So… about that new Chandra…

Okay, since the set is very different, its hard to say what one should do with all the cards in it, because vehicles and energy are very hard to evaluate them without any kind of testing. So, this is basically just old cards and new Chandra.

The removal suite could be very different. Is [scryfall]Flaying Tendrils[/scryfall] going to be key here? We haven’t seen a black sweeper either and I’m thinking there’s going to be one, but probably not as efficient as [scryfall]Languish[/scryfall]. Weirdly enough, red doesn’t have efficient artifact removal after rotation, with [scryfall]Structural Distortion[/scryfall] being the only card that does it and it isn’t very good (although with its ability to destroy lands, its possible it will become a sideboard card). This is a bit of a color pie problem as both white and green are still able to do it pretty well.

[deck]
[planeswalkers]
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
[/planeswalkers]
[creatures]
4 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
2 Bedlam Reveler
[/creatures]
[spells]
4 Galvanic Bombardment
4 Grasp of Darkness
4 Ruinous Path
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Incendiary Flow
[/spells]
[lands]
4 Foreboding Ruins
4 Smoldering Marsh
8 Mountain
10 Swamp
[/lands]
[/deck]

This has been a hard set to brew with thusfar. Usually at this point I’ve had at least several fun lists up, but here… not so much. I like certain cards very much, but they just feel hard to put into use. Maybe a few more cards will give more direction. The problem is, however, that since this seems pretty hard nut to crack, people will default to old decks and just play those. For example, even if Bant loses [scryfall]Collected Company[/scryfall], [scryfall]Dromoka’s Command[/scryfall], it already has more cards than it could ever use and will probably gain a few more in the new set.

Some people have already noted that [scryfall]Tamiyo, Field Researcher[/scryfall] may be even better than CoCo in the deck and [scryfall]Collective Effort[/scryfall] will probably do much of the work [scryfall]Dromoka’s Command[/scryfall] has done in the previous year or so, although its not going to be as big a blow-out in the early game.