I'm not sure where to put this so apologies if this is the wrong forum.
I've wanted to build a Chandra Ablaze deck since I first came across the card, but you need some combination of sol lands, ritual ramp and mana rocks to get her into play -- and then you have nothing to do because your hand's empty. While she may fit into some deck in a support role or a random one of it was clearly not worth building around.
They printed Chandra's Phoenix which obviously combo's with her +1 ability through recursion. Then, Past in Flames which allows you a second go out of all the ramp dumped into the graveyard, and Increasing Vengeance which fills slots as either double burn, double ramp or both. Neat, but I still need some cards in hand...
Innistrad was spoiled along with Reforge the Soul, a functional reprint of what's possibly my favorite spell of all time, Wheel of Fortune, and I became completely obsessed with building a Chandra Ablaze deck. And I mean combo's running through my mind at night while I try to sleep obsessed.
Boy, it sure is funny how the energy bolts on Increasing Vengeance seem to mirror the fires on the Ablaze card. When I got them in the mail I immediately put them together and found this:
Huh. That's really neat how they did that. Y'know, Past in Flames looks like it would fit on the left side, and, whoa, it does. I wonder what's on the right? Could it be Reforge the Soul? Low and behold...
So, they're printing utility cards specifically for Chandra Ablaze! (or making it appear that way). Awesome. The symbology's utterly fantastic. The all consuming glee of the aristocrat vampiress, the warriors infinite rage and subsequent rebirth from flames. Taken as a whole, this is obviously a phoenix, both in flavor and gameplay mechanics.
Cards have multiple sequences and may not have a set order:
To make a long story short: The Chandra Ablaze phoenix tryptic appears to be some kind of keystone, clue or example, and there are more surprises in store that are not necessarily part of this burn/wheel/looter deck. Since Zendikar cycled out of Standard when Innistrad came in that clearly means this Chandra deck is meant for eternal formats. To be frank I'm torn between revealing all that I've found (lots, but certainly not exhaustive) and letting others share the joy of discovery, since I've come to the conclusion this was clearly meant to be solved by a collective. I'm not going to pretend that I don't like attention (who doesn't?) but I'm certainly not trolling for it, so forgive me for now if I just leave you with these:
I've wanted to build a Chandra Ablaze deck since I first came across the card, but you need some combination of sol lands, ritual ramp and mana rocks to get her into play -- and then you have nothing to do because your hand's empty. While she may fit into some deck in a support role or a random one of it was clearly not worth building around.
They printed Chandra's Phoenix which obviously combo's with her +1 ability through recursion. Then, Past in Flames which allows you a second go out of all the ramp dumped into the graveyard, and Increasing Vengeance which fills slots as either double burn, double ramp or both. Neat, but I still need some cards in hand...
Innistrad was spoiled along with Reforge the Soul, a functional reprint of what's possibly my favorite spell of all time, Wheel of Fortune, and I became completely obsessed with building a Chandra Ablaze deck. And I mean combo's running through my mind at night while I try to sleep obsessed.
Boy, it sure is funny how the energy bolts on Increasing Vengeance seem to mirror the fires on the Ablaze card. When I got them in the mail I immediately put them together and found this:
Huh. That's really neat how they did that. Y'know, Past in Flames looks like it would fit on the left side, and, whoa, it does. I wonder what's on the right? Could it be Reforge the Soul? Low and behold...
So, they're printing utility cards specifically for Chandra Ablaze! (or making it appear that way). Awesome. The symbology's utterly fantastic. The all consuming glee of the aristocrat vampiress, the warriors infinite rage and subsequent rebirth from flames. Taken as a whole, this is obviously a phoenix, both in flavor and gameplay mechanics.
Four Reforge the Souls aren't enough to reasonably draw into so I needed card draw or filtering. Faithless Looting has great synergy with both Past in Flames and Chandra's Phoenix. Burning Wish allows for virtual copies of Reforge while giving access to a range of Silver Bullets like Pyroclasm. Eventually I noticed these:
Cards have multiple sequences and may not have a set order:
To make a long story short: The Chandra Ablaze phoenix tryptic appears to be some kind of keystone, clue or example, and there are more surprises in store that are not necessarily part of this burn/wheel/looter deck. Since Zendikar cycled out of Standard when Innistrad came in that clearly means this Chandra deck is meant for eternal formats. To be frank I'm torn between revealing all that I've found (lots, but certainly not exhaustive) and letting others share the joy of discovery, since I've come to the conclusion this was clearly meant to be solved by a collective. I'm not going to pretend that I don't like attention (who doesn't?) but I'm certainly not trolling for it, so forgive me for now if I just leave you with these:
One of my absolute favorites:
Happy hunting! I hope to see lots of surprises!