Chandra Nalaar is a red mage turned into a card. Her abilities are all based on dealing damage directly to creatures and players. This is no bad thing.
Chandra Nalaar costs five mana to cast, two of which must be red. She enters the battlefield with six loyalty counters. She has three abilities.
The first ability adds one loyalty counter and deals one point of damage to a player. At the melee table this can be quite an interesting ability, as you have four potential targets.
The second ability is -x, where you can choose how many counters to remove. Chandra will then deal that much damage to target creature. This can be a very useful ability, used to remove a troublesome attacker or blocker the turn you cast Chandra. As she starts with six counters, this ability can be used to deal up to six damage in this way.
The final ability combines the multiplies the effect of the first two. For a cost of removing eight loyalty counter, Chandra Nalaar will deal ten damage to a player and also to each of that player’s creatures. This ability can be used to finish off a player who is low on life, or else simple remove a large attacking force coming your way, or a large blocking force giving you trouble. All in all, Chandra Nalaar provides a neat little package for the red mage, combining what would otherwise be several cards into one card with multiple abilities.
Verdict: Marginal. A deck built around Chandra Nalaar is unlikely to do well, but the card is a useful addition to some other decks.
Connections: Like Chandra Nalaar? You may also like [Ajani Vengeant] [Koth of the Hammer] [Chandra, the Firebrand]
Don’t like Chandra Nalaar? You may prefer [Ajani Goldmane] [Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver] [Garruk Wildspeaker]
