"Hedron Crab" is a 0/2 blue crab printed as an uncommon for the Magic the Gathering expansion set known as "Zendikar." I learned about this card from a friend of mine who had been engaging in limited draft tournaments ever since Zendikar was released. This is a card that serves as an alternative means of beating your opponent. One may find much use for Hedron Crab in a blue control deck. In a standard game, one could find much use for the Hedron Crab.

The converted mana cost for Hedron Crab is one. You will need one blue mana to cast Hedron Crab from your hand and onto the battlefield. For what the Hedron Crab can do, the converted mana cost is well worth it. One blue mana is a highly reasonable cost for the great ability that the Hedron Crab possesses.

What does the Hedron Crab do in the first place?

Since it is a 0/2 creature, it cannot attack. It does serve as a good blocker. However, it has a Landfall ability. Landfall is a new ability that is introduced in Zendikar. The Landfall ability from one card is different from the Landfall ability of another card. But, one thing is the same: Landfall is triggered when you play a land on the battlefield under your control.

When the Landfall ability of the Hedron Crab is activated, you make a target player "mill" the top three cards of his/her library into the graveyard. In a standard deck, you should have fetchlands and other lands such as "Terramorphic Expanse." They can be sacrificed which lets you search your library for basic lands. In this respect, you can pay two or three lands in this fashion. In that case, you can make an opponent mill six or nine cards from his/her library into his/her graveyard.

There is a way that the Landfall ability can be exploited and abused for your self-benefit. My friend used this strategy combining Hedron Crab and the blue sorcery spell called "Rite of Replication." Be sure to pay the kicker for Rite of Replication. Play Rite of Replication with the Kicker cost and choose Hedron Crab. In this respect, you get five tokens that are copies of Hedron Crab. With six of those creatures on the battlefield, you drop one land and make a target opponent mill eighteen cards from his/her library. If you can drop two lands onto the battlefield, you would decimate the opponent's library completely.

Overall, Hedron Crab is a great card. Because of what Hedron Crab can do, it is highly likely that it would receive a lot of play in the standard and limited format tournaments. If you are looking for an viable alternative way to win, consider having Hedron Crab in your deck.

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