Hydras can get really big
While the life loss and gain synergy provides incremental advantage, there are better cards with similar effects, such as Zulaport Cutthroat or Blood Artist, which have lower mana costs and provide more immediate impact
Usually this is a traditional foil card with a borderless, Ninja, Samurai, Phyrexian, soft glow, or extended-art treatment, but occasionally you'll open a foil-etched rare or mythic rare, or even a neon ink foil
The borderless art by Pete Venters is absolutely sinister and I look forward to adding that version to my mono-white Commander decks in the near future
Each format may also have different set construction rules, but the only special one is commander
I considered doing an upgrade guide for Don Andres, the Renegade changing the focus on Theft with a Pirates subtheme (cards like Coercive Recruiter, Breeches, Brazen Plunderer, and Ramirez DePietro, Pillager would be the backbone of the deck) but I found that it would require such a large overhaul of the precon that it's probably better to just build it from scratch