Hagra Crocodile MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 4 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Crocodile |
| Abilities | Landfall |
| Released | 2009-10-02 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Zendikar |
| Set code | ZEN |
| Power | 3 |
| Toughness | 1 |
| Number | 94 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Daren Bader |
Key Takeaways
- Hagra Crocodile offers card advantage by consistently dealing damage and pressuring opponents every turn.
- Indirect resource acceleration is possible as its early presence on the board can dictate the game’s tempo.
- Synergizing with instant-speed spells, the crocodile can create openings for strategic combat moves.
Text of card
Hagra Crocodile can't block. Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, Hagra Crocodile gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
The creatures of Zendikar are opportunists, eating whatever is available to them. Like goblins. Or boats.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: The Hagra Crocodile excels in situations where you’re looking to maintain pressure on your opponent. As a creature card, it has the potential to consistently deal damage each turn, essentially offering ongoing value that contributes to your advantage on the battlefield.
Resource Acceleration: Although not directly contributing to resource acceleration, Hagra Crocodile’s presence can indirectly affect the pace at which you utilize your resources. Deploying a solid creature early on allows for more flexibility in how you manage your lands and spells in subsequent turns, often keeping your opponent on the defensive.
Instant Speed: While not an instant itself, the Hagra Crocodile can synergize well with instant-speed spells in your arsenal. Its presence on the board may force your opponent to make unfavorable plays, opening opportunities to utilize your instant-speed interactions more effectively, be it removal, countermagic, or combat tricks during the heat of battle.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: While the Hagra Crocodile might bring formidable power to the battlefield, it comes with the condition that could diminish hand advantage. To get this creature into play, it necessitates that another card be tossed away, potentially depleting necessary resources.
Specific Mana Cost: The casting cost of the Hagra Crocodile requires a particular blend of mana, which can be restrictive. Decks not tuned to provide this exact mana mix may find the crocodile hard to summon when needed.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: The mana investment for the Hagra Crocodile might come across as excessive when compared to other creatures in the same mana range. Savvy players often seek out alternatives that possess a balance of cost to power, sometimes finding better value elsewhere.
Reasons to Include Hagra Crocodile in Your Collection
Versatility: Hagra Crocodile is a solid card for decks that thrive on aggressive strategies while maintaining the flexibility to be beneficial in multiple scenarios. Its inherently high power makes it a good choice for decks looking to apply pressure early on.
Combo Potential: With landfall mechanics or cards that increase the potency of +1/+1 counters, Hagra Crocodile’s efficiency skyrockets, making it an integral part of synergistic plays that can quickly turn the tides of a game.
Meta-Relevance: As the game environment periodically shifts, it’s important to have cards that can adapt to different opponent strategies. Hagra Crocodile can be a prudent pick in metas where high-powered creatures can break through for significant damage or act as a deterrent against opposing creatures.
How to beat
Hagra Crocodile presents itself as a formidable creature card in Magic: The Gathering. It comes equipped with menace, making it challenging for opponents to block unless they can muster two or more creatures for the task. This aspect sets Hagra Crocodile apart from other creature cards that can be easily chumped by single, insignificant blockers.
To effectively deal with Hagra Crocodile, it’s essential for players to build a board presence with multiple creatures to circumvent its menace ability. Also, instant-speed removals like Shock or Fatal Push can be highly effective when used at the right moment, as they offer a quick and efficient way to remove Hagra Crocodile before it can cause significant damage. Cards with reach or those that can summon tokens rapidly also serve as reliable counters by providing ample blockers to overcome its menacing ability.
Beyond the creature-based strategies, enchantments like Pacifism can neutralize Hagra Crocodile without necessitating its direct removal. Adjusting one’s strategic approach to incorporate such responses to cards with menace will often pay dividends, not just against Hagra Crocodile but against similar threats that one may encounter in a game of Magic: The Gathering.
Cards like Hagra Crocodile
Hagra Crocodile is a creature card that carves its niche in the realm of Magic: The Gathering’s vast menagerie of monsters. Its kin in gameplay often include cards like Scaled Behemoth due to their sheer size and potential for substantial damage. Both cards are green, aligning them with the ramping might of nature’s mana, yet the Hagra Crocodile stands out with its landfall ability, granting a temporary power boost whenever a land enters under your control.
In comparison, there is the territorial Baloth, another creature that benefits each time a land enters the battlefield under your control, receiving a permanent increase to its power and toughness. This provides an ongoing advantage, as opposed to the Crocodile’s more fleeting surge of strength. Also beyond the similarity in mechanic, the mana cost and stats differ, tailoring to different strategies and stages of gameplay.
While Hagra Crocodile may not have the ever-growing impact of the Baloth or the behemoth’s unshakable presence, its capacity to deliver a formidable punch following a land play makes it a valuable surprise attack card for any deck capitalizing on landfall tactics. It’s a prime example of MTG’s balanced ecosystem where each card presents unique strategies to explore.
Cards similar to Hagra Crocodile by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Hagra Crocodile MTG card by a specific set like Zendikar, 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 Hagra Crocodile and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Hagra Crocodile has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Hagra Crocodile card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2009-10-01 | The landfall ability triggers whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control for any reason. It triggers whenever you play a land, as well as whenever a spell or ability (such as Rampant Growth) causes you to put a land onto the battlefield under your control. It will even trigger when a spell or ability causes another player to put a land onto the battlefield under your control (as can happen with Yavimaya Dryad’s ability, for example). |
| 2009-10-01 | When a land enters the battlefield under your control, each landfall ability of the permanents you control will trigger. You can put them on the stack in any order. The last ability you put on the stack will be the first one that resolves. |
