Vigean Hydropon
- First things first. To understand this card
you have to know the two great nicknames for it.
First of all is the name it had during R&D,
according to Aaron Forsythe - Wall of Hats.
Second is my own personal nickname for it -
Simic Pylon. This card is great. As soon as I
saw the graft mechanic, I knew this card would
be in the set somewhere. It's proven to be
extremely effective. It's best to think of it as
a blue-green Glorious Anthem for the next 5
creatures you play. However, due to the
transitive nature of +1/+1 counters (or Hats),
the bonus can mean so much more than that.
Hydropon is a bit of a curiosity, but it's the
fun kind. It's not a huge combo card (though it
has its moments) and it's not a terribly
agressive card. It's just good fun. Who doesn't
like hats?
For some reason, I want to like this thing. But
since your opponent will most likely benefit
from it, it's just kind of crappy. Maybe in a
casual deck where you could use all the counters
the same turn you play this, it would be okay,
but otherwise, =/
Constructed - 1.5
Casual - 2
Limited - 1
BMoor
Vigean Hydropon
It's a 5/5 for 1GU. That's even better than
Burning-Tree Shaman. Trouble is, the Hydropon
can't ever get into combat. It doesn't even have
defender, so you could use a card that says
"this creature loses defender". The Hydropon has
only one purpose: Grafting it's +1/+1 counters
to the next 5 creatures to hit the board, should
you so choose. You could also keep it around as
your only Graft creature, so that Cytoshape can
turn something into a 0/0 and kill it.
In constructed, you're better off using the
Graft creatures that actually do things. In
Limited, maybe as a late pick, if you're already
into those colors. In casual it gets really
nuts, since you can use Doubling Season and this
goes crazy.
