Chandra, Spark Hunter – Aetherdrift
Date Reviewed: February 28, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.13
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I think literally everybody else has used the Akira motorcycle slide as the basis for something in their visuals, so it was just a matter of time before Magic did too – and somehow I’m not surprised it was Chandra doing it. But it’s going to take me a little longer to get over the fact that she has a card with no early abilities that set something on fire. There’s definitely appeal in her +2 in terms of value and card selection, especially if you have vehicles that have become outclassed and/or Treasure tokens on hand. And her 0 ability is not only groundbreaking in design, but a sneaky way to power up any cards that look for vehicles specifically. Her ultimate is also just begging to be built around, especially since a lot of decks have trouble deciding what to do with late-game trinket artifacts at the best of times. Unlike many of the planeswalkers who create a creature token (if you count her as one), she’s very much weaker when you’re on the defensive, so any deck considering her will have to take that into account.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
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Chandra, Spark Hunter definitely feels at home in Aetherdrift, here to enable the vehicular combat the set is built around. She can make her own to slam into opponents, scrap ones you don’t need, and…turn them into a win condition. Her ultimate is certainly a very formidable bit of text, particularly since we do live in a world where Doubling Season exists, and we also have an environment rife with artifact tokens, so this ultimate is quite a looming threat if given a window to go off. But even without the infamous enchantment, her +2 puts her in range quite quickly, and this is more a threat than most ultimates are.
Besides her ultimate, her 0 lets you get some speed rolling, and her +2 lets you try to go digging. But her ability to animate any Vehicle is quite a potent passive to have, especially since you can get some formidable Vehicles going without the need for bodies to crew them. This is a set with a lot of toys for her to play with, and she will definitely be quite happy to play with them.
She does protect herself poorly, outside of her high loyalty, but that’s not too bad, especially given her immediate impact and her ability to leave a lasting impact on the battlefield. She’s nothing earth-shattering, but she is quite efficacious, and that counts for a lot.
Constructed: 4.25
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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