At least Chandra will be the only uncommon/rare planeswalker here. I like WAR well enough, but it does feel like the novelty would wear off quick.

Emblems off a plus seem a bit...concerning? Interesting comparison to Chandra, Flamecaller at any rate - Inferno has less immediate damage potential, but comparable board wipe ability and higher loyalty.

Am I the only one seeing a SarChandra PW deck in the near future?

I mean these three plus WAR Chandra plus Sarkhan plus maybe some other red Walkers is... concerning?

6-mana Chandra is interesting. Planeswalkers that tick up at +2 per turn are always dangerous, the effect stacks, and she defends herself very well. It's true her effects are disjointed though. The latter two abilities would favor a defensive deck, while the first ability favors an aggressive deck. Still six mana for an aggressive deck might not be possible. I originally thought she's a bomb but as I wrote this post I'm gradually coming to think she won't be good.

The other two Chandras look barely playable. If you have multiple red planeswalkers on the battlefield you're probably winning already, and the other effects just aren't a big deal.

I think Chandra's plus ability is good in control. It's a win con for those decks; adds inevitability. A single activation starts a clock that can't be stopped. Coming down with 6 loyalty and ticking up at 2 means she'll require some effort to kill - and if you don't put effort, she'll keep nailing you with emblems stacking damage. I wouldn't put her in aggro deck at all, but would try her in control or midrange.

I wonder if they'll have this novice-acolyte-master format on all the gatewatch walkers? Since it's core set, it'd seem weird to just do it for Chandra. I'd like to see them do it for Nissa, Jace, Gideon, and Lilliana too.

For this Set it's only Chandra

The 3 cmc chandra could be fun with Priest of the forgotten souls... sac the two creatures every turn for mana and cards.
The 6 cmc Chandra seems nuts to me, but dhe will se as much play as any other 6 drop in standard.
The 4 cmc is trash

The 4CMC Chandra is obviously geared for Limited, where she will be quite good. Basically a 1 mana cheaper Jaya, Venerated Firemage without the added bonus for R but with a way to gain Loyality and possibly get a high CMC permanent dropped.

Maybe but WAR control decks have plenty of win conditions already - Sarkahn for example is a lot faster, and you need creatures anyway to kill opposing planeswalkers. Chandra wins eventually, but then so do things like Teferi emblem. I'm not convinced. It's possible, but remains to be proved.

In midrange she might have more potential. She could potentially pressure control decks, but it's not a fast clock (again Sarkahn should be better) and the other two abilities are dead. I imagine she could work as a red sweeper, but 6 CMC is harsh (c.f. Cleansing Nova, Hour of Devastation).

EDIT: I take that back, 6-mana Chandra's -x ability can target planeswalkers. She should be playable in midrange decks then.

Well, that seems like an epic fail. Why give special attention to a single color’s planeswalker in a core set? It’d make more sense on a particular plane, but in a core set it seems weird

Mostly I'm bummed cause itd be hella cool to see this for all the gatewatch. Even the Lorwyn 5, tho I think Gideon and Nissa are more primary to their colors these days.

What is this? Pokemon? Need to evolve your charizard?

The set is focused on Chandra like how Core 2019 was focused on Nicol Bolas and Magic 2015 was focused on Garruk.

Point taken. I'm thinking more old school where core sets were general fantasy and named sets were where you got stories with characters. I guess I just prefer it that way. Feels like wasted opportunity to not do it for every color.

That'd be fifteen planeswalkers in Core 2020.

They have chosen focuses for each core set for a long time. It's a way to distinguish each core set and it generates interest for enfranchised players to learn a little more about a character (like Core 2019 showing Nicol Bolas's backstory, this one highlights Chandra's past growth).

There’s 36 in WAR and it would tie the core set in nicely there, distinguish it from other core sets, while exploring backstories of walkers in all 5 colors. Argument in favor still works from your perspective.

Ok on limited she is bonkers indeed... she can be 3 shocks!

Let's hope they only reprint max 1 out of Lightning Strike, Shock and Wizard's Lightning.

Why not just reprint the original lightning bolt?

Anything worst than that couldn't find a slot in RDW anyway...

: Untap target land you control. It becomes a 5/5 Elemental creature with haste until end of turn. It’s still a land.

None of them look playable ... Angel of Vitality looks like a cute build-around but I doubt lifegain decks are going to be viable, especially given all the planeswalkers in WAR means that having 100 life doesn't mean anything against large swathes of the metagame.

Maybe Creeping Trailblazer will see play as a 2-drop that boosts Chandra's tokens, idk.