A Format-Defining Powerhouse is Returning in Reality Fracture — Is It Still Any Good?

Last updated on July 9, 2026

Chandra, Torch of Defiance | Illustration by Vincent Proce

At one point in time, Chandra, Torch of Defiance was one of the best cards in Standard, and it's not hard to see why. She brings a lot to the table. So it only makes sense that they would be reprinting her in Reality Fracture. However, she might not be as good the second time around, and this card that once defined an entire format might now be nothing more than a bulk rare.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Chandra, Torch of Defiance has four powerful loyalty abilities, each offering something relevant. Her first +1 ability serves as a pseudo-draw effect which you can turn into damage if you can't play the card (or don't want to play it). Her other +1 ability accelerates your mana, which can either be activated the turn she comes down to give you mana for something like a creature or a removal spell to protect her, or it can be activated on the next turn to suddenly give you access to enough mana to cast something big. During her time in Standard, she was often helping you cast Glorybringer, a powerful card in its own right.

Chandra's -3 ability is also great, as dealing 4 damage to any creature is often enough to straight up destroy most targets. Having removal tacked on to planeswalkers is always desirable, as coming down and having an immediate impact on the board while still getting to keep your planeswalker is a recipe that puts you ahead in most games.

As is the case with most planeswalkers, the ultimate ability on Chandra, Torch of Defiance doesn't often come up, however, a -7 ability on a planeswalker that enters with 4 loyalty and ticks up right away is certainly not out of the question. Plus once you do activate it, it will end the game very quickly, and it really adds to the threat level of this card.

Power Creep

Deadlock Trap | Illustration by Jason Rainville

All of that being said, a lot has changed since the last time Chandra, Torch of Defiance was legal in Standard. So much so, that when it gets reprinted again in Reality Fracture, it might be closer to a bulk rare than the format-defining staple that it once was. But how could a card that was so good suddenly be so bad?

The fact of the matter is that Standard has fundamentally changed. Standard rotation now includes the last three years of cards rather than just two, increasing the size of the pool of legal cards. Additionally, more and more sets are being printed every year, increasing the size of the standard pool even further. A bigger pool of cards means more competition with decks that have far more streamlined gameplans.

The Standard format of today is no stranger to turn-4 wins with the likes of Badgermole Cub and Ouroboroid. Not to mention that cards simply weren't as good back in the day. At the time, Chandra, Torch of Defiance was a total power level outlier. Now, she's pretty much par for the course on what we expect from a 4-mana planeswalker.

The card she most directly compares to in Standard right now is Professor Dellian Fel. While this card does see play in some midrange-style decks, he is far from a format-warping staple. Rather, he's simply a playable card that some decks might want. I don't see why Chandra would be any different.

So the question becomes, assuming that she's playable at all: “What deck wants her?” Most likely she'll see play in one of the Jeskai/4-color control lists we've been seeing pop up recently. These decks accelerate their mana with cards like Tablet of Discovery to play big spells like Jeskai Revelation or Improvisation Capstone to get ahead and win the game. Her ability to ramp your mana or provide removal means she aligns with this deck's overall gameplan well enough to slip in, although I don't imagine they would want to play more than two copies.

Wrap Up

Chandra, Torch of Defiance | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a relic of a bygone age, and that just goes to show how far Magic has come from where it once was–for better and for worse.

It's alarming that Standard, a format that is meant to have a lower power level compared to most other formats, has gotten to the place where even a card that is this fundamentally powerful is still perhaps not powerful enough to see any kind of meaningful play. I suppose this might not be the case, and Chandra may once again rule the format, but I don't think that'll happen. I suppose only time will tell, and we'll have to wait until the release of Reality Fracture to know for sure.