#mono-red

She’s the star of the show, the deck is built around her, though if she’s absent the deck feature a few assistants that can do a decent impression. From her old mentor Kiki-Jiki, to his fabled cousin and of course Delina, the exchange student from another Multiverse. Jaxis might not look as good as Kiki-Jiki, and she isn’t, she won’t win you the game instantly with a combo (she can mind you, it just takes one more piece and is not included in this deck). Her ability has THREE more restrictions, you need to discard, pay mana and can only use it at sorcery speed. With that said, she’s also MUCH less scary and much more likely to stick around for a turn or two and not make yourself the archenemy until you’re ready to handle it.

With that said, whenever you activate her, you get the full value out of a creature. You get its enter the battlefield abilities, its attack abilities, its damage, and finally, its death triggers, which means Jaxis has access to an incredible range of creatures to do pretty much everything she wants, and you’ll be attacking while doing it and progressing the game towards an end.

She can ramp you, though this is probably her least used mode, this deck has a heavy top end. There’s plenty of mana rocks and a few creatures to ramp you or make treasures for you. The deck generally can make use of as much mana as you can throw at it, and you’ll often find yourself counting your mana every turn towards the end of a game to see what abilities you can use, in what order, and how many times. The most noticeable absence here are Dockside Extortionist and maybe Sol Ring, but I just don’t play those for the sake of people I play with.

She can draw you cards. Her own discard is not really one, it’s a rummage because the copy is Blitzed and will draw you a card on death. This inherently will allow you to filter through your deck, but beyond that it also means any way to copy the ability will actively generate card advantage, and many creatures in the deck will draw you an extra card or more when they enter or die. In practice, this deck tends to have between 0 and 3 cards cards in hand at all time, but keep chugging and drawing as many cards as it plays anyway.

She can remove threats, and not just by removing their players. A Red deck will, of course, mostly have damage based removal for creatures and artifact destruction, but some colorless help allows us to answer even problematic enchantments. The deck could probably use a bit more land destruction, but people get cranky at repeatable land destruction for some reason. And you get to play Flametongue Kavu!

And finally, she can win you the game, generally by attacking people in the face with giant creatures while ALSO blasting them for damage repeatedly. There’s no fancy combos or anything, but a couple Terror of the Peaks or Phyrexian Triniforms tends to close games pretty quick.

All the while doing artifact shenanigans as well because we’re in red and we need them. Shoutouts to Goblin Engineer being an MVP in the deck, finding us boots for haste and protection, Sundial of the Infinite to keep our tokens around, Cursed Mirror to loop with the Engineer to get extra value out of everything, Skullclamp to keep a hand full with out blitzed tokens for one more mana, or simply dumping a Phyrexian Triniform into our graveyard to Encore when it’s getting late and the game needs to end.

Chandra Nalaar

O.G. Chandra used to have a home as basically the only Red card that was at all reasonable and also able to kill off the incredibly dominant 6/6 Titans. It’s just kind of a shame that her +1 is so utterly nothing for a 5-mana walker, and her -X is very expensive my today’s standards. I can’t really recommend this card for anything except its utterly ludicrous JP-exclusive Duel Decks art. It’s so fucking anime.

 Chandra Ablaze

Oh. Hi again, Steve Argyle. Fortunately, you won’t have to stare at this for long, because this card is extremely dogshit- a +1 that requires you to have a spare spell that you don’t care about on turn 6, and an incredibly medium -2 that doesn’t make up for it. Even if you’re running a Madness package (and I have in the past), those decks are typically very aggressive, so you’re not going to want a 6-mana do nothing in there. Just…don’t bother.

 Koth of the Hammer

I like K.O.T.H, but he kind of only has one ability. I don’t know how many cubes are running a slow mono-red deck, which is the only one that would theoretically care about the -2, but even in those decks he doesn’t protect himself at all. Unlike your average Nissa, Koth’s animation of Mountains only lasts on your turn (and it also doesn’t get Haste, which can be a mild issue occasionally if you track things wrong), so it’s a purely offensive ability. It’s far from the worst card you could run in a red aggro deck…but red 4s are getting pretty spicy at this point, you know? He’s still too expensive for budget cubes as well, which is kinda a shame.

 Chandra, the Firebrand

While she’s cheap and very splashable, this is another Chandra that just doesn’t do enough. This is not coming from the fact that I have a (mild, semi-serious) grudge against this card- if you’re big 4 mana play is pinging off an X/1 or doing 1 to face, you’re probably either doing very well already or not well at all. The -2 isn’t bad, but you’re very unlikely to be able to use it the turn you play her, and the ultimate is just not going to happen any reasonable amount of the time. There are a lot of 4-mana walkers in this section, and so you can do better than Chandra #3.

 Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded

If you want to run this card, you probably already are. He’s pure meme, and basically unplayable outside of that (or one of those “only terrible cards” cubes). Did it really have to discard at random? They could have made it Discard->Draw, that’s both more Red and also less awful.

 Chandra, Pyromaster

I think I’m actually a bit higher on this card than a lot of people are, but it’s mostly because in more powerful cubes she’s kind of been outclassed. She’s playable in both aggressive decks with the surprisingly potent +1, and in slower decks just as an Outpost Siege with potential versatility. The ultimate is kind of medium (and slow to reach), but she’s a solid enough package that I’m honestly not too fussed.

She’s also below 1 dollar USA at the moment, and for a while was basically the best budget Red planeswalker we had. I really have a soft spot for this one- I personally run it, and while I could probably be doing better, I just like her.

 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

This is the other budget walker that comes from not long after I started playing Magic and therefore I have a soft spot for and still run in my red section. Bit of a long qualifier, but you know. I sold one of these for like 40 bucks once, and now he’s less than 1.

Sarkhan here is secretly a creature. There’s kind of no way around it. Unfortunately, he kind of just does that effect worse than Glorybringer at this point, but he does have the benefit of dodging a lot more removal at the cost of not doing everything at once like that dragon does. He’s kind of like a variant on the standard walker as well- instead of draw a card/protect yourself/win the game, it’s 4 to face/protect yourself/weird inevitability for aggro. It’s an aggressive card, which is awkward at 5, but…I can’t help it, I still just like the card. Blame nostalgia. I bet most people have cards they still run from their early days of Magic, even if they’re a bit mid- granted, like half my cube is those pet cards, but still…

 Daretti, Scrap Savant

Another of the more relevant Planeswalker Commanders, though it’s very much an archetype card. If you’re playing a Welder-style deck in the cube, then this is a great addition to it- it’s a bit more expensive than Welder/Engineer/Trash for Treasure, but he’s also got more options and the potential to keep the value flowing in a longer game- not to mention being much cheaper monetarily than those cards. It is somewhat awkward that the best cards for those decks are a fair chunk more pricey than the budget I think this card really thrives in, but you can go a really long way with Myr Battlesphere, Meteor Golem, and their friends.

 Chandra, Flamecaller

I keep being surprised at how cheap a lot of these cards are- though this one was in a recent commander precon. While her mana cost keeps her out of most decks, Chandra has incredible versatility due to being able to use all 3 of her abilities at all times, and each of them is pretty good. The +1 is a solid win condition, the 0 is an awkward but solid draw effect, and the -X is a decent clear for medium to small creatures.

I think this card has kind of been overshadowed by a different 6 mana Chandra, but she’s still really solid. She can come in on anything short of a sizable creature, and both stop you from losing and end the game in a single package. I really recommend this card, frankly!

 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

This one is not a budget option really, though it’s obviously very good. I think this is largely still considered the best red planeswalker, and…it’s hard not to agree. Chandra the Mind Sculptor has abilities that are relevant in every deck, versatility and inevitability, card advantage, removal, and acceleration. She’s also got gorgeous art, which helps a lot.

I can’t fault people for running this card like I sometimes do with obviously good (and expensive) cardboard. It’s got that rare combination of powerful and interesting that it’s just so hard to get right, and it’s managed to keep pace with 5 years of power creep. Hard to argue with.

 Jaya Ballard

…ehhhhhgh. We finally see Jaya again after so long, and this is what we got. She’s cheap, at least, but you get what you pay for on this one.

RRR is annoying for non-mono decks to hit, and mono-red doesn’t care about this card. The first ability is needle-specific, and kind of helps protect her but only if you already have a spell in hand to cast. The other one is weak and really could have benefited from just “plus one” at the end. She’s just so underpowered, folks.

 Rowan Kenrith

The best part about Rowan is that she could potentially tutor for a much better card! Two of her abilities don’t fucking do anything, and her -2 is weaker than effects you could get for half her mana cost! I genuinely don’t think you should be ever running this card unless you’re in a Battlebond Set Cube or a low powered commander cube, and in those Will is going to be so dominant that I’m not sure how good an idea that is. She’s so weak, I cut her from a Commander deck that is specifically built around effects like hers.

 Sarkhan, Fireblood

You kind of need to have a bunch of Dragons in the Cube to care about this guy…but if you do, he’s actually not too bad for midrangey builds? A fair few of Red’s better high drops are already Dragons, so the adjustment wouldn’t be that hard- get yourself some classics like Stormbreath Dragon, Thundermaw Hellkite, or newer hotness like Skarrgan Hellkite and Obsidian Charmaw and you kind of have a storm brewing.

Unfortunately, if you don’t have Dragons running around, or the deck just doesn’t come together, Sarkhan here is not particularly useful. He’s going to underperform, but that’s kind of okay. More specific walkers like this often don’t work in Cubes, but I’m interested to see if this one could potentially pay off.

 Chandra, Fire Artisan

This is kind of the biggest reason we might be moving on from Pyromaster as a budget potion. While she’s less versatile, she’s also very inevitable- because unless they exile/destroy her flat out, she’s getting 5 damage in. And yet… I just kind of like her less? You just kind of don’t care about her static ability in most slower decks, and in those ones, the +1 of Pyromaster could often be relevant. As such, Fire Artisan is a much more specific card…and thereby, one that might have less of a home. Looking at some numbers, she’s in like 100 more cubes…but she’s also got a lower ELO…am I the hot take speaker of truth on this one? Run Pyromaster, get results?

 Jaya, Venerated Firemage

Despite being pretty mediocre, this is also probably the best Jaya for Cube (including the creature), and that’s kind of sad. Even in Peasant/Low powered cubes, 5 mana for two Shocks and a…fine? Static ability? Isn’t doing enough. On the other hand, you don’t get a lot of good Red 5s if you aren’t playing rares, so maybe. But I can’t say I’d be one to slam this in.

 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator

Tibbers manages to be an improvement both on his former self and on his Red Uncommon Walker Counterparts, but it’s kind of on a technicality. From listening to podcasts about this- Tibalt is the only “can’t gain life” effect at uncommon or lower (aside from the 1-turn effect of Skullcrack), which is something those cubes kind of really want for mono-red, as without as many Wrath effects, white decks have to fight aggro on the board and with lifegain/lifelink effects. And his devil producing abilities are decent enough- having played a fair bit of SOI and WAR limited, those buggers are much more annoying than they look. So sure! Can’t say I like him if you have rares or money, but he seems solid enough. Red 3-drops suffered from being dogshit for a long time, and while rares now get all the Rabblemaster variants, uncommons still feel that lack.

 Sarkhan, the Masterless

I love what this card potentially adds to a cube. Never mind the static ability, Sarkhan’s +1 affects each Planeswalker you control, meaning that he makes a heavy-walker control deck much more viable now that you aren’t relying on slow value grinding to end the game. Oops! Everyone’s a Gideon now! (keep in mind he doesn’t give anyone haste, though)

He’s also pretty much good enough on his own. 5 mana for a 4/4 flyer obviously isn’t great, but he’s at least protected from small creatures when you do activate that (and you should, he can’t attack T1), and then next turn you’re swinging for 8 in the air- not to mention you can go ahead and make more either via -/+/- or -/+/+/- patterns. I genuinely really like this card- he’s not the most powerful on the planet, but he’s one of those cards that gets your drafters’ gears turning and potentially leads to some super sick deck builds.

 Chandra, Novice Pyromancer

Wait what the hell, this uncommon Planeswalker has 3 loyalty abilities, fuck’s going on here? Oh also in case you were thinking about Jaya, never mind this is one cheaper and more versatile with the same loyalty and cost to Shock things.

Obviously, this card is pretty weak. The +1 is more effective than you’d think, owing to the number of elementals in the game, but it’s still mostly just there to bump her loyalty up. Andd she’s not going to make any waves outside of Peasant when, like, every other 4-drop Chandra exists. But I think she’s definitely good enough for really low powered cubes, and gives them a “real” planeswalker to work with.

 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame

So her first ability is basically a blank +1 most of the time, but that’s perfectly okay here. 3-mana Chandra here is a weirdo Snapcaster variant, but in mono-red, and proooobably the best effect like this the colour gets. She doesn’t do nothing when you don’t have spells in the bin, but it’s not much either, so the -2 is kind of what we’re here for.

And it’s quite solid even with that! While using it T1 is unlikely, you’re probably going to have something to use with this most of the time, be it a burn spell or a cantrip or something similar (due to not needing to cast the spell immediately, I’ve seen people target counterspells to force combos through (Edit: No I haven’t, that was Mission Briefing, you can’t do that)) and 3 mana this sort of value is kind of just good. She gets better the stronger your Cube is, funnily enough, as the potency and consistency of her flashback effect gets better. She doesn’t look super powerful, but I think that’s kind of deceptive, and I like the card overall quite a bit.

 Chandra, Awakened Inferno

The third Chandra of the set (excluding the Planeswalker deck one), and the headline card of the…second Chandra-themed core set? I started with M14, they can’t pull the wool over my eyes. This card is really hard to deal with, between uncounterable status and massive loyalty, and unlike Flamecaller she can deal with large creatures or a board of smaller ones. And she doesn’t quite kill as quickly as Flamecaller (I think, I haven’t run the numbers), she doesn’t have to worry about getting blocked and she keeps burning them even if they do find a way to deal with her. She’s…yeah, she’s real good. Excellent versatile option for red/X control decks, which are often something I like to have around.

Only semi-related, but remember Obsidian Fireheart and its sicknasty “the land continues to burn” reminder text? I’ve always thought of Chandra’s +2 as “the man continues to burn”.

 Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast

This card is super unique, basically being the only playable Polymorph effect (though I’ll be testing Fireflux Squad), and in a colour that can seriously take advantage of it with all the tokens it’ll have running around. The +1 is a bit weaker, but it should on average draw you a card, and it’s not too long to get to the (admittedly win-more) ultimate.

He’s…he’s here for the -2. It’s not hard to have a spare 1/1 token running about, and turning that into a random creature in your deck (or a 1-drop into a better creature in your deck) is a powerful effect that can be used post-combat to kind of protect him and could even do some silly combo things. He’s cheap, he’s interesting, he’s in my good books. Apparently he sucks in the story, though.

 Chandra, Heart of Fire

I feel like Acolyte of Flame and Awakened Inferno were a tough act to follow, but Heart of Fire is still rock-solid. Ability one is awkward, but if you’re low on cards then it is kind of a draw 3. And if you do have cards in hand, well, ability two is also a +1, so you’re still ticking steadily upwards. Not to mention, 2 damage on a + effect is good- unlike your usual ping effects, this deals with so many more real creatures on the board and is a much more effective clock on face or on other walkers. 5 mana isn’t ideal for some of the decks that could really abuse this, but it’s more than good enough to make it worth it in my eyes. I’m running this card, and I’ve liked it so far- maybe not in your proper Unpowered lists, because she’s fairly generic (and those still have all the other ones), but a card that reads and looks great. Except the borderless art, it looks way worse to me.

 Jeska, Thrice Reborn

I did a bit of talking about Tevesh Szat, but Jeska is quite literally a blank in a non-commander cube. I guess you could errata her, but if you’re doing that, then you’re already committed to putting her in, so my comments won’t matter. Put her in Commander Cube, otherwise no.

 Zariel, Archduke of Avernus

I…don’t really like this one. I’ve sung the praises of 1/1 devil tokens before, and to be fair there kind of isn’t another proper token-producing Red Planeswalker outside of Sarkhan the Masterless- but they’re not really enough to protect it. The +1 does really not a lot, and while the ultimate is pretty quick it’s also a lot weaker than it looks (you only untap one creature!). I don’t think I can recommend this card right now- maybe if it drops a lot in price, butt at the moment it’s still almost 4 bucks and kind of just a stinker.

It’s a very conservative design. I don’t really have an issue with that- Magic’s Power Creep is getting up there at this point in my eyes. But it means Zariel is neither powerful nor interesting. 

Sarkhan, Wanderer to Shiv

If you can make it through the effort of tracking that first +1 and getting Shivan Dragons for the other one, then this is probably kind of alright? It’s got removal, it draws cards (albeit kind of bad ones), and the problematic +1 is bad but at least synergises with the other one. So it’s probably pretty alright, though it is competing in a really powerful slot.

This final card is also a real interesting example of knob-tweaking that might be useful for cube designers- for the unaware, when this card was first released, its second ability was a 0 instead of a +1, and since it’s a digital-only card they were able to buff it a little to try and encourage people to play it in Historic. While this is obviously not a thing most builders can do, it’s relevant for things like Custom-Card cubes, as well as an overall example of how you can adjust some of your sections to affect an overall Cube experience. You might not be able to rewrite your cardboard, but you can, as an example, switch out an Abrade for a different Lightning Strike variant to make artifacts or artifact-themed decks a little stronger overall.

Or, substitute your Chandra, Heart of Fire for a Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast to encourage token decks and give medium red something extra to do. Red walkers kind of have a reputation for just being boring and doing damage (and, to be fair, literally 4 of them don’t have the word damage on them somewhere), but there’s a lot of subtle variety you can insert with creative design, and a lot more things for them to do than there might initially appear.