Chandra, Torch of Defiance: Official Thread

Alve

Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Level 60 mana bonuses: | | +5 | +4 |
Level 60 HP: 99
Level 60 max Creatures: 5 Spells: 6 Supports: 5

1: Build Aether - cost: 9
1 - Destroy 1 gem and Energize 1.
2 - Destroy 2 gems and Energize 2.
3 - Destroy 3 gems and Energize 3.
4 - Destroy 4 gems and Energize 4.

2: Liberate Aether - cost: 15
1 - Remove 2 Energized gem from the board and deal 6 damage to target creature.
2 - Remove 2 Energized gem from the board and deal 9 damage to target creature.
3 - Remove 2 Energized gem from the board and deal 12 damage to target creature.
4 - Remove 2 Energized gem from the board and deal 15 damage to target creature.

3: Reclaim Aether - cost: 24
1 - Create a support with "When you cast a card, remove 1 Energized gem from the board and deal 2 damage to your opponent."
2 - ...and deal 4 damage to your opponent."
3 - ...and deal 6 damage to your opponent."
4 - ...and deal 8 damage to your opponent."

Cost to Max Level: 79,920 runes

Post your decks and tips for this Planeswalker below!

Alve

Old Chandra 2 thread: https://d3go.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=56597

Falizar

Creatures:
Pia Nalaar
Demolition Stomper
Speed Fanatic
Smuggler's Copter
Geier Reach Bandit

Supports:
Fevered Visions

Spells:
Unlicensed Disintegration
Devil's Playground
Uncaged Fury
Start Your Engines

wereotter

Been trying to build for her abilities, but it's still an uphill battle. (Basically trying to give her deck an identity separate from other red planeswalkers I already have)

Feel like I'm missing a few key cards, but so far have:
Aethertorch Renegade
Electrostatic Pummeler
Voltaic Brawler
Maulfist Doorbuster
Emrakul the Promised End
Aether Hub
Unlicensed Disintegration
Uncaged Fury
Inner Struggle
Exquisite Firecraft

I feel like Dynavolt Tower would really make this deck hum if I ever pull it. I didn't get it during the event. Deadlock Trap might be worth playing with if I ever get it too. Trying to avoid overload 2 or 3 since it's really hard for her to utilize. Mostly I use her first ability to keep the field energized or the second ability for removal. I've only gotten her third ability support once, and it was seriously just a "win more" ability since if I was able to save up enough to use it, I was already likely to win.

SeditiousCanary

I'm running this at the moment:

Creatures:
Aethertorch Renegade
Eletrostatic Pummeler
Herald of Kozilek
Multiform Wonder
Reckless Bushwhacker

Supports:
Aether Hub
Deadlock Trap
Decoction Module
Oath of Chandra
Smoldering Marsh

It needs some tweaking, and I've only played it a few times, but it seems well positioned to do well in the "Win with X life, or less" events with how its played so far.

Tilwin90

I got Chandra because I wanted a dedicated red planeswalker with better mana bonuses than the Origins Chandra. To be fair, this brought a lot of improvements to the decks built and allowed for some explosive plays.
However, I am quite disappointed in her abilities. Her +1 is very random as I am not really using the energy (not my favorite mechanic) and I have to get very lucky with the gems she destroys. This randomness sometimes leads to cascades but more often lead to me losing some good matches instead. Sure, her second ability is great if you have an energy oriented deck (which I don't) but I use so much removal it doesn't matter that much. Her last ability is also a beast in this deck but 24 is a HUGE cost - so I rarely end up that far in the game.

This being said, here is the deck I run at the moment (open to any suggestions to further improve it):

Creatures (1)
Volcanic Rambler - might replace it with Bomat Courier once I get it though I'm open to suggestions here. Sometimes destroys my supports which can be annoying.

Spells (5)
Unlicensed Disintegration - premium removal, with all the supports it almost always guarantees the 3 damage.
Inner Struggle - secondary removal, deals with most threats and it's super cheap.
Demolish - a cheap way to deal with supports. Can occasionally lead to cascades. Still not 100% happy with it.
Devils' Playground - an absolut beast in combination with Harness the Storm. You remove them either via bounce or blocking, you risk losing your creature.
Avacyn's Judgment - pretty good spell actually, allows removing multiple creatures or deal those last few points of damage. Super annoying to deal with for discard opponents.

Supports (4)
Aether Hub - slight interaction with Chandra's first ability plus accelerates mana. Not so sure about it.
Harness the Storm - the glue that keeps the deck together. With all the cheap spells it's not infrequent to end up in cascades that keep cycling through the spells (Devils' Playground being the best target for it).
Fevered Visions - great for drawing cards also the damage to the opponent is not irrelevant.
Corrupted Graftstone - since I don't have better supports in Chandra's colors (red and black) this is the best I have for now. No Smoldering Marsh yet.

morgue427

wish i could trade your corrupted for my smoldering marsh lol,just got it last week

morgue427

with the new nissa i may be putting harness the storm back in just to get rid of energy gems at least put everyone on equal footing for a few turns and get rid of a creature.

Tilwin90

Completely changed the approach of new Chandra after finally getting my hand on Dynavolt Tower. That card is a beast in the right deck.
Still slower than creatureless Ob which can be brutal, but I suppose I lack more key cards. Suggestions are more than welcome.

Creatureless Chandra
Spells (6)
Unlicensed Disintegration
Inner Struggle
Avacyn's Judgment
Demolish
Devils' Playground
Cathartic Reunion

Supports (4)
Fevered Visions
Corrupted Grafstone
Dynavolt Tower
Harness the Storm

The idea behind the deck remains the original one - focus on storming spells and grabbing them back with Harness the Storm. The cards are split into four categories:
- Primary Removal (Inner Struggle, Unlicensed Disintegration, Avacyn's Judgment)
- Damage to face (Avacyn's Judgment, Devil's Playground, Dynavolt Tower) -> don't care about the devils other than dealing raw damage
- Card Draw (Catharthic Reunion, Fevered Visions)
- Board control (Corrupted Graftstone, Demolish)

The idea behind the deck is simple:
- Keep the board clear
- Assemble Harness the Storm and/or Dynavolt Tower (Reunion helps a lot in this direction to dig through your deck)
- Slowly damage the opponent to death

Dynavolt Tower generates tons of energy with the spells storming and Harness the Storm popping energized gems deals 5 damage each time. Great synergy between the two. Supplementary, Chandra's +1 ability both generates energy and pops gems on its own. Occasionally Demolish also helps.

So there you have it! Chandra storm, new and improved.

WingZero

So after many attempts to get Chandra working, I have come to the conclusion that she sucks. As a monocolor Planeswalker, she competes with Koth in the red node spot. I noticed that whatever deck i came up with, I could put the same cards in for Koth and he would do it better. Granted I don't have Harness the Storm so I couldn't really do good spell deck, I still think Koth could run one better.

In the end, I feel like it's her abilities that hold her back. Her first ability is more expensive than Koths and is significantly worse since it can hit your own supports and red gems. I've been screwed over by that ability so much I simply don't use it anymore.

Her second ability is bad because of the energy requirement and the fact that red decks have so much removal that it doesn't really do much in most cases, not to mention it's also pretty expensive. If activating this counted as overload 2 I think it could have a use for some card synergy but I still doubt it would be worth using.

I think her last ability is pretty cool, however, it is impossible to use unless you run either Dynavolt Tower or Lightning Runner. Before I had the tower I would use it and trigger it maybe once or twice before the match is either over or it gets destroyed. Comparing it to Koths third, his is cheaper, has way more shield, and ramps insanely harder than Chandra. I hope there are some buffs coming her way because there is literally no reason to play her over Koth in events.

wickedwitch74

I bought Chandra2 for the mana gain, but like WingZero I have found her incredibly weak. In most games her abilities stand unused. Unlike Koth, she bombs red gems with her first ability, which makes her unreliable, and often counter-intuitive.

Her ultimate is so expensive that games are already decided when I hit it. Without owning a Lightning Runner or Dynavolt Tower, playing the energy game just doesn't work with her. 

The only time that her abilities will shine is when you are playing against an energy player, and can use their energized gems against them. This, of course, will become more and more rare as future sets are released, and content moves away from energize.

She is in need of a serious redesign, especially when KLD/AER rotate.

Doomstat

Okay, so I just saw the Chandra 2 deck starter cards in the vault, so I though I'd share my deck list. I've gone 8/2, 10/2 and 6/2 for the last three days in TG with this list, I hope it helps.

Creatures: 3
Aethersphere Harvester (r)
Multiform Wonder (r)
Electrostatic Pummeler (r)

Supports: 5
Aetherworks Marvel (my)
Dynavolt Tower (my)
Deadlock Trap (r)
Canyon Slough (r)
Aether Hub (u)

Spells: 2
Unlicensed Disintegration (u)
Violent Impact (c)

Unfortunately a very heavy mythic/rare deck, but it's fun to play. I actually save for Chandra's Ulitmate and and then use her first ability to keep the energy on the field.