Magic: The Gathering's March of the Machine expansion reveals Chandra, Hope's Beacon

March of the Machine, Magic: The Gathering’s next expansion, will wrap up the ongoing multiverse war in the card game’s current storyline. Several characters that have not made an appearance yet are likely to show up, including the pyromancer planeswalker herself, Chandra.

The game has revealed Chandra, Hope’s Beacon, and she’s an excellent card that will impress many. Though her mana cost is high, her abilities and starting loyalty make her worth the investment for your spell-themed decks. She will become available when Magic: The Gathering drops March of the Machine in April 2023.

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Chandra's new form has come to save the day in Magic: The Gathering

Chandra Nalar is a well-known planeswalker, and her cards have varied wildly in power over the years. When it comes to Magic: The Gathering’s March of the Machines, this Mythic Rare planeswalker is undoubtedly going to shake things up and can even see itself becoming a viable pick for spell-themed decks.

Here’s a breakdown of Chandra's abilities in Magic: The Gathering’s next expansion, as per the card.

Chandra, Hope’s Beacon

• Mana Value: 4RR
• Type: Legendary Planeswalker - Chandra
• Rarity: Mythic Rare
• Base Loyalty: 5
• Passive Ability: "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, copy it. You may choose news targets for the copy. This ability triggers only once each turn."
• +2 Ability: "Add two mana in any combination of colors."
• +1: "Exile the top five cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell from among those exiled cards."
• -X Ability: "Chandra, Hope’s Beacon deals X damage to each of up to two targets."

Chandra, Beacon of Hope in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

It’s probably for the best that Chandra’s passive can only trigger once each turn as it could get out of hand far too quickly. Thankfully, it can clearly trigger during your opponent’s turns.

Thanks to all the Proliferate that exists right now, it can become incredibly easy to build up enough loyalty counters to trigger a game-ending blast. Since the -X reads, “X damage to each of up to two targets," you can directly hit a player, or even two in a casual setting, with it.

The damage isn’t split up either, making it particularly deadly. Or, you could use it to defeat two planeswalkers at once if you find yourself being overwhelmed.

Overall, it is not unreasonable to suggest that this planeswalker will be a popular choice. Chandra has no major downsides, other than exiling 5 cards from your deck. You could hit no spells in that and lose a bunch of cards. Another option is to focus on cards that let you draw and use her +2 to generate mana and cast important spells.

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Magic: The Gathering’s March of the Machine expansion releases on April 21, 2023, bringing an end to the current planetary struggle.