First printed in Duel Decks: Heroes vs. Monsters (2013)
Legendary Creature — Hydra
: Monstrosity X. (If this creature isn't monstrous, put X +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.)
When Polukranos becomes monstrous, it deals X damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures your opponents control. Each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to Polukranos.
5/5
- Illustrated by
- Karl Kopinski
Legality
- Legal in
- Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Historic, Timeless, Penny Dreadful, Gladiator, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker, Brawl, Competitive Brawl
- Not legal in
- Standard, Pauper, Future Standard, Alchemy, Premodern, Old School 93/94, Pauper Commander, PreDH, Tiny Leaders, Standard Brawl
Rulings (7)
- If some, but not all, of the ability's targets become illegal, you can't change the division of damage. Damage that would've been dealt to illegal targets simply isn't dealt.
- Monstrous isn't an ability that a creature has. It's just something true about that creature. If the creature stops being a creature or loses its abilities, it will continue to be monstrous.
- You choose the division of damage as you put the ability on the stack, not as it resolves. Each target must be assigned at least 1 damage. In multiplayer games, you may choose creatures controlled by different opponents.
- The value of X in Polukranos's last ability is equal to the value chosen for X when its activated ability was activated.
- As Polukranos's triggered ability resolves, Polukranos deals damage first, then the target creatures do. Although no creature will die until after the ability finishes resolving, the order could matter if Polukranos has wither or infect.
- Once a creature becomes monstrous, it can't become monstrous again. If the creature is already monstrous when the monstrosity ability resolves, nothing happens.
- An ability that triggers when a creature becomes monstrous won't trigger if that creature isn't on the battlefield when its monstrosity ability resolves.
Prices
Paper price: €0.57 / $0.62 , the cheapest non-foil print (Cardmarket and TCGplayer through MTGJSON, 4 Nov 2026).
MTGO price: 0.006 TIX, the cheapest non-foil print (average sell price on GoatBots, 4 Nov 2026).