100% Theoryscape

[RoninValentina]

I didn't have rats when I played the Hydra. And before you can say, "you had Knights to screen instead" the Hydra is competitive, yes, but it does need a screen. Needing a screen isn't the same as being non-competitive. If you send in the Hydra alone, it will fall to sustained attacks, there's no question. But if you use the hydra right, as a distraction, a hero killer, or for cleanup, I'm with Dok. It's absolutely competitive. Also, remember competitive doesn't mean it doesn't have bad matchups. You don't want to send the Hydra into Wait Then Fire armies. Heavy Gruts though? Serve 'em up!

What surprised me most about the Hydra was that no one brought Kelda to pair up with it that I saw. I was a bit nervous about quick hits reducing my Hydra's effectiveness, but I guess everyone else also considered the potential investment in points and OMs for Kelda to be the bigger risk.

[dok]

RoninValentina has it exactly right (no surprise there - he rode a Hydra to 3rd place). I did consider Kelda on the upgrade but this sort of tethers the Hydra to a 7-hex range around Kelda's spot in the startzone, and given that I only had two offensive figures, the extra offense of the Krav seemed like a better investment.

I also mostly agree with D_A's analysis. Cyprien actually can do a lot of the same things the Hydra can for you, but Raelin is pretty huge in that army, and it's much easier to use the Hydra with the rest of the army. I actually did consider almost that exact army (Q9, Cyprien, Sonya, 2x rats and Marcu) for smackdown, though. It seemed like it would be a good way to practice for the main event, and the switch to Cyprien gives me the best treasure glyph collector. I ended up picking up my bags from the hotel and taking a shower in stead, though...

It's not as though I was charging the Hydra across the board and hoping for the best. The only game where the Hydra took more than one order marker for positioning in the first couple rounds was when I played 4th Mass and Braxas, and I knew Pickle4192 would be charging out with Braxas. The Hydra did great there (and was immune to PAB, too). More generally, though, the Hydra does well moving in when lots of figures are already engaged, and cleaning up the mess.

All of that said, I expect to see a lot more of Cyprien in the main event next year than we did this year.