Commander is one of the best options for spells and permanents with X in them. With access to infinite mana combos and a real late-late game, there's a lot of value and skill-testing that can be found here.
So let's go ahead and solve for X.
THIS IS THE STACK!
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
Though not my favorite "X" card of all time, this card has caught my attention for the past month or so. I've come to like this artifact more and more each time I use it, probably because it's my most potent card drawing engine in my Obzedat, Ghost Council deck. By no means is it the greatest or most effective card drawer; but, it has synergy and rewards life gain.
Rather than a one-off card draw (like Concentrate or Brainstorm), I would much rather have something that can keep on giving. Along with Soul Warden and lifelink creatures, you can guarantee at least one extra card drawn per turn.
In regards to the actual price of paying X for all those cards, remember this: the Blue deck is not the only one that should keep at least two mana open at all times...
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
This is a card I haven't gotten in a deck yet, and it's kind of a shame. I think it's a good Sydri option though, or one for a deck where you can get instant speed life gain.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
I have seen people go pretty deep with this. I am not going to say it isn't powerful, because it is. There are plenty of ways to gain back the card you invest on this pretty quickly, but it still just doesn't seem worth it to me. You end up spending a lot of mana across several turns, which usually isn't what I want to be doing. Really the only thing going wrong with this is the timing. If you had cheap, recursive ways to gain life, and thus draw cards, on the opponent's end step this would be awesome. Most of the time though, you have to spend this mana on your upkeep or at Sorcery speed, which does not please the god of counterspells.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
I don't always play burn spells, but when I do, I prefer Rolling Thunder. Not just an awesome card, but the coolest scene in Halo, and a famous campaign from the Vietnam War. Rolling Thunder is Pauper all-star and does serious work. The Rath Cycle block remain some of my favorite sets because of the longstanding impact they have had on the game. This block set the bar for powerful spells and makes modern expensive Sorceries pale in comparison. What is not to like? This card has it all, as long 'all' is defined as art that has nothing to do with the card's concept and flavor text that has nothing to do with the art...........NAILED IT!
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
This sorcery is everything that cards like Fireball and Volcanic Geyser wish they could be in terms of power and flexibility. I agree with GG that the card has some odd artwork and flavor text; but, when you pack thunder like this, does that really matter?
Uncle Landdrops-
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Happy this got printed. I like budget stuff that scales to the game. That's a useful quality for a card in Glissa T's. Having the opportunity to avoid killing Glissa makes this a nice value-driven opportunity, or a worst-case failsafe.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
It just blows up everything...except it also costs everything. I really like the scale-to-fit concept as it applies to board sweepers, but most of the time they end up costing too much to be effective. All is Dust sits at the top of my spectrum when I evaluate costs for this type of effect. 7 is more than I want to pay. Gaze of Granite can easily get way up past cmc 7, heck sometimes you need X=7, and that is a lot of mana to pay. For that reason I have started to think of this, and by extension Pernicious Deed, not so much as sweepers, but more as token hate cards. On the other hand I think this card is sweet. It has flavor and utility, unfortunately it is just outclassed by slightly better options.
Have an X-cellent Day!
-UL/VJ/GG
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