Chandra, Flameshaper – Foundations
Date Reviewed: December 20, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I am not used to seeing Chandra cards this high on the mana curve, and it makes me wonder how much of our perception of a planeswalker’s personality is shaped by our perception of their card designs – and vice versa. This is the kind of thing you really want there to be surveys about, but there never seem to be. I also feel like this version of Chandra is a very typical core set card: all typical red abilities, and two of them abilities that other Chandra cards have used before. Her +1 and +2 are both very powerful and could turn games around in their own right, although when they come at seven mana, the odds may be stacked against her, with threatening late-game attacks ready to head her way. The +1 in particular is also inactive in certain table states, meaning that you’ll need to try and take control of the game earlier. Fortunately, her -4 makes her an intriguing control card, as a one-sided sweeper (or Eldrazi destroyer) that stays around and draws cards is beyond the wildest dreams of most recent control decks. I also think she’s going to be particularly scary if someone figures out a way to consistently get planeswalkers into play early – maybe start brewing with your extra copies of Arena Rector.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5
Multiplayer: 3.63
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Chandra’s back, and with quite an interesting card. Interesting doesn’t necessarily connote anything, though in the case of Chandra, Flameshaper, it’s not maybe as positive as it could be otherwise.
This is not to say Chandra is bad. Her ultimate is maybe less ultimate than most, but splitting 8 damage into an opponent’s board can do a lot of damage (and Chandra doesn’t even need to out herself to do this!). Being able to aim a lot of damage at once does help red eke past some of the bodies it might normally lack the firepower to punch through. Her other abilities let her gain loyalty to create a bit of carnage: her +1 copies another of your creatures, and her +2 is effectively the best card of your top three and mana to potentially cast it. While her +2 is better if you can untap with her, both that +1 and -4 are enough to carry the day.
The issue I have with Chandra, though, is her mana cost. Seven mana is a tall ask for any planeswalker, and red is not normally a color that plans for an extremely late game. Chandra is not a weak planeswalker by any stretch, but I’d argue she’s a weak seven-mana planeswalker…outside of Karn Liberated, she is easier to cast than most of the others, but Karn Liberated was made great by its mana cost and effective double Super Vindicate. Chandra is great at helping you push out a game if you’re running low on gas, and she’spotent if you need immediate removal…but she’s still in a weird place where she’s weak-ish for her mana value (but still way stronger than nearly anything else at 5 mana). Still, if you’re in red and need something with a bit of late-game presence, Chandra, Flameshaper might be the girl for you.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 4.5 (if you have any other creature, she can push a game to its close)
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.75 (her +2 is solid for mono-red, and her ultimate is a lot of damage)
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