Chandra, Pyromaster

Most planeswalkers protect themselves; this one barely tries, and that is the design statement. The +1 doesn't stabilize a board or climb toward an ultimate so much as poke: a point of damage at a player or planeswalker, plus a point at one of that player's creatures, which then can't block this turn. Read in isolation it looks weak, but the function is a Falter stapled to incremental reach, clearing a blocker every turn so an aggressive board keeps connecting. What actually drives her is the 0: an at-will impulse draw that costs no loyalty and refills the hand of a deck built to spend its cards fast for tempo. That ability made this Chandra a fixture in burn and red aggro for years, a renewable source of card advantage from a permanent an opponent has to attack down, in a color that historically emptied its hand to keep the pressure on. The ultimate is the splashy payoff (ten cards exiled, an instant or sorcery copied three times and cast for free), but she rarely lives to reach it, and doesn't need to. This is a planeswalker you resolve onto a developed board and use immediately, not one you park behind defenders to go off later. The loyalty arithmetic tells the whole story: every meaningful play either grows her toward an ultimate she can skip or holds flat on the impulse draw, which means she thrives when you are already ahead in the race.