spells have been around since the very first Magic set. Premiering in Alpha, spells with X in the cost have covered nearly every card type including things like planeswalkers and enchantments. They've dealt damage, drawn cards, and have been included in the mana costs of countless creatures.

Today is the first part of some articles that will go over some of the most iconic X spells, along with some of my favorites. As you can imagine, there are quite a few Magic cards with an X in their cost. 473 as a matter of fact! And they cover every color.

Oh, and you should check out fellow CSI writer Abe Sargent's articles covering The Top X-Cost Burn Spells, X-Cost Draw Spells, and X-Cost Creatures!

Let's begin!

Bonfire of the Damned

Bonfire was a card that people kind of lost their minds over, and if I recall, it was one of the chase rares in Avacyn Restored. It's also responsible for this classic gem:

Yes, that's a Team Trios event where Brian Kibler loses his match to a topdecked Bonfire of the Damned, where both he and LSV could not be more unamused. He wasn't the first, and he certainly won't be the last.

The miracle mechanic added a ton of RNG to Magic, even considering the immense amount it already had, and that really showed in cards like Terminus, Entreat the Angels, and Bonfire. The fact that those cards could be (and were) set up made them even more formidable.

Chalice of the Void

Chalice of the Void is one of the most iconic spells ever printed, and has been a huge part of every format since it was first released in Mirrodin in 2003. While you can cast Chalice for any amount, is typically set on either zero, one, or two. The card is significantly oppressive against decks that have low mana curves. So much so that it's a staple in "prison" style decks, and it's actually restricted in Vintage, a format that's notorious for powerful cards with low mana curves.

Chord of Calling

Chord of Calling has been one of the best combo enablers in the game for something like 20 years. It's another fairly old card, premiering in Ravnica: City of Guilds, that still sees a ton of play today. This is a card that usually gets the missing creature for a combo, such as a Heritage Druid in Elves or a Vizier of Remedies in whatever that combo deck is called. It was also a pivotal card in the old Project X combo deck, in Tron, and in a deck literally called Omni-Chord, all of which used the Chord to search up some silver bullet creatures.

Power Sink (Condescend, Clash of Wills, Syncopate)

Power Sink was the first of a whole slew of playable counterspells, but I would argue that Condescend was the one that really had the most impact. The added ability of being able to scry 2 was a huge deal, especially in a deck like Tron that not only had a ton of mana to use on the portion of the spell, but was also often digging for specific cards. Cards similar to these, such as Syncopate, and Clash of Wills, would also go on to see play in every Standard format they were legal in.

Death Cloud

Death Cloud was one of the biggest, splashiest cards of its era, and it's still a crazy effect even by today's standards. Decks would be built around it, focusing on generating mana, and blowing up a ton of permanents, cards in hand, and life totals. The problem with Death Cloud is that it's a symmetrical effect, so you have to kind of engineer it so that you come out ahead. Kokusho, the Evening Star and Chrome Mox were great ways to assure you had an advantage after the Cloud was released.

Decree of Justice

Funny enough, despite having two s in its mana cost, Decree of Justice was rarely cast for its mana cost. It was typically always cycled at the end of the turn to make numerous 1/1s. Decree of Justice was another card that was incredible in control decks back in the day coupled with cards like Mirari's Wake, to make as big as possible, and Astral Slide, to trigger Astral Slide when cycled. It's also the only card on the list with two different options for !

Earthquake

First appearing in Alpha, Earthquake was the first spell that dealt damage to all creatures and all players as well. But it didn't hit flying creatures, which was either a pro, if you were playing a bunch of flying creatures that you wanted to protect, or a con, if your opponent was. Conversely, Hurricane was the "flying" version of Earthquake and able to hit flying creatures but not ground creatures. I always appreciated the elegant juxtaposition of the two. Like the Northern and Southern Paladins of damage-based sweepers.

Endless One

Endless One may be the most simple mana creature ever printed. You pay mana, you get a creature with that much power and toughness. The intricacy here lies in Endless One's creature type. As an Eldrazi, you can easily cast it off of Eldrazi Temple, and you get a discount from Eye of Ugin. You can also cast it for seven or more and trigger your Kozilek's Return. For such a simple design, there's a lot of nuance to this little guy. Or big guy. Who knows!

Engineered Explosives

If Chalice of the Void was the mana artifact used to prevent spells from being played, Engineered Explosives was the mana spell used to destroy spells after they've been played. Mirrodin block seemed to have had a thing with really effective artifacts with mana in their costs. Engineered Explosives seemed like a very obvious nod to Pernicious Deed, but with the intent to "fix" the card, and make it a little more balanced.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!

Frank Lepore

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