Rock Hydra

Complexity's Role

New 30 Jan 2023 Asked by nothingbutland-blog 29 Comments

Additional pieces and complexity have always been part of the game, in Alpha ,The Hive made tokens; Clockwork Beast, Cyclopean Tomb, Fungusaur, Gaea's Liege, Living Artifact, Rock Hydra and Scavaging Ghoul used counters of some kind. In the same set Aspect of Wolf, Fireball, Gaea's Liege and Personal Incarnation involve fractions with rounding up and down(many players still have some difficulty using these cards) and then just out right comp lexity, Camouflage, Illusionary Mask, Lich,Raging River and Word of Command. Not to mention Banding, Protection, interrupt batches, tapped artifacts turning off, tapped blockers dealing no damage, in addition to individual card interactions. This game has always been complex and drawn on other components outside of just the cards. All to the enrichment of its players. Do you think without the conceit of this complexity as many early board, minature, rpg, card game players would have been drawn to this azmazing game?


I think complexity is more feature than bug, but it’s still a dangerous force to be used carefully.

Birthday Trivia on +1/+1 Counters

New 06 Dec 2020 Asked by ramisirote 35 Comments

Hi Mark. It was my birthday yesterday, so could I get some birthday trivia on +1/+1 counters?


The first three cards to use +1/+1 counters (in Alpha) were Sengir Vampire, Rock Hydra, and Fungusaur.Happy Birthday!

Hydra Trivia

New 10 Jul 2017 Asked by hydrageneticist-deactivated2018 50 Comments

Mark! It's my birthday today, could I have some trivia on the best iconic creature type of them all, hydras? (Sorry if it looks like I asked this twice~)


We avoided using Hydras in green for years because Richard had put Rock Hydra in red. After exhausting all other options, we finally tried Hydras.Happy Birthday!

Hydras Iconic Color Shift

New 09 Dec 2016 Asked by baron-von-lucas 34 Comments

It's my birthday today! Any triva you can share on winter orb, dueling grounds, or hydra's?


It took us a while to consider Hydras as Green’s iconic because Richard had originally put the first one (Rock Hydra) in Red and inertia is strong. We finally tried it because everything else we tried had failed.Hydras luckily worked.Happy Birthday!

Hydra Trivia Request

New 08 Sep 2015 Asked by bellpopper 41 Comments

Greeting Mark. I claim my birthright of trivia. I humbly request trivia about hydras. Also, when is your birthday?


A lot of newer players don’t realize that the very first Magic set, Alpha, had a Hydra but it was Red and called Rock Hydra. Hydras wouldn’t be one a Green thing let alone Green’s iconic creature for many years. My birthday is May 25. Happy Birthday!

Hydras as Green's Iconic

New 01 Nov 2014 Asked by dace67 30 Comments

Why were hydras (a historically red creature type) chosen as green's iconic and not Wurms who have had a history of being beefy green creatures?


Wurms are wingless dragons and are just too close to dragons, red’s iconic. We explored all of the creatures in green and couldn’t find anything that worked, so we had to branch out (pun as always intended). I believe hydras were in red because of Alpha’s Rock Hydra which tied to elements of red. We like it as green’s iconic because it plays nicely into both green’s ferocity and its connection to growth.

Hydra Art Concerns

New 16 Apr 2014 Asked by thesilvernoble 54 Comments

Here's my problem with hydras. I have encyclopedic knowledge and memory of so many thousands of cards printed in the last 20 years, much of that knowledge relies on remembering the art of a card. I think the (arguable) creative problem you had with slivers is an alive and thriving problem with hydras, how much art can be done for hydras? When someone says Protean Hydra or Rock Hydra, I don't remember which one was from revised and which one was from some core set I can't remember.


You don’t have that problem with dragons or angels?


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