"Tap an untapped Spider you control: Search your graveyard and/or library for a card named Arachnus Web and put it onto the battlefield attached to target creature. If you search your library this way, shuffle it."

You can tap Arachnus Spinner to its own ability the first turn it's in play, so I don't see how that contradicts what I wrote.

If you're complaining that I called Web weak because you can continue tapping Spinner to bring Web back from your graveyard to lock down bigger creatures, then I have to ask you why you're okay with the idea of tapping your 6-drop every turn to lock your opponent's fat instead of just playing Doom Blade or whatever. Or are you playing other spiders as well?

Would you care to try again?

I think she's a much better card as a preemptive Reverberate than as a "hasty" pinger.

Of course using her as such is much worse than Exarch-Twin; but that's only around for a few months. All of the combo cards (except Quicksilver Amulet) get a great deal better when Zendikar block rotates since they aren't just straight-up worse than Twin combo. I'm trying to analyze how cards fit into the current metagame plus which cards have the potential to be relevant in a new format full of cards we haven't seen at all yet- that's a lot tougher and forces us to view things more generally. Innistrad could have something like a 4 mana red spell that does 6 damage, and all of a sudden Chandra becomes over-the-top insane.

Dismember
Go For the Throat
Lightning Bolt
Searing Blaze
Volt Charge
Tezzeret's Gambit
Combust
Rampant Growth
Preordain
Ponder
Lead the Stampede
Ancient Stirrings
Bloodthirst creatures

I realize not all of those have a place at the moment but the point I'm trying to make is that the people who set their sights on using her for utility will see a lot of profit.

Chandra is a splashable planewalker with a breadth of applications, especially with proliferate spells and as an enabler for Chandra's Phoenix which you liked so much. I think that you could have taken it further.

The only other comment that I wanted to make is that the smi77y's GUR deck which has been posting results uses Frost Titan over Wurmcoil engine, so your analysis of Birthing Pod decks not wanting him seems a little off.

The "Prime Directive" of Magic is "never play a worse something else". Where 2-card combos are concerned, that's Exarch-Twin from now until October. The only thing that even comes close to standing a chance is Quicksilver Amulet-Emrakul because it avoids the color requirement and doesn't get hit by the same hate. For creatures, the Titans plus Consecrated Sphinx and Wurmcoil Engine shut a lot of other cards out of the format.

Angelic Destiny gives +4/+4, flying, and first strike for 2WW, and has a recursion ability stapled on. Since it's an aura rather than a 4/4 flying creature, it effectively has "haste". That is in fact above the curve. That doesn't mean it'll be played, but it does have raw power. It doesn't "play defense", true – but I suspect that statement shows your bias towards playing control.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree on the Hydra – I view it as a variation on Countryside Crusher that you can "pre-load" excess mana into.

1 – Everything with a target is bad because spellskite, but also everything is bad because splinter twin is a "strictly better combo". Shouldn't you acknowledge that Chandra/Sorin plus vengeance works through the ubiquitous spellskite you seem to think every opponent will have on the battlefield at all times? It also works through torpor orb which may be very relevent as well.

2 – Angelic destiny has a high power level… It doesn't. It would be unplayable as the only aura/equipment in the format in competitive magic. It begs to be 2-1'd and since it costs 4 mana it may as well be a timewalk. It doesn't help you play defense or gain you life and it requires a creature in play to use. Control deck and aggro decks would love love love you to play this card instead of a nother threat/blocker/removal spell… This is one of those skill-tester cards. You failed the skill-test.

3 – Primordial Hydra is good… I'll just let you figure this one out for yourself. I won't deprive the lucky guys who get to trade/sell you these of that opportunity.

And at this point I've had enough. You clearly didn't put any effort into this. This review is a shameful show of weak character and laziness. Why in the world would you put your name on it?

2 – Primordial

Valakut may not be "viable", but it will be played. People were playing it even when it lost to Caw-Blade. It was the most popular deck on MTGO for a long time even though its win rate was terrible. In any case, it's rare that one bad matchup alone renderes a deck unviable – that deck has to also be a large percentage of the metagame, and we've yet to see how the post-M12 format shakes out. I expect a great deal of red, and I expect a sizable portion of the blue decks to splash white rather than black as a result. There's a Leyline vs Firewalker vs Celestial Purge thing going on there, and Valakut has answers to Leyline, so I'm not sure it's as bad as the UB matchup.

I'm not a financial writer, though I do make a few predictions on the tracker. Once the market actually settles on some starting prices I'll pick out individual cards to target, but right now all the new stuff is overpriced.

We certainly publish financially-oriented set reviews, but as this is (among other things) a financial site that is sustained because members pay to read financial articles, they are only available to Insiders 🙂

Also, you're judging everything based on the Pre-M12 metagame. Splinter Twin this, Valakut that. How do you know Valakut will still be viable after M12 when it's losing to UB Control before it?

However you do make some very good points. I just wish these points weren't afloat in a sea of side notes and comments that any player, even casual, wouldn't need to be told after a few month's playing.