When Hydra Broodmaster was first revealed during Journey into Nyx spoiler season, Magic the Gathering Hydra fans were quick to salivate over her. It’s hard not to like a 7/7 for 4GG (6 mana), which is already above average. However, the Monstrosity ability in a Mono-Green Devotion deck or Kruphix, God of Horizons ramp deck looked like it could be extremely deadly.
Not only can Hydra Broodmaster create a lot of tokens, but those tokens become larger the more mana you invest into it. It is a double X cost, which means you need to have quite an available investment to pump into her. But pouring even 8G into the ability, a reasonable sum for a Green deck in the late game, gives you 4 4/4 Hydra tokens, plus an 11/11 Broodmaster. That’s quite an end-game weapon.
Obviously, some players saw the Broodmaster as a big target for all of the colorless mana that Kruphix, God of Horizons can help to collect for you. At the time, it was still certainly one of the better Hydras that had been printed at rare outside of Mistcutter Hydra – an important sideboard card in Standard and other formats at the time. Unfortunately, Kruphix Ramp decks, even aided by the Prophet of Kruphix, never made much noise in Constructed.
Did You Know: Hydra Broodmaster Once Saw Competitive Standard Play?
Hydra Broodmaster would not find herself limited to being a bomb in draft. The Broodmaster would enjoy some competitive Standard play. Three 2014 State Championship decks ran a copy of Hydra Broodmaster as a finisher in their Mono Green Devotion builds, including this 2nd place finisher in Maryland. She also found herself in several Top 8 Magic Online Standard decks, including this tournament winner that ran one copy of her in the sideboard.
While Hydra Broodmaster only had a short time in the Standard sun, in Commander she has since joined forces with the very same Kruphix, God of Horizons that people thought she would team up with in Standard. Hydra Broodmaster appears in a great many Kruphix decks. Other Commanders that have welcomed her into the fold include Omnath, Locus of Mana (who has plenty of mana to spare), Trostani, Selesyna’s Voice, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, Rosheen Meanderer, and many others.
Hydra Broodmaster actually had regular sales for quite some time to the point where it began to make waves by 2019. This included the unique Clash Pack promotional foil. Unfortunately for the Broodmaster, a reprint in one of the Commander 2021 preconstructed decks torpedoed the market value of this card. That being said, Hydra Broodmaster is still a good creature to pick out of bulk boxes thanks to Hydras still being a viable tribe in the Commander format.
