Hydra Head MTG Card

Type	Token Creature — Head
Abilities	Hero's Reward
Released	2013-10-19
Set symbol
Set name	Face the Hydra
Set code	TFTH
Power	0
Toughness	3
Number	1
Frame	2003
Layout	Token
Border	Black
Illustred by	Richard Wright

Key Takeaways

Hydra Head excels in board presence, allowing potential dominance through rapid creature growth.
This card enables instant-speed interactions, boosting flexibility and disrupting opponents’ plans.
While powerful, Hydra Head’s specific mana costs and high investment can hinder its effectiveness.

Text of card

Hero's Reward — When Hydra Head leaves the battlefield, each player gains 2 life.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Hydra Head card provides an excellent advantage as it lets you build up your board presence with the potential to overwhelm opponents through continuous creature growth. Every time a Hydra Head grows, it draws you closer to victory by ensuring you always have a threat on the board.

Resource Acceleration: This card can significantly speed up your gameplay by providing additional resources. This comes in the form of momentum, obtained as your Hydra Head accrues +1/+1 counters, making it a formidable force that can often put the game in your favor quickly.

Instant Speed: Having the ability to interact at instant speed with Hydra Head abilities adds a strategic layer to gameplay. It allows flexibility in your tactics and ensures your resources are utilized most efficiently, keeping opponents on their toes and often disrupting their strategy with unexpected growth.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: For this Hydra variant, playing it might necessitate the discarding of a card, potentially putting you at a disadvantage when you’re already managing limited hand options during the mid to late game phases.

Specific Mana Cost: Hydra Head card demands a precise mana combination to cast. This means it can be challenging to squeeze into a deck without the proper mana base, especially if your deck strategy does not support the required colors.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Harnessing the power of Hydra Head comes at a steep mana investment. In an environment where speed is essential, the mana required to field this card could slow down your overall game tempo, especially when there are alternatives that could be more mana-efficient.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Hydra Head, with its scalable nature, can be easily slotted into various deck archetypes, particularly those that thrive on creature synergies and board presence.

Combo Potential: The card provides a unique interaction as it not only brings a sizable body to the board but can also work with counter-doubling effects and other Hydra tribal strategies, potentially spiraling into a game-winning combo.

Meta-Relevance: In a meta where large creatures can dominate and removal is scarce, Hydra Head can serve as a resilient threat that requires an immediate answer, making it a relevant choice for creature-based decks.

How to beat

When facing the resilience of the Hydra Head card in Magic: The Gathering, players must be strategic in their approach. This creature can be quite the challenge due to its ability to regenerate, making it essential to find effective solutions. One reliable strategy is to employ cards that prevent regeneration, such as cards with the “can’t be regenerated” clause or effects that exile creatures. Additionally, overpowering the board with stronger creatures or making use of direct damage spells that surpass the Hydra Head’s toughness can turn the tide in your favor. It’s crucial to time your actions for when the opponent is low on resources to effectively deal with this formidable foe, ensuring that your path to victory remains clear. Remember, being well-prepared and adaptable is key when entering a battle against a card as tenacious as Hydra Head.

Cards like Hydra Head

Exploring the realm of MTG renowned creatures, Hydra Head stands out as a unique challenge in the game. It bears a resemblance to other Hydra entities, such as Primordial Hydra, which also flourishes by doubling its counters. Nevertheless, Hydra Head distinguishes itself with its “Hero’s Reward” ability, adding a cooperative aspect to the gameplay, unlike the solo growth of Primordial Hydra.

Another relative in this monstrous lineage is Kalonian Hydra which contends through its ability to double counters on not just itself but other creatures you control during each attack. While Kalonian Hydra propagates over time, Hydra Head can immediately impact the board state by introducing new Heads once defeated, altering the course of multiplayer games significantly more than any single-headed creature.

Lastly, Hydroid Krasis shares the trait of entering the battlefield with tokens — it combines creature growth with card advantage. While it is versatile and impactful in a two-player format, Hydra Head caters to a different niche, engaging multiple adversaries and reshaping group strategies. The Hydra Head is a testament to diverse interactions in MTG and its capacity to surprise opponents with ever-evolving threats.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Hydra Head MTG card by a specific set like Face the Hydra, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Hydra Head and other MTG cards: