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  3. Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn // Hydaelyn, the Mothercrystal

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Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn // Hydaelyn, the Mothercrystal

Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn // Hydaelyn, the Mothercrystal

Legendary Creature — Elder Wizard // Legendary Creature — God

Venat wants a deck that is full of legendary creatures and other legendary cards. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.

  • Mana cost1 genericwhitewhite
  • White ()
  • Power / toughness3 / 3
  • RarityRare

Whenever you cast a legendary spell, draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.

Hero's Sundering — 7 generic, tap: Exile target nonland permanent. Transform Venat. Activate only as a sorcery.

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Indestructible

Blessing of Light — At the beginning of combat on your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on another target creature you control. Until your next turn, it gains indestructible. If that creature is legendary, draw a card.

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Cards That Fit Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn

Picked for what they do in Venat's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Venat's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

Rulings for Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn

explain how Venat works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

A nonmodal double-faced card enters with its front face up by default, unless a spell or ability instructs you to put it onto the battlefield transformed or allows you to cast it transformed, in which case it enters with its back face up.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

A token that is created as a copy of a double-faced permanent or a double-faced card in another zone is a double-faced token. It will have both the front face and back face of whatever object it's copying. If it's copying a double-faced permanent whose back face is up, the token will enter with its back face up. It can transform if instructed to do so.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

Each face of a nonmodal double-faced card has its own set of characteristics: name, types, subtypes, abilities, and so on. While a nonmodal double-faced permanent is on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of the face that's currently up. The other set of characteristics is ignored.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

Each nonmodal double-faced card in this release is cast face up. In every zone other than the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of its front face. If it is on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of the face that's up; the other face's characteristics are ignored.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

If the target creature is an illegal target as Hydaelyn, the Mothercrystal's last ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve and none of its effects will happen. You won't draw a card even if that creature is legendary.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

If you are instructed to put a card that isn't a double-faced card onto the battlefield transformed, it will not enter at all. In that case, it stays in the zone it was previously in. For example, if a single-faced card is a copy of Crystal Fragments, it will be exiled during the resolution of its second ability and remain in exile.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

In the Commander variant, a double-faced card's color identity is determined by the mana costs and mana symbols in the rules text of both faces combined. If either face has a color indicator or basic land type, those are also considered. For example, Cecil, Dark Knight's color identity is black and white, since its front face is black and its back face has a white color indicator.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

The back face of a nonmodal double-faced card usually has a color indicator that defines its color.

Wizards of the Coast 6 Jun 2025

The mana value of a nonmodal double-faced card is the mana value of its front face, no matter which face is up.

9 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Venat, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWPlayers write colors as letters: W for white.Legends MatterLegends decks fill up on legendary cards and use cards that reward you each time you cast one. A legendary card has the word Legendary on its type line; you can only keep one with the same name in play, and nearly every commander is legendary.Open the Legends Matter pageHistoric PayoffRewards you for historic cards: the legendary cards, artifacts, and Sagas that Magic groups under that one word. In Commander your commander is always legendary, so these start with something to count. Jhoira, Weatherlight CaptainOpen the Historic Payoff pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageTypal/KindredTypal decks are built around one creature type, like Elves, Dragons or Zombies, with cards that make that type stronger. The type is printed after the dash on the card's type line, and the strategy is also called kindred or tribal.Open the Typal/Kindred pageTypal PayoffRewards you for playing lots of one kind of creature. That includes "lords" that make every other Goblin or Merfolk you control bigger, and cards that ask you to choose a creature type and then pay you off for it. A creature type is the word on the middle line of the card, like Goblin, Elf or Zombie.Open the Typal Payoff pageTarget RemovalRemoves a single chosen permanent by destroying it, exiling it or returning it to its owner's hand, however big it is. It is the precise answer to one problem, as opposed to a board wipe that hits everything. Damage and -X/-X can miss a big creature, so they are Damage Removal and -X/-X Removal instead. Swords to Plowshares, Beast WithinOpen the Target Removal pageGods / DevotionGods, and cards that count your devotion: the number of mana symbols of one color among the costs of your permanents. The Theros Gods cannot be destroyed, and only become creatures when your devotion to their color is high enough.Open the Gods / Devotion pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection pageMana SinkGives you somewhere useful to spend spare mana, usually through an ability you can activate again and again. Rogue's Passage, Mind StoneOpen the Mana Sink page