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The Best X Spells, Part 2

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Today we're continuing with the best and most iconic X spells that have ever been printed. As I mentioned last time, there were 473 X spells printed in the game, but checking now, it looks like two more were added in Aetherdrift, putting the total to 475: Marketback Walker, which looks like a cool Walking Ballista / Hangarback Walker hybrid that lets you draw cards when it dies; and Pedal to the Metal, which seems like a pretty rough combat trick. ("Rough" means "bad" here, to be clear.)

As for the other 473, let's dive in!

Entreat the Angels

Entreat the Angels

Just like Bonfire of the Damned before it, Entreat the Angels was a banger of an X spell. And just like Decree of Justice, no one ever really cast it for its actual mana value. Entreat the Angels was often "miracle or bust," and was typically only played in decks that could manipulate their draws in such a way to make this happen. Truly a miracle.

Fireball (Banefire, Disintegrate)

Fireball
Banefire
Disintegrate

What even needs to be said about Fireball? Or Disintegrate? Or Banefire? Fireball - and technically Disintegrate as well - was the original and the inspiration for everything that came after it. While there were 14 X spells in Alpha, including Earthquake and Hurricane, the targeted damage spells ended up defining an entire card type that would be present in some form in nearly every set or block that followed.

Forth Eorlingas!

Forth Eorlingas!

While the entire Lord of the Rings set was phenomenal - broken cards aside - Forth Eorlingas! was a true banger. It made a huge impact in Legacy, and it's a windmill slam first pick in Vintage Cube. For three mana you get one 2/2 with trample and haste, that will likely come down early enough to make you the monarch. In the late game, this is basically a Fireball that deals two damage for every one mana spent, that also gives you creatures that stick around for future turns. So basically a Fireball on steroids. This card was truly pushed.

Green Sun's Zenith (Finale of Devastation)

Green Sun's Zenith
Finale of Devastation

I assume Green Sun's Zenith is a card that was meant to emulate the iconic, powerful Green card Natural Order. While you couldn't get eight-drops for a mere four mana with Green Sun's Zenith, you also didn't have to sacrifice a creature. Green Sun's Zenith ended up being extremely powerful, so much so that it was banned in Modern for years, and was only just unbanned a few months ago.

Finale of Devastation was another card that seemed to be an homage to GSZ. While it cost one extra Green mana, there were a few benefits. 1) You could get any creature, not just Green creatures, 2) you could also search your graveyard as well as your library, and 3) if you pumped enough mana into it, you would also be giving all of your creatures +X/+X and haste. While these all made FoD more versatile than GSZ, being able to get a Dryad Arbor on turn one, or a mana dork on turn two were things Finale just couldn't do.

Hangarback Walker

Hangarback Walker

Only 10 artifact creatures have an X in their casting cost (are we still calling them casting costs?) and Hangarback Walker was one of the first ones to ever see consistent, competitive play. Released in Magic Origins, it was soon followed by Walking Ballista, which is a creature I always see as a sibling to the Walker. Maybe because they're both walking somewhere...

Indomitable Creativity

Indomitable Creativity

I was a huge fan of Polymorph back in the day. I was also a fan of Mass Polymorph. I played both cards in several videos back when I was writing for TCGplayer. I also liked Shape Anew, but that was never really exploited the way Polymorphs were. I also remember when people were playing Madcap Experiment to go and search for a Platinum Emperion so that the life loss wouldn't happen.

So to say I was a huge fan of Indomitable Creativity becoming a Tier 1 deck in Pioneer would be an understatement. I constantly tweaked the deck and took it to multiple RCQ Top 8s that I unfortunately could not close. Card is still great at getting Atraxas and Gearhulks though (for Magma Opus, of course).

Kozilek's Command

Kozilek's Command

Not to be confused with Kolaghan's Command, Kozilek's Command was kind of poo poo'd on when it was first released. I can understand why; none of the modes really seemed that good. But the fact that this was an instant, could replace itself with essentially a card of your choice, could kill a creature, and could make a ton of mana actually gave the Command a ton of value. Jamming it into decks with Tron lands would really put it over the top.

I don't know if something in the lore prevents this, but I wonder if we'll ever see an Ulamog or Emrakul's Command...

Martial Coup

Mawloc

Martial Coup blew my mind back in the day. You're saying I not only get to kill all creatures, but I get to also add five or more 1/1s to the board? That seems pretty good...

And it was! You know...sort of. Martial Coup only saw a very small amount of competitive play, but it will always have a special place in my heart thanks to how backbreaking it can be.

Mawloc

The Meathook Massacre

I'm not a Warhammer 40k player, but I really like and appreciate the lore. Okay, truth be told, I don't know much about the lore, but I think the game has a super cool aesthetic, and I even bought the 10th Edition Core Book to learn more about it, even if I had little intention of playing it due to the game having a fairly high cost.

All that to say that I actually loved the cards in the 40k Commander decks, and I've incorporated a bunch of them into my Cube. Mawloc is one of the special ones that also managed to break through into Legacy as well. As I mentioned when we talked about Jacked Rabbit (which is also an awesome X spell), 40k is the only set to actually feature the ravenous mechanic (other than the single Jacked Rabbit).

At Mawloc's best - which doesn't take much - it's coming into play as a huge creature, killing something, and drawing you a card. That's pretty solid.

The Meathook Massacre

The Meathook Massacre was a mindblowing card when it was released in Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. It was as if Black Sun's Zenith and Blood Artist had a baby. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first time a Black sweeper of this kind was slapped onto an enchantment that would stick around and have an effect after killing the creatures. Thankfully they made it legendary so that the enchantments don't stack...

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

Frank Lepore

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