The mega-popular trading card game Magic: the Gathering is a game of dragons and knights, elves and necromancers, and unique critters like slivers, Eldrazi, and Phyrexian horrors. Meanwhile, the players (and major characters) are planeswalkers, beings with the Spark that allows them to walk between the worlds of existence. These unique beings can learn new spells of all kinds across the worlds like Dominaria, the shards of Alara, Innistrad, Kamigawa, and many more.
Planeswalkers usually use one or more colors of mana, and the fiery woman Chandra Nalaar is an archetypical pyromancer. She learned at the hands of the legendary Jaya Ballard. We also get the dragon-loving man Sarkhan Vol, who has a history with more than one of these scaly beasts. Which of them is the ultimate red planeswalker, in terms of both lore and their cards?
10 Chandra: setting the trend
The funny thing about the planeswalkers is that their lore dates back to the 1990s, but they didn’t actually get their own cards until 2007! In the old days, planeswalkers were like gods, but the Time Spiral block toned them down so we could get more relatable and conventional heroes. The Lorwyn set gave us the original five, who totally stood out in a block based on a somewhat cartoony take on Celtic mythology. None other than Chandra Nalaar was the red member of that five-planeswalker cycle, and she’s been burning hot ever since.
9 Sarkhan: dragon mania
Sarhkan Vol is a red planeswalker too, and if you ask him, there’s two kinds of people in the multiverse: those who love dragons, and those who end up as dragon food. In the lore and game alike, Sarkhan has a serious affinity with these scaled beasts, and that’s just plain awesome. He can morph into one himself, and he can summon dragons on Jund, Tarkir, and other planes at will. In the game, he often makes 4/4 dragon tokens or morphs your creatures into dragons themselves. Now, go out there and dominate the skies!
8 Chandra: a winning smile
Chandra is an upbeat and cheery girl, but don’t think for one second that she’s naive or stupid. Still, it’s refreshing to see someone in such high spirits, and Chandra is a caring friend while also a witty girl with a sharp sense of humor. She pops up all the time in flavor text for red cards, and she knows just what to say. She also learned to get along with Gideon Jura, a white-aligned hieromancer, to get the job done. They made an odd team, but Chandra made for a fine friend.
7 Sarkhan: the “it” factor
Okay, this one is a bit abstract, but when you know it, you’ll see it! Sarkhan isn’t here to mess around. He’s a tough-as-nails mage from the Mardu clan on war-torn Tarkir, and he’s got stylish armor, a heavy metal appearance, and a deep voice (in the Khans of Tarkir trailer video). In all his illustrations, Sarkhan is all rage, glory, and attitude, and you know he’s one guy not to mess around with. Fortunately, he doesn’t use that rage for villainy.
6 Chandra: dealing damage
Do you need to deal a ton of damage your opponents quickly, or pick off their creatures with repeatable burn effects? Chandra is your girl! All of her planeswalker cards have one or more abilities that can deal some serious damage, and this allows her to easily protect herself (an essential trait in planeswalker cards). In fact, her original card is nothing but damage, and you activate your ult, nothing will be left of your opponent’s board state (or them, in most cases). Stand back and let Chandra barbecue the opposition into submission!
5 Sarkhan: his role on Tarkir
Sarkhan was born on Tarkir, as mentioned earlier, but he’s spent a lot of time away, such as on Jund and later Zendikar. But the voice of Ugin compelled him to return, and for good reason. The Eldrazi Titans were loose, and without Ugin, there was no stopping them. So, Sarkhan did the unthinkable, and traveled back 1,200 years into Tarkir’s past to make things right. He rescued Ugin from death thanks to a hedron shard on his staff, and Ugin made a full recovery. Now, Tarkir’s fate is changed and the dragons reign supreme, thanks to Sarkhan. Not to mention how Ugin’s ready to help fight back against the Eldrazi once again.
4 Chandra: one of the Gatewatch
Not only is Chandra part of the original five planeswalkers, but she also joined the Gatewatch. During the desperate struggle against the Eldrazi, several planeswalkers united into an Avengers-like team to defeat any evil they come across in the multiverse, and Chandra took the oath to join. It’s so noble of this rogue, tormented planeswalker to make that selfless act, and her Gatewatch duties brought her home to Kaladesh, to Amonkhet, and finally to Ravnica to help defeat Nicol Bolas once and for all.
3 Sarkhan: more colors
Yes, Sarkhan is centered on red, but he’s not the one-trick pony that Chandra is. He was one of the first multicolored planeswalkers to appear, as the red-green Sarkhan Vol in the Shards of Alara set. Next, we see him as red-black in Rise of the Eldrazi, and finally, Dragons of Tarkir introduced a blue-red-green Sarkhan Unbroken! This gives him a serious variety of abilities aside from making dragons, as he can make mana, steal creatures, let you draw cards, and more. It wasn’t until War of the Spark that we got a mono-red Sarkhan (it was a rare, rather than mythic rare, planeswalker).
2 Chandra: her family
Planeswalkers tend to have tragic lives. Koth of the Hammer lost his home to the Phyrexians. Elspeth was slain by Heliod on Theros. Garruk is cursed. Liliana lost her brother. But Chandra had two loving parents, Pia and Kiran Nalaar (pictured), who even got their own card in the Magic Origins core set. Tragically, Chandra’s father Kiran is now deceased, but Chandra got a cathartic moment in a card of the same name when she finally embraced her mother once again. Now, mother and daughter alike helped fight back against Tezzeret and the corrupted Consulate to free the people of Kaladesh from tyranny. Go mom!
1 Sarkhan: the rogue
It’s really laudable that Chandra joined the Gatewatch to help fight evil with a team. Sarkahn is a rogue, and there are good reasons people love rogues in fiction! A rogue makes their own rules, and you never know what they’ll do next on their adventures. Sarkhan is beholden to no one, and he has finally freed himself of Nicol Bolas’ cruel grip, free to wander the planes and admire dragons as he likes. Sarkhan had his own cathartic moment when the dragons came roaring back on Tarkir, and he can enjoy this on his own terms. Shush! Sarkhan needs his dragon time!
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