Fans of the Simic guild, it’s time to be excited! Kalonian Hydra is well-poised to be the premier fatty of the M14 set. He may start out as a mere 4/4, but he doubles the number of heads (+1/+1 counters) he has every time he attacks — and double the counters on the rest of your team as well! In fact, this Hydra is so hungry, he won’t even wait to see if your opponent decides to block before his new heads sprout up. In the case of a trigger that uses the phrase “Whenever [something] attacks,” it’ll go onto the stack at the beginning of the declare attackers step. Because the defending player can’t declare blockers until both players have passed during the declare attackers step while the stack is empty, that means that Kalonian Hydra’s ability will always resolve before blockers can be declared — and well before it deals damage!

While it’s unlikely to make a difference whether your opponent is throwing a sacrificial lamb in front of a 4/4 or an 8/8, it can be relevant in conjunction with other creatures’ abilities. For example, if you control a Hydra and a Champion of Lambholt with a +1/+1 counter on it, and attack with both, the Champion’s counters will double and make it a 3/3 when the trigger resolves. Because this occurs before the declare blockers step, your opponent now can’t block with any creatures with power less than your new and improved Champion’s 3 power.

Today’s Rules Tip written by Jen Wong