Chandra, Torch of Defiance offers a red deck a useful choice each turn: access another spell, produce mana, or remove a creature. Her first plus ability exiles the top card and lets you cast it during the ability's resolution. If you do not cast it, she deals two damage to every opponent. Her other plus ability supplies two red mana for the current phase.
The first mode does not let you play an exiled land. It also requires paying the spell's costs, so activating it with no mana available may result in damage rather than another spell. The card is offered for casting at that moment, not saved as an option for a later turn. That makes your available mana and the deck's curve important to the choice.
The mana mode can help cast a second spell after Chandra resolves or finance a red activated ability. Her minus-three deals four damage to a creature, giving her an immediate way to answer a threat rather than always relying on other cards for protection.
The emblem eventually turns each spell cast into five damage to any target, but the earlier abilities should justify her inclusion before that point. In a low-curve red deck, the selection-and-damage mode can maintain pressure; in a larger midrange deck, the extra mana can support more substantial turns. Choose the ability that improves the present position rather than pursuing the ultimate while an opposing creature threatens to remove her on the next attack.
