One of the few things about the switch to all-Standard Pro Tours that I don’t like is that it becomes very easy for me to start to think of cards primarily in their Standard context, and even if important Modern events come up, I can easily overlook great cards that have a new home in the format.
The card that slipped by me at first is this incredible planeswalker:
Early on in testing for Pro Tour Kaladesh, Chandra, Torch of Defiance was clearly a front-running card as far as our team’s assessments were concerned. The card was immediately reminiscent of another four-ability planeswalker, and anything that makes you even begin to go down that path is worthy of consideration. Of course, as time passed, the card moved from being a card people were excited about into a card that we were aware of but didn’t really have a good home for. At its best, several people were putting it in the 75 of their G/R Energy decks, but it wasn’t the kind of card that was demanding you find excuses to put it into decks.
Much later, my longtime friend and collaborator Ian DeGraff brought up the card as one of the new cards he’d been exploring in the new Modern. He was clearly excited about the card, and was sure it was great. The moment he mentioned it, I was sure it was good.
“No, Adrian. I’m not kidding!”
He didn’t seem to think I believed him, but immediately upon reflecting on it, I was sure the card was great. The first place I thought of was in Jund, but after that, situation after situation started coming to mind, and I was aware that it might have a place in a lot of decks. Of course, at the next Modern Grand Prix the card made a splash, albeit minor.
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (22)
Spells (25)
While Chandra, Torch of Defiance only shows up as a single copy in this deck, this is still quite a coup! Having a card make the copy of a winning decklist for a Grand Prix of over 2000 players is a huge deal, especially considering its pilot, Kevin Mackie, had no byes. Before we go into the use of the card in Mackie’s deck, I wanted to quickly slip through the powers of the card overall.
Start with the top line. Casting cost is a bigger implication for Chandra, Torch of Defiance than Planeswalker name. Four mana is a lot of mana for Modern. If you aren’t actively engaged in mana acceleration, it is likely that this is the end of your curve, and if it is, you’d best be getting the game done when you get to this point. Modern is often a turn 3 format, and while there are plenty of decks that take the game more slowly (like Grixis Control), they are still responding to the speed of the format on this count.
This does mean the card is going to be limited to midrange decks. Without going into the abilities now, simply put, they aren’t as well-suited for a classic control deck, but they certainly accomplish fine work if you’re able to supplement the relatively high cost of the card with other removal.
The planeswalker name matters in that it would compete with other Chandra planeswalkers. In Standard, this has meant Chandra, Flamecaller, but Chandra, Pyromaster shouldn’t be forgotten. Chandra, Pyromaster is a card that ended up seeing a reasonable amount of play in grinding midrange decks, and this new Chandra, interestingly, can nearly take up the same role, most likely supplanting the old card (except in instances that specifically call for the work of a Pyromaster).
If this card is going to be worth it, it is going to have to prove its worth in a midrange grind.
Thankfully, the abilities come through.
Modern is not a place abundant with planeswalkers, so the ability to hit the opposing player for two damage is not the usual reason to go for this +1 ability, but it isn’t a terrible consolation prize. What you really want it for is the grinding. Under the right circumstances this +1 ends up creating a steady stream that you could bury anyone under (so long as you aren’t already dead).
Candidly, this ability is only solid in Modern. 2RR is a lot of mana to be investing for this kind of effect. If it were the only +1 ability, this card might not actually be making the grade.
In my opinion, it’s the next +1 that helps start to seal the deal.
It seems so innocuous to make mana, but it’s really not. When you invest the initial four mana into this planeswalker, being able to come out immediately with two mana can make for an incredible breakaway turn. Whether it is developing further mana with a card like Mind Stone, deploying removal, casting a card like Chalice of the Void, or doing even more with a little bit more mana, what makes this ability so insane is that it actually make Chandra, Torch of Defiance almost read like this:
“Hey, have you seen the new two-mana planeswalker? It can’t be cast in the first few turns, but it’s great!”
Aside from the immediate discount effect (which can result in a turn 5 Chandra plus Blood Moon or Anger of the Gods, for example), there is the delayed bump in mana to think about as well. Going from four to seven mana does not seem in any way out of the question with this card, which means that, aside from the card’s use in a midrange deck, the question of Big Mana starts being worth asking. Is this a card you can use on your way towards casting Karn Liberated? What about Primeval Titan? Wurmcoil Engine?
Making this a card you can play in red doesn’t take you away from thinking about pairing it with green, but it does open up thoughts to other combinations that might want big mana. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion is a card I’ve used in Prison decks and in Hellfire Club, my Mardu Planeswalkers deck.
Once you start thinking about consistent Big Mana, a world of wild possibilities opens up.
With that heady thought, let’s get out of the clouds and back on the ground.
Frankly, this is the least exciting of the abilities, but it also is simply practical. While it won’t kill many unfair cards, it will still be reasonable removal for the fair cards or the occasionally vulnerable Tarmogoyf. Killing a creature and leaving a planeswalker behind is pretty solid business, so even though this bit doesn’t do much for opening up possible deckbuilding dimensions, it does simply add to the value of the card, pound-for-pound, when it is competing with other cards.
Finally, the ultimate ability feels like it is very likely to either end a game or help bring a game to a close. While an empty hand is still an empty hand, the other abilities of a Chandra, Torch of Defiance make it pretty likely that this ability will end the game. After all, if you aren’t confident that you’re going to be able to trigger the card, it’s pretty easy to just keep activating the first +1 or using the -3.
The fact that the ultimate is actually a legitimate threat is worthwhile. The fact that it can get to this point a mere three turns after being cast is also important. Going from four to five loyalty on that first turn Chandra drops is quite huge.
So let’s go back to discussing Kevin Mackie’s use of a singleton of the card.
To me this feels like a really beautiful use of the card. This is a “four Mind Stone” deck, so the card can come down a turn sooner and it can also power out a Mind Stone as well. The other four-drops are Koth of the Hammer and Pia and Kiran Nalaar, both of which are used to their logical cap of four and three copies respectively. Chandra makes for an eighth four-drop, with no extra copies producing no diminishing returns.
This deck is designed for a grind, so the first +1 is incredibly well-suited for the deck. It also has a fair amount of damage sources, so the incidental two damage Chandra can produce is meaningful.
The -3 ability is actually even more powerful in this deck, serving as an analog or supplement to the already copious burn in the deck. Relic of Progenitus means that the card can also be used to reliably kill a Tarmogoyf.
Mana acceleration can actually matter in this deck! In addition to potentially double-threating (a realistic possibility in a deck with card draw), this deck has Pia and Kiran Nalaar to activate. It’s also easy to imagine Chandra, Torch of Defiance contributing to an activation of Stormbreath Dragon’s monstrosity ability.
This deck isn’t doing anything splashy with the card, but it seems to fit in very, very naturally.
It’s pretty similar to the first use of the card I imagined, in Jund, except making much greater use of the +1 ability for mana.
Speaking of Jund… Willy Edel.
Before the Grand Prix in Dallas even happened, Willy was talking about his newest build of Jund on Twitter. Here is the deck he posted earlier that week:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (24)
Spells (19)
- 4 Lightning Bolt
- 4 Terminate
- 3 Thoughtseize
- 1 Maelstrom Pulse
- 3 Inquisition of Kozilek
- 1 Abrupt Decay
- 3 Anger of the Gods
Sideboard
Change almost no cards, and you end up here:
Creatures (12)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (24)
Spells (19)
Change a few more, and you end up here:
Creatures (13)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
In Jund, this card is basically the end of the line. Everything else you are doing is this quick little march of efficiency, and now it stops here, with the two copies of Chandra, Torch of Defiance.
This spread of cards should be remarkably telling:
Jund is a deck that can play a huge variety of incredible spells, and this one makes the cut? Why?
Well, for all of its efficiency, running out of gas is still a real concern. Not every Dark Confidant lives. Chandra, Torch of Defiance has a massive amount of loyalty, can’t be destroyed by Abrupt Decay, can’t be taken out of hand by Inquisition of Kozilek, and is often likely to hit the battlefield after most of the battling has already gone on and the game is starting to drag out.
When I brought my partner Andrea to her first Grand Prix in Charlotte, I described to her all of the various Modern decks in layperson terms, since she doesn’t play Magic. I told her Jund was “the mean guy at the beach who kicks over everyone’s sand castles”. Chandra, Torch of Defiance can facilitate that plan nicely, taking out a leftover creature or finding another bit of gas.
The +1 mana ability is less valuable in this deck than the pseudo-draw, but it still isn’t useless. Anger of the Gods is a very potent card in this world of Prized Amalgam, and Chandra, Torch of Defiance makes casting Anger of the Gods and another red spell possible. In addition, activations of Raging Ravine become all the more realistic with Chandra.
Chandra doesn’t do anything incredible in Jund, but then again, very little in Jund is actively incredible. Tarmogoyf is just powerful. Put powerful card after powerful card after powerful card together, string it together with glue like Lightning Bolt and Thoughtseize, and a card like Chandra begins to make sense.
Creatures (1)
Planeswalkers (9)
Lands (25)
Spells (25)
Chandra does much of the same kind of work for Emmanuel’s Mardu deck as it was doing for Willy Edel’s Jund deck. Keeping the fuel going is the name of the game. There is some small potential for it to help power out an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, but it seems mostly unlikely, so the +1 mana ability is mostly going to be limited to Shambling Vent plus a spell or helping to cast multiple cards (especially if Lingering Souls is in the mix).
This deck underscores the fact that, even if you’re just in the market for a little bit of extra card draw, Chandra, Torch of Defiance is good enough to do that work even without heavies like Tarmogoyf to help hold the fort.
I feel like the potential of the card is only just barely being touched. What about the card as a regular means to help activate the pain on Bloodchief Ascension? What about using it in a deck that can cast Isochron Scepter or Chalice of the Void? What about pushing planeswalkers hard?
The more I’ve thought about it, there are certainly some classes of decks that wouldn’t want it: decks that can’t cast it, decks that don’t have the time to cast it, and decks that are too reactive to use it. But that leaves a lot of room to play, and I’m confident we’re only just barely beginning to see her impact on Modern.