Chandra, Volcanic Awoken
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Dec. 3, 2015, 11:02 p.m. by Ledfeelcrank
Chandra, Volcanic Awoken 
Planeswalker - Chandra
+1: Until your next turn, whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, Chandra, Volcanic Awoken deals 3 damage to it.
-1: Reveal the top card of your library. If it's a red instant or sorcery, you may play it without paying it's mana cost. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
-10: You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a red instant or sorcery, draw a card." and "Red instants and sorceries you own have Flashback X, where X is their mana cost."
6
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My take on a big, pricy, powerful Chandra for helping red out in EDH specifically.
Edited Version
Chandra, Volcanic Awoken
Planeswalker - Chandra
+1: Until your next turn, whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, Chandra, Volcanic Awoken deals 3 damage to it.
-2: Reveal the top card of your library,then put it into your hand. If it's a red instant or sorcery, add to your mana pool.
-10: You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a red instant or sorcery, draw a card." and "Red instants and sorceries you own have Flashback X, where X is their mana cost."
6
This card is missing this line:
"Chandra, Volcanic Awoken can be your commander."
Seriously though, I like it.
December 3, 2015 11:06 p.m.
ScruffySpydr says... #6
Ok, some balance needs to be met here. This is really damn strong and its basically "i play chandra so you should scoop" because they aren't likely to hit with anything unless its huge, which means you've got token and aggro by the balls, -1 for "play your next card for free" feels broken. Should be -3 at least. So maybe nerf the + ability by making it 2 damage. Then there's more creatures that can stand up to it making it not so broken
December 4, 2015 10:38 a.m.
Ledfeelcrank says... #7
The +1 is three damage because I designed this with EDH in mind (typically multiplayer). Creatures in EDH get much bigger than 3 toughness. Keep in mind that this card is very expensive to play -- the same as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite which also hoses tokens and aggro. While Elesh only does -2, she has a couple of upsides that Chandra doesn't - Elesh applies her affect whether you attack her team or not, her affect gets around indestructible, and she has +2 for all your creatures.
Chandra does 3, which is a lot, but only to things attacking her team. You can always do some direct damage to off her, anything with toughness >=4 in EDH should also get the job done, and there is always Dreadbore or Song of the Dryads kind of things to get her off the table.
I wanted to make a red Chandra that feels immediately like a threat to win the game - like a Karn Liberated or Ugin. That's why she currently costs 7 (Also, Garruk, Apex Predator).
As for the free spells, it's only red spells and anything with X would be zero. The thinking is that it benefits you if you play more red without adding to the other four colors which are already really good in EDH. Narset, Enlightened Master does a similar thing, costs 1 less to cast, has hexproof, and doesn't restrict the color of the free spell or that it has to be a sorcery/instant, so I think that there is precedent for the -1 ability to do so much.
I actually play some aggro tokens and have played against some tool box decks that just go fetch Elesh Norn and lock me out completely. The only think I can hope for is Chaos Warp or Massive Raid to get out of the jam. I'd rather see Chandra than that because it allows me to keep making tokens even though I cannot attack yet, or to attack that third player.
December 4, 2015 12:52 p.m.
ScruffySpydr says... #8
Elesh Norn is white, narset is 3 colors two of which are white and blue, both are creatures which are easier to deal with than planeswalkers. That balances the cards a bit. And though I don't play EDH I can't look at it from any other perspective but constructed and limited. So my eye looks for balances to make it playable without being too broken in that format
December 4, 2015 1:28 p.m.
ScruffySpydr says... #9
Circle of Flame is a precedent for dealing damage to attacking creatures so I'll give you that, 3 just feels like a bit much. I stand by 2. And circle can be taken out. This ability sticks until your next turn. Just think about that
December 4, 2015 1:34 p.m.
Ledfeelcrank says... #10
Yeah you could be right. I don't know about constructed or limited - I mostly play EDH so I designed the ability for an imaginary product that targets EDH without worry about its affect on other formats.
There are just so many more beefy dudes in EDH that I felt that 2 damage wouldn't deter them from offing Chandra the turn she comes down.
Would you be more down with the 3 damage if she costed 4RRR or something more difficult to cast like that, so that she wouldn't see much play outside of mono red edh?
December 4, 2015 1:43 p.m.
Ledfeelcrank says... #11
This may just be my playgroup, but here are some things I notice in EDH that make me want to keep her +1 ability as high as it is:
- There are a low of creatures >= 6/6 running around
- Creature removal is common, but not as common as boards full of big guys
- Removal for permanents is common
What do you think?
December 4, 2015 1:55 p.m.
ScruffySpydr says... #12
I think 4RRR as the cost makes it more balanced. As far as constructed, I've played big 2hg and 3hd games and i can say that on turn 7 you could still do fine with 2 damage. But with the amount of beef you're consitently seeing you may need to ask yourself if playing another color could be viable. As far as this card goes, give it that mana cost make a proxy and play test. See if it seems like a play and win every time card or if its useful for 1 or 2 turns. If it's the former, I'd revise it
December 4, 2015 2:06 p.m.
I think her loyalty should be 5, and her ultimate -9. She seems a little broken. But otherwise, great idea to combo a few Chandra's together!
December 6, 2015 10:22 a.m.
Ledfeelcrank says... #14
I also think she was a bit overpowered, even for the cost. I've made an edited version of her up above which I think is much more fair.
December 6, 2015 4:48 p.m.
The plus one feels defensive more than aggressive which to me is not very red.Perhaps
+1 until your next turn whenever a red creature attacks you may choose a creature that cannot block that creature
Wording needs work
December 6, 2015 5:59 p.m.
Ledfeelcrank says... #16
The ability is absolutely defensive - I wanted to give Chandra a way to protect herself. Circle of Flame is similar (actually has Chandra as the quote!). It's supposed to let you build up her loyalty to really go off with the emblem, or to get some card advantage out of her downtick.
December 7, 2015 1:56 a.m.
ScruffySpydr says... #17
Love the extra mana depending on whether the card is an instant or sorcery! I think Loyalty of 5 is better for balance though, you still get two -2 abilities out of her and it's not terribly close to the -7 if you intend on +'ing your way there. I think it's a proper balance considering the 3 damage the + does.
scopesightzx says... #2
I think the minus should be "Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. If it's a red instant or sorcery, you may play it without paying its mana cost"
December 3, 2015 11:05 p.m.