

Only a few months ’til Magic 2014 hits the shelves on July 19th, and you know what that means: Spoiler season is officially under way, and have we got a hydra for you! Gaze upon Vastwood Hydra:

Hydras in Magic are commonly printed with an X cost, allowing you to pump them up with however many +1/+1 counters. Most hydras of the past had one massive downside to this: Removal. That fat 13/13 hydra you sunk all your mana into was a really expensive Time Walk you just gave your opponent. Some hydras let you throw +1/+1 counters at your opponent, or lose their heads in combat to regrow two-fold, but all this requires more mana investment, and you still end up with nothing after a removal spell.

Not this time! Now you get to redistribute the +1/+1 counters you invested so heavily in. At first glance you might think this is a kitchen table card at best, but it will definitely be a bomb in Limited, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it show up here and there in some FNM-level Simic decks. Vorel, anyone?

Could this see tournament play? Maybe. If the trigger was on leaves play (see Thragtusk, Angel of Serenity) it would be much more powerful. Even so, it’s basically Arcbound Ravager. If only he could eat other hydras…Okay, it’s not Ravager.

I’d also like to take the time to mention Mythic Spoiler, a great visual resource for spoilers, complete with a “where might this card have come from” thesaurus. It’s pretty neat. Head on over there for their visual guide to M14.

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