March of the Machine - Izzet Burn With Chandra, Hope's Beacon

With Phyrexia: All Will Be One barely behind us we recently got to see a small batch of cards from the upcoming March of the Machines. In this batch of cards, there are 11 brand-new cards, and many of them are quite interesting. One that quickly caught my eye for Modern was the new Chandra planeswalker, Chandra, Hope's Beacon.

Her static ability allows you to copy a spell once per turn, while her +1 allows you to exile the top five cards of your library and cast an instant or sorcery from amongst them until your next turn, and her final ability can represent quite a bit of damage. That said, I thought I would give her a try in an Izzet Counter/Burn deck. After all, both Burn spells and counterspells are instants are sorceries. So, I think she'll make a perfect addition to the deck.

Chandra, Hope's Beacon - Izzet Burn

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Main 60 cards (22 distinct)

Lands - 22

Side 15 cards (7 distinct)

Main 60 cards (22 distinct)

Lands - 22

Side 15 cards (7 distinct)

$€Tix

Main 60 cards (22 distinct)

Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (30)
4 Ionize			$0.70€0.460.02
3 Prismari Command			$6.50
4 Lightning Bolt			$0.50
3 Counterspell			$1.33€0.760.17
3 Opt			$0.36
3 Remand			$2.20€1.590.24
4 Vapor Snag			$0.40€0.370.04
2 Contentious Plan			$0.50€0.110.03
1 Underworld Breach			$18.78€15.973.15
1 Tezzeret's Gambit			$0.50
1 Volt Charge			$0.15€0.060.01
1 Minor Misstep			$0.69€0.950.01
Planeswalker (6)
3 Ral, Storm Conduit			$1.80€0.990.02
3 Chandra, Hope's Beacon			€19.85
Creature (2)
2 Snapcaster Mage			$19.43€22.883.35
Land (22)
8 Island			$10.86
1 Mountain			$0.140.01
4 Scalding Tarn			$41.259.20
4 Spirebluff Canal			$18.99€17.849.23
2 Steam Vents			$17.95€14.322.23
2 Sulfur Falls			$2.80€1.770.07
1 Otawara, Soaring City			$15.08€17.14

Side 15 cards (7 distinct)

2 Fury			$49.89
2 Subtlety			$17.78
2 Blood Moon			$11.00€11.006.98
3 Engineered Explosives			$12.05€11.0823.46
3 Unlicensed Hearse			$11.06€13.2815.86
2 Mystical Dispute			$0.75€0.780.06
1 Abrade			$0.25€0.120.03

Export

MTG Arena Format MTG Online File download Text List Registration PDF

Strategy Overview

After the introduction and a look at the deck list, perhaps it's not too hard to discern the strategy. However, I'd still like to give a brief overview of what the deck wants to be doing and why I feel the new Chandra is a good fit here. Overall, the deck wants to tempo out opponents while at the same time dealing them damage.

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Where things get interesting is Ral, Storm Conduit. His static ability makes each instant and/or sorcery you cast or copy into one damage - This makes all your control cards into Burn and all your burn just a little better. While his -2 allows you to copy the next instant or sorcery you cast. So, let's say you -2 Ral and cast a Lightning Bolt. Between the Bolt, the copy, and the two damage from Ral's static that's eight damage.

Now with Chandra, Hope's Beacon in the mix, you'll get even more copies, more Ral triggers, and more damage. Plus, card advantage and a way to ramp into more spells. While her final ability can represent enough damage to finish out games. So, overall, I think she's a nice fit.

Conclusion

This is one of many March of the Machine cards that I'll be building decks with. I have enjoyed playing with it already and I hope you'll try the list. It's rather explosive while at the same time being quite controlling - It's fun. If you do play it, comment and let me know what you think.