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Welcome back friends!
Hydras are one of the coolest creatures in mythology and Magic has done a great job of representing them over the years. There are a ton of Hydras that have X in their casting costs and I think that's a really clever way of representing their numerous heads. Another common theme on Hydras is getting counters and oftentimes doubling those counters in some way, often over and over.
In Magic's history, Magic has only had what looks like 66 Hydras in total. That's not very many when you compare them to some of the game's more popular creatures, but it's still a consistent stream for a creature type that really started appearing in 2013's Theros set; only nine Hydras had been printed before Theros. Due to their often higher mana costs and splashy effects, many of the more modern Hydras have bypassed formats like Standard, Pioneer, and Modern, and were printed directly into Commander sets.
As we often do, today we're going to go over some of the best Hydras to ever grace the game.
Let's begin!
Apex Devastator
This is just one of my all time favorite creatures, let alone Hydras. Sure, the Devastator is a 10/10 without any way to push through damage, but it has cascade! And also cascade! Then it cascades! And then it cascades one more time! You get a cascade! And you get a cascade! This stupid idiot cascades four times! That's unprecedented!
Truth be told, I live for Magic cards like this, that come down and have some huge splashly effect with a little RNG thrown in. I love cards that make you feel like you're going to win the game, but leave you uncertain as to how it will happen. I loved Maelstrom Wanderer for the same reason.
While one risk with cascade is that you can sometimes hit an underwhelming card, like a removal spell without an opposing creature on board, getting four cascade hits of nine mana or less increases your odds quite a bit.
Bristling Hydra
While it's no Apex Devastator, Bristling Hydra was a powerful dude that ended up being a huge component of the energy decks in the Kaladesh Standard environment. While it hasn't seen very much play since then, for pretty obvious reasons, it was pretty iconic when it was appearing in the Top 8 of nearly every event.
Hydroid Krasis
Another competitive staple that found a home in numerous tournament-winning decks, Hydroid Krasis was a huge nuisance for the duration of its legality in Standard. Even today, I have to assume it's a tremendously popular card, as it keeps showing up in sets, Commander included, and has about nine different printings, including a Secret Lair option.
As a huge Mulldrifter fan, the Krasis was a scalable Mulldrifter that could produce a much quicker clock, while also gaining you some potentially needed life.
Kalonian Hydra
I don't know how "good" Kalonian Hydra is, but I know it's a very sweet Hydra with an ability that can avalanche out of control pretty quickly. It would be one thing if it was only doubling its own counters, of which it starts with four, but it doubles the counters on all of your creatures when it attacks.
While attacking with an 8/8 for the first time is great, attacking for the second time with a 16/16 is even better. While this is just a silly Green creature, if you're able to attack with the Hydra more than once without it being killed, you're likely winning the game thanks to trample.
Mistcutter Hydra
Just like Bristling Hydra, Mistcutter is mainly here due to its Standard pedigree, where it was a huge force to be reckoned with due to several Blue control decks in the format, as well as Mono-Blue Devotion being the number one deck in the format. Mistcutter Hydra had the luxury of basically sliding past every Blue card in the format, whether we're talking about removal, or counters, or creatures.
Polukranos, World Eater
Polukranos, World Eater was another huge threat in, you guessed it...Standard! It was one of the main components in Mono-Green Devotion, and it still sees play today in the Pioneer Devotion decks.
The main card that really powers the World Eater is Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, as it produces an excess amount of Green mana to effectively activate the Hydra's monstrosity ability. Being able to wipe out numerous creatures the opponent controls while also getting a huge threat ended up being a pretty effective play.
Progenitus
When you think of iconic Magic creatures, I think Progenitus ends up on a lot of Magic players lists along with cards like Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Griselbrand. In addition to being iconic, Progenitus still sees a good deal of play in Legacy in several different decks. It's also an amazing target for Tooth and Nail in Cubes, which used to be my primary use for it.
While the Hydra Avatar has gone down a good deal in terms of power - which is really strange to say - it's still a card with a tremendous amount of presence, and hey, it's now Standard legal as well for the next five years thanks to Foundations! So I'm really hoping it finds a way to see some play there. Maybe alongside a transformed Terra, Magical Adept...
Voracious Hydra
Voracious Hydra is another classic Hydra that was released about six years ago in Core Set 2020. This feels like it combines some of the best Green abilities and lets you choose which one you want as needed. You can either fight something, or you can double the number of counters you've paid for.
The best part about the Voracious Hydra is that both of the abilities can be very good at different times, and I've found myself wanting both. For five mana, for example, you either get a 6/7 with trample or a 3/4 that deals three damage to another creature, and those are both pretty good deals.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
