All 36 Red Planeswalkers in Magic Ranked

Last updated on November 28, 2024

Jeska, Thrice Reborn | Illustration by Chris Rallis

Fiery and furious, red planeswalkers are often seen to be fairly monotone in Magic, but they go in a few different directions. We definitely have regular designs and abilities that deal direct damage, but there’s more to the planeswalkers embodying the color of passion than you may expect.

Today we’re taking a look at all the red planeswalkers you can play on tabletop.

What Are Red Planeswalkers in Magic?

Chandra, Dressed to Kill | Illustration by Viktor Titov

Red planeswalkers have the planeswalker card type, a mono-red color identity, and often deal with artifacts or direct damage. For our purposes, I’m only looking at planeswalkers with a mono-red color identity: red cards through and through. Don’t expect to see the likes of Ral Zarek and all his Izzet () tricks here.

Like the other colors, red planeswalkers have some fairly regular characteristics that show up again and again. Red planeswalkers can burn things, impulse draw, create powerful (if fragile) creatures, and even support other planeswalkers pretty well.

#36. Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded

Well, there’s nowhere to start other than Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded. The first ever 2-drop planeswalker, it’s notoriously bad, which is probably better than erring on the other end of the scale and making it too good.

After all these years, it’s still a bit of a meme of how bad this planeswalker is. Everything here has a downside, but you have to remember that planeswalkers hadn’t been around very long when this first Tibalt came out, so there were plenty of lessons to be learned about their design! Some would say there still are!

#35. Rowan, Fearless Sparkmage

We’re going to see a lot of planeswalker cards that came with planeswalker decks, which were kind of like starter decks with splashy but underpowered planeswalkers. Most of these won’t make the top half of this ranking, and the first is Rowan, Fearless Sparkmage. Five mana is just too much for three fairly underwhelming abilities, which was really by design. It was a nice way to get another look at Rowan when we were still just getting to know her, but that’s about it.

#34. Chandra, Pyrogenius

While the other Chandra from Kaladesh is going to be much higher on this list, Chandra, Pyrogenius is nothing much to write home about. A +2 isn’t too bad, but other than that it’s just too underwhelming if you can never reach that ultimate. It’s the first of many Chandras, so I hope you like this fiery-red planeswalker!

#33. Chandra, Flame’s Fury

Chandra, Flame's Fury isn’t as bad as some of the other intro walkers we’ve seen, and I particularly like the –2 to deal 4 damage to something and stick around. Removal on a planeswalker is usually a good sign, but 6 mana is just too much for something that doesn’t do much more than that. We’re making our way into more interesting designs, but we’re still in the realms of underwhelming removal tagged onto high-cost cards right now.

#32. Chandra Ablaze

Chandra Ablaze has a nice +1 activated ability, even if you need to discard a card to make it work. Unfortunately, the –2 also hits your opponent, which often helps rather than hinders them. Of course, we can all imagine your control opponent having to discard a huge hand and be left with three useless cards, but it’s not going to happen as often as you’d like!

This red planeswalker has a place in a wheel deck, I guess, but again, the cost here puts me off.

#31. Jaya, Venerated Firemage

Jaya has had a bit of an issue with her planeswalker cards, and none of them have ever been stellar, unfortunately. Jaya, Venerated Firemage was only an uncommon, to be fair, and it was a couple of shocks in a box. Even in Limited it wasn’t a card you were valuing highly, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a deck with this legend, which kinda makes me sad.

#30. Chandra Nalaar

The OG Chandra, and one of the “Lorwyn Five,” Chandra Nalaar doesn’t quite match up these days but was originally at least somewhat played. The removal mode helps, and it’s cool to see a –X from the early designs. Also, starting at 6 loyalty means it’s not super difficult to ultimate, which can win the game or at least bring you back into it.

#29. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator

It says a lot that Tibalt’s uncommon card from War of the Spark is better than his original card, but Tibalt, Rakish Instigator is definitely orders of magnitude above it. The main benefit, and the reason why decks have played this, is the “Your opponents can’t gain life” line. It provides a bit of hate to the lifegain decks that seem to be a constant feature on MTG Arena. Even if it’s not technically correct to run Tibalt, plenty of players do.

#28 Chandra, Novice Pyromancer

Chandra, Novice Pyromancer is probably the best uncommon ‘walker in red. Coming out in Core Set 2020, which was the MTG set with a slight Chandra theme, this younger version of our favorite red planeswalker does a few nice things, with 2 mana ramp each turn alongside a bit of removal. Certainly not busted, but you can feel things heating up as we get through this list.

#27. Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh / Chandra, Roaring Flame

Magic Origins brought us “flipwalkers” which show how planeswalkers’ sparks ignited, giving them their planeswalking abilities. Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh was Chandra’s version of this. The tricky thing with some of these is how easy it is to flip them. With Chandra, you can either cast two red spells to ping your opponent three times, or attack with it for 2 (or more with a pump spell!) damage and cast one red spell to activate again. It’s not the easiest thing to do in practice, and you almost certainly need to untap with it, which is the main thing holding this one back.

#26. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

Dragons are always popular in Magic, and Sarkhan is the planeswalker most associated with them. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is one printing of this character, though not quite the best one. A 5-mana 4/4 flying creature with haste is a good rate already, but Sarkhan can also be a fairly solid removal spell if needed (and can stick around after that, too), which is all-around a pretty nice rate. Five mana is a little much for most 60-card formats these days, but I could still see this seeing some kind of play in Standard if it was reprinted there.

#25. Chandra, the Firebrand

Chandra, the Firebrand has a bit of a mixed bag of abilities. The +1 is really underwhelming, but the –2 is nice in a spells deck, even if it only leaves this planeswalker on 1 loyalty. The real key here is that it’s only 4 mana, with a single pip of red, which makes this Chandra more playable than some of the more expensive versions. It goes up a fair amount in a meta with important 1-toughness creatures, too. It looks like it doesn’t quite get there, but it’s probably closer than you expect.

#24. Chandra, Flame’s Catalyst

Chandra, Flame's Catalyst is pretty good for a card from a planeswalker deck. Three damage to face (to each opponent, too) or flashing back a red instant or red sorcery is nice enough, although I think this is missing a removal mode on the turn you play it (the –2 can help, but you probably don’t have mana for flashing back). This is definitely a red planeswalker that your opponents need to deal with. The problem is, they’ll be able to deal with it.

#23. Chandra, Bold Pyromancer

Another Chander from a planeswalker deck (she’s had a lot of those!), Chandra, Bold Pyromancer is nicely balanced. It doesn’t provide card advantage, like many traditional ‘walkers do, but the minus ability removes stuff nicely and the ultimate kinda sorta just wins the game. The regular problem these ‘walkers have is that they’re usually 6+ mana, and Chandra, Bold Pyromancer has the same drawback. It was designed to just be solid like this, though, so it fits what it was meant to do!

#22. Sarkhan, Dragonsoul

Sarkhan, Dragonsoul is a card from an intro deck that has actually picked up interest over the last few years, mainly due to its popularity in dragon decks. The dream of ultimating it and getting all the dragons out of your deck is just too tempting for fans of the flying lizards, it would seem, even if the rest of the card is a little underwhelming.

Sarkhan, Dragonsoul can be useful tech against token decks, provided they’re not buffed, but that’s kinda just it outside of its ultimate. Dragon players do like their big, splashy cards, though!

#21. Chandra, Pyromaster

As usual, cheaper cards generally do better than more expensive ones, and a 4-mana planeswalker is always worth checking out. Chandra, Pyromaster is cheap enough for a couple of mediocre abilities to make it into your deck. The 0 pretty much draws a card, although you’re unlikely to use it on the turn it comes down, and the +1 can sneak a win through, taking out a blocker and getting a little extra damage in a pinch, too. It’s not an exciting card, but it’s solid.

#20. Rowan Kenrith

Back to a Rowan card, and this time one that’s worth talking about. Rowan Kenrith is rarely seen without its brother/partner Will Kenrith, but it’s a really cool design which was almost a given in Battlebond when we first saw the partner with mechanic. The abilities are fairly diverse, but they can help you control the game no matter what the board state looks like when Rowan comes down. I don’t exactly want to see a plethora of partner with ‘walkers make their way into the game, but I love that we have this pair, and Rowan is a pretty sweet red card even outside of that!

#19. Jaya Ballard

Jaya Ballard is a tough sell, but it gets there. Adding 3 mana each turn is a lot, even if it’s just for instants and sorceries. Ultimating to get an emblem that gives your instants and sorceries flashback is pretty amazing, though, if that’s what you want to do. It’s tough to get Jaya there, but in the right deck it’s pretty sweet.

#18. Chandra, Heart of Fire

We’ve seen a few planeswalkers that have an ability to deal 1 or 2 damage to something. There’s a big difference between a Shock-like ability on a minus cost than a plus one, though. If you’re removing threats and ticking up, it becomes very difficult to remove the planeswalker, making it a bit of a pain for the opponent! Unfortunately, the rest of this red planeswalker is nothing really to write home about, which leads to a fairly average card.

#17. Chandra, Flamecaller

There’s something of a vanilla test that’s useful for checking a planeswalker, and it’s comparing the mana value with the starting loyalty. Usually, a 6-cost walker has around 6 loyalty, but Chandra, Flamecaller only comes in with 4 counters, which is at least notable. The abilities are pretty good, though. A mini, variable board wipe, with a way to get a lot of damage in and refresh your hand. If this had 6 starting loyalty, it would be a serious threat. 

#16. Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast

Lukka, Coppercoat Outcast is used for primarily one purpose, and that’s its –2 to get a polymorph effect. You could probably take the rest of the abilities off this card, and it would still see around the same amount of play. It’s a good way to make use of this red planeswalker and to get that single creature in your deck out as a haymaker or insta-win. It just doesn’t do much more than that and really could be seen as a sorcery rather than a planeswalker in some ways.

#15. Koth of the Hammer

Koth of the Hammer is a really nice red ramp spell the turn it comes down. If you’re playing mono-red, it provides a lot very easily, although you just can’t really use this for the traditional mono-red burn/aggro deck. Koth of the Hammer fits well in big red, though, and that’s where I’d expect to see it played.

The other abilities are also pretty nice, including one of the best land animation effects; all in all, a fairly unique package. 

#14. Chandra, Fire Artisan

Chandra, Fire Artisan was a rare planeswalker from War of the Spark, but it was a pretty sweet one. The static ability on this one is the cool bit. Removing counters deals damage to your opponent, plus the first loyalty ability impulse draws. It’s not often that you see your opponent punished for attacking your planeswalkers, and this saw a bit of play in Standard at the time. If you can ever manage to ultimate this planeswalker, it’ll also smash your opponent for 7, which probably wins the game with the rest of that ability.

#13. Jaya, Fiery Negotiator

Jaya, Fiery Negotiator really had a lot going for Jaya this time around. Four mana with equivalent loyalty. Four abilities. Makes a body. It even has some conditional removal. Unfortunately, it somehow just didn’t do enough for Standard, which is a shame, especially after all of Jaya’s previous underwhelming entries (not including Jaya Ballard, Task Mage of course!). There’s always a small chance we’ll see a good Jaya eventually, but it’s just somewhat less likely now….

#12. Chandra, Legacy of Fire

One of the few planeswalkers that didn’t go through Standard, Chandra, Legacy of Fire was printed in one of the Commander Masters EDH precons and follows a sub-theme of some red planeswalkers which cares about other planeswalkers. It provides a lot of mana in the right deck, and I can imagine plenty of games where the beginning of the end starts with this one. The downside here is that it’s quite narrow, and you won’t just shoehorn it into any old red deck. You really need superfriends here.

#11. Chandra, Dressed to Kill

Is this a red planeswalkers article, or just a Chandra article…? Anyway, Chandra, Dressed to Kill is a pretty nice aggro planeswalker. Three mana is probably the sweet spot here, and you can even follow it up on T3 with a Shock or even a Lightning Bolt, depending on the format. You probably don’t want this planeswalker outside of burn, but it fits that deck perfectly.

#10. Sarkhan, Fireblood

Dragon decks are sometimes lacking in cheaper cards, which is why Sarkhan, Fireblood is a popular addition. Adding 2 mana for dragons is nice, and even though this planeswalker's ultimate won't win the game, it’s certainly a threat that your opponents won’t want to see happen. Another role-player card, but another great one at the same time.

#9. Zariel, Archduke of Avernus

Next up we’ve got a planeswalker that’s not strictly from the Magic universe. Zariel, Archduke of Avernus just about gets there. The devils it makes are surprisingly effective blockers, and once you have a few of them saved up, the +1 gets interesting. It’s never going to break a format, but it’s a nice addition to the roster.

#8. Chandra, Acolyte of Flame

Chandra, Acolyte of Flame is another rare Chandra, this time from the M20 “Chandra Set.” It also follows that subtheme of red planeswalkers caring about other planeswalkers. The main thing it’s missing is a removal mode, but it’s a good red card for fans of Cavalcade of Calamity or superfriends decks. Lacking an ultimate isn’t really a drawback, either, as it just means it has three actual abilities instead.

#7. Koth, Fire of Resistance

Another Koth, and this one also cares about controlling mountains. Koth, Fire of Resistance is another fairly unique design (although definitely following the themes of the original). With a +2 ability, it’s not difficult to get this Koth to ultimate, although you’re going to want to make this part of the game plan. It doesn’t go in a burn deck, but there are definitely enough cards to make a mono-red control deck!

#6. Sarkhan the Masterless

Sarkhan the Masterless might look like another dragon Sarkhan card at first glance, but it’s also another planeswalker-matters card. This gets ridiculous very quickly with some ‘walkers out. Play it, +1, and swing for a bunch. It even has a bunch of ways to protect your other ‘walkers. This card does a lot, and the only thing really holding it back is a good deck for it to go into.

#5. Chandra, Hope’s Beacon

Chandra, Hope's Beacon may be 6 mana, but it does a lot. Adding 2 mana then copying a spell on the turn you play it provides a lot of value, as well as putting it to 7 loyalty, which your opponents will struggle to remove. This Chandra also provides card advantage and a way to remove a couple of creatures… or players… with the –X ability. It’s a huge finisher, mainly played in control decks but still solid in any deck that can fit it.

#4. Jeska, Thrice Reborn

Jeska, Thrice Reborn provides some really interesting design space around the much-maligned (quite rightly so!) partner ability. Coming down with just 1 loyalty by itself, it can quite quickly start stacking up the commander-casts with the right partner. You can also use it with a Voltron commander partner to one-shot an opponent with relative ease. Super-cool design with a less than popular mechanic.

#3. Chandra, Awakened Inferno

Chandra, Awakened Inferno is a huge, uncounterable threat. Giving an emblem to your opponents that slowly kills them means that even if Chandra is removed, it has a lasting effect. It also has two different abilities that allow it to control the board, bringing you back on top. It deals with pretty much any situation you need to and almost guarantees an inevitable win.

#2. Daretti, Scrap Savant

One of the original planeswalkers that can be your commander, Daretti, Scrap Savant is almost an auto-include in an artifact Commander deck that uses red. Reanimating any artifact from your yard is powerful, and it can lead to some infinite combos without very much effort. Not often seen as a red commander anymore, it’s still used in the 99 a bunch.

#1. Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Chandra, Torch of Defiance has been turning heads since it was first printed. It’s still (arguably) yet to be surpassed. It's almost fitting that the best red planeswalker is a Chandra card, but with the number of Chandras on this list, can it really be that much of a surprise? 

Best Red Planeswalker Payoffs

There’s one card that immediately comes to mind for payoffs for playing a lot of red planeswalkers.

Chandra's Regulator only works with Chandra planeswalkers, but seeing that’s roughly half of the cards on today’s list I think it’s worth looking at. Copying the abilities of the planeswalkers for a single mana is usually going to be worth it, and you can do some really crazy things with this triggered ability and the right cards. It won’t fit every build, but it is sweet where it works.

Repeated Reverberation comes from the same Core Set, and lets you double-copy your next spell or loyalty ability for the turn. You won't get any extra loyalty on your planeswalker, but the dream of tripling a planeswalker ultimate is definitely real.

Wrap Up

Koth, Fire of Resistance | Illustration by Eric Wilkerson

And that’s it! All the red planeswalkers you can play in a mono-red tabletop deck – we've just left out the digital-only ‘walkers you can only play on MTG Arena.

Does this list fill you with a burning red passion to go and play some Chandras? Or are you thinking of maybe going a little off-grid and putting together a mono-red control build with some of the haymakers we’ve seen. There’s plenty that these cards can do if you put your mind to it, and we’re still likely to see more as time goes on, despite the slowdown in printing walkers.

What’s your favorite card on today’s list? Is anything in particular standing out? Be sure to let us know on Discord or in the comments below. 

I’ll see you next time!