Newly Dominant Chandra Variant Goes Up 250% in Price

Last updated on September 11, 2025

Chandra, Spark Hunter – art by Devin Elle Kurtz

Magic's Standard‘s decks, they are a-changing – above all at the top, where Izzet Vivi Cauldron has found a lot of tough opposition.

Orlando's Magic Spotlight eight days ago was the turning point, when Brennan Roy clinched the #1 spot piloting a mono-red aggro deck against a field full of Izzet wizards. Post-tournament data showed that, although Vivi Cauldron is indisputably a powerhouse, it does have weak spots that other top-tier decks can attack. 

Source: MTGTop8

And yesterday's MTGO Challenge 32 has almost nothing but mono-red aggro at the top. The only deck that breaks this sea of mountains (and the occasional Rockface Village and Soulstone Sanctuary) is the Izzet splash to play Scalding Viper in one case, and an Orzhov Pixie making its way to the top.

As a consequence, mono-red cards are red-hot right now in the MTG card market. As we reported last week, Nova Hellkite's and Razorkin Needlehead's price have jumped (and remain!) through the roof. And this week opens with a legendary god and one of Magic's best-known planeswalkers following the trend: Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might and Chandra, Spark Hunter:

Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might's Price Spike

Screaming Nemesis – Illustration by Liiga Smilshkalne

Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might requires no introduction for casual Commander players: Shortly after seeing print in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, this red creature quickly established itself among the Top #100 most popular commanders. And as of late it's also seeing a lot of play in the 99 when Edge of Eternities‘ Tannuk, Memorial Ensign is in the command zone.

Enter Standard and its red-hot metagame, and things change abruptly: After dipping to close $8 by mid-August, Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might now trades close to $12 on average for near-mint copies of the regular version.

Source: TCGplayer – Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might (LCI)

Red Deck Wins is far from a solved deck at this point, though – there are several different takes, and not all of them play Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might. Of the seven red-leaning decks that made Top 8 in yesterday's MTGO Challenge 32, only 2 pack Ojer in their maindeck.

On the other hand, HolaChico's deck that took yesterday's Challenge is indeed one of the two RDW decks that do play Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might – and it is the one red deck that splashed blue to play Scalding Viper:

HolaChico's deck also plays the other red-hot card today: Chandra, Spark Hunter

Chandra, Spark Hunter: Comin' In Hot

There are two differences between Chandra, Spark Hunter and Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might when it comes to Standard aggro decks.

On the one hand, Chandra, Spark Hunter is clearly a sideboard tech, while Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might is a maindeck card.

But on the other hand, Chandra, Spark Hunter seems to be more widely adopted: Of the seven red-leaning decks that made Top 8 yesterday, four of them have Chandra in the sideboard.

There's a third difference, in this case, when you look at prices: Unlike Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, Chandra, Spark Hunter hadn't seen much play before Edge of Eternities rotated the Standard meta. And as a result, Chandra, Spark Hunter‘s current success has had a huge impact in prices: Near-mint copies have jumped all the way from about $4 a month ago to more than $10 nowadays, a whopping 250% increase.

Source: TCGPlayer – Chandra, Spark Hunter (DFT)

What Will Happen With Ojer's and Chandra's Price?

Chandra, Spark Hunter – Illustration by Devin Elle Kurtz

With our usual caveat that this is not investment advice (always do your own research, folks!), the answer to this question is a very clear “Who knows?”.

As noted, Red Deck Wins is very, very far from being a “solved” archetype right now. Only some of the RDW players play either Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might or Chandra, Spark Hunter (and even less play both), so neither card has secured its slot yet.

But if you're running red right now, you may want to consider one, or both, among your 75.