Is the matter of green's iconic considered settled, or if something more fitting than hydras comes along would R&D be willing to pivot?

We’re not looking for a new one. Hydras do the job well enough. I’m not sure what new would come along (being that iconic creatures are already known things outside of Magic) after 27,000+ cards, but if something did, we’d consider it.

Mark, you said Dinosaurs couldn't be Green's iconic as you want to print them at Common, but MH3 just brought a Common Hydra. Is that a change in iconic's philosophy?

Modern Horizon sets do all sorts of offbeat things that aren’t the norm.

If/When a cycle of Dragons that have a creature type with each color's Iconic race? ie Dragon Angel, Dragon Spynx. We already have Demon Dragons and a Dragon Hydra

If. I could see us hitting a lot of these over time, but all in one place is trickier.

So to continue with Signature racesWhite - AngelsBlue - Wizards/Krakens/FaeriesBlack - DemonsRed - DragonsGreen - Hydras/Elementals/Dinosaurs?

The iconic creatures:White - AngelBlue - SphinxBlack - DemonRed - DragonGreen - Hydra

Hey Maro, dragons seem to be the easiest iconic creature to put into other colors besides it’s main color (red)Out of the other iconic creatures (Angel, Sphinx, Demon, and Hydra) which are the least difficult to most challenging to fit into other colors?

Probably Sphinx.

It may be a weird question but Why weren't the iconic creatures of the colors never the main or subtheme of a commander pre con (except dragons maybe angels if counting secret lair)? Shouldn't there be at least one mono colored Iconic creature commander pre con in the mono color they are iconic for? It feels like Hydra, Sphinx and Demons get the short end of the stick.

I don’t think that is necessarily a thing iconic creatures need to do, but is it something you all want?

You’re correct, the Iconic/Characteristic races podcast is going to lead to more discussion. I don’t have too much of a preference on green’s iconic, as I’ve always leaned more into black. However, I think it would help if there were a few more legendary and/or sapient hydras. Dragons, demons, and angels all evoke visceral emotions, and having a few more characters for green fans to connect to would be beneficial. There are only 10 legendary hydras, and already 23 legendary dinosaurs thanks to some cycles. We also see some smaller Angels, Demons, & Dragons at lower rarities, which I think helps too. A few more hydras here and there to remind people.

I agree that we could have a few more legendary Hydras. I’m not convinced they need to be sapient, but it is a hotly debated topic.

Of all the things tried, I like Sphinx the best too. I'm less satisfied with Hydra, but I'm also not big on green so my opinion isn't worth as much. Also, can we thank you for sharing asks with tidbits of Magic lore and history from the players? It really helps signal boost lesser known info. Even I wasn't aware about the Ravnica angels.

You’re welcome.

Regarding the discussion of hydras as greens iconic creature.I'm not a big fan of them myself. Like, hydras are conceptually cool, but I don't like them as the 'green creature'.I think, for me at least, it stems from the fact that, unlike the icon types of other colors, they don't have personality, and rarely play a feature in the story. Which to me leaves them feeling bland, flavor-wise.Perhaps more inclusion in the stories would help folks like them better.

I think rampaging through the woods is pretty on brand for green.

Is it telling that people who seem to be unaware of how much discussion there has been about green's iconic over past years organically come to the same conclusion that it's an issue?

We’ve searched for the best Blue and Green iconics for years. Nothing scores as high as Dragons, Angels, and Demons, but Sphinx and Hydras score the highest of all the things we’ve looked at. If there is a solution it’s not for any creature type we currently use.