Today we're gonna evaluate past and present iterations of Chandra.
Since school's almost back in session, I'll give each version a letter grade. Here's how I broke it down:
A "C" is means one, maybe two abilities are able to be used, but possibly aren't "effective." An "A" grade means each ability is useful in the format, and "B" will obviously have stronger functionality than a "C," but isn't as consistent across its abilities.
Here we go.
Let's start with where it all began... Lorwyn. This was the first appearance of Planeswalkers ever, and so it's where Chandra first took to the stage.
Her ultimate (-8) is what makes this appealing to me. Bonfire of the Damned is a thing to be feared as such should-- because 10 damage is usually enough to clear an opponents field, with few exceptions.
However, her other two seem pretty disappointing. For +1 you can poke your opponent which seems upsetting when you have cards like Lightning Bolt, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, and plenty of other cheap Red burn.
The second ability is a bit of a grey area. It's nice to make a decent burn spell that does more than what you're paying for. However, only being able to target creatures makes this rough. Chandra would have been much more threatening if she was allowed to dump all loyalty into a player and X/R/G decks that run her and Doubling Season would have loved it.
A strong nod to her starting loyalty though. Not to many Planeswalkers start so high, and at 5 for six she is sure to stick around for more than a turn and it only takes 2 turns for her to ultimate, which is what I would be playing her for.
Chandra got mad, and she got mad so good!
Her first ability reminds me of UL's Sunday special about No-Mana, specifically Pyrokinesis. This is a nice recurrable 4 damage to a creature or player.
Although it is a slower than Pyro, this +1 is all that and the potato chips. Not only is it solid protection for her, it also fuels her ultimate ability, which is nice synergy.
Her (-2) is a strong nod to the "Wheel" effects that Chaos decks love so much, continuing the trend with a nice disruptive effect.
Still the true usefulness of this ability is debatable. On one hand it's perfect for decks who work well without too much set up and usually have stuff to discard, the other needs to set up to maintain board position. If used correctly, it's hand advantage.
Finally we get to her ultimate and boy is it a good one. The longer you can hold out in the game or the more you can dump into your graveyard the better this gets. Being able to perform a graveyard Flashback, for no mana cost is awesome in its own right.
Granted this all revolves around one Red focused state of mind. Mono red will love this, But I wouldn't play it in anything more than two colors only because it's so reliant on Red.
After having a solid Red Planeswalker we get our hopes up for the next version of out Lady in Red. Sad to say I was disappointed in this one. Probably the weakest version of her. 4 CMC, 3 Loyalty and we're back with the "Poke of Doom" (+1).
Her (-2) is usable but if you're looking to copy spells more reliably, Reiterate is cheaper than this card, and you can buy it back.
Then there's her (-6), which feels underwhelming to a degree that I wonder if she even saw competitive play. The first problem I see is that it takes 3 turns to get there. This feels overcosted, considering that you can't dump 36 damage on one player or creature. At most she is kicking players for 6 life and blowing up a few utility creatures, maybe a Titan, if you're lucky. Chances are if though that if they have a Titan, this Chandra's already dead.
After all that, we're now at the present. The new Chandra that is all over Fat packs, Booster packs, and even Intro Packs. She's hit the spotlight again.
I was lucky enough to pull her in my m14 packs. While I have not had a chance to test her, I can still give her a good look over.
For (+1) we once again gain the "Poke of Doom" for the third time, but this has a twist. Now she prevents a creature from blocking a turn or even possibly netting the lethal blow to a small utility or token creature. It's not an ideal effect but its a step in the right direction for a Pyromancer. I mean, Pyromaster.
For (0), she'll be more than happy to flavorfully "burn" an idea off the top of your head for you to use. A kind of sporadic, random mechanic that Red has acquired. Between this and her (-7), it's kind of interesting.
I like that they took and tweaked Ablaze's ultimate so that it wasn't so Red focused. Still it feels like it's missing something. Ablaze was on the right track in my mind-- Aggressive, Chaotic, and Passionate. Everything I'd use to describe a Red walker.
I'd like to reach out to you Zoners out there to let me know what you like about Chandra in all her forms and what works or falters for you. As always Zoners, Take the girl out for a ride around the Multiverse and we'll see you back here next week.
- Johnny C.
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