I'm not sure if it is worth running in casual burn decks. On one hand, it is a repeatable attacker that can easily come back to your hand, plus it works well with Chandra Ablaze. On the other hand, it costs a bunch more than what burn decks would like it to pay, not to mention the fact that it might not die very easily, making the phoenix effect seem pointless most of the time. Overall, it is an okay card.
Nagoragama
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
My favorite creature type finally reaches playability. I will definitely be trying a deck with 4 of these lovelies as soon as I can get a playset.
HairlessThoctar
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(9 votes)
I love how it works with all three Chandras.
Cyberium
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
Counter-Phoenix varient just got another upgrade.
marwinshieldscale
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
can't wait to get this at the prerelease
don_miguel
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
you easily can take advantage just discarding it for paying costs and then recovering it. also flying/haste makes it a good burn-like creature. don't think about goblin guide. think about Squee, Goblin Nabob for instance, zombie infestation.
@Lyoncet "Too bad that it doesn't really have much synergy with Chandra, the Firebrand herself. Unless you want to use her -2 to duplicate the Fling, I guess. :p"
Read the card text again. It activates when a red planeswalker deals damage, too.
Tobilobilo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Really nice, help me a lot in pre-release tourney.
DarthParallax
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(4 votes)
@Lyoncet
...ummm what? Your comments make complete sense- but only if you confused Chandra Nalaar with Chandra Firebrand. Firebrand is great. Ablaze is slow. The sky is blue. The future is R-E-D RED. With or without any of the synergies with any Chandra, the Pheonix is great. In fact, I wouldn't be scared to predict that the Pheonix might be the highest casting cost card in RED KILL NOW!.dec
Forget Chandra. Forget even friggin Koth. Red is SCARY PEOPLE!!! Standard Red might be better than Duel Decks Fire & Lightning. Its that bad folks. (mostly bc the box came with a set number of rares, and Standard says play four copies of the best until your decklist gets banned for kicking too much ass)
Blasphemy this may sound, but Im not even positive there is actually room for GRIM. FREAKIN. LAVAMANCER in the new Red Decks. once Lightning Bolt leaves, with INNISTRAD, sure we can make room, but UNTIL THEN- seriously...
4x Lightning Bolt, 4x Searing Blaze, 4x Shock, 4x Incinerate, 4x Reverberate.
That's 20 cards that I cant think of any particularly good reason not to play in just about every Red Deck.
4x Chandra's Pheonix is far and away the stupidest (read: best) creature decision you can make, and that's probably all the creatures you'll be playing son.
24 cards off the top of my head that give the fastest curve we've seen in ages. Option A) add in 4x Ponder, 4x Preordain, and 4x Visons of Beyond and call donesies. Option B) try to go mono-red with Goblins. Eh, interesting. Not as interesting as casting "Ancestral Recall 2.0" (upgraded in fairness level, not power level), into 3 burn spells into I-kill-you-now-bye-bye.
Red's gotta be pretty ***ed about the whole Jace thing. Its back with a vengeance people. Beware.
Hoonster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I have a mixed feeling about this card. Yes, this card would be definitely used in standard. One could compare this card to repeatable burn like 'Cursed Scroll' or Grove of the Burnwillows and Punishing Fire, but the fact that it is a creature rather than direct burn hurts this card.
edit: @mike_stubbs1 Of course, the fact that it is a creature is not always disadvantage. However, exiling creature is not a problem for most of the decks.
@DeathDark They used that art on the Booster Box Promo card.
mike_stubbs1
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Hoonster
Being a creature isn't necessarily a drawback. It's a flying creature, so it could block and defend Chandra, the Firebrand from most threats while she charges up to use her other abilities.
A repeatable creature is also good news if you're being forced to sacrifice them by an opponent.
n0odleex
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thing I don't like about red burn and Phoenix's recursion is LEYLINE OF SANCTITY
Lyoncet
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Fun times with Fling. Not that it's a good combo, but it's just fun to turning it into a flaming boomerang.
This is actually a pretty good card overall. A 2/2 body with evasion and haste is a decent deal to begin with; adding the recursion effect on there gives it that little extra edge. It's also just another in a string of cards that seem to be encouraging Jace, Memory Adept/Chandra, the Firebrand self-mill counterburn (which will in turn probably pick up after Innistrad's allegedly heavy graveyard focus).
I don't know how you read my comment and got "Chandra Ablaze is better than Chandra, the Firebrand." I was speaking about comboing this card with various Chadras; that is all. They did right with the new Chandra. (Also, I agree with your general point; Red is looking beautiful despite the loss of Lightning Bolt.)
Diombra
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Question... When it says "Whenever an opponent is dealt damage...", does that mean only their lifepoints, or when any of their creatures are damaged as well?
Gerbil_Lord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Life points.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
lol, her ability can be triggered by nicol bolas's ultimate.
Badmalloc: That guy sounds pretty good simply because of his second ability. I'll give it a try, thanks!
Asmodi0000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My favorite card is Skyknight Legionnaire. When I saw this, I actually became a little depressed, because I thought it was just a plainly superior card that would make my favorite card obsolete.
They're both 2/2 flying haste creatures for 3 mana, but the phoenix has an excellent recursion ability as well. Why bother playing the skyknight at all?
In a way, I'm actually glad that the Skyknight works better for me (though, probably because the deck is sort of built around that card). Chandra's phoenix is still an amazing card though, because the combination of haste and flying makes it practically a 3 mana shock that keeps punching turn after turn (the same reason I love skyknight legionnaire).
Hackworthy
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Good card, just like Chandra's Spitfire. It's a tad ironic how the worst cards with Chandra's name on it is Chandra.
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's less a creature and more a Shock for that recurs every time your opponent is damaged. And if you're playing a burn deck, you should be damaging your opponent. More phoenix tribal support!
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's too bad it doesn't read, "dealt noncombat damage by a spell or permanent you control," because then Koth's Mountain pinging ability would be able to trigger this thing's ability.
BongRipper420
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If this returned to the battle field, it would have been really baller.
KokoshoForPresident
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love the art and the ability, and it's a formidable tournament player. I even like the creature type. Just an overall favorite of mine.
Epic card advantage for red. I thought it would be hard to fit into my EDH deck, but then I realised earthquake, breath of darigaaz, volcanic fallout, and sulfuric blast all hit players too.
It also adds a cool addition to things like browbeat. 3 cards? or my phoenix and you take 5? The choice is yours :P
johnnyinabucket
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm so glad it's back. I just got into magic and misses this last rotation. can't wait to see if a Mono red burn can make waves in Standard, The name alludes me but the new Red 2 drop that puts 1/1's when you play red spells,4x guttersnipe 4xyoung pyromancer 4xchandra's phoenix 4xshock 1xawaken the ancient SB 1xBurning earth Are some cards im eager to start playing with
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Absolutely ridiculous with Firestorm. (You discard the pheonix when you pay costs, you get it back on resolution.)
Comments (40)
http://steveargyle.com/wallpapers/1600x1200/Chandra's_Phoenix.jpg
Read the card text again. It activates when a red planeswalker deals damage, too.
...ummm what? Your comments make complete sense- but only if you confused Chandra Nalaar with Chandra Firebrand. Firebrand is great. Ablaze is slow. The sky is blue. The future is R-E-D RED. With or without any of the synergies with any Chandra, the Pheonix is great. In fact, I wouldn't be scared to predict that the Pheonix might be the highest casting cost card in RED KILL NOW!.dec
Forget Chandra. Forget even friggin Koth. Red is SCARY PEOPLE!!! Standard Red might be better than Duel Decks Fire & Lightning. Its that bad folks. (mostly bc the box came with a set number of rares, and Standard says play four copies of the best until your decklist gets banned for kicking too much ass)
Blasphemy this may sound, but Im not even positive there is actually room for GRIM. FREAKIN. LAVAMANCER in the new Red Decks. once Lightning Bolt leaves, with INNISTRAD, sure we can make room, but UNTIL THEN- seriously...
4x Lightning Bolt, 4x Searing Blaze, 4x Shock, 4x Incinerate, 4x Reverberate.
That's 20 cards that I cant think of any particularly good reason not to play in just about every Red Deck.
4x Chandra's Pheonix is far and away the stupidest (read: best) creature decision you can make, and that's probably all the creatures you'll be playing son.
24 cards off the top of my head that give the fastest curve we've seen in ages. Option A) add in 4x Ponder, 4x Preordain, and 4x Visons of Beyond and call donesies. Option B) try to go mono-red with Goblins. Eh, interesting. Not as interesting as casting "Ancestral Recall 2.0" (upgraded in fairness level, not power level), into 3 burn spells into I-kill-you-now-bye-bye.
Red's gotta be pretty ***ed about the whole Jace thing. Its back with a vengeance people. Beware.
Yes, this card would be definitely used in standard.
One could compare this card to repeatable burn like 'Cursed Scroll' or Grove of the Burnwillows and Punishing Fire, but the fact that it is a creature rather than direct burn hurts this card.
edit:
@mike_stubbs1
Of course, the fact that it is a creature is not always disadvantage. However, exiling creature is not a problem for most of the decks.
Being a creature isn't necessarily a drawback. It's a flying creature, so it could block and defend Chandra, the Firebrand from most threats while she charges up to use her other abilities.
A repeatable creature is also good news if you're being forced to sacrifice them by an opponent.
This is actually a pretty good card overall. A 2/2 body with evasion and haste is a decent deal to begin with; adding the recursion effect on there gives it that little extra edge. It's also just another in a string of cards that seem to be encouraging Jace, Memory Adept/Chandra, the Firebrand self-mill counterburn (which will in turn probably pick up after Innistrad's allegedly heavy graveyard focus).
Too bad that it doesn't really have much synergy with Chandra, the Firebrand herself (edit for clarity: compared to the Chandra that's about to rotate). Unless you want to use her -2 to duplicate the Fling, I guess. :p
@DarthParallax:
I don't know how you read my comment and got "Chandra Ablaze is better than Chandra, the Firebrand." I was speaking about comboing this card with various Chadras; that is all. They did right with the new Chandra. (Also, I agree with your general point; Red is looking beautiful despite the loss of Lightning Bolt.)
I would hope they worded like that cause then I can use it along with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
@ wiseguy20: try Stormblood Berserker.
They're both 2/2 flying haste creatures for 3 mana, but the phoenix has an excellent recursion ability as well. Why bother playing the skyknight at all?
In the end, I realized that cards like honor of the pure, scourge of the nobilis, angelic overseer,shining shoal, and balefire liege just worked better with the skyknight, and I wasn't using enough damage dealing instants/sorceries/planeswalkers to make Chandra's phoenix worthwhile in my principle deck.
In a way, I'm actually glad that the Skyknight works better for me (though, probably because the deck is sort of built around that card). Chandra's phoenix is still an amazing card though, because the combination of haste and flying makes it practically a 3 mana shock that keeps punching turn after turn (the same reason I love skyknight legionnaire).
I remember when skyknight legionnaire was an awesome card.
It also adds a cool addition to things like browbeat. 3 cards? or my phoenix and you take 5? The choice is yours :P