by Johnny Cycles, June 21st, 2025

Hello and welcome to another Commander Update. This time I’m highlighting the changes I’ve made to one of my all-time favorite decks, Hydra Tribal with Zaxara, the Exemplary! If you want to read all about the deck, click here. And if you want to see it in action, click here.

I’ve made a number of changes to the deck since I last wrote about it. The TL;DR on these is that I’ve mostly sought to increase the Hydra count, while trimming some of the non-Hydra cards. This is Hydra Tribal, after all!

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Creatures

Benevolent Hydra – what a fantastic addition to our deck! It’s a Hardened Scales on a body with more flexibility. In fact, we cut Hardened Scales for this Hydra from Jumpstart 2022. The 1-mana enchantment is great in 60-card formats, but unless we see it within our first few draws or so, it’s usually either a dead draw or win more.

Not this guy, though! He triggers our commander’s static ability, while allowing us to grow a single threat, ideally one with trample, at a 2-for-1 rate. That is, we remove a single counter from Benevolent Hydra to put two (2!) counters on another creature. Even I can understand that math!

And note, too, that unlike many Hydras with in their mana cost, this one has a base power and toughness of 1/1. Thus, we can cast it for if we want it for it’s Hardened Scales ability.

Out: Hardened Scales

Neverwinter Hydra – another Hydra with a single printing (okay, fine, Benevolent Hydra has a second printing in a Secret Lair, but do those actually count???), this one was released in a precon Commander deck from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. I have no idea how and where this creature fits in to actual Dungeons & Dragons, but I couldn’t resist all that flavor.

Not to mention it has trample and ward . Trample is pretty crucial to the success of our deck, since it’s about the only evasion easily granted our Hydras. There’s nothing worse than having our massive, multi-headed beasts chumped blocked by 1/1 Goblin tokens…

Even with in its mana cost, we can cast this as early as turn 4 as a 6/6 if lucky. And even if we low roll, we have many ways of increasing counters on our creatures.

Out: Villainous Wealth. It pains me to take out this super fun card and I have a feeling I’ll make room for it again at a later point, but, to be honest, it is more often a dead draw than an I-win-the-game card.

Managorger Hydra – I write about this as a possible inclusion in my original article, and I’ve since decided to make room for it, even if it doesn’t have in its mana cost. The main reason? It has trample. The second main reason? It’s a must-answer threat that can quickly become massive otherwise. Early or late, we don’t mind drawing this Hyrda.

Out: Endurance. Yes, we’re reducing our graveyard answers by one, but I can’t justify leaving in a non-Hydra when I have a Hydra to add. Scavenging Ooze is still in the deck, but it synergizes with our counters theme and kind of looks like a Hydra if you squint.

Mossborn Hydra – speaking of must-answer threats… This new Elemental Hydra from Foundations is bonkers. I’ve recently been winning games out of nowhere with it in Modern, as you can see here. We currently play 6 fetch lands that can trigger  this twice the turn we play it, but even without that, our opponent will need to kill this our die to it. This card also has trample, which makes it super busted. Without it, the card is mostly unplayable. With it, it’s one of our most lethal threats.

Out: Spellseeker. This card is great, no doubt, but it feels bad keeping it in over a Hydra for the same reason as detailed above. If we want to play a Sultai good-stuff (or Control) deck, sure, we can play the Human Wizard, but we’re Hydra Tribal.

Artifacts

Herd Heirloom – one of my new favorite cards for Commander. This 2-mana artifact is great in any creature deck playing . It ramps us, gives us card draw, and, wait for it, grants one of our creatures trample.

You’ve probably noticed a theme in the new cards I’ve added. Not only are we increasing our Hydra count, but we’re increasing our trample density, as well.

Out: Simic Ascendancy. I always knew I’d end up cutting this card. The only question was if I’d pull the trigger before or after I got a win with it. Thankfully, I managed a single win with the 2-mana enchantment. Achievement unlocked! Now I can cut it for something more synergistic, if not as fun.

The Earth Crystal – welcome to power creep. We get an Emerald Medallion attached to a Branching Evolution with a nod towards Leyline of Abundance. And note that it’s activated ability will result in two creatures getting two +1/+1 counters thanks to its static ability.

Out: Cyclonic Rift. A generically powerful card that typically wins us the game when cast for its overload cost. Yes, we’re reducing our power level a bit here, but I’m all for striving for synergy over staples, as you can read about here.

Omissions

Hydra Omnivore – I think if I played more 4-person Commander I’d include this Hydra, but even then, do you notice what’s lacking? Yup, trample.

Khalni Hydra – I played against this in a Mono Green deck in Modern. It was/is a powerful finisher for decks that can flood the board with overpowered, undercosted Green creatures. In Commander it still doesn’t make the cut, despite having trample. It doesn’t synergize with our commander’s static ability and it’s a lot of for a 3-color deck.

Whiptongue Hydra – I love this card. That art is something else, as is the flavor. As to game play, fliers can present Hydras with problems, since we don’t get too many of them with flying or reach. This one is an exception, while offering a 1-sided boardwipe against the right decks (looking at you Mono White Angels or Mono Red Dragons). Still, I’m leaning on the sheer power of our Hydras to either race or attack through any fliers we may come up against.

Otherwise, it doesn’t synergize with our commander’s static ability and will often be a fairly vanilla 4/4 for . That’s not great value.

Wren’s Run Hydra – speaking of Hydras with reach, this is one that does have in its mana cost. It also gives us a combat trick in the right spot. It’s on the short list to make room for and I wouldn’t fault anyone for including it over something low on our curve, like Hooded Hydra or Genesis Hydra.

Conclusion

That’s all for now! Hydra Tribal is one of my favorite decks, not only in Commander, but in Modern as well! The tribe has gotten a lot of love over the years and can compete at the highest levels. Zaxara, the Exemplary, meanwhile, is in a color combination that has a ton of power and potential. Want to play a bunch of spells and not fill your deck with Hydras? Zaxara is a great commander for this strategy, as well, giving us a powerful engine to compliment those already powerful spells.

For me, though, I’ll be sticking to a deck full of Hydras and counters shenanigans.

Thanks for reading and watching! Let me know in the comments if I’ve forgotten any must-include Hydras.