Molten Hydra
Creature — Hydra
: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
, Remove all +1/+1 counters from this creature: It deals damage to any target equal to the number of +1/+1 counters removed this way.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Urza's Legacy
- Price
- $0.44
- EDHREC rank
- #25617
Molten Hydra trades mana for +1/+1 counters and then cashes those counters in to deal damage directly to any target — a repeatable, sorcery-speed ping machine that scales with how much mana you can pour into it. The ceiling is real in dedicated counter or big-mana shells, but the floor is a 1/1 for one that does nothing the turn it arrives.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Molten Hydra is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but only Commander gives it a realistic home. In Legacy and Vintage, a one-mana 1/1 with a slow activation loop competes against formats with turn-one and turn-two wins — it simply doesn't get to do its thing. Commander is where Molten Hydra can actually function: longer games, more mana available, and synergy with +1/+1 counter payoffs like Hardened Scales or Doubling Season let the damage output compound quickly. In Oathbreaker the games are faster and the life totals lower, which marginally helps, but the same speed problem applies.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.44 bulk tier
At $0.44, Molten Hydra is deep bulk — no collection cost to try it, no meaningful investment at stake. It's unlikely to appreciate given its narrow application and lack of competitive demand, so buy it to play it, not to hold it.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.