Template:Bittertide Hydra strategy
This card is similar to 
Fel Reaver before it - a 5-mana 8/8 with a huge drawback that's best used as a finisher for aggro decks - but with a different weakness: dealing damage to your hero whenever it takes damage. On the surface, it may seem better than Fel Reaver's discard effect, but its weakness can be just as bad, if not worse, if played at the wrong time.
Compared to Fel Reaver, its drawback is not even a factor if the opponent is forced to answer it with a hard removal since they do not deal damage, and if countered with another large or poisonous minion, it will not result in a huge loss of health. The scenarios where Bitterhide Hydra's effect becomes a significant problem is if the opponent's board has many small minions or has ways to deal small amounts of damage to it multiple times, such as 
Arcane Missiles, Unleash the Hounds, 
Volcano, and 
C'Thun's Battlecry. It also becomes problematic if the opponent is able to have multiple small Taunt minions to block it. Each time the Hydra has to attack a Taunt in the way, it will add up more damage to your hero over time.
Alternatively, this minion's excellent stats make it a good target for 
Purify Priest decks.
In Arena, this card can be good, but it may also backfire. Minion value is important in Arena; this makes the 8-8 stats for 5 mana look attractive. When played under the right circumstances, this card can win the game almost single-handed. However, Arena games aim for board control and having as many minions as possible, so it is possible that the Bittertide Hydra will be opposed by multiple minions; if they all attack into it your hero suffers a lot of damage. Even if you hold back on playing it until there are no small minions on the opponents side, the Hydra may still be damaged multiple times since damage-dealing Battlecries like Fire Plume Phoenix and low-damage AoE like 
Volcanic Potion and Primordial Drake are also common picks in Arena. Because of these risks, the Bittertide Hydra becomes a dead card in your hand once your hero is low on health.
This template contains Strategy content for these cards.
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