioned Genesis Ultimatum, it does net you a whole helluva a lot of cards. If you consider Inspired Ultimatum gives you +5 cards (+6 if you destroy a creature with the damage) and a 10 point life swing, Cruel Ultimatum gives you +8 cards and the same 10 point life swing. It's just better.

The only reason I don't currently have it in my Cube is that, unlike the next card on the list, the mana cost is a bit too prohibitive, just like all of the Ultimatums actually. But that doesn't mean I'm not regularly tempted.

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

When it comes to planeswalkers that cost seven or more mana, this is at the top of my list. There are a couple other options available, like Ugin, the Spirit Dragon or Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh, but neither of those really compete with the OG Nicol Bolas (planeswalker, that is) in my mind (or my heart). And someone like Garruk, Apex Predator - while I love the card - just doesn't really come close either.

While Ugin was more of a Standard and Modern powerhouse, due to his colorless casting cost and high loyalty, there were some things he simply couldn't deal with. If your opponent had a colorless permanent, or a permanent that cost more than five mana, you were usually trading one-for-one with Ugin. Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, however, is able to take care of most cards on the board, and if they're creatures, they're now your creatures! Forever! ...well, until the game ends, at least. We're not playing for ante here!

Sure, Ugin's ability to both deal three to the face or potentially wipe the board when needed are both extremely powerful, and Ugin has nothing to prove at this point. But I still think, pound-for-pound, Nicol Bolas' ability to +3 and destroy any permanent, from lands to colorless cards to other planeswalker, simply can't be beat.

This is easily one of the best and most classic expensive planeswalkers in the game, and for this reason, he will likely always have a home in my Cube. Worth noting he was also the first planeswalker to cost eight-mana, so he kind of had to break the mold a bit.

Aminatou's Augery

I'm pretty sure this was a card I didn't even know existed until it was featured in the Magic Online Grixis Cube about a year ago. I remember drafting it because it seemed sweet, then casting it, and... well, see for yourself.

Basically, we hit a Mountain; Liliana, Dreadhorde General; Nicol Bolas, the Ravager; Coalition Relic; Prophetic Bolt; and Cruel Ultimatum. At the time, I couldn't actually calculate the value, but maybe we can now. We spent one card (two if you want to include the loss of Peat Bot), and we accrued the following value from the cards we hit:

Cruel Ultimatum = +7 (three drawn, three discard, one creature to hand)

Mountain = +1

Coalition Relic = +1

Liliana, Dreadhorde General = +2 (one token on board, one planeswalker on board)

Nicol Bolas, the Ravager = +2 (one discard, one creature on board)

Prophetic Bolt = +1

This resulted in Aminatou's Augury being a 14-for-1, netting us 25 mana worth of cards, dealing nine damage, and gaining us five life.

Now do I think every time we cast the card we'll have this kind of result? Of course not, not by a long shot. But I do think the potential to hit even 1/3 of this kind of value is worth something. That's one of the best parts of both Magic and cards like this. Sometimes they force you to spin the wheel, and spinning the wheel can lead to some utterly bonkers moments and memories.

Tooth and Nail

This was removed from the most recent iteration of the Magic Online Vintage Cube, and boy, did that feel like a mistake. Cards like Green Sun's Zenith and Finale of Devastation, while similar in effect, don't really have the same impact as Tooth and Nail. When I think of big powerful Green decks, Tooth and Nail is what I think of.

Not only can it get individually powerful cards like Woodfall Primus, Terastodon, and Craterhoof Behemoth, but you can also get two card combos with it, like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Xenagos, God of Revels. This makes Emrakul a 30/30 the turn she comes into play, and gives her haste to kill the opponent. This is not only something that can never be done with the other two cards, but the fact that Tooth and Nail doesn't care about the color of the creature is very nice.

Tooth and Nail is just iconic and infinitely flexible.

Honorable Mentions

Karn Liberated - This guy is another powerhouse, but I don't think his individual effects are nearly as game breaking as some of the others on this list. He's also typically only played when you can get him into play with three lands.

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - This would have been the only creature on the list, and for good reason. It's rare that Emrakul enters the battlefield and doesn't win the game. Ultimately, I wanted to keep the list focusing on spells, so that rules this tentacled lady out.

Sorin's Vengeance - This is a dark horse if I ever saw one, but man if I don't love this card. I still remember days where I would cast this, then cast it again with a Snapcaster Mage to kill my opponent out of nowhere. Sure, it was a lot of mana, but I felt like a 20 point life swing or two was an incredibly elegant way to go.

What are some of your favorite big mana spells? Did I mention them, or do you feel like I'm forget some really good ones? Definitely let me know down in the comments! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

As always, thank you guys so much for reading! I hope you're having a great holiday so far, and I hope you're all staying safe. That's all I have for now, and I'll catch you again next week!

Frank Lepore

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